West Indian Girl

the city of sultry love 4.2.06

philly philly philly – this was our second time at the world cafe. world cafe is probably the best sounding venue for its size in the country and probably the best venue we will have played on this tour. the show was sponsored by wxpn who we have an ongoing love affair with. this is one of the few sit down venues we have played. the only other one is the ram’s head in annapolis. i like these venues just because people can hang out in comfort, eat great food, drink, and watch a band. it was quite the intimate evening with west indian girl.

as far as the show went we changed the set list up for this show and opened with 3 new songs. i love playing on that stage – the sound is perfect. my sister becky and her husband tom showed up along with one of my best friends in the world scott. during the show i had to make sure not to look at scott because i knew that if i did i would laugh. sure enough i look at him in the front and start cracking up when i’m supposed to be singing. hahah that’s how it goes with old friends… they can just make you laugh by looking at them.

big philly wighead thanks to: derek (on left) for showing up and recording the show as well as helping get the word out. derek’s girl liz for taking pics. jim rinaldi for taking pics and sending the great photos he took so i could post them in this blog. bill walsh for also taking pics. last but not least my sister and her husband for letting us stay at their house for a few nights thus saving us tons of money. their place is our official philly “safehouse”.

MARIQUEEN’S MIND

the city: i have always been bummed about playing shows in town and never being able to see the city. that all changed when we drove to world cafe from becky’s house. ian, our tour manager drove while mark lewis sat shotgun and they got us lost. philly is a beautiful city with a lot of culture. i would love to come back and not play a show and just walk around and sight see.

the venue: what a treat it was to be back. we had some world class appetizers waiting for us in our dressing room. you should’ve seen all the boys freak out over it. i, of course, was not happy about the lack of apples and throat coat… i know i know, what an ungrateful brat, right? whatever. i was very grateful for the beautiful food [especially the asparagus… mmm] buttt, i am very specific about apples and throat coat on the rider. they are essential. so far the only people that have gotten that right are the colleges [god bless their educated souls]… but i have nothing but the utmost respect and love for the world cafe… i just hope when we come back they remember the apples and throat coat ♥

the show: ugh, talk about stressed out. i walked out and there was a spotlight directly on me the WHOLE ENTIRE SET. i thought everyone was able to see the lint on my dress – i kept thinking my classy black dress now looked like the milky way galaxy and made me irrate. you know what else made me mad? how about walking out to my mic and seeing someone’s used towel and bottled water with a cap off right infront of me. really lame. thennn rob and i were having monitor problems all night long. i couldn’t hear myself at all. i thought i was screwing up left and right. most of the set was spent turning around trying to regain my composure. i really love world cafe live and the philly fans and was really bummed out that i couldn’t perform my best for them.

what were you thinking while playing: please see above.

interesting things after the show: hahahahahahah: becky, you are the shit… that’s all i have to say about that. nathan and i had an impromptu dance recital on stage after everything was packed up. other than that it wasn’t anything that wasn’t already expected. business as usual: lots of talking and greeting and toasting and hugging and loving. i love my job.

Hey blog readers – below is the first official post in this blog by robert james. i asked him if he wanted to contribute his thoughts and this is what i got. short but sweet…i guess that’s his style, thus the The James Report is born.

THE JAMES REPORT

I love the World Cafe so much I can’t put it down in words. Just imagine my spirit rising out of my body dancing on my head like an ancient leprechaun…oooyaaachacha. Thank you. The spirit is alive and kicking. Our fans in this great city of brotherly love are beautiful.

as you can see this stage is great
more greatness
lewscious live
nathan live
q live
q, rob and ian backstage
scott nicol and angela the birthday girl
the great jim rinaldi and karen
van packed – until we meet again philly

F10