Day fIfteen - 6/26 Village Green Records (Muncie, IN)

We woke up to the sound of knocking on our bloody motel door and were threatened to be charged for another day if we didn't check out soon. we packed up our bags and left. we then stopped by Village Green Records (where we would be playing later that night) and checked in with Travis, the head honcho of the wonderful little independent record store. We checked out the store and chatted about what was going to go down later on that night (once again, another band bailed), and then he suggested we check out the little forest and some greenhouses (one had the world's largest collection of orchids!), so we did and it ruled. Then we ran over to Ball State University's library and stole some internet. I jumped around on some things that were fun to jump around on and then we grabbed some coffee. Soon it was time to get back to VGR an get ready for the show. We were greeted by John and Meagan of Sky Thing, Travis, and some other locals helping out with setting up the outside stage and making sure everything runs smoothly. We started setting up slowly (as was Travis' suggestion, so we could give kids some time to show up), he started dj'ing and his friends started setting up cameras to film the show (Travis' hope is to make a little documentary-type thing about starting and running your own independent record store to inspire others who might be interested). At about 9pm, we took to the stage (grass in the front of the store) and Travis called all the kids who were sitting nearby but were not near the stage area, to the front and we began. We had a great time and played a decent show considering it was an outside show and we haven't done that very often. People were down, we got donations and sold a good amount of merch. It was awesome seeing people come out to check out two out of town bands they probably never heard before. Sky Thing began setting up and played an awesome and intriguing set that attracted a few more fans off the street. Their music was trance-inducing and their films projected behind them were a great addition to the show. After the show was over, we helped Travis clean up and went to a bar nearby and drank and talked for a good two hours with Travis and Sky Thing. We then attempted to pick up some more alcohol and get a change of scenery. After a while, we succeeded and made our way back to VGR, where we would be staying that night. We stayed up till the sun came up watching Pump up the Volume and the funniest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm that I had ever seen. I took a bite of a Steak and Shake burger just to see what it was like. YUMZ!

Day Fourteen - Bflo to Muncie, Indiana

We woke up late and made some eggs over at Nancy and Tom's and waited for the rain to stop before we packed up our bags into the car. The rain never stopped nor let up for quite some time, so we just got soaked and loaded all of our stuff in the truck and left. We planned on driving halfway or so and stop at a rest stop to sleep, but our GPS thing took us through a whole bunch of back roads where no rest stop was present. We ended up making it to Muncie around midnight and after I called about ten motels in the area and after all of them turned me down because of their lack of vacancy, Sean made his first call. He called the Muncie Inn and after Sean asked if they had any open room for tonight, the clerk's retort went something like "what time is it?". Sean stated that it was in fact midnight and yes, a room for tonight would be what we were looking for. We were offered a room for $30 and couldn't pass it up (although at a price like that, I feared for the worst). We got pretty much what i was expecting: gross room, stale cigarette smell, a bathroom that had spiderwebs all over it, the TV left of a PPV porn channel, and blood (yes, blood) smeared near the door handle and lock on the inside of the door (a pic of this will be uploaded asap). We slept ok that night.

Day Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen in Buffalo, NY

a_relative_term
Shapes of States
A Hotel Nourishing

We left NYC at around 10 am and after a beautiful drive over the mountains and through the woods that inspired some Fleet Foxes jammzzz, we arrived in Buffalo just in time for dinner with my aunt Nancy and uncle Tom.
Delicious tacos were whipped up by T himself and ice cold XXs were offered to us to wet our whistle (in a commonly dry household) after a long drive.

We stayed up eating, talking, and playing music (after a wonderful trip to the always overwhelmingly shitty Guitar Center). We were given warm comfortable beds to sleep in (YES! BEDS!) and we slept like little baby kings that night. In the morning, we were awoken by Tom and the scent of delicious breakfast burritos. After the filling and delicious breakfast, we boys got on the road to Niagra Falls and took in the sights and smells of the border.
After taking a few rockin' press photos and once we finally fished Sean out of the base of the falls (don't get me started), we began our trek back to Buffalo to check out Pavlov's Togs and "the strand" of the area.

We were super stoked to see my uncle's shop for the first time. It ruled.

We roamed the streets, shipped off a few orders of "EPs", made inserts for "EPs", and chilled at Tom and Nancy's wonderful house until they came home from work. After another delicious dinner (ravioli tonight!), another bone-rattlin' jam sesh, and a few calls back home, we hit the hay with our bellies bursting at our buttons, content as can be.

The next morning, Tom woke us up and we got ready (with the help of some wonderful french toast) to go on another tour of Buffalo with the dopest tour guide ever. We stopped by Sunday Skateboards, ate some falafel and tunisians, chatted with the guys and gal at Hero Design about how lame Wilco is and how to kick bandmates out of the band while still on the road, checked out Nietzsche's, took the scenic route, went back to the crib, worked on finalizing the July 4th show, picked up some pizza and then packed up the truck and left for the show. We arrived at the venue before the other bands, but were quickly greeted by the members of a_relative_term, Shapes of States, and A Hotel Nourishing, one by one over the next hour or so. a_relative_term took to the stage first with their melodramatic psych-folk and opened the show very well. Next, we bum rushed the stage and the frenzy began. A local off-center arts magazine, Artvoice (who wrote a slightly factually incorrect preview for the show earlier) was there and happened to film some of the show. Check it!

At one point, the bartender yelled out from the back, "Why you gotta be so FUCKIN loud?! I'll shut you down", and we all shared a good jolly laugh. We pushed through the set and split the sea for Shapes of States to deliciously trance us into a mindset that would leave us unprepared for the jaw-dropping jibber jabber of the duo, A Hotel Nourishing. We sold a fair amount of merch (especially the new tees!) and bid our farewells to our hosts with maximum hospitality. It was a good night. On the way back to Nancy and Tom's, we stopped at Tim Hortons and grabbed some delicious donuts and hot cocoa. And to sleep we went.

Day 10 - 6/21 (Brooklyn, NY)

you will never believe what we did when we woke up in Brooklyn on the day of our show. seriously it was unbelievable. then oh my god the craziest thing happened later in the afternoon. theeen we unloaded our gear into Union Pool and it started to rain. so it was 9 oclcock(when we were suposed to go on) and nobody had showed up. alas, by 915 there was a good crowd and all the stress vanished. and get this. the soundgirl was CUTE AND FRIENDLY!?!? and from new orleans so we talked and had drinks after the show. and then we went to wesley's favorite bar "the trophy bar" and i saw the tambourine player from the no-name band we saw a Grasslands. Chris forgot to mention the best part of last night. we were watching the no-name band's set and on their last chord of the last song, the singer(big long-haired hippie guy) held out a super high note for like a minute straight. then as soon as he ended people started to cheer and clap. he was about to say thank you into the mic but he slipped and ate shit really hard. he landed on his guitar and took the micstand with him. it sounded like this. DOOOOOSH!!!!

Day Nine - 6/20 Day Off (Brooklyn, NY)

Chilled hard with Wesley and roamed the streetz of the huge mango. Saw Kim Gordon and got lost in Chinatown/Little Italy/all over. Went to Grasslands and saw UME and a band without a name. Saw Kim Gordon again. Watched some Twin Peaks and another episode of 30 Rock. Slept on the hardwood floor again. Walked in the rain and my shoes and socks got soaked and will soon smell up my luggage bag.

Day Eight - 6/19 (Jersey City, NJ)

ballz

Day Seven - 6/18 Pleasure Island (Pittsburgh, PA)

Sean and I both got woken up by Dex in the morning, but Sean's early greeting was not quite as pleasant as mine. It turns out I left the back window to our 4 Runner open all night. This is the morning after we chilled on Dex's porch looking at the TORRENTIAL rain take over his backyard. Everything remained intact however and no equipment was ruined or stolen. With a new strange smell joining us, we hit the road and began our trek to Pittsburgh. I actually don't remember anything from that particular leg of our trip except that Sean drove first and I slept and then I drove and Sean wrote yesterday's blog entry. We arrived in Pittsburgh a lot earlier than expected and soon met up with our friend, cbend, at the Pleasure Island house and parked on the steepest incline the 4runner has ever parked on, i think. We were greeted with warm welcomes and a shirtless cook, Zach, who was whipping up what would be the most delicious and filling meal in recent memory (it gave Caitlin's delicious tofu feast the night before a run for its money). We grabbed some PBR, ate some sa-tan wings and vegan philly cheesesteaks, and pre-partied the night away until the show would start. Strugglefish arrived later and they started off the night in the even tinier basement than the night before in DC. The punked our faces off and after their set was over, cbend was scheduled to play, but Da Bears surprised everyone and stated that they will play their 15 set before cbend. No one was opposed, so they started setting up. Next, both members took off all of their clothes and played their emotional noisy math rock completely in the nude. Most people who came down (or was already there) stayed, but I saw a few duders walk down the stairs, and then immediately turn around once they caught sight of da bears' dongs. the fully clothed cbend then played her un-amplified set to what was probably the biggest crowd of the night. I missed her live show and the people at the show were way down with her stuff, many of them knowing the words to her songs. It's awesome to see someone so happy in such a new place. It's also great to see how quickly and fully people can accept others. We were in the presence of great group of people. After i fixed a momentary problem with my amp, we started playing and within 30 seconds of us starting, i broke a string. I ran upstairs and then downstairs outside and grabbed THE CONQUEROR out of the truck and proceeded to play the rest of the show on that shitty and noisy piece. I had some trouble seeing the frets on the conquerer, but we powered through our set and soon Who Goes There started their sludgy, powerful, "EPIC AS FUCK" set and we both (and many others) dug it very much. After a long and tiring load-out and after we said our good-byes to all the great people we met, we started walking over to cbend's crib. When we got there, we drank some super high quality whiskey on the roof and i soon hit the hay because i was more tired than i've been in a long long while. I was wonderfully offered the bed of a great hostess and i reluctantly accepted due to all of the great things she already did for us that day. I slept like a baby and the rest is tomorrow's story.
We just picked up a box full of "EPs" and we're now currently on the road to Jersey City to play at Automata Chino. We also lost track of expenses, so we're now financial mysteries.

i bet i'm still in the lead though.

Day Six - 6/17 The Girl Cave (DC)

we awoke at the rest stop in Roanoke, VA. we started to drive and stopped off after about an hour at the Pink Cadillac Diner. They asked us smoking or non, and me being a smoker excited to smoke inside i said smoking. then i realized that the smoking section was absolutely disgusting. The ceilings were all yellow and the table cloths were all grey and burnt. we peeked into the non smoking section and were not surprised to see a very bright and colorful room that was immaculately clean. the people looked a lot more young and attractive too for some reason. so we watched some fox news and ate our greasy diner food and then we left. we drove in to D.C. and picked up our boy Dexter and crammed him into the front seat with us. we were sitting in traffic for a long while and then saw what looked to be road block of cops so chris and Dex hopped out and started to walk to the venue(for 2 miles). As i drove past the road block I saw a a squirrel running around in circles in the middle of the street and a fat women police officer trying to catch it with a garbage bag. This was apparently the cause of all the traffic. I got away from the traffic just as the fire-truck was arriving. the gps led me right to a baptist church and i was looking around for some beat up house that might host punk shows. we were in a really nice neighborhood and i was very confused. It took me about 30 minutes to realize that it was the house right next to the church. Frau Eva rolled up and we loaded in to the Girl Cave. It was a tiny tiny basement and then we walked to the liquor store. actually first we ate some badass curry tofu cooked by our wonderful host Caitlin, then we walked to the liquor store. bought some beer. walked back to the house and talked to frau eva some more. The first band was The Fordists (DC) and they played some mathy post-punk goodness. Then we played and my drums kept on unplugging chris's guitar cable from his amp. so we had some random stops but it was fun. Frau Eva was next and they were really impressive. it was easy on the ears but really melodic and intricate at the same time. good stuff. then jubilee, which was a guy playing percussion and girl playing banjo. they were really good and sang clever lyrics about normal stuff like not sleeping and getting dry socket. it was an awesome show and everyone at the Girl Cave was super nice and supportive. we took the scenic route back through DC and made it back to Dexters. after pumping some iron and eating a bunch of chips, we fell asleep.

New shyt!

Yo, so we recently ran out of our pressed copies of "EPs" and we're picking up more in Philly.
But on a more awesome note, my uncle threw together some tees for us and the tour.
He lives in Buffalo, NY (where we will be playing a show there on the 24th at Nietzche's) and he owns and operates the amazing Pavlov's Togs store. This is what he has to say about his shop:

Pavlov's Togs opened its first storefront at 77 Saranac Ave. in 1997. Initially primarily a contract custom screenprinting shop, original designs were gradually added to the mix as the business grew and moved to progressively stronger retail locations (1207 Hertel Ave., 567 Elmwood Ave. and, finally, the current location at 734 Elmwood Ave.). Throughout this time over 70 designs have been offered, some enjoying robust success, others destined for hasty retirement. Every image has been (and continues to be) designed and hand printed by owner/founder Thomas Rooney (that's me). The images fall into two basic catagories: those that celebrate our fair city of Buffalo (known creatively as "Buffalo Designs") and other sundry designs that are lumped into the Happy Genius family. The people of Buffalo have given Pavlov's Togs (and me) much support and encouragement over the years. I hope you enjoy your visit. Thanks!

So bottom line, the dude's awesome and we now have two designs of limited edition tees (one super-limited edition with the graphics of the Buffalo show's flyer, and one generic 2009 Tour design).

Get excited! Here they are:




We are super thankful for all the support he's given us and everything he's done (we get to crash at his crib! DOPE!)

Day Five - 6/17 (Drive from Birmingham to Roanoke)

We drove a whole lot.
Saw some mountains.
Saw a double rainbow.
Drove through rain clouds.
Slept in a rest stop with a 2hr parking limit.
Ignored the rules.
Slept in the rest area for at least 7 hrs.
Now we're on the way to DC to play at The Girl Cave.

Day Five Expenses:

Chris: Nachos & a Blue Sky ($10) + Pimento and Cheese sandwich, Reeses, Butterfinger, Coke ($5) + Gatorade & Flamin Hot fries ($3) = $45 so far

Sean: Veggie fajitas ($10) + Gatorade & Flamin Hot Cheetos & Mini Pecan Pie ($5) + Full Throttle & Cheese Fix Munchies ($4) = $79 so far

Chris still leading it.

Day 4 - 6/15 Greencup Books (Birmingham, AL)

The Squirms
The Markov Chain

We woke up shockingly late at Jed and Will's (The Squirms) pad in Hattiesburg, we ate some delicious cantaloupe and I drank a cup of my magical throat-health Broncaid tea. We hit the road at around 2 and made it to Birmingham around 6 and checked in at Greencup Books. The place looked awesome and the staff was super nice and friendly. The owner, Mike, treated us to some dinner (he suggested a place called Makrio's) and so we made our way there. We met up with our friend Veronica who brought along a group of kidz quickly felt comfortable and had a great time with. We talked and hung out for so long at the restaurant that we were almost late for load-in. However, we made it back to the venue in time and were greeted by The Markov Chain who were in the process of loading their equipment up the HUGE staircase that led to the venue part of the establishment. The Squirms arrived shortly thereafter and we all took some time to set up the PA, stage, camera, and lights (there was a huge skeleton horse/zebra/tarp thing hanging from the ceiling with christmas lights all around it..oh yeah..we hooked that shit up). After finding a satisfactory setting among all the necessary components and once people started showing up, The Squirms took to the stage (which this time happened to be the floor...YES!) and Sean and I both agreed that we enjoyed their set even more this time than the day before. It was interesting picking out elements of their sound that reflect the music they enjoy (remember? Will showed us some of his favorite music the night before). Their music seemed to make more sense to me once I understood their background. Still, it was fun blindly guessing the night before. This set of theirs seemed more energetic and they all seemed to be having a grand ol' time playing. They set up a VHS camcorder to record the audio of their set (the auto focus is f'd apparently, so the video is pretty useless) and about three songs in, it toppled over on its tripod, but Sean and I came to the rescue and set it up again to record the rest of their set. We wish them the best of luck on their tour that followed this show: "The reprint of the old t-shirt tour" as Will put it. And those shirts ARE pretty damn sweet. Soon enough, Sean and I were setting our equipment up and one of our new friends, Clayton, came up and he and I had a great time making fun of my shitty equipment that I somehow manage to make sound acceptable/unique/ok/still shitty. We started playing and (as the case also was during The Squirms' set) our group of new friends started dancing away and I joined their pit from time to time when I could. It was great seeing them get into the music and let themselves go. I think others took note and decided to do the same. It was either that, or maybe it was me pushing up against those who were motionless (or at least motionless in comparison). All in all, I was super happy with our set and after we rang out the last hits of "That Bitch Was GOLDEN", The Markov Chain began preparing for their set. It was fun watching this local college-aged band rock out and get their fans jumping/dancing/flailing around. They played a pretty solid set that reminded me of some crazy fusion of The Allman Brothers, Kings of Leon, and a few other "southern rock" style bands, while still having their own flavoUr. The guys in the band were all very nice and they seemed to really be interested in taking the band seriously (thinking about coming out to NOLA or Houston) and that's awesome to see in a young group. Once we loaded DOWN the mountain of stairs, we made our way over to Veronica and Ariel's house (where we would stay the night) with some of the bold members of the group willing to stay up till past 2am hanging out in the basement/1st floor/bedroom/parrrrty area with us. I haven't laughed that hard and that frequently in quite some time and I (finally) went to sleep with my face muscles sore and my new beautifully crafted paper fruit hat resting on the table near the cowwwch. We're very very thankful for the hospitality shown to us by everyone we met, especially Veronica and Ariel. Thanks so much.
We're currently driving through The Great Smokey Mountains on our way to DC. We have two days to get there, so that means that this is our first day off!! We can't wait to play the show tomorrow and meet up with one of our favorite people in the whole world, DEX! I'll tell you about all the shenanigans we got into today on the morrow, so come on back now ya'hear?

OH! Also I realized that I definitely shouldn't have counted Sean's drum accessories as "silly personal expenses". I'll make that change right away.

Day four expenses:

Chris: Apple Juice & Swedish Fish ($3) = $27 so far

Sean: Dr. Pepper ($1) = $60 So far

Not bad, guys. Not bad at all.
Chris still staying strong up top.

Day three - 6/14 Thirsty Hippo (Hattiesburg, MS)

The Squirms

We woke up late in New Orleans and grabbed some Taqueria Guerrero with Byron and Cory (of Hat Talk) before hitting the road towards Hattiesburg. The night before, we ran out of our pressed "EPs" cds (we're picking up more in Philly), so before we left NOLA, I spent some time burning our self-titled EP and throwing them in some cardboard sleeves I brought (special thanks to Faith for some sweet designs on the sleeves). After I threw back a Purple Haze, we threw our stuff in the truck and headed east. We got into H-town #2 and grabbed a BK Veggie Burger and a Big Fish. I asked for a veggie burger and the cashier said "do you want a veggie burger or a veggie whopper?" and when i asked what the difference was, she said "the veggie whopper's got meat". It made no sense, so i just grabbed the original. We made it to the venue with our bellies full a little bit early, so we lounged back in the ride and watched some Neko Neko Films. After a good laugh (and i think sean cried a little too), we started loading in and chilling hard with The Squirms inside the Thirsty Hippo, listening to a baseball game on the venue's sound system. So this apparently was a big deal. Southern Miss' baseball team (who wasn't even ranked) was playing UT and they were in the lead for most of the game and then at the end, they lost to us Texans. So that night, we were enemies to the general population. People started to file in shortly before (and during) the Squirms' energetic and rockin' set. After they finished a really cool jam loosely based on a Rolling Stones song, we got ready to play, super nervous due to our home-state's tasteless domination only an hour or so prior. Surprisingly however, we were received warmly by the nice little crowd (great for a Sunday night in a college town during the summer) and ended up getting rid of a good amount of the cds I burned. We stayed over at Jed and Will's house (of the Squirms) and stayed up drinking, talking, eating tortilla chips with a hint of lime, listening to some records from Will's EXTENSIVE collection (we were introduced to the wonderful Orange Juice), and watched a few short films. We woke up surprisingly late, grabbed some cantaloupe, and now we're on the road to Birmingham, Alabama to play at Greencup Books with The Squirms and The Markov Chain tonight. The wonderful Veronica is housing us for the night and we're both super excited to chill with her. We just got into Alabama and i'm munching down on some Swedish Fish.

Day three expenses:

Chris: Nachos, Jarritos Mandarin and tip ($12) + Veggie Burger combo ($6) = $24 so far

Sean: Veggie Torta, plantains and tip ($12) + BK Big Fish combo ($6) = $76 so far

Chris still wreckin it.


hahahaha it looks like i'm driving and doing this. Go Macbooks!

Day two - 6/13 House show/Dragon's Den (Baton Rouge/NOLA)

6/13 - House Show/Dragons Den (Baton Rouge/New Orleans, LA)
Man Plus Building
A Living Room
Promis
Motion Turns it On
A Living Soundtrack

We left Lafayette a little after 5pm and made it to Baton Rouge around 6:30 to play Man Plus Building's CD release house show/BBQ. I entered the wrong address into our GPS and got temporarily lost but then our quick thinking and resourceful attitudes brought us right to the party at Loubie's house. We were warmly greeted by everyone in Man Plus and those at the party. After a quick game of catch-and-throw (occasionally turned into jackpot/cool exaggerated catch contest) and a few drinks from the keg, we took to the carpet inside and played our set. I felt my voice giving out and I felt the spark inside. We were accepted very well and everyone at the party that we had the honor of chatting with after the show had nothing but good things to say and that makes us super happy. We sold a good amount of merch, putting the icing on the already GOLDEN visit to the red stick. We had to quickly jet out of there, however, so we could make it to the Dragon's Den in time for the doors to open. We arrived promptly at 9:45 (45 min late) and began loading into the newly-un-air conditioned upstairs of the Den. All the bands were here this time and Promis was setting up. We got everything loaded in and Sean started working the door, lacking change and a reliable permanent marker. Promis started playing and I was quickly reminded why I liked this band so much. Crafting intricate, dirty pop songs, the duo earnestly pushed through their lofty goals of songs. I find their music and execution very endearing, and Tom (keys) kept the party going in between songs and probably broke Eric's heart by screaming "Fuck you Eric" at random intervals in their set. Great quote (roughly): "I see a lot of our friends here and that rules. You know who you are. And to those of my friends who didn't come, you know who you are too. I guess everyone knows who they are...except for maybe some of these college kids who are still finding themselves". Their set was high-energy and fun and they were a great beginning to the night. Next, Motion Turns it On (Houston) took to the Den and blew me (and many others, I'm sure) away with their psychedelic post post post post post post post rock. It was the first time I saw this (amazing and) amazingly loud and aggressive band live (i've heard their album "rima") and they completely took me by surprise. Their live show was a truly unique and mind-blowing experience that I can't wait to witness over and over again. After Motion Turns it On, we hopped in the pit and invited others in to join us. We played one of my favorite sounding shows in a while and had a great time with friends we haven't seen in a few months. My voice surprisingly came back and didn't feel strained at all. It was hot and I took my shirt off after we played and cooled off downstairs with Mojo Method and friends while A Living Soundtrack was setting up. I never did quite catch my breath and felt pretty faint for the rest of the night. With drum'n bass rumbling at our feet, our good friends A Living Soundtrack began wow-ing the crowd at a slightly later than anticipated time of 1:30 or so. As always, they blew my mind with both their virtuosity and friendliness. After they finished their amazing set that I've been blessed with witnessing three times in the past few weeks, we took about an hour to load down the stairs and into the 4Runner and then we went back to Byron's apartment and crashed hard. I forgot that I took my No Doz right before we played and couldn't sleep. I later realized that the caffeine pill was probably the cause of my feeling super shitty right after we played and my inability to calm my body down. Now we are on the road to Hattiesburg, MS to play at the Thirsty Hippo with The Squirms. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day Two Expenses:

Chris: Snoball ($2) + Bottle of water & tip ($2) = $7 so far

Sean: Snoball ($2) + 1/2 carton of Parliament Light 100s split w/Andrew Lee ($20) + 4 High Lifes ($10) + 3 pairs of shitty drum sticks now all broken ($12) + Drum throne clamp that did not work ($5) = $58 so far

Chris still in the lead.

Day One - 6/12 Artmosphere (Lafayette, LA)

6/12 - Artmosphere (Lafayette, LA)
Wild Moccasins
A Living Soundtrack

It was a sunny Friday evening and the birds were chirping around beautiful Lafayette. We rolled in around 5 pm and quickly went to the wonderful Dee's house. We fixed her tandem bike and rode as a gang to Artmosphere to check in. Good to go. We would be returning to the venue around 8 after heading back to the crib to try that new Satsuma Abita. Yumz! Next thing we know, we're at the venue and the Wild Moccasins are there chilling near their brand spankin' new van. A Living Soundtrack showed up shortly thereafter and people began to slowly file in. The Crackbabies (the scheduled local) was a no-show due to the band's break up a week before, and sadly they never clued us in on that fact. But as Queen said, "The show must go on". They also said, "Mamma, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head...". The Wild Moccasins took the stage at around 9:45 and their sweet pop lifted the hearts of the crowd. Their tees look rockin and their CDs are on their second pressing. Good fortune has graced this fine young band and we wish them the best on their tour. A Living Soundtrack followed and (as always) this group blew me away. Projector show and all, this band is the total package. Super hot. Very sexy. It's great to see the people in the crowd that have never seen the band before let themselves get into the groove and really absorb the amazing original music this band throws their way. After A Living Soundtrack, we took the stage (or the floor, actually) and started ruining people's nice, groovy, smooth meals. Sean's snare (which gave him a little trouble at Mango's on the 11th) needed to have a little tune-up on stage and Cody from WM graciously threw a screwdriver Sean's way so he could fix the problem. It's good to see the community among bands even in small situations like this. We had a great time playing and people seemed to really dig all the bands that night. I felt my voice going, so when we got back to Danielle's house, Zahira and I had some hot Bronch-aid tea (for throat health!) and chit-chatted about Adam Lambert and his unusual chest hair. I'd consider this a very good start for our tour considering we had a decent turn-out without a local, got even closer to bands we like, and got free food and drinx (courtesy of Artmosphere! Woot woot!). Oh! Also I rode bikes back to Dee's house after the show with the legend herself and BEAT the WM just by a hair. Sure, their van is nice, new and big, but I'm quick, baby! QUICK!


Today we're headed to Baton Rouge AND Lafayette. It's our first and last double-header of the tour.
I'll recap every day, so check back often!

ALSO! We're keeping track of our personal expenses.
Day one on the road:

Chris: Flamin' Hot Fries ($1) + No Doz ($1) + Hot water & cup ($1...yes, I'm serious) = $3 so far

Sean: Big Red Bull ($4) + Cigarettes ($5) = $9 so far

Chris in the lead.

On the road to Zion

ALRIGHT! We did it. We're in the road and the tour had officially begun. Now taking on the road in my brother's Toyota 4Runner, Caddywhompus will crack no radiators and break no hearts (unless someone really needs a ride or something, then we might break their heart because we can't fit them inside). So here we go on our first tour (to speak of). Check out them dates on our MYSPACE and spread the word where you can. Thanks to everyone who came out in Houston last night for our tour kickoff at Mango's. We had a fucking fantastic time and we hope you did tooooo.

This weekend's shows:
6/12 - Artmosphere - Lafayette, LA
6/13 - 380 College Hill Dr. (Man Plus Building's CD release house show!) - Baton Rouge, LA (7PM SHARP!)
6/13 (oh THAT'S why they're playing at 7 in BR!) - Dragon's Den - New Orleans, LA
6/14 - Thirsty Hippo - Hattiesburg, MS

Tour Kickoff(S!)

Howdy!
We're touring this summer up the east coast and we need some hometown lovin' to make it all the way.
We've been planning this tour for months now and with some graciously welcomed help from our friends Bonnie and Wesley, we're pretty much all set to go.
So all you need to do is come out and enjoy our last hometown shows before the tour and give us your love, cause, ooh we need your love babe, yes you know it's true. Hope you need our love babe, just like we need you.
So the hometown throwdowns go as follows:

6/11 | Houston, TX | Mango's (8PM) w/Wild Moccasins, B L A C K I E, and Urbane Guerrilla Sound System
6/12 | Lafayette, LA | Artmosphere (8PM) w/A Living Soundtrack, Wild Moccasins, The Crackbabies
6/13 | New Orleans, LA | Dragon's Den (9PM) w/A Living Soundtrack, Promis, and Motion Turns it On

Check out the rest of our tour dates on our myspace!

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