9/2/00 - Smiles, Hemlock and Magic...

Hello again from high above the earth,

We performed last night in Marshfield, Wisconsin before an unforgettable crowd of beautiful fans. I don't know what is in the water there in Central Wisconsin, but the faces seemed unusually fresh and there was a sea of smiles reflecting back every time I looked out at the audience.

Wisconsin is somewhat of an island of seemingly untainted spirits who may be among the last of this country to give in to the hardness of the times. It appears that there is still some of the innocence there which preceded MTV's and the Internet's homogenization of the planet. I hope it takes a long time to reach these pearls. Down to the folks who ran the fair there, it was a reminder of how we all need to hold on to what little innocence and identitiable traits we still have. (This is where Warren Oates from the Bill Murray movie "Stripes" might chime in, "Lighten up Francis...")

We have been itching to change out a few songs in our set and have begun looking at "Love Is The Ritual" to attack next. Now, it is one of those songs that has gotten into my subconscious and I don't know about everyone else, but I need to start playing it out loud before it makes me crazy hearing it in my head all my waking hours. You know how it is when you can't get a song out of your head and it plays on a continuous loop... We are gonna shred on this one, and I look forward to getting a day when there is time for rehearsal so that we can polish it up and play it for you. Love that song.

It was an awkward trip, as far as sleep was concerned, to O'Hare from Marshfield in that several of us had early flights home. We stopped at a truck stop and had a vote on how to proceed. Since it was only 4 hours to O'Hare, should we drive a little slower and sleep as long as we can on the bus, get to O'Hare Hilton, run in to the hotel to shower and then head to the gate, or get to the hotel around 3:45 AM, check in, get a little more sleep there, then wake up and start the day again that way? The second plan won out, so there I was at 4:30 AM laying in bed with the remote control in my hand, trying to get back to sleep, but really watching Caddy Shack (again) on HBO. Before I knew it, the 5:45 AM wake-up call came and I was stumbling into the shower. Keith called at 6:15 and was already at the gate! I loaded up my gear and began my trek on foot through the hotel's underground tunnel and up again into the Labyrinth O'Hare, in search of the American counter. Mr. Fancy-pants STYX guy, breaking into a sweat as I trucked down to the terminal, through security and to the last gate on the planet. One Starbuck's mocha and I was approaching awakeness.

It is a relatively quiet flight, except for the folks with the screaming baby and the percussion case full of rattlers and a seemingly endless array of noisemakers. Having been them before, I do have a bit of empathy mixed in with my desire to see if there is a vile of hemlock or perhaps a parachute available.

It really is a challenge sometimes to not give in to the temptation of cynicism that comes from the day in, day out exposure to the public at large. Or grow too serious from the necessary visitation to the world of business required to keep our mission on track. The prize that keeps us all childlike is you, the fans, whom we hook up with at the end of the day. Every night it is brand new. For so many of you, it really is the first time, and THAT needs no interpreting, no spinning, no rationalizing, no working or manipulating. It is 100% pure. The thing that makes the miles melt away, the hotel rooms and highway meals fade from our memory, the airport drills vanish into vapor. It is magic that never ceases to amaze, never fails.

I have heard every band AND crew member agree how even on the most challenging of days, when the houselights go down and we "roll Sopranos" (we play the theme from The Sopranos as our intro music) the adrenaline flows and it is brand spanking new. Like a good night's sleep and call from an old friend, and everything else fades away for a few hours and it is just you and us. We believe it every time.

Magic!