Day 9: Cleveland
Welcome
Yesterday we drove the I-76 and then merged into the I-80 and the I-480 into Cleveland.
We started off our day with a breakfast from 'Hot Bagels' on S 3rd St in Philadelphia. I had sausage and egg on an everything-bagel.
The drive was a gentle 7.5 hours and took us through the snow-covered hills and woods of Pennsylvania. I set the cruise control to 75mph and was able gain twenty minutes on the original Google maps ETA during my 5.5hr stint.
A firm grip but a relaxed wrist helps with driver endurance.
We had a smooth soundcheck once we arrived in Cleveland afterwards I walked ten minutes down the road to check out the breath-taking view of Lake Erie.
Our venue was the Beachland Ballroom in the neighbourhood of Collingwood. We were thrilled to see our friend Rachel Lawrence who was our monitor engineer for the Deathcab for Cutie tour last month. She was extremely generous to us last night and not only mixed our front of house sound but gave us all beds to sleep in at her family home.
Rachel Lawrence.
When we got back to Rachel's place after the gig we were greeted by the smell of cooked bacon, and very soon were treated to some wonderful Cleveland hospitality by her father G.L. He cooked us pancakes, French toast and omelettes at 2am.
Beth of the day was a really difficult choice as there were three extremely close competitors. Honourable mentions go to Elizabeth Kelly for playing a killing opening set with her band The Village Bicycle, and to Cooper Doten (bass player for Bad Bad Hats) for cleaning all the snow and ice off of our van while we were loading out of the gig.
The Village Bicycle with Elizabeth Kelly second from left.
Cooper Doten.
Unfortunately there can only be one Beth of the day and in this case I am delighted to award it to Rachel Lawrence who did a fantastic front of house mix for us, and hosted us and gave up her bed so we could have a good night's sleep. Great job Rachel!