OVERVIEW: 
 
The recently completed Tour de Leaf was a great success. Unlike our other jaunts (AMA tour, Great Big Sea tour), this was the first time it was JUST US. No tour bus, no free hotels or meals, NO Newfoundlanders :-) Our first REAL tour. Each stop on this tour was a city we had played with Great Big Sea back in March. So, save for Philly and NYC, each stop was virtually unchartered. This was our chance to begin building our own thing in each of these new cities. And while some were expectedly better than others, they were all a great success. Here's to MO' BETTER tours in the future... 
 
MAGIC BAG THEATER - Ferndale, MI (June 6) 
After driving thru the night (we had played a private party in Richmond the night before), we arrived in lovely Ferndale, MI (just outside of Detroit) several hours before we were to load in. In light of this, we decided to get day rooms so people could nap, shower, nap, shave, nap, or whatever. Uncle Barry spotted Ghetto Motel 666, complete with barbed wire around the parking lot, hourly rates, and lots of dirty movie channels. It was perfect. Carter, Jordan and I moped to our room, Terry, Barry and Carolyn to theirs. Carter insisted we watch one of the nudie movies, but was out voted in favor of "The Chase" (Charlie Sheen, 1994). Awful movie - you should definitely see it. A few hours passed, and we were on our way to the venue...The Magic Bag Theater is just that - a theater, possibly a converted movie theater from days gone by. A very cool place indeed. Plus, on the wall in the band room was scrawled "Blink 182 - 1995." I waz humbled; Barry asked "Blink 18Who?". So we loaded in and set up, hassle free. Afterwards, I ran across the street to check out the ALL-percussion store that had caught my eye on the way into town. A drummer in an all-drum store is like a kid in the candy store - only the candy is sugar free and way more expensive. I showed restraint and ran back for soundcheck. After soundcheck, it was a brief shopping spree at Old Navy, then gourmet dinner at Pizza Hut. Barry was tickled pink we were eating at da Hut - I wonder about him sometimes. Two pizzas and 12 breadsticks later, it was back to the venue. We put on our rock n' roll duds (Ol' Navy style), warmed up, and played the show. The crowd was small but VERY receptive. Size doesn't ALWAYS matter. It was a good show for sure - a great way to kick off the tour. We saw some familiar faces (the Librarians Deirdre and Cindy, David from Seattle (!), mastertaper TJ), as well as lots of new ones. After the show we did some meet and greet, thanked everyone for coming, packed up, thanked the crew (they were all super cool and nice and stuff), and headed on our way. Cleveland, OH, here we come. 
 
PEABODY'S DOWN UNDER - Cleveland, OH (June 7) 
When Terry walked into the club to let them know we were there, the bartender asked "Be you Angels??" Terry replied "Nay - we are but Men." They agreed - ROCK. Twas' going to be a good night.....We loaded in and set up and sound checked without incident. The most difficult part of the night was finding dinner. Somehow this club is near NOTHING in the way of food, beverage, or even lite fare - except for the pizza joint on the corner. But we JUST had Pizza Hut last night!! So we took the high road. And what a road it was. We walked a good quarter mile (a long way for ANYONE in a band) till we were presented with options. We chose...wisely. It was a tasty meal indeed. Carter's salad was about two pieces of lettuce away from being the Greatest and Biggest Salad in the World. The nibbler nibbled well. And all was good. As it turns out, the long walk back to the club was a blessing in disguise. It gave us a chance to work off the gut-busting meal we had just enjoyed. When we returned, the second of two opening bands had begun. It was time to morph into the rock and rollers we knew we had to become. A new t-shirt and a clean pair of socks later, it was time to rock. The crowd was similar to the night before - somewhat small but verywhat into the music. About half way thru the set, a tray-full of shots (bourbon??) shows up with a note: PLAY "FLOOD" OR THERE WILL BE MORE OF THESE TO COME (or something to that effect). Hmmm...Damned if we do (do we remember how to play that??), Damned if we don't (no more bourbon!). So we played it, and I think it went aight'. The rest of the set went well, and then we were done. We said hey to everyone after the show, packed up our gear, and hit the road. I'm talkin' bout' the road. It's a long and lonely road - especially to Chicago.  
 
SCHUBA'S - Chicago, IL (June 8) 
My second time to Chicago. The band's second time to Chicago. Coincidence? I think not. The Windy City was not so windy. In fact, it was dawg on hot. Our first impression of the club: Cones directly outside the club so as to reserve us a spot to park the Leaf Busmobile. Bravo!! This means Barry won't have to drive around for hrs trying to find a parking space big enough to fit in. It's the little things that count. So we load in and set up. A very cool looking room. Soundcheck goes well, and we're off. We mill around a bit, go to Starbuck's and do an interview (thanks David!), mill around some more, head back to the club, and settle in for some serious milling. Finally...it's dinner time! Dinner was excellent. I don't remember what I ate, but I remember thinking "This is excellent." And it was. We shared dinner with our shiny new management team (Erik and Doug), who are based in Chicago. Afterwards, it was to the van for warmup, changing, digestion. Showtime rolled around, and so did we. Too full to walk, we waddled our way up onto stage and proceeded to Rock. It seemed to be the largest crowd yet, but I can't always tell sitting down and with Barry's ass in the way. They were into it for sure. It was a great return visit to Chicago. My favorite memories: Seeing the sign on the highway for Harpo Studios (Oprah owns an ENTIRE CITY BLOCK, I kid you not), seeing the RACINE street sign (Untouchables baby), and meeting up with my high school soccer teammate Brian Buck (he's studying to be a DR). It made for a great end to the Midwest leg of the tour. We drove off into the night, focused on what the next day would bring...  
 
DRIVE FROM HELL - IL, IN, OH, PA, NY (June 9) 
One of the worst parts of touring: LONG drives. And the worst part is, on days such as this, you're not even rewarded with a gig that night. It's wake up, drive..............drive...........go to bed. talk about unproductive. Here are some of the high points of this particular marathon drive: Denny's, nap, 40's (though I didn't finish mine), movie (Ocean's 11), McDonald's. Long day, sucky sucky ride. We ended up getting a hotel in between our next two gigs, Rochester and Buffalo. And here we go.