I’ve just left the Lincoln centre after an hour-long show. It’s super humid outside.
“It’s like Vietnam round here.” says my photographer Geoff, and he would know.
I’m writing this from a taxi as we pass the Dakota building and the Lennon memorial in Central Park. I’m once more heading back uptown to Harlem; the part of New York that feels like home to me while I’m here.
The Lincoln show was a blast. A great space to play, one where I could really project my voice up into the far corners amongst the lights. I followed Sophie Auster and her band in a strange role reversal where the solo act went on after the group. Maybe it’s a New York thing! But the crowd listened, laughed at my inter-song patter and even sang along at one point so I couldn’t have asked for more…well I suppose it would have been good if my guitar tuner had worked but you can’t have everything. I just had to remind myself that Dylan’s guitar was often way out of tune. He did have a cool hat to distract people though. Maybe I’ll find me one of those tomorrow rather than a new tuner.
Tomorrow…the road trip starts for real as we hit the interstate and head down to Philadelphia for an early evening show. I’m not sure what we’re going to find but then that’s part the beauty of this trip. To go from a gig at the Lincoln centre with my name up in lights on a massive screen to a small corner stage and a wooden stool. Being able to get the songs across in all size rooms is something I hope to get to grips with over the next 10 days. Farewell New York. See you again in October.

Barton H

French version published daily on the ROCK MADE IN FRANCE website

USA Day 5 – Harlem : « Les guitares de Dylan étaient souvent mal accordées »