Northstar Bar - Philadelphia, PA (June 13, 2002) 
Ah yes, home sweet home. I actually grew up 20 miles outside the city, but I still claim Philly as home (as no one knows where Radnor is...). Playing Philadelphia means seeing old friends (some college, but mostly high school), BAD roads (I get blamed for this every time we return to PA), and a home cooked meal (breakfast anyway). First and foremost, I should mention that this was our new stage tech's first official show as part of Team Leaf. Come say hi to Chris Buford when you get a chance - he'll likely be found manning the monitor board at the shows...WELCOME CHRIS! The day began with a LONG drive from Burlington. It was smooth sailing till we hit NY, then it was stop n' go for what seemed like forever (probably cause we all had to pee). Once we cleared NY, the rain started. Finally, thanks to the expert navigation of one Sound Hooch (Carolyn!), we arrived at said venue. Only an hour late - not bad. We pulled up on the sidewalk, unloaded, loaded, set up, sound checked AND ... ate dinner (thanks for the cheese steaks!). We had some time to kill as we had 2 opening acts. The band milled around a bit; I spent some time catching up with old friends. Unfortunately mom and pop Milstead would have to sit this one out, as we weren't going on until well after 11. And indeed, well after 11 o'clock came around - and indeed, we hit the stage - and played our little asses off for the small but psyched crowd. I'm not sure if it was fatigue from the tour setting in, or the long drive, or the rain (blame it on the rain baby), or what - but tonight was an OFF night for the Leaf. But you know what - it happens. There are good nights and there are bad nights and that's just the way it is. So be it. We still had fun. We finished up with "Mary Mac" (surprise, surprise), then hopped down so we could say hey to all the kind folks who had braved the crappy weather to come see us. Then it was break down, load out, pack up, and drive on. and drive on we did - about 20 miles outside the city. To where you ask? Well, to mom and pop Milstead's of course. It's always nice to see mom and dad. They take care of us - Barry, you need that glass of milk in the middle of the night? No problem. Carter - you need that bedtime story? Done. Jordan forgot his slippers?? There you go - my mom doesn't mind. dad even installed a shower downstairs so that Terry wouldn't have to wait in line to shower. Now that's service. And of course mom feeds us well in the morning - quiche, per Terry's request. and lots of coffee. thanks mom and dad! And we're off. In the grand scheme of things, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump (maybe 2) to NYC. 
 
Mercury Lounge - NYC (June 14) 
New York City is big and loud and alive and (today anyway) wet. We made the drive from Philly without any trouble - except that they wouldn't let us thru the Holland Tunnel because of our trailor. We COULD be terrorists I suppose. we assume this means the Lincoln Tunnel is expendable, but not the Holland. No worries - it adds about an hour to our trip, but we still arrive on time. We load in quickly and set up. We're the first band on tonight, so we get a good sound check. By the time we finish up, it's time to go prepare for the show. "Big show" says Barry - "Lots of important people." He says this at every show, but this time he might be telling the truth. We put together the best set list we have, hit the stage, and rock. and it, well, rocked. it was a killer show, maybe our best in NYC to date. Awesome crowd. Good set. We played well, much better than the night before. Things felt tight, and that made for a good show. Loading off the stage is definitely the biggest drag about this club (everything else is killer!) - the equipment room (where we store cases, etc.) is at the back of the room, so you have to pull everything off the stage and THRU the crowd to get to where you can break down and load up. it's a small price to pay though. the club is awesome, the people there are very cool. we did our thing, packed up, and hung out. Saw lots of old friends and met lots of new fans. After hanging out a good while, we loaded out. As we were loading out, who should walk by but Shelly from Live Honey (hey Shelly!). She says they're doing well - we wish them the very best. After we had packed up, we detoured to the famous Kosher Deli on the corner (that's not what it's called - I forget the name; I think it's the one that Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal eat at in "When Harry Met Sally"). we grab grub and hit the road. we drive an hour or so outside the city and find a hotel near a Cracker Barrel. score. and this is it - onto the last show of our first tour. Beantown baby. 
 
Harper's Ferry - Boston, MA (June 15, 2002) 
All I can say is, what a great way to end the tour. for starters, Harper's Ferry is a killer venue. It's a good sized room, with a big stage, lights, good sounding PA, even a band room (always a plus). We loaded in and set up and checked. no problem. The opening band showed up. They're a 3 piece called Flynn and they're really, really good. We wish them well. After talking shop for a minute, we crossed the street to grab dinner at a Brazilian restaurant. one of the perks of a big city is restaurants like this. the food was amazing, all freshly cooked - meats and potatos and pastas. it ruled. reason #1 to return to Harper's Ferry...So we stuffed ourselves and then headed back to the club. Flynn was playing when we returned. I listened to a couple tunes, then headed off to change and warm up. we eventually all gathered upstairs in the band room for group warmup - they sing, I whack (as terry would say). and it's about that time - setlists are dispersed, Hail Mary's are chanted. and we hit the stage. and HOLY CRAP - there's a lot of people here to see us!! it was awesome. Earlier it was hard to tell who was there to see us and who was there to see Flynn and who was just there. It was now apparent. It was our largest (and most enthused) crowd of the tour. Reason #2 to return to Harper's Ferry...So the show went great, the crowd seemed to really dig it. We finished the set, played a couple encores, then hopped down to say hello. My good friend from high school was in attendence (Jay!), as was my cousin (Brad!) and his friend (I don't remember his name!). I spent some QT with them; the other guys made their rounds. Pretty soon it was time to make like a bird and get the flock outta there. and that's just what we did. and while the original plan was to grab a hotel room and drive home all Sunday, we decided to just go for it and do the drive right then and there. With the tour over and home in our sights, we drove onward thru the night. Carter took first shift, I took second, Barry drove clean up. We made it home by 2 or so Sunday afternoon. And it was good. CONCLUSION: um, good tour. many more. hell yea.