Day 16: Los Angeles, Pt 2
Welcome
Yesterday we played our final support show for the Deathcab for Cutie and The Postal Service tour.
Everyone had a big sleep-in to recover from our long travel/show day and it was just before midday that we headed out to meet Jake and Apple for breakfast. They took us to one of their favourite spots, the Clark Street Diner, an establishment in Hollywood that is a beautifully preserved time capsule of 1960s California design. We sat a booth and enjoyed both the atmosphere of this charming establishment and the pacing of a sit-down meal. From a very delicious looking menu I picked out the French Toast and added berries, a decision that presented me with four slabs of egg-soaked bread, a slice of butter, a small cup of maple syrup, and a good helping of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
After our meal we headed up into the Hollywood Hills to do an interview. There has been a documentary filming team following the tour for the last few weeks and yesterday we were invited to sit down and talk about our relationships with the two albums that we had been hearing performed every night.
The Hollywood Hills.
From there we headed to the bowl, loading our equipment into the back of the huge clamshell stage and walking out front to take in our first view of this iconic amphitheatre, a breathtaking experience. We began soundchecking an hour later and it didn’t take long before Gabe was thrilled with the sounds coming through the PA and we were all loving the feeling of playing inside the shell.
Jenny Lewis’s dog.
Our final show of this support tour was also the largest, and even though the bowl was still filling up when we walked out to kick off the show it was pretty nerve wracking seeing the huge crowd sprawled all the way up the hill. We all played well, though, and even though the acoustics of this shell make it very difficult to hear anything from the audience I’m told that we were warmly received.
Then we watched the show a final time, savouring each moment and enjoying what was a triumphant moment for these two bands as they celebrated their albums with the people of Los Angeles. The lighting in the clamshell was spectacular and so you can get an idea for yourself I’ll leave you this video of one of my favourite moments of the Postal Service set.