Day 38: Providence, RI
Nau mai,
Yesterday we played our first ever show in Providence, Rhode Island.
Lavonda was parked up next to a dusty lot yesterday morning. The evidence of travel was apparent, splashes of salt and dirt all over her usually immaculate chrome and serpent green features.
We were in the neighbourhood of Olneyville – a fairly residential part of the city but decorated with plenty of old industrial, the red brick carcasses of mills and factories that have found new uses in the 21st century. There were churches aplenty which made sense given that we were in puritan New England.
It was a refreshingly cold and clear day and after my time walking around a rainy Boston it was good to have a break from the wet. I walked to a café called El Saoko to get breakfast and ordered myself a Dominican Sandwich – ham, cheddar cheese, lettuce, coleslaw, tomato, onions, ketchup, and mayonnaise, on a toasted bread roll. On the side I had a mango and pineapple smoothie.
I went for a good walk next and although we were too far out from the city centre to witness much of historic Providence my journey was extremely pleasant, in particular the section along the Woonasquatucket River and along the Donigan Park Bikeway. What this neighbourhood lacked in nation-founding memorabilia it made up for with delicious Caribbean food and there were dozens of great looking restaurants in the blocks surrounding the venue.
The Fête Music Hall borrows its namesake word from the French language, meaning a party or celebration. I know this because it was on the venue website. It was a Wednesday night, not traditionally a huge night for parties but we would certainly try our hardest to do justice to the hall that we were performing in. It was a low, brick and cinderblock building that was fairly nondescript on the outside but made up for it with bold decorations in the interior. Owner/designer/philanthropist Nicolas Bauta has done the fitout and if I had to guess is paying homage to the city’s manufacturing heritage with the liberal use of wrought iron and mechanical parts.
Although sunset came prematurely while it should have still been the afternoon it was a spectacular one to witness. There was a corridor in the backstage with west facing windows and we ducked out of soundcheck to catch a glimpse of the orange and violet hues above the McDonalds.
The Fêt was a nice room to play but of course there were a few quirks. The stage risers were too wobbly so Tristan had to play on the floor, missing out on the additional 300-400mm of commanding presence he likes to have. There were some rogue actors in the lighting rig that decided to start misbehaving when Liz was singing the most delicate song of the set. These moving spotlights were exercising their full range of motion, spinning and swivelling, and completely disobeying any attempts from Erin to enforce order on the stage grid.
Providence were an excellent crowd. In particular we liked their vehement hatred of Boston. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, or perhaps it isn’t and they never forgave the citizens of Massachusetts Bay for expelling Providence founding father Roger Williams. The heckle of the night belonged to an unidentified group in the crowd, it could have been anywhere from 2-5 in number. “East Bay Bike Path” were the words they spoke in unison, and although we did not know the significance of this phrase we admired the confidence and the cohesiveness of the way it was delivered.