The Simpler Life!

It's Tuesday night after the show in Kelowna, BC.
We nailed it tonight. It's strange the road that leads you to where you want to be.

Monday night's show in Spokane was, for me, a Murphy's Law show! Anything that can go wrong, will.
I don't know if a feeling of over-confidence had set in, in the afterglow of the show in Eugene, where I found a certain stride, but I came crashing down to earth - metaphorically speaking. (Tonight I came crashing down to earth - literally speaking! But more about that in a moment.)

In Spokane I forgot cues, I broke a string, generally felt behind the eight ball all night long. So tonight in Kelowna, I was looking for redemption.

When I say it's funny the road you take, what I mean is that the experience in Spokane was crucial to tonight's performance - and maybe the rest of the tour.

There is no place for complacency. When I woke up today, I was struck with the idea that today was a fresh start - and how that is the beauty of each new day. A fresh palate on which to create. You can separate yourself from whatever negativity ravaged you before the period of rest that separates you from the ensuing dawn.

A few minutes after we came offstage in Spokane, the four of us gathered in Sting's dressing room while he went over his notes from the show. Each night there are things Sting notices that he wants to change, hone and refine - things that we will rehearse at the next soundcheck.

We enacted all of those points in tonight's show. We were strong and powerful. There was a rhythm to the show as one song flowed into another. We played "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" tonight, by the way.

The crucial lesson from Spokane, and a metaphor for my life, was that I need to simplify things. How can I do what I do, more simply, more efficiently, more essentially?

When I got back to my room last night, I got out my acoustic guitar and played through some of the "trouble spots". I found a new way to play one song that I may not have discovered otherwise, and I learned yet another song in a different tuning. (I use different tunings on different guitars.)

I want to be flexible. Sting's show - Sting's band, is about flexibility. Nothing stays the same. And that goes for tomorrow!

Anyway, if you're wondering about me crashing down to earth, picture this......
It's almost the end of the show. The crowd is right there with us. We're at the end of "She's Too Good For Me" and in the crashing final beat, I leap and fall straight backwards, landing on my back a few inches from a couple of big lights on the stage, my guitar clanging noisily on top of me!

The last time that happened I was with Springsteen. He reassured me he'd been there plenty of times!

I must say, I gave the crew and our tour manager William, a good laugh. Now I need to find out if it's immortalized on film. Oops!

More to come. We're having a blast. Hope to see you at one of the shows......

Shane.