Rock Bottom Bethesda - 4/14/06 - Bethesda, MD

Strange crowd tonight, a lot of these folks seemed stiff as a board. Maybe everyone was uptight about seeing relatives over the holiday weekend. I brought my piano to add to the acoustic full band this time, so maybe they just didn't know how to handle it all. Whatever it was, it certainly threw us off a few times.

Despite the crowd's overwhelming starch factor, we had quite a few friends/fans come out to help break the tension. Big thanks to all of them. Chris Babb was home from school on vacation and came out to the show and ended up sitting in on an impromptu version of "Crash." I also got a chance to talk some with Adam Lee, a great guitar player and a friend of mine who I played a lot of music with in high school. I hadn't seen him in years.

After the show, a couple of very sweet girls humored Babb and I and invited us back to their house in D.C. for some late night coffee and conversation. Eventually I had to leave our pow-wow around 4:30 AM so that I could drive to Richmond to meet up with some friends and go to the Strawberry Hill Races in the morning (sleep? I'll catch up with it later).

Babb and I had followed our friends to their house, so we had absolutely no idea where we were. The girls gave me directions to the highway that were great as far as navigation goes, but not-so-great as far as where I shouldn't be driving at 5 in the morning in D.C. Apparently 14th street is not really the best place to cruise during the early hours of the morn.

After driving through some really shady blocks, running a red light out of confusion and fear, and throwing up a few prayers for my safety, I thankfully found myself driving right next to the Capitol building, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. All were a sight for sore eyes and looked wonderfully lighted in the light. I turned the Meat Loaf back up and headed for Richmond...