Day 15: Columbus, OH
Welcome
Yesterday we played in the capital city of the Midwest, Columbus, Ohio.
I woke at 10am to the bump and rumble that indicated that we were yet to arrive in Columbus. It had been a long drive through the night, nearly four hundred miles to boot and we were still surrounded by vast fields of corn and canola. Mr Bus pulled off the highway to fuel up and I took it as a safe opportunity to put together a breakfast, a bowl of coconut granola, plum, kiwifruit, and banana, Greek yoghurt, and milk. The bowl was very small, so I chased my first breakfast with another identical breakfast, enjoying the diffused morning light coming through Placid Thunder’s tinted windows and watching truckers going about the business of cleaning and maintaining their vehicles.
We continued east on I70 and soon entered the central Ohio judder bar system, a regular series of bumps and ledges designed to inhibit the speed and smoothness of motorists on this stretch of road. Hot and cold liquids flew through the air, and I had to cover my coffee mug and wolf down the rest of my food to prevent any further spillage.
Mr Bus maneuvers us around a tight corner.
At around 11am we parked around the back of the venue and Mr Bus went about his morning routine, buttoning the window covers on, changing the rubbish bins, and filling in his logbook. Tristan and I headed out for a run along the Scioto Greenway Trail, a route that began on a beautifully manicured section of riverfront, a collection of parks and lawns bordered by wild and diverse foliage that is known as the Scioto Mile. About a mile later this gem of the city abruptly ended, and our jog moved into a less beautiful setting of highways and interstate overpasses. It was hot out but this time we had preloaded with Powerade and we made it back to the bus under our own steam.
It was time to load into the venue. The equipment went inside through a nondescript back door and up the freight elevator, emerging in a service corridor where it was rolled up a long ramp to the stage. Our cases and bags now looked out into a long hall, old wooden floorboards surrounded on three sides by tall banks of seating and a high ceiling that supported rows of wrought iron chandeliers. Intricate plasterwork provided the detailing for the room, painted gold and intensifying around the stage culminating in a grand proscenium arch that spanned the enormous breadth of the stage. This venue was the Athenaum, the great hall of this former Masonic temple, once home to the furtive rites and rituals of one of the world’s great secret societies, a brotherhood that remains shrouded in mystery to this very day.
The Athenaum had a lot of things going for it. I’m going to use bullet points to illustrate this list because I think it’s a healthy practise.
There was plenty of space on stage.
There was also plenty of space in our green room could have been a venue in itself with palatially high ceilings, and enough large dining tables that everyone could claim two each for themselves.
There was a large ballroom downstairs that we could dance in if we got the itch.
They supplied us with a state-of-the-art power board with room for eight plugs.
There was a tiny kitten called Toki who was very handsome and brave.
The bathrooms were fitted out with beautiful American Standard faucets, manually operated devices of polished chrome, with imitation teak capping for the taps.
It was a tricky room, we discovered very quickly after we began making the noises of a soundcheck. Gabe would have his work cut out for him in this huge echoey chamber, but it felt surprisingly good up on the stage, the space somehow remaining an acoustically isolated portion of the hall.
Our evening was leisurely. Now that we were playing later in the day, we had plenty of time for dinner and I walked with Tristan and Jon to a nearby restaurant where we sat down patiently with our food. On the way back we discovered a serene sunken garden with
A waterfall.
A Koi pond.
Lovely bonsai trees.
A path.
The show began at 8pm and it was an excellent evening of music kicked off by the fiery temperaments of the seven members of Princess Chelsea. Hearts and minds were captured by their fine performance, and they left the stage to a rapturous applause.
The Beths were warmly welcomed by the room full of Columbiaks and it could be presumed that they were happy to see us after such a long absence from this fine city. We have had nothing but great shows in Columbus and it pleases me greatly to utter an inflammatory statement such as that with which I began this newsletter, as I know I might warm the hearts of the scores of people that came to support us last night. As we expected there were some challenges with the acoustics of the hall, but it didn’t stop us enjoying our time up on stage. The heckling was strong and and frequent, passionate and jovial, and we felt seen and appreciated by this lovely crowd.
Tristan has spent the last couple of days welded to his laptop and I happy to say that he has finally emerged with a new piece of video content. Please enjoy the latest installment of The Beths tour vlogs, and don’t forget to hit that like button 👍.