After playing an awesome set at KCRW in Santa Monica, the band rode the 15 miles back to Los Angeles to make it in time for their sound check at Molly Malone's. After having a relatively easy time with the folks at Spaceland allowing us to film in their venue, we figured that an Irish bar would be a cinch. This was not the case. After many phone calls and Max being as persuasive as he could be, they allowed us to film and gave us a copy of the board recording, for only $20, instead of the $125 they wanted to charge us for being there. Ah, L.A. Blind Pilot was the second on a bill of four bands- the other three were local Los Angeles bands- but they definately drew the biggest crowd. Pumped with the energy from the afternoon at KCRW, set list ready, they put on the tightest show so far. Israel even told a story that was funny AND audible. Ryan looked so proud. Our biking friends from Venice (Josh, Steve and Bennett) came out and Brooke flew in from Florida to visit again. Josh also generously offered to bring and shoot with a second camera for us, which was awesome.
After the show at Molly Malone's the band decided to take it easy for a few days. They didn't have any more shows scheduled and only needed to make the train back to Portland Thursday morning, so could instead take the time to sit in cafes, work on some new music and relax in general. Late Sunday, they made their way to Venice Beach, stopping to play along the Santa Monica pier with the sun setting behind them. After the band had some dinner and we hung out with Ian for a few hours in LA beore he took the train back to Portland, we met up with Bennett and Steve in Venice Beach. They both put us up in their apartments, and Buzz looked happier than she's been in a while and seemed to really warm up to Steve. It was hard to pull her out of his place.
Monday morning we all headed out of the Los Angeles area to begin the trek to San Diego. It's not as easy to have late starts when the sun sets by 6:30, so after 50 miles we all packed into a small motel in Laguna Beach. We were all looking forward to having one last night of camping, so instead of making the final push to San Diego on Tuesday, we spent the night at San Elijo State Beach with plans to do the last 25 miles on Wednesday. We and Kati spent a long time body surfing on the waves, once our bodies had adjusted to the temperature of the water. It was beautiful, and astounding that we hadn't gone swimming since the lake in Bellingham, WA, where we started this tour.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Goodbye LA and Hello San Diego!
Labels:
bike tour,
buzz,
california,
camping,
driving,
logistics,
los angeles,
shows
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