It is 3:00 , we are in Seattle outside the Venue. There are a few people in line already?

We walked around, saw Bobbie and Gord D. . Ricky asked if we are tired of the road yet , ‘Yep, we go home tomorrow’. We went for lunch at Eattes, not bad food, a little expensive.

Please please please, do not since O’Canada when you are in the states at a Hip show.

We woke at 8;30 to a nice day. It has been getting colder, jeans and coat weather now.

It is an uneventful trip, Mark and I are both burnt out, and Mark more so for the amount of miles he has done. A big thanks to Mark for driving, he could have gone home but he kept his commitment.
A nice trip past the sand dunes and we say goodbye to the Pacific Ocean for now. It is a nice 2 hour drive to Portland where we find a Comp USA, no sales tax!

Portland is always under construction, it is a city on the move. We can arrive at the Roseland at 3pm and talk to Henry (Cotton Tech) for about 20 minutes. He is always entertaining to talk to. Meet Mike, (Johnny’s drum tech) He has been reading our blogs and wanted to meet us. Rickey looks board, we contemplate on making a disturbance to give him something to do, but we leave looking for someplace to eat. We finally find the Thirsty Lion and have a couple of beers and a burger.

New above grade rapid transit system being built here, Vancouver should take a lesson from Portland.

We meet another taper Josh, that does audio and video. It is his first time taping the Hip, and I will be grabbing his footage for a future DVD.

Mark is dead center running 2 cameras. I am on the left and Josh is on the floor.

Cotton tech talks to me before the show and says ‘So you guys think I have a Heart!’ I guess he is reading our blogs now. He is a funny guy!

Sadies go on at 8, standard set except they bring a trumpet player on stage to help with a song. Over all they had a strong set.

The Hip take the stage just after 9, and the first 9 songs are the same as the previous night, arrrggg. Then during Meridian I hear a saxophone. From where I am sitting I can not see anyone else on the stage, but wow . The saxophone really added a new dimension to the rest of the set! I will have to wait to see Mark’s angle so I can see where the saxophone player was.

01 - In View
02 - New Orleans Is Sinking
03 - Drop Off
04 - ‘It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken’
05 - Family Band
06 - Ahead By A Century
07 - Yer Not The Ocean
08 - Music @ Work
09 - World Container
10 - Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin’ Man
11 - Putting Down
12 - At The Hundredth Meridian
13 - Bobcaygeon
14 - The Kids Don’t Get It
15 - Springtime In Vienna
16 - Wheat Kings
17 - The Lonely End Of The Rink
18 - Blow at high Dough

19 - So Hard Done By
20 - COVER - “Don’t Worry Baby” - Los Lobos
21 - Poets

* Special Guest - Steve Berlin - Saxophone

It was a standard set till we heard a Saxophone during Meridian. Then this turned into a top 10 show!

Not a nice day in the city by the bay.

We ventured out around noon, heading to Amoeba Music on Haight St. It was a bit of a walk from our hotel, and with the hills in this city, it made for a good work out. The trip would have been ok if it did not start to rain. It was a very cold rain.

We started to pass the hippie stores, lots of wanta be hippies around. Amoeba Music was cool, posters from past Filmore shows all over the walls and ceiling. Lots and lots of vinyl, even 45’s. I took a look for a few different things while mark picked up a few vinyl records he was looking for, one being the Sadies.

It is still raining so we look for a place to eat, lots of vegan to select from. We spot a Burger and Brewery and head in. Very coll atmosphere with lots of beers on the menu. Mark and I both pick the Sara’s Ruby Mild, very tasty.

With our bellies full we venture out for our walk back, still raining! We take shelter at a buss stop, and then decide to cross the road to a phone booth to call a cab. Still only on 7 digit dialing here. A cab comes a long and we flag it down. The cabbie got into a conversation on how he was trying to move to Canada but he did not have enough money. He also went on about ow he is turning 55 this year and that young girls do not consider him attractive anymore. Finally we got back to our hotel, we dried out and got ready for the show.

We walked down the few blocks to the Filmore and ran into Steve, a taper I meet on the last tour. He was there with his son in front of the line. Nick and his wife showed up and asked me to save a place at the front, sure no problem. The Filmore is so laid back, and very professional at the same time. We went to the pat down, but when the guy asked what was in my bag, I said recording gear, he said cool and just let me pass.

We were greeted at the top of the stairs by another fellow that was just there to Welcome People to the Filmore. There was the barrel of apples, I did not try one.. What a cool place, I just went WOW when I entered into the main hall.

I headed up front to hold a place for Nick and his wife. He comes in and then I head back and setup my gear. Only audio taping tonight. The Sadies put on a standard set. The Hip did a similar set from the previous night, and the cover was Bob Dylan’s Gotta Go. Mark mentioned that they played it during the pre music, that was strange, bands do not usually do that.

Mark, (The Sound Tech) brings his own Cappuccino machine to the show. That is cool!

I got a text message from Tony saying he made it back to Bellingham airport. Good to hear he made it back, and I hope the best for him.

We head back to the hotel and order a pizza, then fell asleep pretty quickly.

With our troubles behind us we head toward the 101. We stop for fuel and notice that things are getting greener the closer we get to the water. 365 miles to San Francisco.

Just read Chris’s comment on Marks blog, it has help cheer us up.

We stopped for lunch at 2pm at the Roadhouse Steakhouse. We get peanuts on the table and we throw the shells on the floor, felt like I was at a hockey game. Crunch crunch as we walk out.

Caught up with a few of my favorite podcasts on the trip. Twit and Off the Hook.

Twit is talking about the movie Office Space and another movie by Mike Judge called Idiocracy.

100 miles out of San Francisco, the rolling hills make the drive very peaceful. Passed a few garlic farms, we rolled down the windows but could not smell anything.

Just passed through San Jose. Saw Yahoo, Sun, McaFee and Oracle head offices. Did not see any sharks.

We drive by the venue, and pick a the Best Western up the street. Fair prices, and they have high speed internet.

We had a big lunch so we just head out and grab a couple of beers at the local grocery store and head back to the hotel. We fall asleep quickly.