I write to you from three thousand feet up in the air about none other than one hell of a sexy, dangerous, and old moneyed tour! After 7 sparkling days in the lovely bay city of San Francisco, it is finally time to head for home—and all that “home” entails… shopping period, classes, friends, and of course quite soon—Philly! But, before I dive back into the foray of life at Yale, I want to take a few moments, as the new official blogmeister of the group, to re-cap the wonderful tour that we just had together: the moments, the memories, the laughs, and the love! Here we go!
Fisherman's Warf, San Francisco
Going to San Francisco just over a week ago was like sneaking away for some shocking and wonderful treat—it was to be a tour with a group of people I just can't stand not being around!
A RedHot WELCOME!
The first person I met after arriving was none other than the formidable Andrew Freeburg (who IS he??!), and after joining Feistiest we headed for the lovely home of the Levitts. Of course, I have to mention the disaster that was Freeburg, Bezek, and Feis trying to navigate San Francisco public transportation without the courageous Magellan (Tony) and Stasha! We ended up at the top of (to quote Howard) “one of the longest, steepest hills in San Francisco.” Needless to say, trudging down said hill with fifty pounds of luggage was quitethe adventure! But it was to be the first adventure of many on the tour!
The Hill of Death -- 29th Street
The first night Freeburg, Feis, and I met up with our other house members: Melinda, Noah, “Cali”-an (Kalyan), Stasha, Annie, and Mary. We all enjoyed a night together, staying up late and talking. Now, I can’t truly write a blog about my experience in San Francisco without taking this moment to write an Ode to the lovely COT, on which I was so truly privileged to rest my head the entire week. Yes, I know… some of you had the sad fate of abandoning the cot—for a sofa, a bed, or even to share another’s futon… but I lasted… I held on… I braved that blue brick of hell! I joke, but admittedly after the first night or two, I did get used to it, and by the end of the tour, I was sleeping well! But, nothing can truly match up to those first few days—another adventure in San Francisco aboard the glorious Levitt cots!
RedHot aboard Trolley
RedHot in Ghiradelli Square
Erika and Hannah Loeb on the Beach at Sunset:
"Everybody's Doin' It" ...on the Beach
On our second day we took public transportation all the way out to the Head-Royce school. We performed there and then went back into the city to Coventry Park where we saw Mitchel’s mom (she’s got it goin’ on…) and gave a dazzling 45-minute set! Afterwards, we explored Japantown: the wow! Origami and the green-lit-space-ship-structure were notable memories here. Stasha took us to a fantastic Indian Restaurant for dinner, and then we headed back to John Kelly’s house for a Jam discussion and some merriment. After deciding on Apocalypse Jam—and turning down “Show us your Jams! …a mari gras themed jam,” “Jam Camp!,” and “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a jam” to name a few—we moved on to the merriment.
Mary with the Oragami
Merriment in the Green-lit-space-ship-structure
This night culminated in the first John Kelly sighting. He walked in the door wearing “something your dad might wear in the morning to go and get the paper,” and yet, those few moments were quite far from characteristic of a morning paper run. In the time that he was there to grab some Vegetable oil and a turtle-neck, he gave a frown at Apocalypse Jam, told Kalyan that he had a little surprise waiting for him, and literally shook us all nearly out of our minds. Adam Begley became completely giddy—he threw the loaf of bread he was consuming on the floor and proceeded to dart about the house in jubilation, shock, and laughter! Needless to say, John Kelly made quite the impression!
Noah in Shock!
Day three opened with a trip to the de Young museum and Golden gate park and proceeded from there to the Burke school where we performed in that strange and wonderful place for that small group of girls. Erika and Adam gave generous introductions, here! In the evening, we all headed over to the Buena Vista park area for alum fun! We enjoyed mingling and singing—casual conversation went hand-in-hand with an out-of-this-world “God Bless the Child,” an interesting choice of ending to “Ride Me,” and the insaneness that was an attempt at “Man Come Into Egypt.” From there we headed back to the Kelly house for more merriment and fun! This evening brought about the birth of Faaf and Mpookfla (the m and k being silent) by Melinda and Mary. Also wonderful and noteworthy was Melinda and Mary’s climb up the Levitt steps—four at a time! Yes, quite a feat!
RedHotties at the de Young Museum
Onto day four—a morning at Adda Clevenger, afternoon at Burke, and evening with John Kelly and Grace Cathedral. Most memorable from Adda Clevenger for me was the method that the teachers used to silence the children—like a swarm of bees they hummed pitches together. From Burke we had Kalyan’s brilliant introductions… “Next up is Angel Eyes; try and see if you can tease apart the different verses…” Grace Cathedral was truly spectacular—Noah on “Mamma,” Mary on “Summertime,” Tony on "Blackbird," and of course… “When you are Old."
Singing at Burke!
Day five brought about our first venture across the Golden Gate Bridge—at least for some of us to St. Hillary’s. Memories from St. Hillary’s include “the lodge,” the little girl from the Q&A session “Like how did you guys do that?!?!?!,” and the principle who turned all of our answers into life lessons! Spectacular place… with what promised to be a truly spectacular view if it had not been for the fog. What can we say? It was "a foggy day in SanFran town." After St. Hillary’s, we made our way to one of my favorites, In-N-Out Burger. After enjoying delicious burgers, fries, and a milkshakes—we headed back to the city for our concert at John Yehall Chin.
John Yehall Chin definitely deserves its own paragraph because it’s certainly a concert that we will perhaps never forget. Hannah Loeb told us all before that the principle wanted us in our formal attire because he envisioned the concert as “an exotic treat” for his children… little did we know that Yehall Chin would be just as exotic and as a much a treat for us as it was for the children. Though I speak from little experience, I’m going to have to say that this is probably one of the few instances where practically the whole shoe broke down in laughter, responding to the erupting of the laughter from the children of Yehall Chin at Noah’s rendition of “Mamma.” Kudos to Noah… he’s got a resolve like no other!! Of course there was also… “Steven… steven stevenstevenstevenstevenSTEVEN” and Annie… “I think he needs a minute…”
Grace Cathedral where we sang for John Kelly
After Yehall Chin we headed to China town and explored the City Lights bookstore and enjoyed some Chinese food before heading to the City Club of San Francisco. Shout out to Mary and our parking job outside the City Club! What few of you know is that we spent nearly 20 minutes trying to parallel park the car… both of us attempted; at one point A Bezek was on the ground—the concrete—because he was laughing so hard. This was truly a momentous moment for this duo!
There are no words for the City Club of San Francisco… except that it was where RedHot was meant to sing. A truly fantastic concert in a truly beautiful place!!
Friday morning—day six—brought about a journey all the way to Palo Alto—which only some of us had to endure! Then, to Francisco middle school! Exploring North beach, Yuerba Buena “gardens,” building climbing, and heading to the University Club for MORY’S NIGHT! And toasting!
Whoever thought that a gig could be as spectacular as Mory’s night at the University Club! What a spectacular night... there are so many memories and love and laughter and merriment and true joy!
RedHot Merriment!
Saturday morning: pancakes, Valencia, randomly meeting up at the El Toro Mexican restaurant, the sex shop, the pirate store, and finally… preparing for our final concert of tour for the Noe Valley Concert series! A shining moment for all of us!
The rest is history… we are now headed back to the real world—Yale. (But whoever said that Yale was the real world??) I have had a truly spectacular time with y'all—making music, making merriment, and making wonderful memories!
Sitting here on the plane I can’t help but think back to the plane ride I had a week ago out to San Francisco—full of expectation. Excitement. Admittedly a little bit of uncertainty at never having been on a RedHot tour before. Now, sitting here (with all of you surrounding me) I can’t help but smile. I have had the time of my life this past week—this past week has made me realize more than ever how happy I am that I chose RedHot & Blue. Foolishly, I left my decision up to chance, but in the end, I think that chance was the best choice I could make… because it brought me you wonderful people! Thank you so much for everything, and I can’t wait for Philly and beyond!
San Francisco Sunset from the Roof of the Mariot
San Francisco Bay with Erika and Hannah
I’ve written the first entry—now it’s your turn… go WILD! Feel free to add quotes, fun facts, crazy memories and stories, and whatever else you think should exist on the RedHot and Blog!
Forever sexy, dangerous, and in search of old money—
Your Blogmeister,
Andrew Bezek
2 comments:
Wonderful. Keep the updates coming!
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun! I'm sad I wasn't there.
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