Mon, Oct 27, '03
11:11 PM (excerpted from the sirenswildride blog)

The Sirens NE Tour Diary
entitled:
A THREE DAA-AAY TOUR (as told by the navigator)

Hello beautiful people! Denise here! Hope all is well,..

So,..back in NYC,..it's raining pretty hard outside and that's ok because it gives me an excuse to be a
bum for the day,..
it was an interesting trip!
Let's start with Boston,..

CHAPTER 1: "SHAFTED"

It's been a few years since I've been to Boston.I went to school there so I was really excited to have a reason to visit after such a long hiatus.
I rode in to beantown with Miss Emily and it was a very pleasant drive. We chatted and ate sandwiches,..I was feeling a little leery about this particular gig, dykes on Mics, as I had a feeling I was being shafted from the git-go, more or less because I'm a strait grrl,..At first I thought maybe it was just my own paranoia, (I wasn't included in the interview, or asked for that matter, and was slated to be the opening act of the evening even though I'm part of the touring act), but I tried not to draw any conclusions,..So, we arrived at the Midway Cafe' and what do you know, I found I wasn't even included on the flyers made up for the night,..not only that, but the organizer didn't even acknowledge my presence (until after I performed) So, my suspicion's were validated.
Whatever,..
Despite my first encounter of what Athena called "Strait Oppression", I got up on stage and did my thing,..My attitude is that people, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, or gender are either going to like me/what I do, or they're not,..I can't please everyone, and if I'm going to get shafted based on a personal bias so be it, all I can do is go on with business as usual, do what I do and hope for the best,..As it turns out, it wound up being a very successful evening, as I sold a bunch of CDs and met some really WONDERFUL women that night (who BTW didn't give a rat's ass whether I was strait, hetero-flexible or gay). And I want to thank all of the audience members who took the time to say hi and let me know they liked my music/bought CDs,..I couldn't ask for anything more! I felt a lot of love from the audience! We all did! That's really the part of touring I like the best,..meeting people of all walks of life and finding a common ground,..It's not so hard if you try,..
Anyhoo,.
We all stayed with Athena's girlfriend Jesse's friend, Alan, at his apartment in Cambridge. We had a great time there with Alan and his coolie roommate Joel!
Next day, Emily had to jet early, Jesse went out to have lunch with Alan and Athena went to the MIT Atrium to practice a Billy Joel tune on the Bosendorfer they have lying dormant in the middle of the Atrium (!)
I wish I had a chance to see that! She was really excited that she got the opportunity to play the piano and raved about it's playability, etc etc and what a surreal experience it was,..surely, a Kodak moment!
As for me, I decided to go visit my old haunts,.I walked to Mass Ave and took the bus to visit my old alma mater, Berklee College of Music. I also tried to visit one of my favorite professors but unfortunately he was in the middle of class, oh well,.next time,.
I walked through Back Bay, through Copley square, through the public garden and the commons, then I figured, "why not go to Filene's I'm right here",..and so I did that and I bought a warm fuzzy pair of socks,..they're REALLY SOFT,..
It's funny how old memories playback as you walk through a city where you lived for a long while,.I kept expecting to see someone I know, (it IS the place where everyone knows your name after all) especially walking through the newly renovated halls of Berklee,..but I'm glad I took that walk,..Boston seems much smaller than I remember it,..and I know I don't belong there any longer,.not that I had any doubts, but sometimes when you visit a place, you feel a longing to go back,..I had no such feeling,..it was a nice visit nevertheless,..

CHAPTER 2: "WHY ARE WE HERE?"

So, Athena and Jesse and I met up and went on our way to Haverhill, MA,..(pronounced "hah-vrill" by the locals ) to the Chit-chat Lounge,.
I wish I could say it was a pleasurable experience, but I'd be lying if I did,..
Dave, the guy who booked us, met us when we arrived, he was very nice and accommodating, he had a gig down the street so he wasn't able to hang out, the bar staff was nice to us as well,..for the most part it was a drink till you drop/get laid kindof establishment,.we played in the upstairs lounge while a Modern rock type of cover band, described to me as "wicked cool", played downstairs with people doing the whole mosh pit thing,.upstairs people weren't there to hear music, and unfortunately, the bartender, after Athena's first song of her 2nd set, came over to me saying to end the show then and there because he got too many complaints from his patrons that "this athena chick is too "dark". (pronounced "d-aaaah-k")
which in a sense was a blessing in disguise since we were both feeling pretty bad being the annoyance in the background,..
and that was that,.got our guaranteed fee,..
back to Alan's place, then next morning off to Montreal,..

CHAPTER 3: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!!!!!!

Montreal in a word: AWESOME!
Annabelle Chvostek was the local grrl performing with us and she blew my socks off! An amazing talent,..I've listened to her CD 3x already since I've been home,.She's also super nice!
The venue was a coffeehouse called Esperanza,..Which, among other wonderful accolades (it would take too long to praise this place in all it's splendor) serves the best cappuccino I have had in months! Nay, years,.. (a very important aspect,..)
Anyway, the place was packed to the gills, the audience was so amazing and attentive,.. I'm so used to the "NYC short attention span theatre" that I was beginning to feel a little shy once i realized that the audience was there to listen to music,..and I met a whole slew of wonderful, beautiful, amazing people there!
I would be here for hours trying to describe the love that radiated from the audience but, for your sake, dear faithful reader,..I'll refrain,..
Athena, Annabelle and I had a very successful evening!
Athena, Jesse and I stayed with Athena's friend Donell (spelling may be wrong and if so I apologize) who was also super nice! Our last few hours in Montreal were spent eating and doing a short driving tour of the city in the rain, with me doing the drive-by picture snapping by dangling my arm out of the window and hoping for the best,..
Athena made sure I got to sample the local specialties, poutine (french fries with cheese curd and gravy) and special Montreal bagels which are served hot right out of a brick oven,..oooh la la
good stuff!
Athena and Jesse were ravenous and both ate so much I could've gained 5 pounds watching them devour their meal of smoked meat (sort of like pastrami), pancakes, eggs, fruit and toast,..(Athena ate that lumberjack special PLUS poutine! lol)
So, off we went on our way back to NYC,...to our last little adventure together,..
I'll call it,.

"FOR THE WANT OF A SPOON"

We stopped off at a quickie mart in NY state somewhere,..Jesse and Athena bought some Ben and jerry's but the place didn't have any utensils,..hehe,..they RAN OUT! believe that?? to add insult to injury, they have a policy to not refund money on food items,..(even though we hadn't even left the store yet!)
so,..we went on a wild goose chase trying to find a place open, in the meantime, Athena and Jesse began eating the ice cream out of the container while driving,.dripping ice cream everywhere,..lol licking, slurping, giggling, dripping some more,....they offered some to me, but I declined,..lol
So, we decided to get off at the next exit and while slurping down some ice cream and trying to find the toll ticket, Jesse accidentally rear ended the car in front of us at the toll booth,..lol
LUCKILY, there was no damage to either car,..we were riding pretty slow, needless to say, Athena took the wheel over and we did find a spoon at the next quickie mart and we did make it home in one piece,..

HALLOWEEN in NYC:

So, it’s unrelated to the SWR tour but I figured I’d add it to the pot,..
Halloween,..Rich and I decided to go out to the Halloween Parade in the village,..I’ve lived in NYC for years and I’ve never actually been to the parade, go figure,..We met up with my 2 friends Jen and Elaine later on. I took a few pictures of some great costumes I thought you all would enjoy! I had been in the studio all day and had a makeshift “trying to be a vulcan but didn’t quite make it” do-up. Elaine dressed up as Alicia Keyes, and Jen was a golden goddess!

And so my dear readers, go in peace,..tawk amongst yerselfs,..my tale ends here,..
till next time,.
love,
d