Boulder, Colorado (+ Fort Morgan, CO)

[This is Part 3 of our September 2017 BORN TO THE STARS USA TOUR blog]

Friday, September 15
9pm

After 480 mile drive from Tucson we finally arrived in Boulder. Even as a passenger (as Nick prefers to drive) I invariably get severely exhausted after long drives. Why, why is it so tiring? I just sit there, right? I don't even have to concentrate on driving. Nick & I try to stop every 2 hours to stretch/pee, but we still end up extremely stiff and beyond tired. 8-10 hours in the car is just too much. Maybe one day we'll have a tour bus with a driver! 

We pulled up to our hotel (wow, the amazing historic - from 1909 - HOTEL BOULDERADO), valet parked (yay! - that was the best option downtown Boulder) and brought all of our stuff to the room. After seeing this fab couch I just had to utilize it for a few minutes to regroup.


Nick & I were given a beautiful suite (room 400). It was stunning in every way, spacious and comfortable. Loved its Victorian decor and the "old world" elegance and charm. I even loved the "busy" wallpaper (my friend Emily immediately commented on that wallpaper when I texted her the picture of our room).  

They had fresh flowers and little chocolates to greet us!! Awwww!!!
We were both very hungry as we only had some nuts and blueberries post lunch in Santa Fe. Having toured for years (we have performed close to a thousand shows) we know better than to eat late. But we learned long ago (from our friend Tony from the band YES) that eating soup at night isn't as bad as having full dinner. It helps curb the hunger but doesn't make you gain too much weight, nor does it make you feel too heavy before going to sleep.

We called the hotel restaurant (Spruce Farm & Fish) and ordered a bowl of their famed clam chowder to take to our room. I felt like I had to put on high heels to give proper respect to the fabulous grand staircase. While there is an elevator at Boulderado (named Otis!), we were happy to walk and stretch after the long drive.

We ate our delicious soup (our server Nick K. said it was ok to eat at the restaurant in spite of it being officially closed) and learned that famed guests like Louis Armstrong and Hellen Keller have graced this hotel in its early days. On a side note, in Russia we have a superstition/belief that if you stand in between two people with the same name you can make a wish. So I made sure to stand in between two Nicks :)

I have to say, being at Boulderado is a gloriious trip in time. After our soup, we walked the hallways (just like at San Carlos in Phoenix) and explored each floor.

Watched a few minutes of Bill Maher in our room on a tablet and went to bed around 1am.

Saturday, September 16
10am 


Slept incredibly well, and finally got enough sleep! Had nuts and blueberries for breakfast. The hotel is located just a block away from the famed Pearl Street, so we went exploring. There was a weekend street fair going on, and it was great! Boulder is such a beautiful town. We had been to many places in Colorado in the past but never to Boulder. I loved it. At about 68F with fall scent in the air it was a great way to spend a couple of hours. I turned my "Map My Walk" app on, we walked 2 miles.

I was really ecstatic to see the recycling and compost bins everywhere. I'm quite obsessed with recycling. At home in California, Nick & I both recycle and compost (and talk to our compost worms like they're out pets, haha), so our trash bin barely has anything in it each week. But on the road I get incredibly frustrated as few places recycle (and even fewer compost). Seeing that Boulder was doing it right made my day extra awesome! Thank you, Boulder!

2 pm - 4pm

Got back to our hotel and got ready for the show. I had the worst menstrual cramps (TMI, sorry, guys!) that was radiating to my back. I took a tylenol and ate a piece of a banana earlier in the morning, and wasn't even hungry for lunch. It sucks being in pain on a show day, but there was nothing I could do about it.

4pm - 12:30am

We got our car from the valet and drove 2 blocks (haha) to the theatre to unload the gear. Built in 1906 in art-deco style, Boulder Theatre is just gorgeous! And we saw the marquee, the show was sold out!

I didn't have a greenroom so Nick & I used the common room backstage to leave our stuff and to get ready, no big deal. There was a bathroom at least! :)
We took a silly video for Instagram, here is a blurry still shot of me getting ready to dive under the table to the nearest outlet to plug in my curling iron.

Everyone was super nice, as always. Beth's crew and band are awesome, and we all hung out for a while. Beth loved my tattoo Kat Von D eyeliner that I use to draw the flower on my hand. She even drew a little Marina flower on her hand. It was sweet. Oh, and Beth made me tea with honey. So sweet (literally & figuratively)!

Above: walking up from backstage (to get onstage). I didn't even know Nick snapped this photo. He's the best :)
 


After soundcheck Nick & I walked back to our hotel to get some food (the restaurant is farm-to-table, and the menu looked fab!. We asked for the same server (Nick K) and he was awesome again. Nick (Nick Baker, that is) & I split a cheeseburger. 

The show was amazing. Fans gave me a lot of love and attention, sang along, clapped along, and cheered me on.

Here is my setlist:

Fire In The Sky
Bring It On
You Make Me Beautiful
Solitary Man (Neil Diamond song that I translated into Russian)
Speak
Born To The Stars
3 Little Birds (Bob Marley cover)

Photos above by Alissa Redditt
 

As always, immediately after the show I went to the merch table (where a big line had already formed), met many nice people, and signed many CDs & posters.

The only bummer of the day was that in the very end of the night I noticed my long sweater/jacket (that I bought in Moscow with my mom last year) was missing from near the merch table where I had put it. Someone had walked off with it, on purpose or by accident, I don't know, but I was (and still am) very sad. I notified the theatre and even checked with them a few days later again to see if it had turned up. But it hasn't yet.

Another frustrating thing that day was that my phone stopped working again, just like on the first day of the tour. I could call and send texts, but there was no mobile data, no way to check email or internet, no way to accept merch sales with my Square app. Once again, the AT&T hotspot we had with us saved us. I had to make sure to keep it fully charged.

We hung out with Beth and her team for a little bit after the show. Got to our hotel at 12:30am, went to bed at 1:30.

It was a great show day overall, in spite of my pain, the loss of my jacket and the damn phones not working. Grateful to Beth and Scott and everyone for always treating us so well.

Sunday, September 17 - FORT MORGAN, COLORADO

10am

Got up, got ready and drove East for 100 miles (2 hours) to Fort Morgan, Colorado (or, as locals sometimes call it, Fart Morgan. I can't stop laughing. Thanks, Alissa!).

Since Beth Hart had 2 shows without me (as she had co-bills with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, no room for an opening act) we booked one of our own shows, sponsored & organized by long-time fans turned friends, the amazing Reddit family.

3pm load in, soundcheck, perform

We played two 45 minute sets at a beautiful historic building with a big stage (the fabulous Cafe Lotus). Nick & I had lunch here on our 2014 tour and just loved it, and I was really happy to learn we were playing here.

The audience was small but amazing. A few people drove 3 hours to be there! Afterwards, we had dinner with the Reddit family, and had a great time.

All Fort Morgan photos by Alissa Redditt (with Ashwin, and with Robert & Jacquie)

We were originally going to stay in Fort Morgan but there was a misunderstanding about a hotel so we had to scramble and find a hotel in the 11th hour. We found a Holiday Inn Express an hour East, in Sterling. It had the best reviews in the whole area and was wonderful.

Had to get some coins at the front desk and do a load of laundry (oh, the exciting life on the road!). We did it without detergent, haha, as we had forgotten to bring the free and clear kind. But you know what? It worked fine and the clothes seemed no less clean than usual!

Watched a few clips from the Emmys (the awards were on that night) and crashed out around midnight. 

To be continued :)