Nothing to Declare

I arrived in Providence on the train, unconscious of the fact that it was in this city that saw the tragic and untimely demise of Great White following that foolish application of pyrotechnics. Arriving early, I met with Jason who told me everything was sorted for the show. Opeth were playing first, he said, so expect a late night. S’okay, I said, my train was to be at 12.45. He looked dubiously at me - gulp.

I wait for the doors to open, flitting from street to Starbucks and back. Eventually I meet up again with Jason and Ian, and we go for a Chinese - a welcome respite in the hanging around. Maybe I’m getting old, or maybe its the act of being alone in a strange city. Whatever.

Lupo’s is a dive, looking like the sort of place you might see in a film set, like Bladerunner without the rain. This was nothing if not authentic, right down to the lack of doors in the gents. The stage is in the centre pf an oblong, with space at either side. Beside it are two pool tables, the players oblivious to the fact that a band is playing at all. The crowd outside is a regular mix of post-punk, goth, beachbums and rock and rollers, each no doubt planning on finding their own personalities reflected in the music.

Doors open. Audience file in, unconscious of the fact that their meek behaviour is at total odds with their rebellious attire. Positions are taken and the stage is set.

Opeth walk on and the applause is rapturous, even more so as they break into their first song. It’s a slow number, a strange one to start with, but it is unlikely that it will stay slow for long. Indeed, the pace picks up. More rapturous applause. It’s going to be a goodnight for the Opeth fans. Unfortunately it doesn’t do anything for me. I should say I’m hopeless at listening to bands that I don’t know the music of, but it sounds a bit pedestrian and indulgent, like a cake with all the right ingredients but which has been left in the oven too long. Maybe I’m getting too old. It doesn’t help that I can’t hear the guitars properly - they are there, but added, it would appear as an afterthought. Given the fact that the singer is also on guitar, I find that unlikely. There is a lack of energy, which is more likely, the sound is trying to be deeply moving but it has more of a soporific effect.

The next song starts out acoustic, but gradually the other instruments join. This is more like it - a rhythmic number that harks to the orient, Aziz Ibrahim would be comfortable playing on this one. It might be called the darkness. It builds up, to a crescendo which I listen to from behind the one door in the John. It was a good song, and I am maybe now better able to appreciate the music. Was it me, or does the floor sway in Lupo’s? I wish I could blame it on the alcohol, but I am stone sober.

Opeth’s set continues as it should. A good band, consummate musicians giving the audience what the want. I don’t think anyone would accuse them of being showmen though, with each song pausing for a changeover of instruments and a brief introduction, it is difficult to build a flow.

Arrived in Boston the day before yesterday and went straight to the Ramada, which is out near the University. In fact, it’s privately owned by very nice people, and it had a regular shuttle to the subway (the “T”) and so on, but anyway. Woke up yesterday and finished some stuff for Uncle Seattle, which took me until lunchtime, when I headed in to Boston with the vague goal of finding a wireless Internet hotspot. I then had a bit more work to do, which took place in the shade on the end of a quay at Boston Harbour. Reminds me of the time I told someone I’d sat on the beach at Nice and worked. “Of all the things to do on the beach,” the friend said, “you had to work?” I replied, “Of all the places to work…”

I took in Chinatown, the harbour, the shops and the sights - by the way, only go to Cheers bar, if you want to go to a bar anyway. Nothing to see but a bar. On the recommendation of a wireless access service provider (I happened to be walking past the office), eventually I ended up in the News bar, a very plush establishment which boasted wireless Internet access. It happened to be happy hour as well, I didn’t take advantage of the free martinis but I did have four starters for 99 cents each. Unfortunately the Internet access wasn’t working. I tried everything, and was quite willing to believe that it was my fault, but as I could ping stuff that wasn’t my computer I thought not. When I finished my food I headed back round to the office of the chap who installed the thing. The long and the short was I ended up down in the kitchens of the News bar, trying to diagnose issues with power over ethernet, linksys boxes and broadband connections. What fun, but we didn’t solve the problem.

This morning I got up a bit earlier and headed for the harbour to do the whale watching thing. I thought I’d missed the boat, but no, here I am on deck typing this up. It’s an overcast day, so it’s unlikely I’ll get the kinds of pictures you see on posters, indeed we’ll probably be lucky to see anything at all but at least its 4 hours of not very much, just what I need. Just had a great idea for an article - “the roadmap conspiracy,” which makes out that computer companies have everything all mapped out and are drip feeding new technologies to the users. As if, and the Internet bubble didn’t burst either!

2 hours later.

Just seen a whale! Well, several whales - one of which was the best the guy with the mike had seen this year, so he said - it was a humpback sleeping in the water, when we moved alongside it arced its back and flipped its tail out of the water as it dived. Very impressive. Now we’re heading back, then I head to the station to catch a train to Providence. Or maybe I should hire a car. I’ve got an hour to make my mind up!