Jennifer O’Connor Tour Diary, Entry #4
Friday, December 1, 2006
I’ve been home from the Portastatic and Mountain Goats tours for about 2 weeks now, and I never did tell you how the rest of the tour went. I’m sorry.
When I left off we were on our way to Austin. The Austin show was really great, but even more importantly, we ate BBQ the afternoon after we played with Sally Crewe.
On Halloween we played in Baton Rouge. I have amazing photos of John D in a Batman costume, but I swore I wouldn’t post them. So, here’s a pic of me (who didn’t dress up) and Matt Sutton (guitar) as “Old Man Boogie.”
Another big highlight was Sarasota, FL. I went to high schoool in the next town over — Bradenton — so it was pretty cool to play at New College in Sarasota. My parents came to the show and we totally rocked their socks off. This was also the first night that Jon Langmead played drums with the Mountain Goats. He played on the last 2 songs of the night: “See America Right” and “Houseguest.”
Here’s a photo of them getting down with Jon Darnielle pointing right at me because he saw me jumping around in the audience, taking pictures like a maniac. He had just broken a string because they were rocking so hard.
The last show of the tour (for us) was in Columbia, South Carolina. It was my birthday and one of the best shows I think I’ve ever played. It was certainly one of the most fun.
We had some cake, goofed off and watched Animal House backstage before the show.
Right after we finished playing, we got in the van and drove overnight (well,to be fair, Jon and Matt did most of the driving), so that I could be back to sing with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Patti Smith at the Bob Dylan tribute at Lincoln Center.
I was too scared to take out my camera and take pictures this night (I don’t know why because every one else was), but it was a truly mind-blowing experience, one I won’t soon forget.
Now, I’m back home in Brooklyn, NY trying to adjust to life outside the van — getting ready for the holidays, writing some new songs, preparing for the next round of touring (with Kevin Devine in late Jan/Feb), and of course, taking pictures of myself wearing my new winter hat in my living room.
Love and happy holidays!