02-28-10 Atlanta GA: 1742 hrs. Sitting on the bus in the back of the venue. Shows have been going well. Last night, I was in Birmingham, AL. It was a good show. Of all the recent shows, it was Birmingham that generated the most mail, people thanking me for making the stop there. To be fair, it wasn’t my choice in that the agent booked the tour and I am happy for a show anywhere anyone will show up. Birmingham was on the last tour as well and it was a good show. Perhaps the city doesn’t get much in the way of alternative fare. I don’t know but the audience was great and I am glad that I was able to do the show. Since last week, it’s been a show a night pretty much. Houston, Dallas, Little Rock, New Orleans and Birmingham. I am getting in good workouts and the shows and am feeling pretty good.
I tried but failed to see much of the summit meeting at Blair House last week. I looked for it on C-SPAN as it was happening but we couldn’t seem to find it so we had to watch the CNN version which was only in part. There were moments but overall, it seemed to me just a run through of the talking points from either side and not a lot happening. I am glad that everyone got in the same room and was at least civil to each other. I wish I could be optimistic about what will come of that get together but I don’t see anything coming out of it but shuffling of paper. Towards the end of the thing, it occurred to me that they could have one of those a week and nothing would come of it. I don’t like coming to conclusions like that. I will try to watch the whole thing replay if I can.
After the New Orleans show, I went down the street and watch Roky Erickson’s set. It was great to see him with his band. The venue was packed and people were into it. I didn’t hear any new songs. I knew there is a new album coming out soon. I can’t wait to hear it. Right when Rok played his last song, it was bus call and I had to leave but feel lucky that I was able to see the man play. Reverend Horton Heat was playing in town as well. I couldn’t catch any of his set unfortunately. He’s great.
I have been watching a lot of news over the last few days, trying to catch up with things. The Christiane Amanpour interview with Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak a few hours ago was extremely interesting. She was pressing him pretty hard on everything and he wasn’t giving any ground. It was a stalemate but it made me think he knows more than what he’s telling, it’s not as if he’s going to blurt out classified information but his non-answers were answers in themselves.
I am looking forward to the FL shows and the east coast run. I am on soon here in Atlanta. It’s always a good crowd, we’ll see how many show up on a Sunday night. Ok, time to get in the venue. Thanks for reading this. Henry