New York!
Letterman was thrilling. 6:30am load in, several tense hours of set up with the surly crew, about 10 runs through We Are The Tide as the sound and then camera folks got their mixes and shots figured out, and then a ride back to the apartment from a driver who was very excited to drive George Clooney’s hot wrestler girlfriend the following week. Returning in the evening, the Popperozi was lined up at the stage door for Kristen Bell; a few of them took our picture either by accident or to humor us. We got our makeup, sat in a tiny room watching the show unfold on a tv monitor, and then were hustled onto stage during the commercial break after the comedian. The ice was broken as we all laughed at Dave’s introduction of the band as ‘Blind Spot’. The song went well, I got called out when Dave asked “who did you lay off, the organ player or the trumpet player,” and then it was over and we were at dinner. Only upon returning to Portland did it sink in what a symbolic and important performance this had actually been. To so many people, especially those I haven’t seen for many years, appearing on Letterman instantly legitimized many years of hard work. That feels really great. Here’s the performance.
