About 2 months ago my friend back in LA told me that a friend of hers was going on tour and would be playing a few shows in Wellington. She gave me his info and I sent him an email saying I was looking forward to his performance and asked if he needed a place to crash. He wrote me back saying he was getting put up in a hotel but maybe we could grab a cup of coffee or a beer when he got to town. Well, I didn’t hear from him again and lost track of the tour dates and finally I just figured I had missed it.
About a week and a half ago I get hired to rig a stage downtown. I’m going about my business and a guy walks up and watches us work for a minute. “Do you break this stage down and rebuild it every night?” “no,” I say. “We’re just changing stuff and adding lights for the performance tomorrow night.” “oh,” he replies. “That’s me… I’m performing tomorrow night. Hi, I’m Jason Webley.” Hmmmm… that name sounds familiar. “where are you from?” I ask. “Seattle.” “Wait, do you play accordion? ARE YOU KELLY’S FRIEND!?!?!?”
We both stand open jawed for a minute and then giggled at the fate of it all. Wellington is a little city – I run into people all the time -- but to run into someone from the other side of the globe makes the entire world seem small.
I had to work during his first 2 performances but got to see his final show. WHAT AN ACT! And, I know what you’re thinking “accordion… really?!” If you ever get a chance to see this guy, grab it and pay any amount of money to do so. Incredible!
Work slowed substantially last week, giving me a chance to help out some of my friends and see some of their shows that are part of the Fringe Festival. Friday a lot of the acts got together and put on a fundraiser for Christchurch, which was awesome. For such a small place there is some incredible talent.
Saturday night was Fuse Circus’ last performance and we had to remove the rig from the park after the show. There were many people lending hands and we finished relatively quickly, around 1 in the morning. And off to the wrap party we went, where I partied like one of the carnies and we danced around the fire until sun up.The head of Fuse Circus told me his plans of refining the show over the next few months and hopefully taking it on tour next summer. And he wants me to come along. Which would be awesome, especially if I got paid.
Starting tomorrow I am doing some work for Homegrown music festival. I’m hoping to score a pass to see some of the shows on Saturday, otherwise I may have to break in (it's been sold out for a while). Then on Sunday we tear it all apart again.
I’ve been doing my weekly check in on The Hobbit. Supposedly they are still on "schedule" to start shooting March 21st. Peter Jackson is still ill so production isn't approving anything that costs money, which includes ordering equipment and hiring workers. My roommate is in the construction department and says she's been doing busy work for the last 2 weeks cuz nothing new can be made. My rigging buddies spend a lot of time drinking tea and polishing steel cuz the equipment they need hasn't gotten approved. Which, to me, means one of two things -- either the start date will get pushed again or when the green light is given to spend, they are gonna need a lot of people and a lot of work done really fast.
So, hopefully in the next few weeks, I will begin doing what I came here to do. Maybe.
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<3 you
ReplyDeletestay hawt.