The Eye of the Hurricane

Ryan Bingham – Bread & Water filming review

Our trip out to LA was a fast and furious one! We left Houston Tuesday night around 8:00pm and finally settled in to our hotel, Hotel Celebrity, for a short nights sleep. Up at 8:00 we headed out to Venice Beach, an awesome lunch at Du-par’s and then back to Hollywood for a 1:00 tattoo appointment. The weather was just great… sunny and cool… perfect for being typical tourists snapping pictures all over the place and going into stores that everyone knew we had no business in! We met up with Craig, that had just flown in, at a place called The Snake Pit off Melrose for some of the best bar pizza I’ve ever eaten and the tastiest beer I had on the whole trip. After catching up and laughing and joking for a few hours we all headed back to the hotel to change clothes and head out to the filming of Bread & Water at the King King.

I have to admit I had no expectations for the venue or the crowd. I had no idea how California would react and listen to Bingham.. but not 30 minutes after doors opened the the venue was filling up and I could already tell there was a positive vibe building through the crowd. The King King is a fairly small place compared to the venues we’re used to down here in Texas, but that really didn’t matter when it was all said and done. The place packed out quick and the talk on just about everyone’s lips was about Bingham and how much they loved his music.

Marc Ford took the stage with his band to open the night and it was a real cool Blues sound that reminded me alot of what you here on a good night down in Austin. It was a treat to hear Marc sing lead for a change and as you might expect… his band was the best of the best with guys on stand-up bass, harmonica, keys and drums. Every single time I see Marc Ford play he has this look in his eyes of years of experience and a attitude that screams professional… he’s got to be the coolest person I’ve ever met.

Bingham and boys came out and even a stolen cowboy hat couldn’t keep Bingham from putting on one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen. Apparently their van was stolen and in it… Bingham’s trademark cowboy hat. But it didn’t matter… he didn’t miss a beat and warmed the crowd up with a standard songs and busted right into Bread and Water. The crowd out there blew me away with how much they were into it! It was probably the most eclectic audience I’ve seen and everybody was singing and clapping and knew every single word.

They played Bread & Water a total of 3 times for the video shoot and each one was louder and better than the last. That 3rd time, I swear they heard that slide all the way down in Compton! I don’t know if I made the video or not, but I was front and center (imagine that) for most of the night. I let some local girls get in front of me because I probably get to see Bingham more than they do. If I miss my 15 minutes of fame because of them, I’m going to be forced to sneak on the the set of Days of Our Lives or something. After the filming the dimmed the lights down and Bingham went on an hour and a half run of nothing but the best songs I’ve ever heard!

After the show we headed our tired bodies back to the Hotel and Craig headed back to the airport to catch a flight home. The last day in LA found us driving in the Hollywood Hills looking for the perfect picture of the Hollywood Sign and then a quick trip down the Walk of Fame before heading back to the airport for the trip home. Overall it was one of the best trips to see music I’ve ever been on. Don’t get me wrong… There’s nothing like a 3 day Texas roadtrip… but a 2 day trip to LA with some Bingham wrapped in, is up there in the top 5!

Check out our trip photos including the show photos here.

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