January 30, 2003 - Solana Beach (San Diego), California

I had breakfast at the Denny's behind the hotel at about 9:30 in the morning. After I ate I took my luggage and went straight to the bus. We had an 11:30 bus call, so I was on the back of the bus early and already asleep about an hour before everybody got on the bus. When I woke up I was in Solano Beach.

It was an hour before load in and none of the loaders were there. But we got bored so we started loading the stuff in ourselves. Victor had to do a bass seminar so he was gone for a long time. After we set up I had a good 2 hours of practice on stage. It was the first chance I had to practice since we got on the road. So I got to shake off a lot of rust.

After the band got there we ran through sound check really fast and the restaurant in the venue (Belly Up) provided dinner for us. One of the employees at the club told me we were about 600 yards from the ocean. So I was determined to get to the ocean before the night was over. Victor and I took a walk to go do some shopping and after we got back I got a ride from some employees to pick up some postcards. I had her drop me off at the ocean. I was expecting a beach, but it was actually a cliff. The waves were crashing up on the cliffs and it was very dark outside. So I called my wife from the ocean and I asked her if she could hear that sound. And she said (quite enviously, I might add) "Is that the ocean??!!" And then she said she wished she was here with me. After that I just walked back to the club.

The concert went really well. It was a sell-out and the crowd was very enthusiastic. Carl Denson from Carl Denson's Tiny Universe showed up and played sax with us. He was very much into it. It was another great show and everybody was feeling good after the show. We've been getting some real positive feedback from reviews.

Earlier, I had gotten in touch with a former student of mine, Tristan Ryan, that lived in the area and we were going to try to hook up. But because she had to go to LA and wasn't going to be back till late, she was going to come by after the gig around 2:00AM. She called me right about 2:00AM, but we had just left, so I didn't get a chance to see her.

That night the bus headed out to Chico, California which is about a 10 hour ride. Most of us just stayed on the front of the bus for a couple of hours and talked. After that I crashed hard!...

peace & blessings,

anthony