100K and Counting: THE DREADED EPILOGUE
I woke up at 9, going on less than four hours of sleep. I can't remember what dreams I had, just that they really stressed me out to the point of headache. We were supposed to take off by 8am, so we weren't off to a very good start. I had a few of the donuts Ana left out for us, which made me feel loads better. Sometime around 5am (when we got back), we made a stopover at Burger King which, in hindsight, was a terrible idea. It wasn't a daily thing, but we've certainly eaten more fast food on this tour than any of the others. Last time that happens.
We adjusted our departure to 10am, but that didn't happen. Jon spent some time calling his credit card companies to cancel his cards and order new ones. Turns out whoever stole his wallet tried to pull out a ton of cash at Penn Station (failed), and then ordered an $800 computer (Jon managed to call the company and cancel the order). Shitty thing to happen to someone. Jen's ankle was still screwy after she fell the night before (and of course, it was her right foot, which made driving oh-so-fun).
We missed having Ryan in the car, but Jon did take advantage of the extra space in the back to sprawl out and take a nap (at which point he accidentally called 411 while he was sleeping... the operator was so confused). It didn't quite hit us that the tour was over till we actually exited the van in Boston to drop off Jon's drums. Also the first time we made it back into town in the late afternoon, as opposed to early morning. Coming back home after these things gets stranger and stranger every time, as if I've been simultaneously gone for too long and not long enough.
But what can ya do. I'm grateful we were even able to do this at all. The end of 2008 was pretty rough on us for a lot of reasons and there were serious doubts that this tour would even happen.
Then again, at 100,000+ miles our van should be dead.
Henry
We adjusted our departure to 10am, but that didn't happen. Jon spent some time calling his credit card companies to cancel his cards and order new ones. Turns out whoever stole his wallet tried to pull out a ton of cash at Penn Station (failed), and then ordered an $800 computer (Jon managed to call the company and cancel the order). Shitty thing to happen to someone. Jen's ankle was still screwy after she fell the night before (and of course, it was her right foot, which made driving oh-so-fun).
We missed having Ryan in the car, but Jon did take advantage of the extra space in the back to sprawl out and take a nap (at which point he accidentally called 411 while he was sleeping... the operator was so confused). It didn't quite hit us that the tour was over till we actually exited the van in Boston to drop off Jon's drums. Also the first time we made it back into town in the late afternoon, as opposed to early morning. Coming back home after these things gets stranger and stranger every time, as if I've been simultaneously gone for too long and not long enough.
But what can ya do. I'm grateful we were even able to do this at all. The end of 2008 was pretty rough on us for a lot of reasons and there were serious doubts that this tour would even happen.
Then again, at 100,000+ miles our van should be dead.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Thursday, February 26, 2009
100K and Counting: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return
Last day (without counting Thursday, driving day back to Boston). Had to get up earlier than we wanted, but we had to get to Bridgewater so Ryan could make it to his gramps' wake. While he was off, Jen, Jon and I spent some time at his house watching TV, playing pool, and general catching up on things that has become custom most mornings. We saw the latest episode of the Daily Show, mostly talking about Gov. Jindal's response speech from the night before. I read the transcript and the whole thing was pretty pedestrian. I love how the governor of Louisiana thinks it's funny there's a provision in the stimulus bill to monitor a potential natural disaster.
Once Ryan got back, we went through a quick run-through of the Stones tunes in his basement. The whole setup was neat and very garage band: one microphone, plugged into a tiny Fender Frontman amp; two guitars plugged into one amp; rudimentary drum kit; and (of course) bass. My cold was in full swing and I was worried about how we were going to be able to pull this one off. At least my throat wasn't hurting too bad. I don't know what it is about this band and people getting sick on tours. It's as if we should start mainlining vitamin C or something.
Drove north about an hour to Emerson, NJ, where we were crashing (Jen's cuz Ana was letting us stay at her place). Ana was awesome and had pizza waiting for us, and even bought donuts for the morning. Headed out to NYC at 9 (didn't have to be there till 10). I was a complete mess, falling asleep in the car.
We immediately started loading in as soon as we got onstage. Otto's is pretty small, so we really had to pack everything in there as best we could. Had to cut the piano tunes, because there was no room to put the piano anywhere. I was having some problems with my pedals and freaking the fuck out until, after 10 minutes, Jon noticed one of them wasn't plugged in, and a crisis was averted. I somehow got my second wind and was able to get through the show without a problem. Finally broke a string on the tour, three songs in.
The show was really fun to play, as was the last time we played Otto's back in 2005. The whole evening was part of something called Copycat, something our friend Evan has been running. Bands play a set comprised of half covers and the nights always have a particular theme. This night's theme was the celebration of the late former Rolling Stone Brian Jones. For the curious, the songs we played were: "Jumping Jack Flash", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", and "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)"— yes, Brian Jones isn't on that last one... we cheated. Things were fun and loose, exactly the kind of show we needed to end the tour.
Ryan stuck around for a bit, but had to take off after about an hour or two. It was the first noticeable thing that occurred that signaled this tour was just about done-zo. The obligatory group hung occurred and our friend Michael (formerly of the awesome NYC band Motion Picture) bought us a round of celebratory tequila shots.
The rest of the evening was spent watching the other groups (Radio Silent and Doug Grey) and talking to Michael. When we've played NYC in the past, nine times out of ten we've opted to just drive back home that same night. Since we didn't do that, we were really living it up. Jon was catching up with some old friends of his from out West that moved to NYC. The longer we stayed at Otto's, the longer we could stave off the end of the tour. Despite whatever lows occurred on the tour, we did have a really good time.
Of course, disaster had to strike. Someone pickpocketed Jon around 4am, as if we needed a palpable signal that the fun was over. Spent a good 30 to 40 minutes with the door guy and a flashlight, searching the club high and low in case it was discarded by the perp or Jon had simply misplaced it. No luck. Not long after Jen tripped walking to the car and screwed up her right ankle.
Headed back to Emerson after that, deflated.
Next: the trip back home (aka THE DREADED EPILOGUE).
Henry
Once Ryan got back, we went through a quick run-through of the Stones tunes in his basement. The whole setup was neat and very garage band: one microphone, plugged into a tiny Fender Frontman amp; two guitars plugged into one amp; rudimentary drum kit; and (of course) bass. My cold was in full swing and I was worried about how we were going to be able to pull this one off. At least my throat wasn't hurting too bad. I don't know what it is about this band and people getting sick on tours. It's as if we should start mainlining vitamin C or something.
Drove north about an hour to Emerson, NJ, where we were crashing (Jen's cuz Ana was letting us stay at her place). Ana was awesome and had pizza waiting for us, and even bought donuts for the morning. Headed out to NYC at 9 (didn't have to be there till 10). I was a complete mess, falling asleep in the car.
We immediately started loading in as soon as we got onstage. Otto's is pretty small, so we really had to pack everything in there as best we could. Had to cut the piano tunes, because there was no room to put the piano anywhere. I was having some problems with my pedals and freaking the fuck out until, after 10 minutes, Jon noticed one of them wasn't plugged in, and a crisis was averted. I somehow got my second wind and was able to get through the show without a problem. Finally broke a string on the tour, three songs in.
The show was really fun to play, as was the last time we played Otto's back in 2005. The whole evening was part of something called Copycat, something our friend Evan has been running. Bands play a set comprised of half covers and the nights always have a particular theme. This night's theme was the celebration of the late former Rolling Stone Brian Jones. For the curious, the songs we played were: "Jumping Jack Flash", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", and "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)"— yes, Brian Jones isn't on that last one... we cheated. Things were fun and loose, exactly the kind of show we needed to end the tour.
Ryan stuck around for a bit, but had to take off after about an hour or two. It was the first noticeable thing that occurred that signaled this tour was just about done-zo. The obligatory group hung occurred and our friend Michael (formerly of the awesome NYC band Motion Picture) bought us a round of celebratory tequila shots.
The rest of the evening was spent watching the other groups (Radio Silent and Doug Grey) and talking to Michael. When we've played NYC in the past, nine times out of ten we've opted to just drive back home that same night. Since we didn't do that, we were really living it up. Jon was catching up with some old friends of his from out West that moved to NYC. The longer we stayed at Otto's, the longer we could stave off the end of the tour. Despite whatever lows occurred on the tour, we did have a really good time.
Of course, disaster had to strike. Someone pickpocketed Jon around 4am, as if we needed a palpable signal that the fun was over. Spent a good 30 to 40 minutes with the door guy and a flashlight, searching the club high and low in case it was discarded by the perp or Jon had simply misplaced it. No luck. Not long after Jen tripped walking to the car and screwed up her right ankle.
Headed back to Emerson after that, deflated.
Next: the trip back home (aka THE DREADED EPILOGUE).
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
100K and Counting: Yo homes, to Bel-Air
Woke up around noon, before everyone else and caught up on the usual bullshit (emails, blogging, and the battery of other things I now feel compelled to update). Jamie made everyone her wonderful, wonderful scrambled eggs and toast. Seriously, it's epic. They're so good. I think we took video of all this. She made 17 eggs.
Midway through breakfast, Ryan got some crappy news that his gramps died. Luckily (relatively, anyway), we're in Jersey and he'll be able to make it to the wake and the funeral. He told us his grandpa wasn't doing so well for a while now, particularly for the last week, so at least he's at peace now. Still can't make any of it easy for everyone else, though.
Lounged around Jamie's for most of the day before having dinner with her folks and her boyfriend Brian. We talked to her stepdad, Rick, about his vinyl collection for a little bit. Dude's got loads of records. We also wound up catching the last episode of That 70s Show and the first one, in that order. The first one was better.
Pulled into the club around 7:30 and loaded in fairly quickly. Scored an awesome parking spot outside Dr. Watson's. I've been feeling sick the last day or so
(being sick on tour is as fun as it sounds), so Jen and I headed over to Starbucks to get tea. At least this time I'm sick on the tail end of the tour.
We also met up with an old friend of ours, Zack, who's now living in Philly and spent a good amount of time catching up. He's actually a stand-up comedian, you should check his stuff out at showyourwits.com.
Jon and Ryan played a game of pool that Jon mostly captured with his badass camera's time lapse feature. Afterward, we ventured downstairs to the restaurant to catch some of Obama's speech. Couldn't get beyond watching Nancy Pelosi hopping up to clap every two seconds. Could've probably made a drinking game out of it. Also wound up meeting Mitch, from Ryan's band A Life of Riley (they happen to be ahead in a contest for a record deal and some cash.. help 'em out by voting for them here).
Got onstage at 11:30 or so. Had huge sound issues for the first three or four songs that we eventually overcame. Apparently, nothing but drum and bass were heard in the club, and onstage it was difficult to hear much of anything. Didn't even get a line check before the set, which is pretty standard. I will say that the sound guy knew he screwed up, eventually corrected this, and apologized to us. I guess every tour needs one of these. Also totally forgot it was Mardi Gras. No breasts were bared, but there were plenty of beads and giant hats to go around.
The Mikey Potato Show was on after us. They're a band that's all about the party. We'd played with them last time we were at Dr. Watson's, but for some reason I wasn't having it this time around and hid away a bit. My cold's slowly catching up with me and to be honest I was just really tired and hungry. Being crowded is not helpful. Also, they opened up with a Van Halen tune and my threshold for VH is extremely low. Very low.
Jamie squeezed into the van with us and we headed back towards NJ, in search of a Wendy's or something that was open. Along the way, someone spontaneously began singing the theme song to Fresh Prince and everyone joined in. Just one of those things you can't not sing along to. Nothing was open by the time we got to Sewell, except for the Wawa. Never been to one before, but it's pretty amazing. Probably terrible for the arteries, but hey...
Got back to Jamie's around 2:00 and ate whatever we gathered at Wawa. 2am is the silly hour, and we were laughing at pretty much anything. Mostly Jon's impersonations (e.g., Marilyn Manson performing You Got Me Wrong). I'm sure there's video of this somewhere.
Stayed up till 3:30 watching Family Guy. Jon was completely exhausted and dozed off on the floor (and who could blame him, the carpet's pretty nice). Finally passed out downstairs shortly thereafter. Nose getting all stuffed up. One more show to go. Let's see if I make it. Still need to learn the lyrics to those Stones tunes we're playing...
Henry
Midway through breakfast, Ryan got some crappy news that his gramps died. Luckily (relatively, anyway), we're in Jersey and he'll be able to make it to the wake and the funeral. He told us his grandpa wasn't doing so well for a while now, particularly for the last week, so at least he's at peace now. Still can't make any of it easy for everyone else, though.
Lounged around Jamie's for most of the day before having dinner with her folks and her boyfriend Brian. We talked to her stepdad, Rick, about his vinyl collection for a little bit. Dude's got loads of records. We also wound up catching the last episode of That 70s Show and the first one, in that order. The first one was better.
Pulled into the club around 7:30 and loaded in fairly quickly. Scored an awesome parking spot outside Dr. Watson's. I've been feeling sick the last day or so
(being sick on tour is as fun as it sounds), so Jen and I headed over to Starbucks to get tea. At least this time I'm sick on the tail end of the tour.
We also met up with an old friend of ours, Zack, who's now living in Philly and spent a good amount of time catching up. He's actually a stand-up comedian, you should check his stuff out at showyourwits.com.
Jon and Ryan played a game of pool that Jon mostly captured with his badass camera's time lapse feature. Afterward, we ventured downstairs to the restaurant to catch some of Obama's speech. Couldn't get beyond watching Nancy Pelosi hopping up to clap every two seconds. Could've probably made a drinking game out of it. Also wound up meeting Mitch, from Ryan's band A Life of Riley (they happen to be ahead in a contest for a record deal and some cash.. help 'em out by voting for them here).
Got onstage at 11:30 or so. Had huge sound issues for the first three or four songs that we eventually overcame. Apparently, nothing but drum and bass were heard in the club, and onstage it was difficult to hear much of anything. Didn't even get a line check before the set, which is pretty standard. I will say that the sound guy knew he screwed up, eventually corrected this, and apologized to us. I guess every tour needs one of these. Also totally forgot it was Mardi Gras. No breasts were bared, but there were plenty of beads and giant hats to go around.
The Mikey Potato Show was on after us. They're a band that's all about the party. We'd played with them last time we were at Dr. Watson's, but for some reason I wasn't having it this time around and hid away a bit. My cold's slowly catching up with me and to be honest I was just really tired and hungry. Being crowded is not helpful. Also, they opened up with a Van Halen tune and my threshold for VH is extremely low. Very low.
Jamie squeezed into the van with us and we headed back towards NJ, in search of a Wendy's or something that was open. Along the way, someone spontaneously began singing the theme song to Fresh Prince and everyone joined in. Just one of those things you can't not sing along to. Nothing was open by the time we got to Sewell, except for the Wawa. Never been to one before, but it's pretty amazing. Probably terrible for the arteries, but hey...
Got back to Jamie's around 2:00 and ate whatever we gathered at Wawa. 2am is the silly hour, and we were laughing at pretty much anything. Mostly Jon's impersonations (e.g., Marilyn Manson performing You Got Me Wrong). I'm sure there's video of this somewhere.
Stayed up till 3:30 watching Family Guy. Jon was completely exhausted and dozed off on the floor (and who could blame him, the carpet's pretty nice). Finally passed out downstairs shortly thereafter. Nose getting all stuffed up. One more show to go. Let's see if I make it. Still need to learn the lyrics to those Stones tunes we're playing...
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
100K and Counting: What's the opposite of Progress? II
Late start to the day. We were hoping to get out of Raleigh earlier than 1pm, but there we were, scarfing down some tea and toast. I'm definitely catching a cold and I've been scarfing down zinc lozenges like nobody's business.
Compared to the drive from Tally to Raleigh, this one to Philadelphia (really, Sewell, NJ) was a cakewalk. Only 7 hours. Our original plan was to stay the night in DC, but the tour budget's getting a bit of a beating, know-what-I-mean?
Either way, we made a quick stop in DC to check out the Lincoln Memorial. Jon took some great pics on his camera I'm hoping to upload to the Flickr account soon (for now, you'll just have to settle for the camera on my phone). DC's a really interesting town. I like it a lot. You definitely need a solid two days to explore it, though; 'twas a luxury we didn't have, unfortunately.
We arrived at our good friend Jamie Leigh's house around 9 and went out for dinner. The place we went to had $2 margaritas. Ryan and I, being the sick ones, enjoyed free H20 on the rocks. The food there was amazing, too. We all went into food comas before even finishing our food. Except for Jamie. She finished it all and was as bubbly as ever. She's a pro.
After dinner was over, someone had the bright idea to make "potion"... ketchup, something called "awesome sauce", pepper, lemon, more ketchup, mustard, a bit of margarita, and god-knows-what-else mixed together upon an empty plate. If that sounds gross, you can't imagine how bad that smelled.
We returned to her home to watch some Futurama and Aqua Teen before passing out from exhaustion.
Now: to figure out when to eat the rest of last night's Philly cheese steak.
Henry
Compared to the drive from Tally to Raleigh, this one to Philadelphia (really, Sewell, NJ) was a cakewalk. Only 7 hours. Our original plan was to stay the night in DC, but the tour budget's getting a bit of a beating, know-what-I-mean?
Either way, we made a quick stop in DC to check out the Lincoln Memorial. Jon took some great pics on his camera I'm hoping to upload to the Flickr account soon (for now, you'll just have to settle for the camera on my phone). DC's a really interesting town. I like it a lot. You definitely need a solid two days to explore it, though; 'twas a luxury we didn't have, unfortunately.
We arrived at our good friend Jamie Leigh's house around 9 and went out for dinner. The place we went to had $2 margaritas. Ryan and I, being the sick ones, enjoyed free H20 on the rocks. The food there was amazing, too. We all went into food comas before even finishing our food. Except for Jamie. She finished it all and was as bubbly as ever. She's a pro.
After dinner was over, someone had the bright idea to make "potion"... ketchup, something called "awesome sauce", pepper, lemon, more ketchup, mustard, a bit of margarita, and god-knows-what-else mixed together upon an empty plate. If that sounds gross, you can't imagine how bad that smelled.
We returned to her home to watch some Futurama and Aqua Teen before passing out from exhaustion.
Now: to figure out when to eat the rest of last night's Philly cheese steak.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Monday, February 23, 2009
100K and Counting: Thanks for the free parking
Day off yesterday. Spent it sleeping in late and lounging about the house. Didn't do shit all day. Jon felt he might be catching a cold (which I believe I am now catching), so he drank some Thera-Flu that promptly knocked him out for most of the day. Jen spent time with her mom and sister.
After dinner, Ryan, myself, and Ale (Jen's sis) played a long game of Scrabble. I took the game with "zing". Triple word score, bitches. Not satisfied, I played a game of Monopoly with Ale and had my ass royally kicked. Fucking hotel on fucking Marvin Gardens does that, I guess.
Wasn't really paying much attention to the Oscars, but I did catch the tail end of it when Kate Winslet won for The Reader. Hugh Jackman hosting was odd. I was pretty happy to see Slumdog Millionaire take Best Picture. Here you have a cast with absolutely no Western stars, a plot centering around never-spoken-of Hindu on Indian Muslim violence, and somehow it's still a feel-good movie.
Stayed up a little longer watching a few episodes of The Simpsons with Jen and Jon, bracing for a 7 hour drive to Philly. Only have two shows left. End of tour blues is starting to kick in for everyone, I think.
Henry
Currently listening to:
Greatest Hits
by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
After dinner, Ryan, myself, and Ale (Jen's sis) played a long game of Scrabble. I took the game with "zing". Triple word score, bitches. Not satisfied, I played a game of Monopoly with Ale and had my ass royally kicked. Fucking hotel on fucking Marvin Gardens does that, I guess.
Wasn't really paying much attention to the Oscars, but I did catch the tail end of it when Kate Winslet won for The Reader. Hugh Jackman hosting was odd. I was pretty happy to see Slumdog Millionaire take Best Picture. Here you have a cast with absolutely no Western stars, a plot centering around never-spoken-of Hindu on Indian Muslim violence, and somehow it's still a feel-good movie.
Stayed up a little longer watching a few episodes of The Simpsons with Jen and Jon, bracing for a 7 hour drive to Philly. Only have two shows left. End of tour blues is starting to kick in for everyone, I think.
Henry
Currently listening to:Greatest Hits
by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Labels: tourdiary
Sunday, February 22, 2009
100K and Counting: You love the Plane*arium
Jen went with her sister to go get a haircut while Jon, Ryan and myself took a field trip to Circuit City, to take advantage of their huge mega Z0MG WE'RE GOING THE FUCK OUT OF BUSINESS sale. There wasn't much to look at. Most of the shelves were empty, ones that weren't were either huge TVs that were still too expensive and boxes of random cables that just said "$25 each". Still, Jon managed to walk away with that memory card he was looking for, and Ryan walked away with Season Two of South Park for cheap.
Trip to Greenville, NC was about an hour and a half away from Raleigh, so not too bad. I slept most of the trip there. Once we got to the address the GPS gave us, we were a little confused because it led us to a house. We checked and double checked, and it turned out that we were playing a house party. Nothing wrong with this, mind you, but we were absolutely not prepared for this eventuality. After some digging around, it turns out that the people running these shows used to have a venue and are doing fundraisers at these house shows to be able to afford a new space. While folks were busy setting the place up, the four of us hung out in the (warm) car, watching some South Park.
After some confusion/haggling over the set times, we finally performed. It was incredibly fun and weird (good weird) and sweaty and rocking; the kind of performance you'd expect playing in a 12x12 room to a bunch of kids crowded in a house. The kids there were super nice, and I even shotgunned a beer with them (Busch Lite, though... gross).
When we got back, Ryan went straight for the bed. Jen, Jon and I stayed up a little longer watching some Simpsons before passing out from exhaustion.
Henry
Trip to Greenville, NC was about an hour and a half away from Raleigh, so not too bad. I slept most of the trip there. Once we got to the address the GPS gave us, we were a little confused because it led us to a house. We checked and double checked, and it turned out that we were playing a house party. Nothing wrong with this, mind you, but we were absolutely not prepared for this eventuality. After some digging around, it turns out that the people running these shows used to have a venue and are doing fundraisers at these house shows to be able to afford a new space. While folks were busy setting the place up, the four of us hung out in the (warm) car, watching some South Park.
After some confusion/haggling over the set times, we finally performed. It was incredibly fun and weird (good weird) and sweaty and rocking; the kind of performance you'd expect playing in a 12x12 room to a bunch of kids crowded in a house. The kids there were super nice, and I even shotgunned a beer with them (Busch Lite, though... gross).
When we got back, Ryan went straight for the bed. Jen, Jon and I stayed up a little longer watching some Simpsons before passing out from exhaustion.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Saturday, February 21, 2009
100K and Counting: You crazy, Jesus... you CRAY-ZAY!
Benefited greatly from getting to bed early. We didn't have a show booked, and the next one was about an hour east of Raleigh (aka 10 hours from Tallahassee). I spent the better part of two hours trying to find a cheap hotel somewhere between Tally and Raleigh, finally settling on someplace in Manning, SC.
After about five hours in the car, we decided to cancel the reservation and make it all the way to Raleigh. Because... we are four clearly insane people.
Since we were in the car for 10-11 hours, nothing eventful really occurred (aside from driving past South of the Border again, this time at night).
So I'll just post this South Park clip.
Henry
After about five hours in the car, we decided to cancel the reservation and make it all the way to Raleigh. Because... we are four clearly insane people.
Since we were in the car for 10-11 hours, nothing eventful really occurred (aside from driving past South of the Border again, this time at night).
So I'll just post this South Park clip.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Friday, February 20, 2009
100K and Counting: Blood on the Tracks
Day 1,242 of not wanting to wake up. Jen woke up, nervously asking what we did with the gig money, searching frantically before remembering we had deposited it the night before. Had to get up anyway, check out time was at 11am anyway.
Ryan hasn't been feeling too hot, so we made a trip to an urgent care center in Gainesville (ha... second time out of three tours we've had to go see a doctor). We dropped Ryan off to get checked out while the rest of us went to get breakfast with Elena. (Lest it seem like we were abandoning Ryan, rest assured he said we should get brekkie without him). Had a bite at the 43rd Street Diner with Elena and her friend (I can't remember his name right now... this makes me a douche). Jon's search for eggs benedict was foiled, since they only serve this on the weekends. Jen and I opted for lunch, because French fries are hard to resist. Also, it was 2pm.
We parted company with Elena and went to go grab Ryan, whom we were certain was dead (he was not). While Ryan was getting his Rx filled, I spent some time catching up on emails and exactly 8,245,687 Facebook application requests that have been piling up.
On the way to Tallahassee, we listened to NPR. Tally's NPR was entertaining, but not so great. There was one story about two 8th grade girls from Maine who fell asleep on some train tracks while skipping school. They were hit by a freight train, lost a leg and a foot (respectively). Not to make light of their situation, but who the fuck thinks sleeping on train tracks is a good idea? This question was completely avoided, which both amused me and frustrated me.
Checked into a Days Inn. Guy at the counter was incredibly nice and we joked around with him for a bit. He thought we were European for some reason. We had a chance to relax in the hotel for a bit before casting off to Big Daddy's.
Big Daddy's was a strange place. The entrance was actually in the rear (we didn't know this). The signage also goes over the door of the other bar next door, further adding to the confusion. We found Yo Soybean there, who we were opening for. Talked to Nick, form the band, for a bit and he explained to me their drummer broke his hand; so they were performing acoustic as a two-piece for the time being. It was an ironic contrast to the non-existent opening band who had a similar situation and pulled out last minute. I guess I shouldn't cast judgments about it, but it's hard to be over 2,000 miles into the trip and not be a little annoyed by things like that.
ANYWAY...
We pushed the start time to 8:30, from 8pm. Compared to other nights on the tour, this was probably the second-worst night in terms of crowd attendance (the other being South Carolina). Couldn't be helped, I guess. The whole thing was a little rushed, too, since Booty Night began at 10pm. I'm not kidding, either. By the time we finished loading out, there was a line of scantily clad girls complaining about how cold it was at 10pm. In a weird way, it's sort of like the 8th graders who were hit by that freight train: didn't you see it coming?
Yo Soybean was great, though. Awesome harmonies and a mandolin was even brought out. In the parking lot we talked to Nick again for a little while, and hopefully our paths will cross again. They were pretty great.
Ended our party streak tonight. Picked up some food on the way back to the hotel and watched TV (I was busy catching up on some work). Jon finally finished up that bottle of wine he was working on the other day. I mistakenly believed Tuesday night was Conan's last show, but clearly I was wrong, since we were watching his penultimate show. Last one's on Friday. Not really looking forward to Jimmy Fallon taking over Late Night.
Clocked out at 1am.
Driving day tomorrow.
Henry
Ryan hasn't been feeling too hot, so we made a trip to an urgent care center in Gainesville (ha... second time out of three tours we've had to go see a doctor). We dropped Ryan off to get checked out while the rest of us went to get breakfast with Elena. (Lest it seem like we were abandoning Ryan, rest assured he said we should get brekkie without him). Had a bite at the 43rd Street Diner with Elena and her friend (I can't remember his name right now... this makes me a douche). Jon's search for eggs benedict was foiled, since they only serve this on the weekends. Jen and I opted for lunch, because French fries are hard to resist. Also, it was 2pm.
We parted company with Elena and went to go grab Ryan, whom we were certain was dead (he was not). While Ryan was getting his Rx filled, I spent some time catching up on emails and exactly 8,245,687 Facebook application requests that have been piling up.
On the way to Tallahassee, we listened to NPR. Tally's NPR was entertaining, but not so great. There was one story about two 8th grade girls from Maine who fell asleep on some train tracks while skipping school. They were hit by a freight train, lost a leg and a foot (respectively). Not to make light of their situation, but who the fuck thinks sleeping on train tracks is a good idea? This question was completely avoided, which both amused me and frustrated me.
Checked into a Days Inn. Guy at the counter was incredibly nice and we joked around with him for a bit. He thought we were European for some reason. We had a chance to relax in the hotel for a bit before casting off to Big Daddy's.
Big Daddy's was a strange place. The entrance was actually in the rear (we didn't know this). The signage also goes over the door of the other bar next door, further adding to the confusion. We found Yo Soybean there, who we were opening for. Talked to Nick, form the band, for a bit and he explained to me their drummer broke his hand; so they were performing acoustic as a two-piece for the time being. It was an ironic contrast to the non-existent opening band who had a similar situation and pulled out last minute. I guess I shouldn't cast judgments about it, but it's hard to be over 2,000 miles into the trip and not be a little annoyed by things like that.
ANYWAY...
We pushed the start time to 8:30, from 8pm. Compared to other nights on the tour, this was probably the second-worst night in terms of crowd attendance (the other being South Carolina). Couldn't be helped, I guess. The whole thing was a little rushed, too, since Booty Night began at 10pm. I'm not kidding, either. By the time we finished loading out, there was a line of scantily clad girls complaining about how cold it was at 10pm. In a weird way, it's sort of like the 8th graders who were hit by that freight train: didn't you see it coming?
Yo Soybean was great, though. Awesome harmonies and a mandolin was even brought out. In the parking lot we talked to Nick again for a little while, and hopefully our paths will cross again. They were pretty great.
Ended our party streak tonight. Picked up some food on the way back to the hotel and watched TV (I was busy catching up on some work). Jon finally finished up that bottle of wine he was working on the other day. I mistakenly believed Tuesday night was Conan's last show, but clearly I was wrong, since we were watching his penultimate show. Last one's on Friday. Not really looking forward to Jimmy Fallon taking over Late Night.
Clocked out at 1am.
Driving day tomorrow.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Thursday, February 19, 2009
100K and Counting: Escape Velocity
My habit of waking up ridiculously early continued. Grandma made breakfast again, and my sister popped by with her Wii so I could school her. After spending a good half hour saying goodbye to everyone, we blasted out of there and began the upward portion of our journey.
The entire time growing up in Florida, I never realized how expensive the Turnpike is. No lie, it's enough to put the Mass Pike to shame.
Gainesville was one of my favorite stops on the first leg of the tour last year, and this time was no different. I would have to say that, excepting their slightly odd load-in procedure, 1982 is one of my favorite places to play. The people there are exceptionally nice and they've got all sorts of Nintendo systems at the bar. Me and some dude named Eli did a round of Mario Kart 64. I lost the race, but only because I was forced to choose Toad. Fucking Toad. Who the hell picks toad? Anyway, this particular show was fun. Very, very, very energetic and the crowd was dancing. Jen and Ryan even jumped in during Nero.
Also got to see all the friends we made the last time around, including my cousin Elena. After 1982 closed for the evening, we all went around the corner to some bar... the name escapes me... but they had a really great selection of beers. I remember getting a porter ale and talking to one of Elena's friends (Leilani?) about dogs. We were all pretty wrecked at that point, so who knows. Well, everyone except for Ryan. He's been under the weather lately, throat's been hurting like a bastard, so we parted ways and made plans with Elena to meet up for breakfast.
On the way back, we made a stop at a CVS to buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, a bottle of wine, and a bag of mini Snickers. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The dude at the counter said something to the effect of wanting to be in our shoes. We piled back into the hotel, watched a few episodes of the Simpsons, and wolfed down some of the Cuban sandwiches my grandma gave us before we left. Jon pretty much housed a good third of the bottle by himself.
I fell asleep at some point and was cognizant enough to change into bedclothes. This part's a little hazy.
This was a good night. G'ville's an alright town.
Next: paying for all this fun.
Henry
The entire time growing up in Florida, I never realized how expensive the Turnpike is. No lie, it's enough to put the Mass Pike to shame.
Gainesville was one of my favorite stops on the first leg of the tour last year, and this time was no different. I would have to say that, excepting their slightly odd load-in procedure, 1982 is one of my favorite places to play. The people there are exceptionally nice and they've got all sorts of Nintendo systems at the bar. Me and some dude named Eli did a round of Mario Kart 64. I lost the race, but only because I was forced to choose Toad. Fucking Toad. Who the hell picks toad? Anyway, this particular show was fun. Very, very, very energetic and the crowd was dancing. Jen and Ryan even jumped in during Nero.
Also got to see all the friends we made the last time around, including my cousin Elena. After 1982 closed for the evening, we all went around the corner to some bar... the name escapes me... but they had a really great selection of beers. I remember getting a porter ale and talking to one of Elena's friends (Leilani?) about dogs. We were all pretty wrecked at that point, so who knows. Well, everyone except for Ryan. He's been under the weather lately, throat's been hurting like a bastard, so we parted ways and made plans with Elena to meet up for breakfast.
On the way back, we made a stop at a CVS to buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, a bottle of wine, and a bag of mini Snickers. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The dude at the counter said something to the effect of wanting to be in our shoes. We piled back into the hotel, watched a few episodes of the Simpsons, and wolfed down some of the Cuban sandwiches my grandma gave us before we left. Jon pretty much housed a good third of the bottle by himself.
I fell asleep at some point and was cognizant enough to change into bedclothes. This part's a little hazy.
This was a good night. G'ville's an alright town.
Next: paying for all this fun.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
100K and Counting: Welcome to Miami
The familiarity of everything is the weird part. Waking up at my grandparents' house, having breakfast there, hanging out. The only difference is that, technically speaking, I'm working. It's very strange. Very, very strange. I was up before anyone (I usually am for some reason.. don't know why) and caught up on emails n' such. My uncle Oscar came by and I hung out at his house for a few. The air conditioner repair guy was there. Turns out a lizard was chilling in the outside unit and shorted the whole thing out. Going to cost him a mint to repair it. Fucking lizards.
Around 1:30, we reached escape velocity and left the house. Went down to Coral Gables, where Jen grew up; drove down Miracle Mile and cursed at the awful, awful drivers that this part of the country has to offer. Afterwards, we headed to Coconut Grove to see the water (beautiful). Jen had been jonesing for a Johnny Rocket's burger and shake for days, and her wish was granted. Still weird, I felt like I was in high school again. Neither good, nor bad. The burger, however, was good. We ate on the outside patio. This information is relevant, because Ryan didn't finish his burger, and as we were leaving a homeless guy, very slick-like, passed by and yoinked his leftovers after saying "Man, I got the munchies." We thought this was well-played, so we didn't say anything. We made a stopover to see Jen's grandparents and her bro, OJ. Their dog, Lucky, befits his name. He's ancient and is still kicking.
After that we had to rush to get to the club. Before we moved to Boston 8 years ago, Jen and I hung out here quite a bit,. We saw some amazing poetry readings there. Talked to Flash, the proprietor, for a bit and were surprised to find out that he actually remembered the old group Jen and I were in, Rain, back in the day. I was also surprised to learn that he's originally from Massachusetts and moved down to Miami because of the weather. Talk about ships crossing in the night.
The Miami scene, at least as far as indie rock, is still kind of dead, and I have to give it to Flash and the crew at the Wallflower for staying in business and still doing their thing for as long as they have. It ain't easy. People starting coming in at around 7:30, which included friends I hadn't seen in ages and my family who, excepting my immediate family, have not seen us play before.
The show went very well and, as expected, the place was packed. It was a little weird for me at first because if I looked at the first few rows it was like playing in my living room. Got over it quickly, at any rate. We even got to do a couple of encores. The setup was interesting, but worked really well. Flash had us point the amps at ourselves, like monitors, mic'ed them up and had everything going through the PA. It was nice to be able to hear the guitars onstage so loudly.
Ex Norwegian went on after us, and they were absolutely brilliant. They've got some great tunes and they sound awesome. They're coming up to Boston next month on their own tour (I believe they're playing O'Brien's), and we may be joining them on a bill in Worcester around that time.
My cousin Max bought some enormous pizzas and we all headed back to my parents' house to watch Conan's last night on Late Night and have a few beers. This only went on for a couple of hours, and by 2am we pretty much passed the hell out from exhaustion. Miami was effing exhausting. Still can't explain it. Without question, Aloud is a Boston band, but then this was also some sort of long-awaited "hometown show" only not really.
Bah, enough trying to figure this out. I don't know how soon we'll be back, but I'm just glad Miami was finally able to see us in action.
Next at bat: Leaving Miami, and Gainesville.
Henry
Around 1:30, we reached escape velocity and left the house. Went down to Coral Gables, where Jen grew up; drove down Miracle Mile and cursed at the awful, awful drivers that this part of the country has to offer. Afterwards, we headed to Coconut Grove to see the water (beautiful). Jen had been jonesing for a Johnny Rocket's burger and shake for days, and her wish was granted. Still weird, I felt like I was in high school again. Neither good, nor bad. The burger, however, was good. We ate on the outside patio. This information is relevant, because Ryan didn't finish his burger, and as we were leaving a homeless guy, very slick-like, passed by and yoinked his leftovers after saying "Man, I got the munchies." We thought this was well-played, so we didn't say anything. We made a stopover to see Jen's grandparents and her bro, OJ. Their dog, Lucky, befits his name. He's ancient and is still kicking.
After that we had to rush to get to the club. Before we moved to Boston 8 years ago, Jen and I hung out here quite a bit,. We saw some amazing poetry readings there. Talked to Flash, the proprietor, for a bit and were surprised to find out that he actually remembered the old group Jen and I were in, Rain, back in the day. I was also surprised to learn that he's originally from Massachusetts and moved down to Miami because of the weather. Talk about ships crossing in the night.
The Miami scene, at least as far as indie rock, is still kind of dead, and I have to give it to Flash and the crew at the Wallflower for staying in business and still doing their thing for as long as they have. It ain't easy. People starting coming in at around 7:30, which included friends I hadn't seen in ages and my family who, excepting my immediate family, have not seen us play before.
The show went very well and, as expected, the place was packed. It was a little weird for me at first because if I looked at the first few rows it was like playing in my living room. Got over it quickly, at any rate. We even got to do a couple of encores. The setup was interesting, but worked really well. Flash had us point the amps at ourselves, like monitors, mic'ed them up and had everything going through the PA. It was nice to be able to hear the guitars onstage so loudly.
Ex Norwegian went on after us, and they were absolutely brilliant. They've got some great tunes and they sound awesome. They're coming up to Boston next month on their own tour (I believe they're playing O'Brien's), and we may be joining them on a bill in Worcester around that time.
My cousin Max bought some enormous pizzas and we all headed back to my parents' house to watch Conan's last night on Late Night and have a few beers. This only went on for a couple of hours, and by 2am we pretty much passed the hell out from exhaustion. Miami was effing exhausting. Still can't explain it. Without question, Aloud is a Boston band, but then this was also some sort of long-awaited "hometown show" only not really.
Bah, enough trying to figure this out. I don't know how soon we'll be back, but I'm just glad Miami was finally able to see us in action.
Next at bat: Leaving Miami, and Gainesville.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
100K and Counting: The Happiest Place on Earth II
Staying at my aunt Maria's afforded us the opportunity to sleep in (given the two straight nights of copious partying, we sorely needed it). I stayed in bed for a little bit, watching an episode of Frasier and imagining Sideshow Bob was actually speaking instead of Frasier Crane. Everyone mozied on downstairs for breakfast at their own pace. The jacuzzi happened, and severely delayed our departure. We stayed so long that we wound up having lunch there, too. I don't think anyone wanted to leave. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. God, I freaking hate snow.
Eventually, we did leave and made our way to the southernmost point on our tour. The thrill of being on tour for me is seeing new places and traveling down new roads. This was the complete opposite. The Florida Turnpike from Orlando to Miami is one I've done hundreds of times, usually on the summer pilgrimage to Disney World as a kid. It's a weird feeling, not sure I quite understand it. I also never realized how goddamned expensive the tolls are on the Turnpike. They put the Mass Pike to shame, and I never thought I'd say that in my life. We probably spent $25 by the time we got to Miami on tolls alone. Looks like it's I-95 on the way back up.
Made it all the way down to Port St. Lucie. Jon needed to buy something from Best Buy real quick-like, Jen used the opportunity to buy that Glassvegas CD, and Ryan and I used to opportunity to stretch our legs. Gassed up somewhere nearby and learned the hilarious fact that the name of Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture is Charles Bronson.
We arrived pretty close to 10pm, everyone was still up. After unloading our gear, we went down the street to my grandparents' house, which is when it seems like my entire family descended upon us. My grandma (the previously mentioned Wizard of the Kitchen) had food ready, which was scarfed down until stomachs were ready to burst. We went out later to the Alehouse in Doral, but didn't stay out too long. We were tired as hell. Headed back to grandma's, crashed.
Next: visiting the Grove, Coral Gables, and the Miami show.
Henry
Eventually, we did leave and made our way to the southernmost point on our tour. The thrill of being on tour for me is seeing new places and traveling down new roads. This was the complete opposite. The Florida Turnpike from Orlando to Miami is one I've done hundreds of times, usually on the summer pilgrimage to Disney World as a kid. It's a weird feeling, not sure I quite understand it. I also never realized how goddamned expensive the tolls are on the Turnpike. They put the Mass Pike to shame, and I never thought I'd say that in my life. We probably spent $25 by the time we got to Miami on tolls alone. Looks like it's I-95 on the way back up.
Made it all the way down to Port St. Lucie. Jon needed to buy something from Best Buy real quick-like, Jen used the opportunity to buy that Glassvegas CD, and Ryan and I used to opportunity to stretch our legs. Gassed up somewhere nearby and learned the hilarious fact that the name of Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture is Charles Bronson.
We arrived pretty close to 10pm, everyone was still up. After unloading our gear, we went down the street to my grandparents' house, which is when it seems like my entire family descended upon us. My grandma (the previously mentioned Wizard of the Kitchen) had food ready, which was scarfed down until stomachs were ready to burst. We went out later to the Alehouse in Doral, but didn't stay out too long. We were tired as hell. Headed back to grandma's, crashed.
Next: visiting the Grove, Coral Gables, and the Miami show.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Monday, February 16, 2009
100K and Counting: The Happiest Place on Earth I
To say that waking up was a pain in the ass in Charleston is redundant. We made the mistake of getting wrecked two days in a row. It was not going to happen again. Checked out of the hotel at 11am on the nose and started on the long drive to Orlando. We weren't playing or anything, but the next show's in Miami and there was no way in hell we were driving 11 hours.
We crashed with my aunt Maria, who has a place there. A really nice place, I might add, with a jacuzzi. I got to see some of my cousins that I hadn't gotten to see in a while, so that was nice (though, there was intense foreboding of the familial assault that awaited in Miami). 'Twas a nice change from hotels, and no one had to sleep on the floor. We stayed up pretty late hanging out with Maria... mostly reading the Fail Blog.
Hmm.. yea, not much to report for this day. We basically spent the entire day in the car without catching someone with their pants down in a public toilet.
Henry
We crashed with my aunt Maria, who has a place there. A really nice place, I might add, with a jacuzzi. I got to see some of my cousins that I hadn't gotten to see in a while, so that was nice (though, there was intense foreboding of the familial assault that awaited in Miami). 'Twas a nice change from hotels, and no one had to sleep on the floor. We stayed up pretty late hanging out with Maria... mostly reading the Fail Blog.
Hmm.. yea, not much to report for this day. We basically spent the entire day in the car without catching someone with their pants down in a public toilet.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Sunday, February 15, 2009
100K and Counting: The Strangest Place on Earth
Late start to the morning yesterday. Partied a little too hard, and now we we're paying for it. A little rushed, cos we wanted to make it to Charleston with enough time to relax. The trip itself was only supposed to be 4½ hours, by we made a few (much needed) stops. Drinking gallons of water does that.
Along the way we stopped at South of the Border. It is truly the strangest place on Earth; nothing about it makes any sense. We dicked around for half an hour taking photos. Jon was that close to buying a giant novelty Mexican hat, but sadly did not. The place is total WTF.
One gas station we stopped at was like entering some sort of black hole. Upon entering, I was immediately approached by some guy who looked methed out, asking me if we were headed to Charleston. I said no, but he pressed on... something about being stuck there. I ignored him and went on my way. I felt a little bad— I wouldn't want to get stuck there myself— but I didn't feel like getting stabbed, either. Not more than two minutes later, someone else (equally sketchy looking) asked me if I was headed north. Again, feeling zero inclination to have my midsection penetrated by a dull instrument of some sort, said no. This was also not a conversation I'd like to have in a public bathroom.
Another place we stopped at: walked in on a guy taking a shit. I didn't need to see that. Why don't people lock the door? Regardless, knocking will be standard operating procedure from here on out.
The hotel we arrived at was much nicer than we'd anticipated— the type of place with an indoor pool. Didn't have time to do much, since we were running behind.
Venue is in a strip mall, which instantly reminded me of some of the places in Miami that Jen and I used to try and play at. Village Tavern was an alright place. Great sound and they treated us well. Stage backdrop was a giant painting of the Kool-Aid man busting through the wall. Anyway, they took care of our meal and a few drinks. We didn't play for many people, which sucks. But the ones that were there bought us drinks (Ryan's aunt Ruth was in town and also bought us drinks). This is where all the trouble started. Two days of drinking in a row— not good. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Next: Driving day and Orlando.
Henry
(Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures)
Along the way we stopped at South of the Border. It is truly the strangest place on Earth; nothing about it makes any sense. We dicked around for half an hour taking photos. Jon was that close to buying a giant novelty Mexican hat, but sadly did not. The place is total WTF.
One gas station we stopped at was like entering some sort of black hole. Upon entering, I was immediately approached by some guy who looked methed out, asking me if we were headed to Charleston. I said no, but he pressed on... something about being stuck there. I ignored him and went on my way. I felt a little bad— I wouldn't want to get stuck there myself— but I didn't feel like getting stabbed, either. Not more than two minutes later, someone else (equally sketchy looking) asked me if I was headed north. Again, feeling zero inclination to have my midsection penetrated by a dull instrument of some sort, said no. This was also not a conversation I'd like to have in a public bathroom.
Another place we stopped at: walked in on a guy taking a shit. I didn't need to see that. Why don't people lock the door? Regardless, knocking will be standard operating procedure from here on out.
The hotel we arrived at was much nicer than we'd anticipated— the type of place with an indoor pool. Didn't have time to do much, since we were running behind.
Venue is in a strip mall, which instantly reminded me of some of the places in Miami that Jen and I used to try and play at. Village Tavern was an alright place. Great sound and they treated us well. Stage backdrop was a giant painting of the Kool-Aid man busting through the wall. Anyway, they took care of our meal and a few drinks. We didn't play for many people, which sucks. But the ones that were there bought us drinks (Ryan's aunt Ruth was in town and also bought us drinks). This is where all the trouble started. Two days of drinking in a row— not good. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Next: Driving day and Orlando.
Henry
(Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures)
Labels: tourdiary
Saturday, February 14, 2009
100K and Counting: Country Fried Steak
Woke up a little too early yesterday. Back was in pain, the mattress I was sleeping on wasn't too hot. Spent the day with everyone lounging about, eventually catching Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny (awesome).
Slim's reminded me of a slightly larger version of O'Brien's. We were originally supposed to play with Strange Faces, but their singer was having some health issues and couldn't make it (I'm told he was saving children from a burning building which collapsed on him, but he should be back at 100% in two days). Instead, we were treated to another permutation of the band known as Five Alpha Beatdown, who have awesome song names like "Ninja of the Nasty".
The show went really well for us. Feels like we've tapped into some old energy again, very fresh and sweaty. Afterward, we cavorted with the folks at the bar. Met some dudes named John and Whit, who were in bands here in Raleigh and love Averi. Also happens the dudes from Strange Faces actually hail from Albany, and knew quite a bit about The Pills (Corin Ashley's band).
After a few shots of tequila and Yuenglings, everyone was hungry and we were trying to figure the food situation out. A girl (who was noticeably drunk) overheard our conversation and recommended against Denny's ("that's highway shit"). Instead, she said we should hit up the IHOP on Morgan St. and Hillssngjkrwdwd. We eventually deciphered (or guessed) the address, found the IHOP, and immediately headed for the Denny's anyway. I'll take highway shit over sketchball shit any day.
Denny's was packed to the gills at 3:00am, and there were so many people wearing cowboy hats. So much craziness going on around us, too.. people getting back from the clubs and people just looking for some breakfast at 3am. Jon ordered a Country Fried Steak and couldn't remember he had ordered it when he arrived. Ryan knocked "shave and a haircut" into the smoking/non-smoking divider and got a "two bits" reply.
By the time we got back to Jen's folk's house, we were defeated by utter tiredness and the impending food coma.
Next at bat: Mt. Pleasant, SC
Henry
Yesterday's Choice Quotes:
"I need something dead and fried in front of me." Jen
Waitress: "How do you want your eggs?" Jon: "Medium."
"Are you really not going to eat those fries?" Henry
Slim's reminded me of a slightly larger version of O'Brien's. We were originally supposed to play with Strange Faces, but their singer was having some health issues and couldn't make it (I'm told he was saving children from a burning building which collapsed on him, but he should be back at 100% in two days). Instead, we were treated to another permutation of the band known as Five Alpha Beatdown, who have awesome song names like "Ninja of the Nasty".
The show went really well for us. Feels like we've tapped into some old energy again, very fresh and sweaty. Afterward, we cavorted with the folks at the bar. Met some dudes named John and Whit, who were in bands here in Raleigh and love Averi. Also happens the dudes from Strange Faces actually hail from Albany, and knew quite a bit about The Pills (Corin Ashley's band).
After a few shots of tequila and Yuenglings, everyone was hungry and we were trying to figure the food situation out. A girl (who was noticeably drunk) overheard our conversation and recommended against Denny's ("that's highway shit"). Instead, she said we should hit up the IHOP on Morgan St. and Hillssngjkrwdwd. We eventually deciphered (or guessed) the address, found the IHOP, and immediately headed for the Denny's anyway. I'll take highway shit over sketchball shit any day.
Denny's was packed to the gills at 3:00am, and there were so many people wearing cowboy hats. So much craziness going on around us, too.. people getting back from the clubs and people just looking for some breakfast at 3am. Jon ordered a Country Fried Steak and couldn't remember he had ordered it when he arrived. Ryan knocked "shave and a haircut" into the smoking/non-smoking divider and got a "two bits" reply.
By the time we got back to Jen's folk's house, we were defeated by utter tiredness and the impending food coma.
Next at bat: Mt. Pleasant, SC
Henry
Yesterday's Choice Quotes:
"I need something dead and fried in front of me." Jen
Waitress: "How do you want your eggs?" Jon: "Medium."
"Are you really not going to eat those fries?" Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Friday, February 13, 2009
100K and Counting: Again with the Klingons
Waking up yesterday was a pain in the ass. I hate 11am checkout times (which, incidentally, is the standard). I'm glad I did, though, as the continental breakfast was closing soon. They had a waffle-making machine so I suppose it wasn't all bad.
Hit traffic on the way to Raleigh which set us back an hour (the trip was already about 5 hours without it). We stopped along the way to give ol' Bessie a car wash. I hadn't been to an automatic car wash in years. It's still fun. We also gave the van a much needed vacuuming. There was so much crap in that car.
Beca and Hugh (respectively) sent me two awesome-yet-terrible websites that kept us occupied, though: www.thisiswhyyourefat.com and www.fmylife.com. They will rock your world the way only a bacon donut could (or getting caught in the nude with an unconscious post-coital girlfriend by said girlfriend's parents in their garage).
Rolled in to Raleigh at around 5:30. Jen's parents made us a ton of food, and afterwards we all played an endless game of Uno. At the end of the day, Ryan took the cake, but we were happy because this meant that Jen's sister did not win this time. We stayed up to have a few drinks and playing dominoes (I won 2/3 games... yea, suckah!) before finally crashing.
Oh, and Jen's dogs are still awesome. Jake's sitting on top of my feet right now.
Gig tonight, will report later.
Henry
Yesterday's quote-
Jon (in a deep, lispy voice): "I love your apartment, it's like Cuba meets modern-day renaissance."
Currently listening to:
White Blood Cells
by The White Stripes
Hit traffic on the way to Raleigh which set us back an hour (the trip was already about 5 hours without it). We stopped along the way to give ol' Bessie a car wash. I hadn't been to an automatic car wash in years. It's still fun. We also gave the van a much needed vacuuming. There was so much crap in that car.
Beca and Hugh (respectively) sent me two awesome-yet-terrible websites that kept us occupied, though: www.thisiswhyyourefat.com and www.fmylife.com. They will rock your world the way only a bacon donut could (or getting caught in the nude with an unconscious post-coital girlfriend by said girlfriend's parents in their garage).
Rolled in to Raleigh at around 5:30. Jen's parents made us a ton of food, and afterwards we all played an endless game of Uno. At the end of the day, Ryan took the cake, but we were happy because this meant that Jen's sister did not win this time. We stayed up to have a few drinks and playing dominoes (I won 2/3 games... yea, suckah!) before finally crashing.
Oh, and Jen's dogs are still awesome. Jake's sitting on top of my feet right now.
Gig tonight, will report later.
Henry
Yesterday's quote-
Jon (in a deep, lispy voice): "I love your apartment, it's like Cuba meets modern-day renaissance."
Currently listening to:White Blood Cells
by The White Stripes
Labels: tourdiary
Thursday, February 12, 2009
100K and Counting: What's the opposite of Progress?
Hell of a start to the tour last night. It was great driving through DC and seeing things like the Pentagon and the Capitol building and all that jazz. The drive to DC from New Jersey wasn't too bad.
Jon's starting a quote log. So far, it's all been Jen spitting out gold:
"I'm going to turn on the TV and hope to god there's cartoons on."
"Zipper in, motherfuckers!" (ah, dealing with merging into traffic)
"Dave Matthews band is absolutely putrid."
And so on. I'll keep you all posted. It's keeping us all entertained.
Checked into a hotel in Cheverly, MD. They were doing renovations, so it was a little... unclean? Weird? All I know is the dollar reader on the vending machines was upside-down. But at least the room was big and had a microwave what for reheating food.
Velvet Lounge reminded me a little of the Delancey out in NYC, it's a cool little club and I'd like to head back there sooner rather than later. DC's a cool town, though... I think the last time I was here may have been something like 7 years ago? I dunno. This being our debut in DC, I wasn't expecting much but we actually had a fairly sizable crowd there. Between friends of ours who moved there and bringing their friends n' such, we had a sizable crowd there. 'Twas electric, and I sweat my ass off. Literally (what?).
Alright, I'm off for now. Dealing with traffic on I-95 at the moment (is there anywhere in the country where 95 doesn't suck??). Have the day off today, and playing in Raleigh tomorrow night.
Henry
Currently listening to:
Some Cities
by Doves
Jon's starting a quote log. So far, it's all been Jen spitting out gold:
"I'm going to turn on the TV and hope to god there's cartoons on."
"Zipper in, motherfuckers!" (ah, dealing with merging into traffic)
"Dave Matthews band is absolutely putrid."
And so on. I'll keep you all posted. It's keeping us all entertained.
Checked into a hotel in Cheverly, MD. They were doing renovations, so it was a little... unclean? Weird? All I know is the dollar reader on the vending machines was upside-down. But at least the room was big and had a microwave what for reheating food.
Velvet Lounge reminded me a little of the Delancey out in NYC, it's a cool little club and I'd like to head back there sooner rather than later. DC's a cool town, though... I think the last time I was here may have been something like 7 years ago? I dunno. This being our debut in DC, I wasn't expecting much but we actually had a fairly sizable crowd there. Between friends of ours who moved there and bringing their friends n' such, we had a sizable crowd there. 'Twas electric, and I sweat my ass off. Literally (what?).
Alright, I'm off for now. Dealing with traffic on I-95 at the moment (is there anywhere in the country where 95 doesn't suck??). Have the day off today, and playing in Raleigh tomorrow night.
Henry
Currently listening to:Some Cities
by Doves
Labels: tourdiary
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
100K and Counting: You and me are done, professionally!
No shows today, but considering the first one is in DC had to get a head start. Staying over at Ryan's house today which is awesome. All in all, the ride here was enjoyable. Rigged up a laptop in the car to watch a ton of DVDs on the way.
My friend Martin loaned me his copy of Watchmen, which I've been reading like a bastard. It's so goddamn good, and it's shameful that I'm 26 years old and have only just read it. Kudos to Alan Moore for being so weird and awesome. Let's hope the movie doesn't disappoint.
Already had to cancel one show, the one in Columbia, SC. Not too happy about it, and it's not exactly how I pictured spending the first day out on the road. I hate cancellations in general (updating and emailing people/sites is not fun), but this was extra annoying because it was completely the club's fault. Not going to get into it, cos it's a moot point (but I could probably put Christian Bale to shame right now).
All things considered, things are going very well. Playing DC tomorrow, first time we've done so.
Going to play some pool and hit the hay.
Be well.
Henry
My friend Martin loaned me his copy of Watchmen, which I've been reading like a bastard. It's so goddamn good, and it's shameful that I'm 26 years old and have only just read it. Kudos to Alan Moore for being so weird and awesome. Let's hope the movie doesn't disappoint.
Already had to cancel one show, the one in Columbia, SC. Not too happy about it, and it's not exactly how I pictured spending the first day out on the road. I hate cancellations in general (updating and emailing people/sites is not fun), but this was extra annoying because it was completely the club's fault. Not going to get into it, cos it's a moot point (but I could probably put Christian Bale to shame right now).
All things considered, things are going very well. Playing DC tomorrow, first time we've done so.
Going to play some pool and hit the hay.
Be well.
Henry
Labels: tourdiary
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A little over one more day before we hit the road again. Incredibly anxious right now (the espresso I had about an hour ago did not help). Tires are kicked, checklists (the nice way of saying "paper that says DON'T FORGET PHONE CHARGER, BUCKO") are being checked, guitars restrung, Grammy Awards ignored.... Even figured out how to reach yonder internets with text messages. Yup. Good to go. The last major trek in September was, admittedly, a bit rough on the soul, but I've got a good feeling about this one. I want to live again, Clarence!
We had our penultimate tour rehearsal tonight, working on our Stones covers for the NYC show, whose theme is Brian Jones' Birthday. Tight like a tiger.
Actually, I'm lying about the Grammys. I did tune in just in time to catch McCartney jamming on I Saw Her Standing There with Dave Grohl. It was fun to see Dave back there with an ear-to-ear grin, singing along to every word, probably pissing himself. And this man was in Nirvana (a presumably more frightening situation). Even if you hate Paul, Dave Grohl, or both, you have to admit this is better on the senses than John Mayer winning a Grammy.
I'm not even arguing that the dude can play a guitar like a mofo or that his 2girls1cup parody wasn't funny as hell. But will no one stand up and say "That's enough, John Mayer"?
I'd probably be pissed about this if the Grammy was a real award.
Henry
We had our penultimate tour rehearsal tonight, working on our Stones covers for the NYC show, whose theme is Brian Jones' Birthday. Tight like a tiger.
Actually, I'm lying about the Grammys. I did tune in just in time to catch McCartney jamming on I Saw Her Standing There with Dave Grohl. It was fun to see Dave back there with an ear-to-ear grin, singing along to every word, probably pissing himself. And this man was in Nirvana (a presumably more frightening situation). Even if you hate Paul, Dave Grohl, or both, you have to admit this is better on the senses than John Mayer winning a Grammy.
I'm not even arguing that the dude can play a guitar like a mofo or that his 2girls1cup parody wasn't funny as hell. But will no one stand up and say "That's enough, John Mayer"?
I'd probably be pissed about this if the Grammy was a real award.
Henry
Friday, February 6, 2009
Today's more or less the last free day we have before we take off on Tuesday. Watching Lord Don't Slow Me Down again (it always gets me pumped before we go on the road). Just taking care of a few odds n' ends today, like restringing guitars, doing laundry and such, last minute listings. Also figured out how to update Facebook through my phone, which I imagine will get pretty handy. Ah, the internets.
(Ick... I forgot Jet shows up in this movie for a few seconds.)
But yea, I'm excited. We did a show out in Great Barrington, MA last Saturday, which we used as a live rehearsal, so to speak, and it was probably the tighest we've sounded in months. For reading material, I'm going to try and dig into There's a Riot Going On by Peter Dogget. I doubt I'll even be able to finish it in two weeks, the thing's a beast, but stranger things have happened.
Been watching a crapton of movies as of late. There was this program Jen and I caught by chance on PBS last night called The Human Face that was incredibly interesting (and made all the more awesome by John Cleese, who hosted it).
Alright, back to work. Hope you're all well.
Henry
Currently watching:
Lord Down Slow Me Down
(Ick... I forgot Jet shows up in this movie for a few seconds.)
But yea, I'm excited. We did a show out in Great Barrington, MA last Saturday, which we used as a live rehearsal, so to speak, and it was probably the tighest we've sounded in months. For reading material, I'm going to try and dig into There's a Riot Going On by Peter Dogget. I doubt I'll even be able to finish it in two weeks, the thing's a beast, but stranger things have happened.
Been watching a crapton of movies as of late. There was this program Jen and I caught by chance on PBS last night called The Human Face that was incredibly interesting (and made all the more awesome by John Cleese, who hosted it).
Alright, back to work. Hope you're all well.
Henry
Currently watching:Lord Down Slow Me Down
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