Day 44: Washington DC, Day 2
Nau mai,
Yesterday we played our first of two shows at 9:30 Club in Washington DC.
DC was cold and overcast on this Tuesday morning, the ninth day of December. To travel anywhere in this part of town you must pass through one of the great traffic circles that features a man on horseback, and on my way to breakfast I passed the equestrian statue of Brevet Lt. General Winfield Scott. This was a controversial artwork at the time it was erected due to sculptor Henry Kirke Brown’s decision to place Scott upon his preferred mount, a mare, instead of a stallion with flared nostrils and an arched neck, as was the convention at the time. Brown was stubborn and refused to compromise on the mare was but, in the end, augmented it with the external genitalia of a stallion.
The enormous 6’5” Winfield Scott rides his small mare with external genitalia of a stallion.
The Bluestone Lane Coffee Shop on Scott Circle had a good menu of brekkie originals and I chose the Avocado Toast W The Lot – avo smash, cherry tomatoes, feta, prosciutto, and chili flakes on multigrain bread. I gazed out the window, crunching my way through a logistically challenging mouthful in blissful ignorance of the complex piece of art history I had just strolled past.
In the afternoon we made our way to the 9:30 Club and began at the long list of end-of-tour tasks. The priority was making sure that every piece of equipment found its way to the correct destination and so a foolproof labelling system had to be devised, and there was much discussion around the best colours of tape for this crucial labelling system. There was also the opportunity to use the vacuum pump storage system to maximum effect. Pillows, clothing, soft toys, and other items were made to occupy much smaller dimensions than we thought humanly possible.
The 9:30 Club is a venue that provides. It provides food throughout the afternoon - hot pizza, curry, and coffee to keep bands and crew in good spirits as they prepare for the show. It provides laundry facilities for those with soiled outfits and sleeping facilities for the tired. The green rooms are many, and they are clean, spacious and comfortable. The audience has a large wooden floor to stand on if they wish to stand on the lower level, or alternatively the balcony provides great viewing angles for those who have conquered their fear of heights.
We played our first night at 9:30 Club to a full house. The room sounded and looked great, and despite our late tour fatigue it turns out that the thrill of playing music never gets old.
Amanda Cheng gave me a gift at the end of the evening which is I believe the finest photograph that has ever been taken of me.
📸 Amanda Cheng.