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2010-05-11: New Haven

I'd never heard the expression the expression "Opened in New Haven" before my mother mentioned it to me yesterday (on Mother's Day, of course). Maybe you've all heard the expression before. But I hadn't. I guess it's a theater tradition in which you test out your new play in New Haven before bringing it down to Broadway. That's rough. I mean, who made New Haven the guinea pigs of the world? (or conversely, one could see this show biz glass as half-full and ask Who Died And Made THEM the Sneak Preview Gods?). I do know that New Haven has arguably the best pizza in the US and that's good enough for me.

But sure enough, we did Open In New Haven last Saturday night. The Miracle 3 and I drove up the beautiful Merritt Parkway (a more attractive and speedier alternative to the I-95) and somewhere along the way I decided that it would be a fun idea to try out the concept of playing the first two Dream Syndicate albums that we'll be bringing to Atlanta this weekend. I had played each of the albums in their entirety but never in the same night before. Turns out that the fans of Atlanta have nothing to worry about-the show went off without a hitch and even though flowers were not brought to our dressing room (ending the theater tradition analogies), we did enjoy a large plain pizza as well as the fabled clam pie, courtesy of the kind and generous promoter Paul at the Café Nine.

And all of this Dream Syndicate hoopla (did I mention that I used to be in the band?) ties in with the long-awaited reissue of "Medicine Show" which will be shipping out in just a few weeks. Check out the front page of the website for more information. This current run of the live version will actually close in Atlanta but might get revived again at some point in the near future so stay tuned.

NOTE: I am typing this from a café on Broadway (see? Open in New Haven, move on to Broadway!) and a bulldog dressed in full infant gear was just wheeled by in a baby carriage. I love this city.

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