'Welcome Home Tour', Part 1 - Friday, May 27 (Plymouth, Michigan)

For our first Michigan performance since the start of the tour, it was nice to play in a familiar venue, one where we knew the food and beer would both be delicious. If you have never been to Plymouth, Michigan, you might not know that they are home to Liberty Street Brewing Company, maker of award winning ales and venue for local music acts like our band. They don't distribute in bottles, but unlike most micro-breweries, they actually craft a pumpkin ale year round instead of seasonally.

Their performance space on the second floor is a long, narrow room with a low ceiling and hardwood floors; the perfect acoustical setting to deafen an audience even at medium volumes. Fortunately our prior experiences here taught us our sets go over surprisingly well even turned down low. In attendance for our homecoming was my wife Erin who captured some choice moments both frozen and kinetic. And now...pictures from the performance in black & white.

Nic and Eric singing loudly

Myself discovering the microphone

Eric and harmonica in motion

First Coney Island Hot Dog

For the record, I was born in Detroit, Michigan. But before a week ago, I had never eaten a staple Michigan food, the famous Coney Island hot dog. Reasons and excuses are not important, this is just sad. For anyone who has no clue what I'm talking about, a Coney Island hot dog is a hot dog covered in meaty, bean-less chili, diced onions, and yellow mustard. This specialty hot dog has no association with Coney Island, New York (apart from Coney Island, NY being the birthplace of the hot dog). They are actually named after a chain of restaurants started in the Detroit area called Coney Island which were run by Greek immigrants. Other specialty items on the menu usually include the gyro and the Greek salad. Feel free to check Wikipedia for the veracity of my statements as they always post the absolute truth :) - Coney Island Restaurant History and Coney Island Hot Dog History

The morning after our tour ended, Nic, Eric and I dined at 'Plato's Place' for brunch. A product of its time, 'Plato's Place' sounds more like a 60's metropolitan key party swing club, but I assure you that this 'Plato's Place' near Garden City is a black olive cutting, feta cheese dumping, 'surly' waitress staffed Greek diner. It was here that I tasted, consumed, and digested for the rest of the day, my first Coney Island hot dog.

The waitress actually joined Nic and Eric's ashamed chorus with her own incredulous stares and well-intentioned sarcasm. 'What!? You've never had a...and your from Michigan? What's wrong with you?' she exclaimed only half-jokingly.

Needless to say, another food rite-of-passage has been checked off my list.

Customized Carpet by the bathroom (they're in this for the long haul)

Freshly plated

Freshly tasted

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 – Buffalo, New York to Michigan

Before Tuesday, my only mental image of Buffalo, New York was from the Weather Channel after Buffalo had just been pummeled by a giant blizzard. This seems to happen every year. The city is directly on the shore of Lake Erie, just up the street from Niagara Falls, and like some cities in Michigan, they always seem to get the worst of the lake effect snow.

Good thing we came in May. Tuesday was actually the first sunny day we could remember having on tour in weeks. Sure it was a little windy and chilly, but the clouds were clear and the only water pelting us from above came from the misting of the Falls.

In addition to bad winter weather and a bridge to Canada, Buffalo is also home to some incredible urban architecture. I'm talking ornate sculptures, stone work, cathedral towers, and other period designs built at least a century earlier. The buildings may not be as large as Manhattan, but they are at least as decorative and impressive.

The band was to play a show at The Pearl Street Brewery, located at 76 Pearl Street. The problem is there are at least seven different '76 Pearl Streets' in Buffalo, New York. GPS doesn't know the difference. The first '76 Pearl Street' was located in a residential neighborhood about fifteen minutes outside of downtown Buffalo. The second one was on Pearl Street in downtown Buffalo, but about a mile away on a different section of Pearl Street. We asked a guy sweeping the street at the second location to point us in the right direction. How is a city allowed to have the same street address more than once within a city. They should have laws about this.

Anyway, after a fantastic and rejuvenating visit to the American side of Niagara Falls (see previous post) we head back to the Pearl Street Brewery.

Like the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA, Pearl Street Brewery has some very tasty micro-brews from porters and stouts to German style ales that maintain a distinct character within the identifiable style they are modeled after. The interior of the brewpub is as attractive as the exterior sporting polished, lightly stained hardwood floors, spacious ceilings, and a raised seating area that Tuesday converts easily into our stage. 

Exterior of Pearl Street Brewery (Yes, that is a giant draft beer spout)

Our audience draw was less satisfying. The place is said to be packed on the weekends, but Tuesday after the dinner crowd left dropped to less than a dozen people. The bartender and door man are pleasant and encouraging, but there is virtually no one at the bar by the time we end our set early around 11pm.

With presumably no floor to crash on for the night and presumably no payment coming from our 'final' show Wednesday in Ohio, we easily vote down the option of a cheap hotel room and make the executive decision to head home early.

Two drivers, several energy drinks, and six hours later, we arrive at the Kole residence in Garden City ,Michigan (home to Nic and his mother) around 5am.

Being the compassionate mother that she is, Nic's mom is ecstatic to open the door for us even as we wake her up way too early. After piling in noisily, we crash on comfortable beds and couches soundly sleeping in the knowledge that we will not be kicked out the next morning. The traveling tour is over early, but in many senses this brings great relief.

Note and money from Nic's mom left on Eric's backpack when we woke up.

Back to the Blog

Dear Loyal Readers,
My apologies for my extended hiatus from writing. After arriving home last week, I've been taking some time recovering from sickness and relaxing. I promise more exciting blog posts rounding out the rest of the band tour, our first shows back in Michigan since the start of the tour, and continuing coverage of performances and travels in general of myself and my fellow bandmates Nic and Eric. Definitely more to read today and the weeks to come. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Paul Wozniak