Day 5: Burlington, VT
Nau mai
Yesterday we played at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont.
Silver Beauty drove us through the night and we awoke to find ourselves in a familiar carpark. Higher Ground is a venue we had played back in the summer of 2024, a squat concrete structure that sits isolated in a huge sea of asphalt, save for the adjoining restaurant Silver Palace, Cuisine of China.
Burlington is a city on the eastern shores of the picturesque Lake Champlain. The city of South Burlington, is inland to the east of Burlington and sadly misses out on the lake views, but does host a very important cloverleaf interchange between Highway 2 and Interstate 89, as well as a good selection of restaurants and chain retail outlets.
There was a very solid breakfast option just a couple of minutes walk away from the bus, a bagel shop called The Bagel Place. I ordered from their lunch menu, a BLT on an everything bagel, toasted.
We enjoyed being at Higher Ground. They have great staff and great facilities. The green rooms are comfortable and have a balcony that looks down over the stage. There is in-house catering and the fare is great; this would easily be the closest thing to a home-cooked meal we get to consume while on the road.
There are also a pair of very tall columns that are the primary decorative element of the venue. If it were up to me I would have put them on the stage, but they still look good next to the merch desk.
Sadly an element of realism is lost with the missing Echinus and Abacus at the top of this column removing any pretense of load-bearing abilities.
Tristan bought himself a new drum set to use for jamming and practising. Here we are in the trailer (a surprisingly nice acoustic) giving it its first try-out. Being a children’s drum set it is very small but what it lacks in size it makes up for in colour.
Squirrel Flower, the project of Chicago-based singer Ella O'Connor Williams is supporting us on many of the shows this tour. Look at that spellbound audience, captivated by such beautiful singing and songs.
Someone left this beautiful creation taped to the back of our trailer.