Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Today Show

I realize I'm a bit behind on the blogging. Life just barrels onward, and I can't seem to catch my breath. Having a great time though.

So, a couple weeks ago we played The Today Show (which along with The Tonight Show, completes the set for us, I suppose). The concert took place smack dab in the middle of Rockefeller Square, with approximately 12,000 people shoehorned in there, which was sort of like dropping the entire Pacific ocean into a drinking glass.

I got to play with the brand new, delicious keyboards that Roland supplied me with, in exchange for my Miley-related face. They're much easier to play than my old keyboards, with the added benefit of making Schmid Island look like a totally pro vacation destination.

Mike - stunned by the keyboard greatness.
Nate - bored behind his drumset.

This was another whirlwind trip for us. We got in late at night, and the morning of the show, we had to soundcheck at 5am. Miley only got a few hours of sleep, but of course she was still brilliant. And of course, so were we. That's what we get paid for. The complaining is a free bonus (I like to call it "added value").

In the dressing room, they had a big spread of donuts, fruit and sandwiches. So of course, I had three donuts. When the show began, I had a stomach ache (what am I, five? "Mikey can't resist the candy", eh?).

Jaco is constantly asking me to take his picture


But this time he returned the favor.
I'm apparently ready to fake pounce, or something.

Nate and I became fast friends. If you happen to have the show Tivo'd, you can see at the beginning of Miley's dressing room interview, Nate and I are sitting on the couch behind her, having some fun with his iPhone. He had installed the Magic 8-Ball application and we were asking it some questions (at the most inappropriate possible time). First, "will we be a complete trainwreck on stage?" It's answer: "Of course!" Second, Nate asked, "will I be responsible for this?" The ball replied, "Absolutely not." So Nate was off scot-free, but who was going to ruin the show?

We went back out to the stage and played our faces off. It was a pretty typical show: Kay and Nadia shook their little booties, I held down the Island, Nate banged on some stuff, Jamie and Jaco got way too much camera time, Vashon intimidated little girls, Stacy looked on with a broken arm and a tear in his eye, and Miley belted like the charismatic little rockstar she is.



Turns out the only thing that went wrong is that the host didn't know we were playing another song, and tried to throw to commercial. But really, 8-Ball -- "train wreck?" That may be pushing it.

Before the flight home, Nate bought me a book of Sudoku, as we were talking about how I didn't understand the mass cultural fascination with it. Of course, I also thought it was about math, and we all know how I run screaming in the other direction when confronted with simple addition. Nate explained that there is no math involved, and that even a total knob-monkey like myself could understand it. I was addicted within five minutes, and spent a good part of my return flight filling in puzzles. The rest of the time was spent watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on my iPod, attempting to sleep with my head rolling from side to side, and holding those Terra Blue chips up to the light to admire the special pearlescent chemical compound that I probably shouldn't be eating.


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11 comments:

  1. Uhh, Tonight Show??? Are you speaking of a show in the near future or of the one a few months back? Holy crap "The Today Show" was exciting to watch. I liked the GMA set better, but you can't beat the intensity of all those people crammed into such a small area just for you guys. That kid knocks me out.

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  2. I gotta say, I'm personally not a big fan of miley cyrus/ hannah montana (i don't get the whole two person thing)but that girl can work her butt off. not only her though, the whole crew, like you and all the other people on stage with her. It's ridiculous! And all those "pictures" that people apparently leaked. i mean come on give her a break. i saw this video on youtube.com/nutz983 which is a radio station, and they had a full on interview with the hacker who has her pictures. it was crazy how easily people can hack into your email. I don' know. i mean maybe it was just a set up. but still.
    ok well this message is becoming really off topic. but i have to VENT!
    haha
    love,
    Victoria

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  3. I work for JetBlue, and can honestly and truthfully tell you that Terra Blues are made from naturally blue potatoes. Fear not about 'pearlescent chemical compounds' in those chips!!!

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  4. Oh, I get it now, der! Today Show, Tonight Show. But she should play the Tonight Show again or Carson Daly to help generate a new wave of sales.

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  5. I was impressed with the way the dancers wove their way through the crowd while doin' their thing to get to the stage. Cool! And you guys sounded great. Now if we could just get Miley to take some longer excursions to Schmid Island.

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  6. Dude, Roland gave you new keyboards? Sweet. So is that like for keeps, or was it just for the TV appearance.

    Either way, not a bad perk.

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  7. haha Mike, I love this blog. You always have some funny/interesting story to tell us. And there's no better island than Schmid Island.

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  8. ha ha i love your blog. it always puts a smile on my face when i see a new post. =D just like Garbowsky's did when his blog was public. but sadily i cant read his anymore, but the good thing is i read yours more and more. i love reading the blogs of musicians out on the road with the famous people. its pretty interesting.

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  9. Wow, Cool photos and blog!

    JACO is so ADORABLE, and he seems to have a great time on stage. All you guys are a joy to watch and listen to, a real asset to Ms. Cyrus.

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  10. Why must you be such a great writer? You make it very addicting to read about all the going-on's in your life! Keep up the awsome blog's/video's/picture's!

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  11. A tad late for me to comment
    but I have to say that I was there and this blog sounds strangely similar to my trip out to see you guys.
    We flew to NYC despite living in massachusetts.And it was also jetblue,though I had no thought of going close to the terra blues.I settled for the disgusting little processed cookies.
    I was pretty amused through the entire ride to and from,though I can say that my plane ride was much quicker than yours.
    And I was one of the insane people that actually ventured to Rockefeller for the performance.We walked a couple blocks at 3am to get in line,we even passed a few hobos sleeping on benches which was interesting.
    Sadly though,we ended up with a spot across the street,all the way in the back.
    The only highlight for me,was seeing you,kay,jaco,and the rest of the crew of band and dancers coming out of that massive van at 5am.I felt so overjoyed that I actually tried screaming your name,but I was drowned out by the miley fans screaming for mandy.Everyone around me kind of stared at me when I was more excited for you guys than I was for Miley and Mandy.
    I watched the soundcheck and listened to the actual show.Thanks to the wonderful little kids on the parents shoulders and the amazing tweens holding up signs,my view consisted of a little 8 year old's head.
    From what I tried to see and what I heard,you were all amazing.So good job.Thats amazing that you got a new keyboard,and I love the pictures.
    I hope all is well,and it seems like you had a better Today Show experience than I ever had.

    P.S.Your blogs are amazing,they make me smile everytime I read a post.:)

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