Tootsie on Tour: Kansas City (KCMO)

[taz_39]

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

Note:
Due to an ongoing family emergency, there are times where I may post less regularly or with less content.
Thank you for your understanding.
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The venue: Kansas City Music Hall


(stock photos)

Covid Tests to Date: 21

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TL;DR: Too bad, no time for a TikTok this week :/

Monday the travel day.
Woke up and had a nice breakfast that I ordered from Corner Bakery Cafe (had a coupon), and took my time packing since we weren't leaving until after 11am.

Bus to the airport, and this time we were on a littler jet, and it was slightly delayed for some small maintenance stuff (safety first!).
But we got to KCMO between 5-6pm, and were able to check into the hotel right away.

Our hotel is really cool! It's kind of "vintage", with a Deco theme going on and a lot of brass fixtures and decorations, even an old-fashioned mail drop.


I'm a big fan of Deco and the 1920s-30s aesthetic, and I think this hotel is beautiful!
This time I did not have a fridge or a microwave, so it was time for a little grocery improv.

Consentino's grocery is just a few blocks away so I'll certainly be eating there this week. However I also like to save money, and I enjoy the challenge of cooking in the hotel room. So I picked up a variety of nonperishables and lugged them back to my room. We do have a shared refrigerator in one of the lounges this week, so I got a few Greek yogurts and a small carton of egg whites, but that's it because I don't want to hog space in there. There are also two microwaves which I will use occasionally.

Here is the rest of my haul:
Fresh fruit, canned vegetables, soups, minute rice, applesauce, tuna salad packets, tuna and salmon packets, turkey jerky, dried edamame, granola, and almond butter. Plus my usual coffee, tea, oatmeal, and condiments.


Many fruits, veggies, carbs, and fats are just fine without refrigeration. It's the PROTEINS that tend to be a problem.
I will probably have to supplement with more protein, but with what I've gathered here I definitely have all of my meals and snacks for the week. To me that's a win!

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Tuesday I woke to this lovely view of KC:


After breakfast we received the startling news that our show for the evening had been CANCELLED.
Apparently one of our trucks had some sort of issue and was held up back in Houston.
Can't do a show with half our equipment in another state! I wonder if my trombone is on that truck...yikes.

Anyway, it didn't change much for me. I had planned to get my local bread and visit City Market, but otherwise had made no plans.
I had previously scheduled a covid booster for Wednesday as we have Thanksgiving off, and briefly considered changing it, but decided against it; it's only one day's difference and getting it on Wednesday ensures that I'll have a full 24 hours to recover if I need it. If I get it today I might still end up with less than 24 before our next show.

So off I went, first to Ibis Bakery + Messenger Coffee Co.

It was slam-packed in there! And there really was a bakery right there inside, churning out fresh croissants and all kinds of other stuff (they ship to a lot of local businesses). In fact, I got there just in time because they only had ONE loaf of bread left! The cashier told me they bake their breads in the morning and spend the rest of the day on pastries since that's what people get with their coffee throughout the day. All that was left was a cinnamon raisin sourdough, which I was perfectly happy to have!


It's beautiful and moist, and despite being somewhat sweet I think it will still make a nice contrast to all of the nonperishable soups and jerkys and salted things that I'm relying on for my meals this week.

Next I walked to Walgreens and CVS just to see if, by chance, they had any Moderna boosters that I could have (they did not). I specifically want Moderna because A) Since that's the vaccine I got, I can reasonably predict how the booster will affect me, and B) it's a half-dose compared to the other boosters, because the Moderna vaccine has been proven to be more effective than BOTH other vaccines. This could mean the symptoms might not be as strong.

I will still try to get the Moderna booster on Wednesday, but now that sound check is on Wednesday it may prove more difficult.

Finally I took myself to Banksia, an Australian-inspired bake shop, for a tasty lunch!
Not only did they have some amazing sandwiches on their menu board, but they also had a full bakery rack full of delicious tarts and croissants and cookies, and a selection of hot Australian hand pies!

It was a tough decision, but I went with a lamb and harissa sausage roll with almonds, couscous, and currants.
It's been a while since I've had lamb, and I'm not sure I've ever had harissa (a zesty red pepper paste). It was incredibly delicious! The gamey lamb and the tangy, spicy peppers with the almonds and slightly sweet currants. It looked very basic but it tasted very fancy!


For dessert I found a mini pavlova! I've never had pavlova but have seen it made on Great British Bake-Off.
It looks very difficult to make...you've got to slow-cook egg whites so that they crisp on the outside like a meringue, but also stay soft on the inside like a marshmallow. Then you top that meringue shell with whipped cream and berries. Knowing what a pavlova is supposed to be like, I think this one was PERFECT. It was light and crispy, but the inside was soft and creamy, just beautiful. I wished very badly that I could have shared it with Jameson. I suspect store-bought pavlova shells are nothing like this.



Back at the hotel I did some work for family and digested my food, then set off again because it was such a nice day and I know there won't be much time for fun for the remainder of the week.

I visited an antique mall where I bought nothing but enjoyed three floors of window shopping.
Then walked through City Market, which is a little closed up for the winter but some of my favorites were still open like Bloom Bakery and the cute Italian deli on the corner. It brought back all kinds of memories from when I used to live here, and when I passed through with the circus.
And of course I had to walk past the Sprint Center, where we used to perform. Well...now it's the T-Mobil Center.


By the time I was ready to go home it was nearly 4pm.
The rest of my night was quiet, just little chores and responding to emails, planning my meals for the week, watching Netflix. Things like that.

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I woke up a little nervous about the covid booster.
I've decided to try showing up early to get it. If I wait until the scheduled time I'd be cutting it very close to show call time, and I don't like that. I'd rather risk experiencing symptoms during a show than be late to work, or not get the booster at all.

After breakfast there was PCR testing in a hotel lounge so I went to take care of that. And then it was a chill morning. I basically hung around the hotel, with one quick jaunt over to Consentino's for some chicken to supplement soup for lunch.

Jameson got his covid booster as well. He's a Pfizer guy, and I'm Moderna. His reactions are not as strong as mine, but I've read that this doesn't say anything about your immune system...some peoples' immune systems are just "louder" than others.

I took an Uber to a Walgreens that had the Moderna booster (remember that I explained my reasons for wanting the Moderna earlier in this post) and was able to get it within minutes of arriving. They let me wander around the store for my 15 minute wait time, so I found a Sharpie and a 4x3" vaccine card sleeve (much needed, I've almost crushed mine or gotten it wet several times!). After that I Ubered back to the hotel in time to have a quick snack before sound check.

Opening night went well, but as predicted I started to feel the effects of my booster halfway through the show.
Immediately after returning from intermission I started shaking, and suddenly felt very tired. By the time the show was over I was starting to get body aches. But ya know, it's really nothing. I've played shows with the flu, and with food poisoning, and with Montezuma's Revenge, lol. It sucks to play when you don't feel good, but the worst is when you're nauseous. Can you imagine playing a wind instrument that requires abdominal support while you're about ready to barf? It ain't fun. Compared to that, this was a cake walk.

I walked straight back to the hotel afterward, grateful that it was only a few blocks away this week.
Got the pj's on and a big fluffy sweater, and crawled under the covers to ride it out.
It was a rough night...my arm has never hurt this badly post-vaccine, I think maybe tromboning might have made it worse. I had a low fever, chills, body aches, and a headache. But I still managed to get some sleep, and a Tylenol helped a great deal.

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The next morning I had breakfast as usual, still achy and tired but at least not nauseous.
I turned on the Thanksgiving Day Parade, checked on Jameson (his arm was sore but otherwise he was fine), and texted with family.

I continued to feel moderately lousy throughout the day, so napped on and off, watched tv, had a few small snacks to stave off hunger until our Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel restaurant. At 6pm I got cleaned up and went down to get some turkey!


The food was very good! And most of the band showed up, we talked and laughed and had a good time.
I was still not feeling great so didn't stay too long, just about an hour.
But I was glad for this Thanksgiving time. Even if I couldn't be with my family, I got to enjoy the traditional meal with good friends :)

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Friday I felt a lot better, just tired and achy.
For the rest of the weekend we have two shows each day, so I'd better be ready!

This venue is another one of those 1930s-era silent movie houses, kind of like we experienced in NOLA. The pit is very small and narrow, really just a strip at the front of the stage.


It is so small, in fact, that our drummer had to be pushed to a back room!


This happens sometimes, it's partly why we all have the little monitors clipped to our stands.

Our two shows went well, although Steve (trumpet 1) was feeling sick during the first act.
It turned out to be food poisoning, so although he was uncomfortable he's ok.

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Saturday, I had a slow lazy morning and a trip to the grocery for a chicken breast to add to my lunch soup.

We were covid tested in the afternoon. Both shows went well again, with big enthusiastic crowds.

At this time I'd like to share what the "family emergency" has been this whole time.
Back in October, my dad passed away due to complications from Covid.
You can read the entire obituary HERE if you like.

Next week the show is in Baltimore, but I will be taking that week for bereavement, to go home and help my family with service planning.
So do expect a break in this blogging next week. Thank you.

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Sunday, the shows were at 1pm and 6:30pm.
It was quite chilly out so I wore my layers and brought my black fleece into the pit to stay warm.

The shows were nice and the audiences had a good time.

Tomorrow will be A Travel Day From Heck.
We leave the hotel around 7:30am, and do not arrive at the airport in Baltimore until 6:30pm.
From there I am breaking off from the tour to get a rental car and drive to my parents' hometown for my dad's memorial service.

I will rejoin the tour a week from now, when we play Washington DC.

Thank you for reading!