In the Zone Adventures

Phew! We had great fun in New York. The crowd at Banjo Jim's dug the show. We had ton of hits on MySpace Friday night, added many more friends and more importantly, we were completely "in the zone" during our performance.

Strangely, even before we left on Thursday, I was in the zone. Usually, before I leave, I'm dealing with a half dozen last minute details, making phone calls, lists, just anything that will drive me crazy. But Wednesday night, all the work was done, bags packed, the rentals lined up, guitars restrung, amps retubed, all warm bodies accounted for. I actually fell asleep before midnight. That rarely happens.

So I consider myself fortunate. Every once in a while, the planets are aligned and the resulting superpower is Total Zone Domination.

Thursday night after arriving in to town, and after we'd put our gear safely away in the hotel, we took a town car to Times Square and had dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe. Yes, a little touristy. But when can you say you had dinner next to Lenny Kravitz's pants?

Friday, we hopped the 7 train at the Main St/Flushing station downtown to Grand Central and then the 5 Train to Little Italy and had vodka pizza and lasagna at Pomodoro. Delicious! Man, the boys in the band can eat.

Banjo Jim's is a wicked cool club. Right at the corner of 9th Street and Avenue C in the East Village, the club is a magnet for serious music-lovers in New York City. A great big thank you to the staff at Banjo Jim's for having us.

We were grateful to have some familiar faces come out and support us at the club. That is always welcome when you're in a different city. This is my friend, New York-based photographer Manjari Sharma. Manj is "lightning in human form." She is the definition of artfulness. Spontaneous, beautiful, and just a joy to be around. Be sure to go through her entire portfolio online. It is amazing.

Honestly, its not all in the planets. We put a lot of work and foresight into the trip. Most details, both big and small had been worked out well in advance. So for anybody reading this and planning on making the long haul, I have three words of advice for you. Plan, plan, plan.

Make lists, think about everywhere that you will be, where you want to be and how you want things to run. Be realistic about how much time everything is going to take and then add a little extra just in case. If you plan ahead and things run smoothly from the get-go, you'll be in the zone too. And hopefully you'll have time to do stuff you really want to remember like watching your bandmates give impromptu performances in front of iHop. Okay, maybe not.