After being home for 40 hours, June 25th found us flying back up to Boston for another FRFF Preview show. But first. A nap. With Jake Bush’s cat… staring… at us… 
Rabbits generally herald good gigs. It is their way. And in this case my superstition definitely held true. Shortly after seeing this varmint we were soundchecking at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA – and doing one of my favourite shows of the FRFF Preview tour so far!
ilyAIMY is joined by Anna on mandolin and Jake Bush on accordion.
I’m so exhausted I can barely focus. We got home at around 2 this morning, then it’s been a long day at HMT setting up banjos and mandolins and a charango. I feel it in my wrists and in my fingers and the temperatures have sapped my will to Live. We’re playing the 4th of July celebration in Takoma Park tomorrow (IF it doesn’t rain) and I’m dreading the temperatures, but excited to play, but worried that it’ll rain, but slightly wishing it’d rain… financially I’ve taken too much of a hit from gig cancelations recently so REALLY I need this gig to go forth and conquer, but it should be about 94 degrees when we take the stage and a covered stage will trap the heat, and an uncovered stage will fry us. It may be the most static ilyAIMY set since that infamous Faerie Festival.
Greg Klyma Dave Dersham one of my favourite Lizard Lounge regulars, Kevin O’Neil, Bethel Steel! the winner of the night, Nicholas Bogosian.
Last night was a fun show. We played the 98 Rock Noise in the Basement local rock series at Baltimore SoundStage and had a good time. I like watching people go from slightly curious as we lug our instruments on stage to incredulous to finally being transported by the rockin’. We probably had one of the smallest turnouts but one of the biggest crowds of any of the bands as people crowded around to see what the HELL was going on. It didn’t translate into much from the door, and it didn’t generate a lot of CD sales, but it WAS a lot of fun. Shows like that probably won’t ever be huge for us, but I enjoy getting up on a loud stage and rocking out – though I’ve learned I probably always need an amp of my own. Videos show that almost everything was actually mixed pretty decently in the house, but I couldn’t hear anything on stage. Unfortunately, what seems to have been mixed pretty poorly was the percussion, and the band is almost 50% percussion, especially during the heavy sets… but people seemed to enjoy it, even if they didn’t seem to precisely know what was going on…
After the show, hunting for something to eat, we ran across more storm aftermath with closed McDonaldses, closed streets, closed exits… construction and destruction kept us out till around 1.30 or so after leaving the city shortly after midnight. S’no good.
July 2nd found ilyAIMY performing at Baltimore SoundStage for 98 Rock’s Noise in the Basement. But our first task was parking! A fun aspect of parking across the street from the Aquarium is that the parking icons are all sea beesties. We parked on the octopus floor, of course. Loading into Baltimore SoundStage in Baltimore, MD for ilyAIMY at 98 Rock’s Noise in the Basement. Though these sorts of stages will probably never be our native environment, it’s REALLY fun to play a rock show every once in a while. The bartender at Baltimore SoundStage is jaded and hard on the bands… he Loved us though. He said we were a breath of fresh air and one of the only bands he’s ever clapped for. Huzzah moustache man! Huzzah! A welcome surprise – my friend Eliza Doering’s The Penny Black was the headlining act of the night – and they were marvelous with Eliza’s brother, on lead guitar, stealing the show. Great player, subtle and powerful.
