It’s been quite a week – I’ve been visiting in Rochester since Wednesday and tomorrow I head back to Boston. As an aside, my visa officially arrived on Tuesday. Finally. Anyways.
The Drive.
On Wednesday, I hopped in my car and drove from Boston to Rochester. The drive is about six hours, which isn’t insufferable but definitely not something I would just do for kicks. The time passed quite a bit quicker courtesy of some Sherlock Holmes audio-books. The rest was a mix of radio static, NPR, and the new Vampire Weekend album (a wonderful remix of “Cousins” can be found at the bottom of this post).
Got in on Wednesday afternoon and first of all: why on earth does it cost money to park on the U of R campus for 2 hours? I had to buy an “all-day” parking pass for $4. I was bitter about that, and refused to pay for a permit after Wednesday. Today is Saturday, and I’ve since accumulated 3 parking tickets. I’m not paying them.
Anyway, Pat from RIPROC (look right) dropped off 150 fliers that afternoon and they were all gone by the next morning. Thursday night was a pretty empty night in terms of other events, and it was still the first week of classes. Oh, and the weather was a balmy 40 degrees. A perfect storm of going-out conditions. All through the day people were telling me that they were coming through that night and “could really use a few more tickets if I had them.”
The Show.
11:30 and my set was starting. The bar was unsettlingly slow. The U of R bus should have been there by 11:25ish, I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Two minutes later, my phone buzzed: “Do the fliers let us jump the line?” “The line?,” I asked. I received a few more just like the first – people wondering if they could skip the line, if they would make it through on time to see the set.
I finally understood what was going on. There were so many people trying to get in that the door had just bottlenecked. But soon enough, just a few songs into my set, people started streaming down the stairs. What a party it was. Starting with some wobbly club music and moving into amazing good-times jams (think “aNYway, Tittsworth’s “September” remix, and soulful house).
By the time I got off the stage I was sweaty and ecstatic. People all around were still dancing (and buying me drinks) well into the night. It was equally pleasing to find that we had over 300 bodies come through the door (see the picture for an incomplete idea of the night). I was smiling ear-to-ear for a good few hours after I was home. Hopefully a few more photos will surface at some point, but I cannot wait to do it all again in the fall.
The Starbucks.
I love Starbucks. This is no secret. However, the reason isn’t so much the over-priced coffee as it is the pure number of people who wind up going through the UR campus location. I hung out there all of Friday and Saturday seeing people. It was time well-spent. The only real question was wether or not to stay through Saturday night for the Jersey Shore party.
Friday night, I was supposed to head to Pearl Nightclub and see Joe Lazars DJ, but as I got to the front of the line (after a 40 minute wait), the bouncer announced it was overs only. Down and out, I headed to Pita Pit and ate away my troubles with some healthy falafel. With a night that bad, it was pretty obvious that I’d be staying through for one more night of attempted-fun.
The Shore.
The SAM house through a Jersey Shore party last night. The house is so poorly built for having massive numbers of people walking through their front door, but it’s always unimportant I guess. When the good music goes on, and the drinks start flowing, the architecture is really kind of irrelevant.
It was a perfect place to get all of my last goodbyes in – armed with a digital camera I made sure to find every remaining individual I needed to bid adieu and did exactly that.
To complete the evening, I partook in Uncle Dickie’s Cheesey Fries. For those not in the know, Uncle Dickie is a creepy 50 year-old who runs a food truck at the end of the Univ. of Rochester’s Frat Quad every weekend – he’s occasionally been known to let female-students help serve food from time to time in exchange for food. Or something. Creepy. His fries are great, though – cheese, ketchup, and meat sauce for an affordable $3. Well, affordable if your inebriated friends don’t convince you to share.
And Home.
I drove home at 8:30 this morning (right after catching one last look at the University of Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library). Six hours, the time it takes to get from Rochester to Sherborn (right outside of Boston), is not an easy drive.
Though I listened to a fair number of other Sherlock Holmes adventures on the way back, I also took some time to radio-hunt. Right around Syracuse I wound up listening to some great Christian Rock. I greatly enjoy the chance to look for double-entendres and repressed sexuality. I know that’s kind of mean, but I can’t help it! Hearing about the things we want to do to/for Jesus, hearing about how much another man loves me, and hearing about the city “on it’s knees” is just too much for my infantile mind.
Anyway. I’m writing this from my bed in Sherborn, only a few days before I head to Cape Town. This was the best possible visit to Rochester – I saw everyone, got a little closure, and had an incredible time. Stay classy, U of R, don’t go changing too much without me.
Vampire Weekend – Cousinz (Toy Selectah Mex-More remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.