May 24, 2007

I inherited a bad habit from my mother: self-sabotage. When things are going well, I usually find a way to mess it up for myself. I left Summerville, SC last night feeling very good: I had a blast meeting the Here Be Books people, playing a show for a very small but very enthusiastic crowd, and having dinner and drinks afterwards at a local pub (which happened to be showing a Red Sox/Yankees game — I’ve officially seen three Red Sox games on TV over the course of this trip — kind of weird when you consider that I haven’t watched more than three games in RI this year, since I don’t have cable at my house). Anyway, my plan was to find a super cheap motel after three hours of driving, thereby ensuring myself a good night’s sleep and a short drive to Cape Carteret this morning. Oh, no. No, thatewould’ve been unacceptable. Instead, I drove all the way to Cape Carteret, kept on driving until I reached some random city 20 miles east of it, then drove all the way back and then 30 miles west of it, then back to Cape Carteret, where I ultimately passed out in a Best Western parking lot. I went to bed at 5:30am and slept until 7. So much for a good night’s sleep. The good news is that I found the library well in advance, and I also saved the money I would’ve spent on lodging. Speaking of which, I finally found a cheap hotel at 10:30 this morning. They let me check in early for tonight, so I was able to shower and take a nap before heading over to the library. Weeeeee!!

I have to give some major props to Here Be Books and the Western Carteret Public Library for putting so much effort into these shows. Tina from HBB put at least two months into show promotion, and created some very snazzy fliers on her own dime. Pat of the WCPL coordinated the most amazing decorations I’ve ever seen at a wizard rock show. Siriusly. She apparently organized a group of local students, who helped her create some stunning wall decorations, including a near life-sized replica of the Whomping Willow and a House of Awesome seal roughly the size of a medieval shield. She also put together a table of magical candies and beverages, including 98% Healthy Pumpkin Juice and some finely detailed chocolate frogs. And perhaps most impressively, she took the time to research the hell out of wizard rock and created several scrolls with information about the movement, its history and its place within the larger HP fandom (she used bios and histories from the Wizrocklopedia site and [yes, Rita] she credited her sources).

As it turned out, her efforts served a purpose: the entire crowd of roughly 25 people was clueless about wizard rock. I asked how many people had been to a wizard rock concert before — nobody raised their hand. So I dug deeper and asked how many people had heard of Harry and the Potters — again, nobody raised their hand. It’s a weird feeling serving as an ambassador between an unknowing public and an entire cultural movement. I felt a little intimidated and maybe paid a little too much attention to the crowd. I hope they enjoyed it. One highlight came after the show. A mother and her approximately 10 year old son approached me, and it turned out that the boy was just getting into learning how to play guitar and was looking to wizard rock for inspiration. How effing cool is that? To think that I started guitar lessons with a guy whose favorite band was Candlebox, and this little guy would be starting off with wrock as his primary influence — whoa. The potential for awesomeness is out of control.

So, on to Virginia Beach tomorrow! It’s crazy to think that this tour is just about over. It’s been quite a trip. Oh shit, South Park is on! GTG. TTYL! LOLZ!!!!!!111!!111!1