Chris gets a haircut, Freeman’s Sporting Club, NYC
Last week, the band spent two days in New York City. Now I’m by no means Travis Bickle*, but to say that New York was one of my favourite American cities would be a half truth at best. Sure, there is probably more amazing food, art, entertainment, and culture than anywhere else in North America; but New Yorker’s also seem to be competing in a 200 year-long contest to see who can accumulate the most curbside garbage by 8 pm and rent the world’s smallest hotel room. Now my favourite places in the US are still a little bit more off the beaten path than NYC, but I did grow fonder of the Big Gotham Apple That Never Sleeps during our most recent trip.
Our first day in NYC was pretty abysmal weather wise, but there was still a great time to be had. Anthony and Max took in a local New York art film called “The Dictator” while Tim and I played “how long does it take to hail a cab in the rain”. Not only was the next day significantly better weather wise, it was also Mike’s 20th Birthday. While Tim made his usual pilgrimage to Katz’s deli, Mike spent his big day at NYC’s Freeman’s Sporting Club and treating himself to some new camera lenses. Like the birthday boy, I also chose to spend my afternoon exploring NYC. Unlike Max, who can give you five sets of directions to anywhere, I’m no cartographer, and usually don’t stray too far off the beaten path. This has all changed however, thanks to a little blue pulsating dot on my iPhone. The popularization of GPS technology has done wonders for my ability to walk aimlessly through a city and end up where I need to be. I spent the afternoon taking in the sites and making my way from Midtown to the Lower East Side; stopping in Union Square, where I pretended to know the difference between fresh fruit and the kind you buy at a grocery store.
The two shows we played at Santos Party House (which is apparently owned by Tim’s drinking buddy Andrew WK,) kept us occupied at night, but we were lucky enough to play three blocks from Little Italy, which made for some delicious post show meals. The guys in the Maine were nice enough to take Mike to the Whiskey Tavern for his birthday; a place that Anthony, the band’s resident sportz nut^, assured was a great place to watch the game. This week, we are cramming half of the tour’s allotted mileage into one week of driving while we travel from Detroit through Minnesota and into western Canada. We are all looking forward to our brief return to Canada and showing everyone at the shows a few new tricks that we have up our sleeves. More updates soon.
-Nick
*this is a Taxi Driver reference.
^he likes sportz and he doesn’t care who knows
