March 20, 2005 - Rochester, NY

I didn't get to bet `till about 2:30am last night. I set my alarm for 6:30am . I didn't even need the alarm. No matter how tired I am I usually wake up really early. We had an 8am bus call and I needed to get up early to shave and shower. I got up and turned on ESPN on the TV to see the latest on the NCAA tournament and the NBA. I left my hotel room at about 7:30am because I don't ever wanna' be late for bus call. I've never been late for a bus call in the 6 years that I've been touring with Victor (I may have just jinxed myself). While I was walking through he lobby I noticed the ‘breakfast room' was buzzing with activity. I dropped my luggage off at the bus and went back to get some breakfast. They only had cereal and muffins and stuff like that. Kurt Storey was already there so I joined him. Victor joined us later.

There was a high school girls' volleyball tournament going on so there were a lot of female players in the ‘breakfast room'. Some of them recognized Victor so they got his autograph be fore we left.

I fell asleep on the bus on the way to Rochester . Man, I was tired!

When Danette woke me up we were about 10 minutes away from the venue. Every time we play here it's cold and it's snowing. This will be the 4 th time we've played here and, of course, it's cold and it's snowing.

We arrived in time for ‘load-in' ( noon ). The ‘load-ins' are going fast now. The gear got set up pretty fast too. The venue had a very good crew. Here's something really funny,…Derico had to vacuum his own drum riser. It was filthy! Now that was a funny site. Joseph took a picture of Derico with his phone camera. I hope to get a copy to post on the tour diary.

Before sound check Rolland Brunet from Bass camp gave me a ride to Wal-mart to pick up some things. I've been buying a particular kind of shirt from Wal-mart to perform in. I've just been tryna' get to a Wal-mart in every town to find these shirts in different colors.

Divinity got back just before sound check. She told me that her band ‘rocked it' at the showcase in Austin , TX . But she also said that she had some ‘difficulties' to deal with.

Sound check only last about a half hour. We're really into the swing of things now.

I saw my new friend, Katie, and her husband and daughter after sound check. She said that they would take me to another Wal-mart across town. Another bass camper, Paul Jones, and his lovely wife were in town from Baltimore celebrating 22 years of marriage. They rode with us to Wal-mart too. I was able to find a lot more of those shirts and some really cheap black jeans just to wear during the shows. When we got back it was almost show time. I had just enough time to tune the basses again.

The show was awesome. I have never seen Victor start a show more intensely. He was definitely ‘feelin it'.

The band was grooving all night too. I played pretty well for the most part. I haven't really been happy with my performances. I'm still tryna' figure out the whole ‘monitoring' issue for myself. I can't really hear myself and Derico onstage and my playing suffers because of that. It's been kinda' frustrating because I can't seem to find a solution for it. Victor suggested that I try ear plugs. I bought some today to give it a try. I lost one on the way to the stage ( I guess that's not a good sign). I alternated the remaining one between both ears. I'll hafta' get used to using ear plugs. It seems that I have less trouble on the faster songs than the slow ones.

The audience absolutely loved the show! The energy was high all night long. I could tell that Victor coulda' played all night long. We did a bass solo with 4 basses tonight. There was Divinity, Victor, Regi (on 10 string bass) and I. We just kinda' ad libbed something that came out pretty good.

After the show we packed up really fast. The crew was sp helpful.

On the way out of town, all 11 of us hung out at the front of the bus for awhile. As big as the bus is,…we all were up front,…together.

We coulda' got in our bunks or some of us coulda' went to the back lounge. But because of our ‘bond' and ‘unspoken' love for each other, we stayed up front TOGETHER,…crowded in very small area. At times like these, we don't hafta' say that we love each other. We just know it. We laughed and joked for awhile. We talked about the show. We complimented each other on our performances.

At times like these,…I reminded of why I love being in this band. We sometimes have our differences,….but we'd do anything for each other.

Victor, Regi, Joseph, Derico, Divinity, Saundra, Danette, Kurt and Ted,….

I love you guys.

Peace&blessings,

anthony

“Smells Like Funk”