Day One (May 3rd): New York City

And so it begins.

I landed at La Guardia around 3 PM, shuttled to Grand Central and had checked into the Seton Inn, located on East 40th near Lexington, by 4:30, which is pretty damn good time. My room at the Seton is fair-sized (i.e., I can walk around the bed without running into my luggage), so I will most probably not go stir crazy over the next nine days. I am paying far more than I wanted to, but the location is great, the front desk has been nothing but friendly and helpful and there is free wi-fi. Plus, there is an Irish bar next door to boot. What else could I need?

I spent part of the early evening walking around SoHo and Little Italy trying to decide where to eat. I landed at Grotta Azzura, one of a myriad of Italian restaurants that line Mulberry Street, Little Italy's Maginot line of defence against encroachment by Chinatown to the East.

Afterwards, I proceeded to the Bowery Ballroom on Gramercy Street (I am guessing it is in the Bowery neighbourhood, but that is just a guess albeit probably a good one), where Besnard Lakes, a Montréal group, was headlining. Now, I know that Besnard Lakes has played Ottawa before, probably at Bluesfest and possibly at Zaphod's, but I had made the effort to go to one of their shows, so why the hell not go see them in NYC? Makes sense to me. Although it took the lead singer saying something like 'How ya doin', New York?', for it to sink in: I am watching a rock show in an NYC club. And that's pretty effen cool.

I could get used to going to The Bowery. It is a two-level club, with a lounge downstairs and the actual club on ground level. The club also features a mezzanine which stretches to the sides of the room. Walking in (once I asked the barmaid in the lounge where the stage was...) I had quite a happy flashback to Barrymore's in its heyday, although, of course, B's had more than one mezzanine. The main floor is licensed for 492 people; there's probably room for another 100 on the mezzanine. Of course, all I could think of at first was just how badly we needed a venue like that in Ottawa...

The near capacity crowd gave Besnard Lakes an enthusiastic reaction. The band has a traditional line-up: drums, two guitars and a chick bassist. They played a strong, 90+ minute set of quality rock, with perhaps a bit of a 60's tinge to their sound. I am not sure I would buy their music, but I would definitely see them live again.

There were two opening acts (so a solid night of music from 9 PM to 12:30 AM, with short breaks for set changes). The first, Weeknight, a duo with one guitar player and one keyboardist/drum set player played a solid high-energy set, at times reminding me of early New Order and at other times just basically rocking out.

The second band, Gem Club, hailing from Boston and featuring two (yes, two, that's not a typo) keyboardists and a classical bass player (not a stand-up base, no need to drink) played an atmospheric set. Yes, it screamed musical school side project (I am guessing Berklee). I will give extra points to the lead keyboardist for asking for the disco ball to get turned on.

Of note, the barmaid on the main level bought/comped me a shot after I spent the last part of the evening standing at (well, OK, leaning on, as my knees were barking) her bar. I am choosing to take this as a damn good omen for the trip.

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.