Kay Hanley

Last night’s show was in Portland and was arguably our best. Everything seems to be loosening up considerably on stage as the playing and singing becomes more reflexive. Even the *ahem* choreography that is part of my job is coming along nicely. Oh. My. God. At some point on this tour, there are going to be people in the audience that I actually know and they are going to witness me shaking my ass with the dancers. I’m not sure if this is thrilling or tragic. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

It has become a ritual to come back to the bus after the show and go investigate the phalanx of fans that waits behind barricades, hoping for a glimpse of Miley. Or at least someone who may have glimpsed Miley earlier that day, such as myself. Sometimes I’ll tell them I am her butler or dog walker and then take their picture:

I cannot believe the amount of people who wait every night and are happy to do so knowing that Miley will not be making an appearance. It’s so hopeful a gesture that it almost makes me want to cry.

Long drive overnight from Portland to San Francisco, where we have a day off before the Oakland show. I love this city.
Jaimie and I immediately hit the pavement for some sightseeing and ended up in Chinatown. For me, food is always the motivating factor in getting me to check out the cities we go to, so San Fran had me dizzy with the possibilities. As we walked, we saw stuff like this:

But our wandering aimlessly brought major dividends when we stumbled across an amazing Chinese restaurant. You can’t go there because I and Jamie have both forgotten the name but it was awesome, trust me. They fed us this:

And then the waiter took a picture. I am showing a heretofore uncharacteristic lack of vanity by posting this photo of myself, but if I am going to have a blog, I guess I have to suck it up.

I am going out to dinner with friends tonight but I will be thinking of Zoe Mabel and Hank dressed up as a witch and Spiderman respectively as they head out trick-or-treating. I hope I get some pix of that. I miss my babies like crazy.

xok

It’s 2:45am now…

Just rolled into Portland, Oregon. We are staying at a sweet hotel that is exactly as I have always imagined Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire would look like. Where are the bears and the WC? I am really tired.

When we arrived at soundcheck today, Miley and I realized that we had both bought the same exact Marc Jacobs coat at Barney’s on our day off. We are OG’s up in here.

Sleepy.

xok

We had a day off in Seattle so I had a few of things on my mind. Coffee, food, shopping and where to watch the Red Sox play game 4 of the World Series. I needed to focus so as soon as I got to my room I ordered a massage (which was pretty rad) and got one of these cuties to keep me company. Her name is Kimie, supposedly:

We went down to the fish market and watched the guys throw the fishes around. That bit never gets old, if you ask me. Got some lunch. Then Stacy brought me to this darling little local boutique for some humble trinkets.

Later, we ended up in a godawful bar to watch the game but there was plenty of room for all of us to hang out so that was an upside, i guess. “This place is worse than hell, but it’s so spacious!”

Because I am a broken record, I complained some more that it didn’t FEEL right to be winning so handily in the World Series. I mean, who sits around chatting and looking all chill when your team is one game away from taking it all???

Why was the idea of a sweep such a bummer for me? Because I’m a girl, that’s why. I also hate blowouts because I start feeling sorry for the other guys. Jamie kept telling me that I was being ridiculous and that the Red Sox deserved to sweep because they are the best team in baseball and the Rockies were completely outmatched, blah, blah. I knew he was right, but ahh..the suffering. Winning, especially when there is that kind of inevitability to it is never as fun as the suffering. Why is that?

But then, seeing my foxy boyfriend Jonathan Papelbon on the mound pitching strike 3 to win the World Championship made me snap out of it. Goddamn, I love the Red Sox. I’m sad that the season is over. Go Pats!!!

Here’s Ellen, Candice, Tiffany and me after game 1 in Denver.

By game 4 in Seattle, there were probably 25 of us from the tour watching the 8th & 9th innings. There are pictures of that too, but I couldn’t find my camera. It was at the bottom of my purse, of course.

xok

How can I ever go on the road again after this experience? Great hotels, sweet tour bus with door-to-door service, awesome band and crew, sold out arenas and a generous star for whom I am happy to be a sideman. No worries, no hassles. I am so spoiled that I almost feel guilty. Wait, I feel guilty about everything so perhaps my guilt is not a good barometer. Suffice it to say that this is the best job EVER.

And then there is the part of the gig that is like being on an anthropological research trip. For example: When we arrived at the bus last night after the show in Denver there were hundreds of kids waiting behind barricades for a glimpse of Miley or The Jonas Brothers, the impossibly adorable band that is in the opening slot. I got into my jammies and Uggs, poured a glass of wine and sat down with my band peeps to watch game 2 (we won! yay!) while screaming and cheering that had zero to do with the Sox game would erupt intermittently from outside. At one point, I took a peek out of our window and noticed Big Rob, the Jonas Bros’ bodyguard talking on his cell and motioning to the crowd. I grabbed my camera and went outside because I had a feeling that this would happen:

{vidavee id=”3066″ w=”400″ }

And I was right!

Thank you so much Téa, for helping me upload that video. That was a total pain in the ass, but so worth it!!! I especially loved that lady asking me if I had a sharpie. Um, no. Seriously, I am in my pajamas.

Nighty,

Kay

I was running around the 16th St Mall in Denver, frantically trying to finish my laundry, run errands, wrap up some work from my regular life in LA and most importantly: find a place for us to watch the Red Sox where I wouldn’t have to worry about getting into a bar fight with Rockies fans. I’m loaded up with bags, talking to Michelle on my cell phone when I see a man walking towards me with a Sox cap on. Hold on Mish.

me: “Hey! Where are you watching the game tonight?”
him: (filthy look) “Where am I watching the game?”
me: “Well, where are Sox fans watching the game?”
him: “Theahs a sick bah at Mahket and 16th called the Poah House. Go theah.”
me: “Where are you from, man?”
him: (with venom because i am an idiot) “BOSTON. Pfffft”
me: Jackpot!

So we pass the word around to everyone. Pour House it is. Even Candice, the other backup singer has found the lure of the Red Sox irresistable and went out and bought a cap yesterday. Yay Candice!!

When I saw this guy and his baby, I had to take a picture. It turns out that he is the owner of the Pour House and he did, in fact name it after the Boylston St. bar in Boston. If you’re ever in Denver and want to watch the Sox, go see Jeff at the Pour House.

They even played “Love That Dirty Water” and “Tessie” after the game while we all cheered and sang along. Of course, I drunk texted Ken Casey from the Dropkick Murphys to share that fascinating news with tears in my eyes. He didn’t seem to mind.

A good time was had by all, see?

Okay. Off to spend 2 hours doing my hair and makeup for the big show at the Pepsi Center. As a girl, I really shouldn’t have to spend that much time, but I am sort of hopeless with that stuff. Go Sox!!!

xok

We drove overnight from Omaha to Denver after the show, which was eerily similar to the Minneapolis, St Louis and Moline shows. What’s the opposite of disorienting? Maybe the shows are hyper-orienting, which is great for me because I thrive in sameness. Our busdriver for the tour (the unironically nicknamed “Wildman”) roused us all at about 5:30am so I begrudgingly abandoned my soft, warm bunk to make my way up to my hotel room. I was especially not stoked when Wildman informed me it was 45 degrees out. He might as well have said that it was 20 degrees below zero and then stuck a pin in my eye. I was that put upon.

Happily, I survived the 20 foot walk from the bus to the hotel and my room is lovely. These were the first things I noticed:

the view…

..and world series coverage from the opposing team’s side. weird.

Jamie, Stacy & I are all pretty excited that we get to watch games 1 & 2 here in Denver. Obviously, it would be much better if the series started here and we could wrastle us up some tickets, but hey, you can’t have everything. Although I will now begin to hate the Rockies with the heat of 1000 suns, prior to today I actually quite liked the Rockies. Also, Coors Field is my all-time favorite ballpark (aside from Fenway, of course) and I predict that Papi will crush the ball out of that park with ease into the thin air. I can’t wait!!!

It’s my very first blog! I’m blogging! The old KH site went down in flames a few months back and ever since then I have been slacking on getting the new stuff up and running. So here it is - the start of another chapter. My new record is just about finished being mixed by my analog hero, Adam Lasus. The Red Sox are going to the World Series. My and Michelle’s company, Art Is War, is taking on some adventurous new work. But really, my life right now can only truly be summed up thusly:

These are the people that populate my life daily. I am on tour with Hannah Montana as a backup singer. It’s sort of like being on the road with the Beatles but with none of the sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. And the object of the adoring worship is a 14 year old girl. So um, it’s really only like the Beatles because of the screaming. Have you ever heard 18,000 young girls screaming? My friend Ricky attended the taping of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show when he was a kid and he said the screaming scarred him for life, and that was only like, 100 girls. Me? It’s spooky, but I love to sing for people who are screaming and generally losing their shit, even if they are only 8. I’m going to post a video of the screaming as soon as i can figure out how to work my new camera.

xok