Wednesday night in Alesandria, Italy

I am sitting in the Four Bears bar in Alesandria, which could be any Irish bar on Geary Street in SF- the worn wood walls and plaid curtains, Irish beer of course, though I go for German Hefeviesen to go with American Rodeo on TV and Irish punk rock on the PA. The food is finally Italian, prosciutto with melon and pasta.

The drive from Milan took less than two hours, though there was some traffic at the start. Once we were past the city, the scenery became pastoral, mountains in the distance, closer hills topped by ancient villas, not quite castles. WE parked in Alesandria central square which looks to be the perfect size for a soccer pitch or anti-war rally, but is now paved over with timed parking. We had about 4 hours to kill before we could check into our hotel so we walked around the central square. As is the way in Italy, the place is nearly deserted at mid-day. We chowed (not ciao'd) on foccacia pizzas, and strolled around. I must have taken over 100 pictures, just the perfect Italian experience. Shuttered windows, weathered walls, laundry lines strung between buildings, harsh light casting flat shadows noon.

While the other guys had coffee, Jeremy and I found an abandoned school compound, mature trees growing through the clay tile roofs, revolutionary graffiti on the bricks, the rotten mortar spilling out from between the blocks. Our exploration continued for another couple hours, every turn a new alley just as picturesque as the one before.

At 4:30 we moved into our hotel (Arco Balano "Rainbow"), an unbelievably romantic place with purple flowers growing up the walls and hanging over the trellis. Too bad I have to share the bed with Jeff and not my wife. Jono, Jeff and I ran through some songs as we sat in the open air lobby.

Jono took a stroll, and then I did. I was looking for a grocery store, but ended up back at the central square, which had now cooled off 10 degrees, and was completely packed with people, sipping coffee and beer and shopping, shopping, shopping. I passed this club and got a look in. It's great that it is so close to our hotel. Also, I found the grocery which was about 30 meters from our hotel. Duh. By the time I got back, it was time to go. Although we were close, we had to drive in a few circles to get there.

We loaded in and got our first look at Lorenzo's gear. Fender has sponsored him, so he has two new Twins and a SWR 550X head a 4-10 cab. Jeremy's playing a Mapex kit. Our set starts in about 15 minutes...

+++++++

OK, great show, we worked hard, but having a fun audience inspired us. I met Dr. Legume (from SG101, he will also be performing at the Surfer Joe Festival) and his wife. It was their 20th Anniversary, and they had some friends with them, so there was lots of dancing. I was worried about the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida" recently added to our set. If it didn't go over well tonight, I was going to give it the ax. But the continental audience instantly recognized it and if I may say, really dug it. I don't expect it to be too popular with Americans, because even though it was a huge radio hit, who listens to the radio? The crowd seemed to put up with our psychedelic stuff, but definitely preferred the faster, surfier stuff. We had a couple rough spots but overall it was very satisfying. Salvatore, the club owner really liked us and gave us Tees. Finally I have something to wear on St. Patrick's Day.

1 down, 10 to go!