Day 23: Burlington, VT
Welcome
Yesterday we played our first ever show in Vermont.
Mr Bus said it had been a rough drive on the way into Burlington, windy roads, steep pitches, and he was worried we would be grumpy with him in the morning. The reality of it is that no one noticed a thing for Mr Bus drives Blue Paradise with the gentlest caress of the pedals; you could leave a flute of champagne on the roof before you went to sleep and find it undisturbed the next day. Or perhaps a Mimosa.
I ate breakfast aboard the bus, a layered feast of granola, plum, nectarine, banana, yoghurt, nuts, and milk, served on Tristan’s finest melamine.
We were in northwestern Vermont in the city of South Burlington, which is just a few kilometres east of regular Burlington. I’m unsure why they separate cities, but I completely respect their decisions. Our driver had laid us up behind the venue, a nondescript building that could be described as square, and we had a couple of hours to wait until someone would arrive to open the doors for us. Two of the members of the band decided to pass the time by leaving the bus. One of them went to a nearby mall to pick up some essential supplies from the pharmacy, a mall that she described as “having all the shops”. I wish I had witnessed this piece of fine piece of commercial infrastructure, but I wanted to see the lake and some idyllic Vermont scenery.
Our venue, Higher Ground.
It was a solid hour to walk there, a walk between two cities that was mostly along a major highway and not particularly scenic, but once I arrived at the waterfront my hike along the hot pavement of Highway 2 was made worthwhile. Lake Champlain was broad and blue, surrounded by deep green forested hills, and carried the white sails of pleasure craft, handsome yachts that seemed to be finding plenty of breeze to play in. I was impressed with the waterfront facilities of Lake Champlain, namely the Lakefront Park which had green space for picnicking and a broad boardwalk for strollers. The piece of public infrastructure that really improved my day though, was the swing seat that I occupied for a time, a park bench suspended by chains that brought me great levels of joy from its gentle oscillating motion and access to the cooling lakeside breeze.
Back at the bus Tristan was working hard on his laptop, deadlines piling up on his desk as he furiously clicked and dragged his way around the interface of Adobe Premier Pro. I arrived back just in time to drop trailer and we began our afternoon of lifting, assembling, and testing our equipment, a process in which we consider ourselves very proficient by this point in our careers. The interior of this venue was similar to the outside – square, like the inside of a cuboid should be, and not particularly exciting to look at under the harsh blue, fluorescent work lights. The ceilings were covered in absorbent material and there was excellent acoustic performance both on stage and in the room – no high frequency reflections or errant bass notes to worry about here. These are the things that keep Gabe up at night and we were glad to see him relaxed and happy.
Our green room had a balcony with a birds-eye view of the stage, and we enjoyed having this comfortable vantage point as we watched Princess Chelsea and the Dream Warriors engage heavily with their instruments, breaking free of from the delicate moments in their set with demonic eruptions of noise.
We seem to be on a steady streak of great gigs and last night was my personal favourite of the tour. I will never publicly admit that I make any mistakes when I play music, but I will say that last night felt especially clean, and I enjoyed myself all the more because of it. Everyone in the band played beautifully and it was pure fun to be up on stage. The audience were content to sit silently between songs and seemed very attentive. This had a couple of exceptions though – a lone voice screamed into the air “your bangs are hot Liz!”. As we all know it’s not easy taking care of bangs, especially on tour, and the acknowledgment was appreciated. “It’s like having a pet” was the reply from Liz.
Princess Chelsea were back with us on the bus after a few nights on their own and they brought with them a Nintendo Switch. The couches in Blue Paradise’s front lounge were crowded with a bubbly group of musicians winding down after a successful show, a perfect way to end our first night in Vermont.