Kevin Bronson on March 17th, 2009

0

[The Henry Clay People’s adventures on tour opening for the Airborne Toxic Event continue:]

Sorry, it’s been a while since we spoke to you last. We’ve been busy and computer access proves to be tough to come by. Anyhow, we just played the East Coast. Here are a few notes on the experience:

Boston: Boston folks drink hard and proved to be an ideal audience. They are irreverent and tough and were easily one of the best crowds of the tour. I had lost my voice the day before this show and sounded like I had a larynectomy but nobody seemed to care too much. Noah and Steven from the Airborne Toxic Event joined us on stage and played a couple of tunes.”  Good fun.

NYC (Kidrockers show): This was a blast.”  We played a daytime show for a bunch of hip parents and their children.”  The highlight of the show was a little girl hijacking the microphone during one of our songs and chanting “poopy!”

NYC (Bowery Ballroom): We were going on about three or four hours of sleep before this one and my voice was still in shreds, but it was a fun show and I was happy with the set.”  After the show we wandered the Lower East Side, ate cheap pizza, and suffered near bathrooms for the next day.

West Chester, Pa.: Pennsylvania has weird laws about alcohol at venues. Basically, anyone with a drink has to stand in the back of the room, far away from the stage. Seems weird and counterintuitive to having a fun concert experience. Bam Margera from “Jackass” was at the show. I hear he owns the venue.

Asbury Park, N.J.: The highlight of the Jersey show was an altercation between a pizza delivery guy and a cook at a little family-owned pizza joint outside the venue. Inside the restaurant sat a Jersey cop, a family with two young children, and the Henry Clays. I’m not sure about the details of the altercation but it was like something out of “The Sopranos.” The disgruntled delivery man came in yelling to the manager, “If I f**king see him on the f**king street, I swear we will have words and I will f**king punch him in the f**king jaw. I’m f**king serious.”  You don’t f**king f**k with me like that and get away with it.”” ”  Then the cook that he was mad at came out and I watched these guys stare each other down. Meanwhile, the cop sat there in the restaurant like nothing was happening and the family just kept on eating. Side note: this place had the biggest calzone I have ever seen and it f**king tasted f**king fantastic.

NYC (Bowery night #2): Not one of our best shows. This was definitely on the sloppy and carefree (or rather careless) side of things. Mike from Rademacher came up to play guitar on “Working Part Time,” but he seemed a drink or three over his limit. It made me laugh. One of the most valuable things we have learned on the tour: how to forget the bad shows and move on.

Washington D.C.: My parents flew into DC to see the show. It was nice to hang with family again. The Black Cat venue in D.C. is large and reminded me of the Echoplex.”  It felt like a solid show. Also: I must say that we have really hit it off with Alberta Cross (the other band on the tour). Alec, their keyboard player has learned a bunch of our tunes and has been sitting in with us for the last several shows.”  They are all great dudes and you should check them out.

Chapel Hill, N.C.: I could move to Chapel Hill. I just might one of these days. It is beautiful and full of kind people. The venue reminded me of the Echo, which made for a very comfortable set. We loved Chapel Hill so much that we slept in the next day and missed our noon set in South Carolina.

That’s all for now.”  We’ll let you know how the south treats us and what goes on at SXSW soon.