Show 3-Salt Lake City..

Oh boy! I'm sitting in a comfy bed in Boulder Co. right now thinking back on my last couple of days in beautiful Salt Lake City. We arrived Late morning and a few of us had a craving for some exercise after a long ride on the bus. So Imogen, Cara, Tim and I got geared up and headed out on the SLC streets for A nice Jog. Tim was sporting a beautiful peach, purple and green jumper circa 1985 that made him look quite sporty. Cara found some directions to a canyon nearby by so we weren't wandering aimlessly. We passed the beautiful temples in downtown and some really cute little parks. Our intuition (and map) guided us up into a beautiful canyon preserve just outside of the city. For some reason about a mile and a half in i stopped running, it triggered a chain reaction and suddenly we were all on a nice walk in the woods. Immi noticed a small trail that led uphill so we trekked upwards for a better view. It was very pretty. Nice to be in the stillness of nature after several months of hustle and bustle. We continued on to a fairly high point where we could see the luminescent glow of SLC. It reminded me of Phoenix in its expansive out-streched grid. It wasn't long before we realized we should probably make our way back. We saw no return trail ahead and we were too deep to turn back. Luckily a biker passed and Immi asked directions out. We were told that we were better off turning back seeing that it was almost dark. We weren't having it. We decided to go straight down a fairly steep hill. Some light slips but no falls and we were back on level ground headed toward the city again. Seconds later a few deer trotted by then stopped to observe us just as we were observing them. Quit a special moment. It took us some more downhill jogging (some of it backwards) to get back to town just before dark. We wandered around the beautiful temple nearby and noticed a dreamy Christmas light covered tree.  What a nice journey on our day off...

Show 3. The day began like most show days. A 12 o'clock call to the bus (11:45 according to Derek our tour manager)..A short drive to the venue where we parked and began to load in. The Venue in SLC was closer to the crusty rock clubs i'm used to playing. There is a layer of bar grime on most things and the downstairs green room has a beautiful black and red motif the says the words "just party, nobody cares"...I felt rather good about the nights show seeing that I had just gotten passed two of the most nerve wracking shows of my life. Everything went as planned through sound check. Tom our FOH guy helped tune in everything with laser precision. Before I knew it, the doors were opened and i could hear the footsteps of the crowd above as i sat in the green room in the basement. I hung with tim and chris chatting away about life and such. Show-time came again, and Imogen gracefully pranced on stage to a roaring crowd to introduce me. She mentions I record i had done years ago with japanese vocalist Coppe'.. I remembered how grateful i am to have worked with her and all of the crazy opportunities doing that record opened up for me. I walked up and began to play. The crowd was warm. I felt more relaxed this time. It was easy to talk to the crowd and open up a bit. This made it quit fun. I started "Hookie" with my Electro Harmonix looper. It was crazy hearing that much low end coming out of the subs. It made avery tiny variation in volume seem huge, like kick drums through a magnifying glass. This made the process of building the loops a little shaky but at least i did it once. I'll just have to keep it up to get it tighter. Then the last song, "The War is Over".. this was fun because its kind of a no brainer. So much fun in fact that i began dancing a little bit too much to offer me breath to sing. I became very winded and lost a bunch of lyrics, but oh well. It was fun to say the least. Before i knew it my show was over and it was time for the genius Tim Exile once again. The crowd seemed to love it. The night was going well. 

  Then came the main attraction. The beautiful talented Imogen Heap hopped on stage to a roaring crowd once again. She commanded the vibe of the crowd despite some loud drunk chatters in the back. One of the audience members yelled "Shut the Fuck Up!!" to the noisy chatters.. Imogen responded "I couldn't have said it better myself.." this inspired a great laugh from the audience. The show seemed to be going the best so far. The club was a little strange in its layout, it had seating up and behind imogen which must have felt strange. We played, getting off and on stage following Imogen's lead. Before I knew it the last song arrived without too much of a hitch. I was grateful once again to be sharing a stage with such talent. Imogen ended with a wicked Key-Tar solo for the pre encore ending. The crowd loved it. Tim, Chris and my work on stage was done for the night. Imogen re-entered the stage for the encore. She played the beautiful "hide and seek" to a dripping crowd. They hung on to every note like monks praying at mass. It was beautiful. I walked out to the merch table to meet some of the concert goers. Imogen played two more to round out the show. The crowd cheered a final cheer to end the night. Sitting at the merch booth i encountered some of the loveliest complimentary fans i have ever met. People love my music and bought cds and shirts..it was amazing. What an energy booster. A group of people drove all the way out from Phoenix to see imogen and they loved it. What a grand time. I must have signed 50 cd's by the end of the night. I had never done this before. I admit i didn't mind the appreciation at all. As good things must pass so did this. The fans left and it was time pack up. What a night. I love Salt Lake City now. I look forward to coming back.  On the bus we watched Batman Dark Night as we drove in the dark night. I fell asleep before the end with a cup in my lap. Somehow i managed not to spill it. Imogen awoke me so i could stumble into my bunk for the night.. then i slept.. and now i am here. thank you everything for everything.