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Central Park is hot in the summer time, especially at Bethesda Fountain, where we became a regular weekend attraction.
The heat took its toll, on our instruments and us. I remember once when Erin asked me to put my hand on her cello – it was as hot as an iron. Not a good sign, especially since her instrument is worth more than some cars.


On the upside, the crowds at Central Park were SICK! It made it all worth it.
Never in my life would I have expected to perform for so many people around the world in such a short period of time. The results were instant and direct. People wanted cello rock.
I’ll never forget the look on the faces coming from a group of skateboarder kids when we busted out System of a Down’s BYOB. They immediately jumped off their skateboards and ran over to us while gesturing the “metal hand”. Sitting closer to us in the front was an older man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, and his wife. They were so immersed, if not hypnotized, by the music that they barely noticed the teenage mosh pit that was forming behind them.
Interactions with senior citizens usually went something like this. A little old woman walks up to us and says, “That was a beautiful song you played! What song was that?”
Our usual response: “That was Metallica’s Creeping Death.”
Good stuff.
The listeners in Central Park were even more diverse than in the subways. Central Park is a huge tourist attraction, which helped us build an international fan-base in a way that most bands cannot do.

The Fourth of July
It was a natural high. We were buzzing. As performers, we were feeding off the incredible energy from crowds in the form of smiles, cheers and clapping. We took that energy and gave it right back to them.
As a result, we were playing harder, louder, and faster. Each song turned into a set. Each set turned into hours. The day would go by as the sun continued to punish us.
Before I realized it, I looked down at my djembe and saw my fingers and my drumhead smeared with blood! My finger was bleeding from playing the djembe so hard. I taped it up and kept going.
Fatigue began taking over. My arms were fried. I glanced over at Pat, who was as red as a lobster, covered in sunburns. I looked at Erin who was next to me cringing from the pain in her wrist and shoulders.

Despite the sheer response and the incredible number of CDs we were selling, I simply couldn’t give any more. It was time for us to stop. I had to stop – I was BLEEDING for crying out loud, and I just didn’t feel like making music anymore. Some of the others understood where I was coming from, but insisted on continuing. They had good reason. Money was coming easy that day – we wouldn’t come across another day like that all year.
I didn’t care. I was so spent.
After about an hour of yelling, cursing, hugging, and more cursing, we left without playing anymore that day. The ride home was awkward, to say the least.
On top of that, Erin continued to feel discomfort in her hand and wrist…
Despite all the conflict, we kept heading out to Central Park, every Saturday and Sunday.
[INTERACT: Did you meet BOR in Central Park? Did you take pictures? Videos? Share them with us!]

Yoko Ono and Co.
Usually, we would arrive at Central Park early, eat some granola, and warm up. While the cellists were warming up, I would typically go to the bathroom, call my mom, or sometimes take a walk.
Well, I forgot about the bathroom one morning, and ended up having to go during one of our sets. I ran off, and wasn’t gone for more than 10 minutes.
I ran back, and saw huge smiles on everyone’s faces, especially the guys.
“We just met that lady from Groundhog Day!”, Patrick yelled. “And you missed it!”
Dang it! I missed meeting Andie MacDowell, and apparently that wasn’t the best part.
She was taking a walk with her beautiful daughter, and they happened to walk by our spot. The cellists, who decided to wait for me to play, were just hanging out. Well, MacDowell approaches them and asks about the group. Rather than waiting for me, the cellists decided to play, sans drums. After all, how many chances do you get to play for “that lady from Groundhog Day”?
She dug it, and so did her daughter. They ended up buying a CD and chatted with the group. They left right before I got there.
Jesse said MacDowell was really nice, and the guys all agreed that her daughter was “very nice looking”.
Dang it! I missed it! From then on, I held my urge to go to the bathroom for as long as possible.
Another day, we were playing for a huge crowd at the fountain. We were performing Circles for probably the 15th time that day, when we noticed a small Asian woman making her way to the front of the crowd with her grandson. The little kid was just adorable. He was dancing, jumping, and running with the music. We thought the kid was great, but didn’t pay much attention to his grandmother.
It hit Jesse first.
“That’s Yoko Ono,” he said.
Holy moly.
He was right.

We immediately perked up. We were playing for Yoko Ono and her grandson, and they were both digging it. She left before we could talk to her, but a fan there approached us and said, “I see her in the park all the time. I have never seen her stop to listen to any musician before. You should feel honored; she loved it.”
We were.
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[INTERACT: Did you hear Break of Reality in Central Park? Tell us about it! If you have photos or videos, please share!]
Next week on BoR Blog – Scammers! We met a lot of nice people in NYC, but we also met some interesting folks, some who promised us the world.

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