Lloyd Cole Small Ensemble tour Day 4 - The Magic Bag - Detroit, MI (1/28/10)

This early morning load out was a bit whiter than the others. There was already at least an inch or two on the roads outside our hotel. And there were almost complete white out conditions in the air. 40mph wind gusts turned snow into blankets. I was grateful that everyone wanted me to drive. It was my van for one, and I am a hideously nervous passenger in inclimate weather. Heart palpitations and such. We were all worried that we wouldn't arrive in Detroit until load in time which means

1) No relaxing meal or downtime of any sort
and
2) We wouldn't be able to check into our hotel until 1AM.

Well, someone in our company was obviously owed by the karma police. As I turned the ignition in the van the sun appeared and the snow just flat out stopped. What had Oakes and I nearly blowing down the street only moments before, just upped and left. It was a blessing in disguise and we were able to make it to the beautiful and sleek Westin Hotel at our planned time of 2PM.

It was a combination of general wear and tear, a little bit of earlier stress from wondering if we were going to have to go 25mph from Cleveland to Detroit that led us all to the restaurant in the hotel for some Americana lunch. We all then agreed that it was time to just hit our rooms and rest up for the hour or so that we had before load out. Oakes and I shared a room each night, and during this break we were just flipping through the tube and landed on some hideous looking film that would just provide sonic wallpaper for our heavy eyes. It was called PS I Love You and it starred Hilary Swank and that 300 guy. The only reason I mention it is the song during the opening credits was Camera Obscura's "Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken".

A song these Scottish indie-popsters wrote in direct response to "Are you ready to be heartbroken".

Alanis would call this "irony". And again, she'd be wrong.

The Magic Bag in Ferndale was only a fifteen minute drive from our hotel and we arrived right on time. Terry (the clubs in house soundman) was there to greet us and we were loaded in and set up within no more than 15 minutes. We were really starting to get this down. Here's what the Magic Bag looks like from stage.


And this during Mr. Cole's soundcheck...



Nice place! Turns out that the show sold out as well. Which was exciting to hear. After soundcheck we had about an hour or so before stage call. Matty and Oakes tried to figure out the score in the "That's what she said" game. I believe it was 9-6, Cullen at this point.


Lloyd adjourned to the balcony where the soundboard was. It was warm up there and he was really fighting not feeling well. Oakes and I ran out to an Irish pub that was no more than a block away. We smoked our cigarettes in the freezing cold evening air only to walk into the pub and find ashtrays on the bar. Matty joined us after finishing up some battery checking back at the club. We sat and chewed the fat while listening to Radiohead and The Pixies on the pub stereo. I think there was some B-52's on there too. However, as fast as we got there, it was time to go back for the show.

We got ready in our punk rock dressing room. I had a brief chance to listen to a couple of Lloyd's solo songs before we all went on. I'll tell ya, the guy could barely talk all day because his voice was so shot from the cold that he had. And he walks up there, plugs in and absolutely kills it. I really don't know how he does it. Quite impressive.

We all took the stage to a very receptive audience, including a bunch of people in the SRO section right in front of the stage that were singing along to every word. Man, his fans are great. We played a fun set and did all the running around we had to do after the show and then finally had a chance to meet a bunch of folks. Once again, everyone we got to talk to was completely welcoming and incredibly kind and friendly. We even met a few people that were at the show in Cleveland the night before. That's a cool feeling. There are three videos of us from this show. First one is set opener "No Blue Skies". Followed by a solo version of "Rattlesnakes" and finished with a short clip of "Why I Love Country Music". Check 'em out.





Can't wait to get back to The Bag!

That's what...ahhh, you get it.

We got back to the hotel around 1AM and we all immediately parted ways because we had a pretty early get-outta-dodge call in the morning. The drive to Chicago was a little longer than the other two, and Oakes had to catch a train. Had a great time in Detroit Folk City!

On to Chicago.

Stay tuned!