Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday May 08, 2015 - Cincinnati, OH

Tour Blog – Show 2 – Cincinnati
May 7, 2015

The sun was shining and the temps were soaring as we headed down I-71 towards Cincinnati. We were kicking out some Mission of Burma, Led Zep Physical Graffiti covers, and Dwight Yoakam, chatting about the goings on from the previous night, and generally having a good ol’ time. Then, as if on queue, Ohio’s finest decided they didn’t like Patty pulling a little too far (ok, a lot too far) into an intersection under a red light and pulled us over. “Yes, we have traffic lights in Michigan too, and yes they work more or less the same.” He let us go (thanks Ohio!) and Patty took some serious shit about it for the next 2 hours.

We hit Cinci and made stops at a couple great record stores. I was pretty happy to find the Uncut magazine I’ve been looking for with Van Morrison on the cover and a 7 page spread on The Replacements. Patty picked up a rare God Bullies ep and Gabe got an Ork Records 7” box set that he talked himself out of and back in to about 10 times. After that it was off to our accommodations – an Air B&B apartment. This was a new experience for us, but our host Ms. Wang was very sweet and accommodating and we got a great deal with plenty of space and privacy. We had an early dinner of some fantastic indian food and a couple hours of downtime before the show.

The Comet is a really cool place on the Northside of Cincinnati. Great beer selection, friendly staff and a nice room. We got rock star parking right out front and loaded in. Openers Pike 27 were great dudes and a great band. Singer Dave and I bonded throughout the night on The Plimsouls, You Am I, the stigma of the “Americana” label and the bands that spearheaded the resurgence in the 80s. Smart tunes, great harmonies, and just enough edge.

We were up next and so happy to be playing to a full room and being able to hear what was happening. It’s a small, simple little PA with no in-house sound tech, but sometimes you get lucky and it just works great. We played much better than we did in Cleveland, which was a relief, and we even threw in a couple new tunes that haven’t seen the stage much. We’re still finding our groove, but we felt a lot better last night than we did in Cleveland.

After us were Cincinnati’s Alone At 3am. We played with them at Squallfest in Lexington last year, but that night was a little…fuzzy for us so I was looking forward to taking in their set last night. Out of the gate I was blown away. The songs are fantastic – great hooks and lyrics. Sarah’s harmonies had me completely engaged. They filled the room with an SG/Rickenbacker tandem and keys. I was bummed that they forgot their merch because I would have bought one of everything. Next time!

We ordered burritos just before the kitchen closed and loaded out. Back to our Air B&B, a couple beers and some eats, and lights out. We’re chilling this morning – drinking coffee, eating leftovers, and listening to Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold as Love. Pittsburgh tonight!!!!!!