I woke up in Dubuque, grateful that Carter (Black Bloom's pug/house mascot) did not wake me up. I don't think I could've handled that ball of pure energy that early in the morning. We said our goodbyes to Brandon, and started making our way back east. I hear it's been raining like a bastard back in Boston. We've had some amazing weather on this tour. Haw-haw.

We mozied on through Illinois through the farmlands again, on the way to Indiana. We were all recovering from the sound issues the night before-- they were that unpleasant, at least to us. The crowd there didn't seem to notice, though, so at least there was that. We were talking to a couple of girls that came from KLCR, which has been playing Fan The Fury, who liked what they heard and were grateful that we'd made it all the way out to Iowa. I think they may have even said we were the first band they've played to head out their way. At least there's that. I'd love to come back to Dubuque and put on a better show. Plus, it's kind of a nice town, to boot.

Gas out in Iowa was strangely cheap (in relative terms, anyway.. We're still getting fleeced at $3.59 a gallon). Oddly enough, the Plus grade was cheaper than Regular.

We crashed at a Super 8 motel just by the Illinois/Indiana border. During the trip, there was some debate over whether the club would be in Eastern Time while the hotel was in Central. This wasn't the case, though. Whoever drew the lines decided to include the northwest chunk of Indiana in Central Time. Who the fuck drew those lines, anyway? They don't make any sense.

Bummed around the hotel for a little while, but that got old and we decided to check out what Highland, Indiana has to offer. We went crusing around. There's something oddly comforting about strip malls and oak trees. After traveling as much as I have, it's become clear that most of the US' suburbs look just like this (even Florida, kids.. even Florida). We can talk about the evils of gentrification some other time. Right now, I'm just making an observation.

Bean Counters is a large coffee shop with a bar attached to the back and a decently sized stage up front. Once we loaded up, the other band, The Greys, showed up and they were very friendly. I've got to say, one thing we've been fortunate with on this tour are the amount of bands we've crossed paths with who have been very cool. The show went off without a hitch for us, vindication for our sound troubles the night before. Even without any stage monitors, we were able to pull through. The sound guy, Roye, was great and did an excellent job. We found out the guys in The Greys were Oasis fans, so we pulled out our cover of Don't Look Back In Anger. Once they hit the stage, they reciprocated our gesture with a cover of The Importance of Being Idle (awesome). They have a cool thing going with their band. They all write songs, and every so often switch instruments. They played for about an hour and were even cool enough to mention during their set that we had stuff for sale.

The crowd in Highland was so great, too. We sold more CDs than we did on the rest of the tour, and everyone was really digging what we were doing. Between last night and Iowa, I got the feeling that there's an appreciation that we were even out there; I don't think many bands, particularly from our neck of the woods, pass through these parts and they were really appreciative. Sometimes clubs out East can be a little cold just because there are way too many bands in the area; it's nice to get a little love. We've met some really cool people out on the road.

After the show, the Greys invited us out to a bar around the corner called Growlers. Some cover band (The Unit?) was going full on with all sorts of covers. Living on a Prayer, Billie Jean, Thriller, Jenny (867-5309)... I stopped paying attention after a while. It's not a mark on their competence as players-- they were actually quite good-- I just have zero patience for 80s music. With few exceptions, I fucking hate the 80s. I'll tell you what I did love, though: Three Floyd's beer. Apparently, the brewery is near Highland (I forget the exact city), but they brew a mean Pale Ale. I had the Alpha King (if I recall correctly). The guy who runs Bean Counters (his name escapes me at thoment) was talking to me about this beer, and some of the brews they've got will really knock you on your ass. Overall, I've got to say I have not been disappointed by the beers they've got out here in the Midwest.

Anyway, we hung out at Growlers for a couple of hours with the Greys. They're getting ready to record their first album, and were exchanging touring advice with them (whatever advice we had to give, anyway... we don't know what the fuck we're doing). It got me thinking about our tour, and the last tour we went on. For lack of a better phrase, I feel so lucky to be able to do this. I've gotten to see so many places just this year that I'd never been to before. We've been to something like 20 states or something, and there's so much more waiting for us. There's so much to see out here.

(Once you get past the strip malls, Wal-Marts, and Hooters, of course.)

Driving day today... Pittsburgh on Monday.

Cheers,
Henry

Labels: tourdiary