Friday, August 14, 2009

FTE On Tour_NY_PA_VA_NC 8/23-8/1


THURSDAY: Keith, Ethan & FTE fairy MEREDITH (The Mumbles) play a show on a boat. We stage a pirate takeover of the ship and end up tricked by Faries into having sex with an octopus. After this, THE PIMPS OF JOYTIME rock the boat.

SUNDAY: We perform on the WATERPOD, docked at 125th st. After a violent afternoon thunderstorm chase away most of our audience, the "ecosystem-on-a-barge" stops swaying to and fro. The crew then invites us to dine with them.

As they prepare a scrumptious meal of fresh fish and veggies grown on the pod, we sing FTE songs for a crowd that has gathered by the dock. (Rose video coming). After an encore, we dine under a DOUBLE RAINBOW that stretches over Harlem.

MONDAY:Left Brooklyn in the bus (Lunette) to Philly.

Hit a flat tire around Camden, New Jersey.

Rose & I walk 2 miles to get a new tires in he hot sun. Four quarts of sweat spew out from under my black Yankees cap. We buy the tires. Rose leaves to go get a jack and I carry the two bagged tires to the corner & wait for her thinking, 'How the f@#k are we gonna carry these big-ass tires back to Lunette?"

Just then, a kind brother named ROB drives up in a silver SUV and asks me where I'm going. I explain our dilema and he offers to give us a lift.

Rob (and his two youg sons, ages 4 and 7) not only drove us back to Lunette, but he also drove us through the streets of Camden, NJ to look for a tire repair shop, then rounded up a bunch of truckers to help us out. They agreed to help without blinking a lash. One guy changes a tire using Ether & a match. (Video of all of these encounters will be uploaded soon by Rose. You gotta see this.)

All rejoice. The kids recieve homemade candy. They smile, smacking loudly with shiny red & purple lips. Fairy hugs and Obama fist bumps make their rounds. Our Angels Of Camden (actually) drive off into the sunset.

Now we are ready to drive the rest of the way to Philly. It's only ten minutes away.

Yup. Only ten minutes away.

TUESDAY: We are greeted in West Philly at Rachel's crib. (More on her & her peeps later. That tribe is delightfully Avatarded.) We schedule a 2pm performance in the center of RitenHour Park.

Rose & I warm up the crowd performing a new bit called "The Dancing Doll" where I play drum and she moves like a puppet activated by sound. Then the FTE perform 3 skits. A stunned and gracious Philidelphia crowd recieves us warmly.

After the show, a guy named Richard gives us some soap. (By now, I'm needing it. We did the show in the hot sun.) He also invites us over for a home cooked meal. Rose & I Leave for South Philly, her wearing a Tutu and me bangin' a drum.

Richard feeds us as we play with his 16 month old pitbull puppy. His roomates discuss going to a drum circle later in the evening. We leave with Richard for an open mic at a Jazz club in Center City.

Intercepted by a cool social worker who wants to know where the show is.

Please remember: Rose looks great in a TuTu. People stop us and ask us "Where's the show?". They don't just ask. They ask like they want to come. If that's Philly, then give me more. I like it.

The cool social worker gives us a tip on another open mic nearby. We sit for 2 songs, then move on.

Stop by TSOP store. (See Rose for video). Move on to open mic.

Stop by live band playing in a storefront window. We join them, jam out on "No Woman No Cry". Move on to open mic.

Arrive at open mic at Jazz club. Rose interviews the woman at the door. {VID} She gives a tour of the club. The piano player asks us to stop filming.

We catch the trolley back to Rachel's house. We arrive and perform for Rachel, her housemates and her visiting cousin. Rachel tells us about a really cool guy named Cooper, living in a community called Ashville down in "Nawth Cack-a-lack-a". We write down his number. Recount the days events. Music jam. Sleep. Early drive Tomorrow. We're off to Washington D.C.

WEDNESDAY: Arrive in DC mid-morning. Rose & I walk by the FBI Building and meet a cool black laborador K-9 officer named "Power". His badge had a little picture of a dog on it. We continue down Pensylvania avenue and on to the White House.
















Rose shoots video of me singing "Obamasong".
We shoot additional footage at the Lincoln Memorial.

















We stop by the Smithsonian Air / Space museum then back to Lunette. Off to Shenandoa National park in Virginia.


Very ironic how I run outta cigarettes in Virginia. Maybe it's a sign I should stop.

We make camp. Rose makes Crepes. We snuggle into place in our tents under a starry sky. In the morning we move to another location called " The Loft Mountain Campground".






THURSDAY: At the camp there is an ampitheater with stunning views of the Shenandoa Mountian range. A perfect canvas on which to paint Fairytale Experiment magic. We immediately put out the word to the people of the camp; "Show tonight in the ampitheater at 7!"
We quickly outline a show, walk through it and pull costumes. After hanging a sign on Lunette that reads: "Performance Tonight", we drive from camp to the theater to see cars in the parking lot. Our audience awaits!

It begins to rain.

We enter the theater playing drum loudly and dancing through the waiting campers and families. They patiently sit & smile in rain gear and watch us do our thing. The rain stops half way through the show. At the end, we sing the magic song & take a bow.

We get back to camp and watch the sunset. Rose makes more amazing crepes. We tell jokes by a roaring fire and laugh till bellyhurt. Huddle in tents. Sleep. Tomorrow we are off to North Carolina.




FRIDAY
: A sudden morning fog sweeps across the camp and slings us off the mountian. We zip through Virginia like a bullet. We stop at White's Truck Stop for waffle fries and a peek at the Firearm museum. Yup. There it was. The gun used in the movie "Death Wish" by Charles Bronson. Good fries, too.

The game room is filled with all first-person shooter coin-ops. There's even one video game created by the U.S. Army. Never saw that before. I force a smile as I walk by 50 or so little "Uncle Tom" dashboard dolls.

We drive through Virginia and Tennesee to Mars Hill, North Carolina. We are greeted by our new friends Ryan Cooper and Jason Boyer who treat us like family. They and trusty dog Stella Blue bless us with veggie goodness from the garden in the backyard and more:
Zuchinni Bread
Homemade Cole Slaw
Homemade saurkraut
Picked beets
Picked summer squash
Fresh (from the garden) bean dip
Chicken sausage
& gallons of Honey Mead.

Too busy eating now. Planning something special. Stay tuned.

J/A

No comments:

Post a Comment