Cleveland rocks!

So I figured a blog about Cleveland was in order. To preface, on the way from Rochester, I was sent this video, which I watched on the bus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

Needless to say, my expectations of this city were not super high upon arrival. However, Yo-Yo took us starving artists out to dinner last night to a really good Vietnamese place which rivals anything in San Francisco, in my humble opinion. It was on a pretty happening little street which someone said reminded them of New Orleans. There were a lot of people and some nice looking restaurants and bars, and even a woman on the street soliciting psychic readings. Towards the end of dinner, we began to hear some noises which sounded like quick loud explosions. Gunfire? Bombs? Nope, just fireworks! A game must have just ended. I don't recall ever having been so physically close to fireworks. Those things are loud!

On my way to the bus today I boarded the elevator with two guitars in hand, joining a kindly middle aged woman who was also riding down. She asked me if I was playing at the wedding that was happening later at the hotel. I thought this was pretty funny, especially since in any other case that would most likely be the explanation for me! Not wanting to be too much of a name dropper, I said that I was playing with the Silk Road Ensemble, but when that still didn't ring any bells, I mentioned Yo-Yo Ma and then things were made clear.

The venue today was huge. Like, epic. The backstage is essentially a separate building below the stage itself. There were FREE arcade games in the room we ate in. And while I may be the youngest on this tour, I was definitely not the only one shooting virtual bad guys or cruising through San Francisco in the year 2049 on a convenient super-road that allowed me to see all of the big SF sites in one swoop, as well as launch over Lombard Street.

It was pretty filled today, even the lawn. The humidity was INSANE, but fortunately the stage was air conditioned. That's something I had never come across before. We played well, but for some reason the sound was really boomy, which made it difficult to hear. The highlight for me musically was Wu Tong's encore. Wu Tong is this dude who is something of a rock star in China, who sings beautifully and plays the Sheng (Chinese mouth organ) like a BEAST. This time, he quoted Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child in the middle of his solo, which basically blew my mind. You can see him for a minute at the beginning of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rv2vkfg9YU&feature=related

Ok. Time for sleep.