Fri Apr 3, 2009 (New York City, Philadelphia)
     NYC was kind of a bust. Well, not really. Actually not at all. Driving into the city of course is immediate stimulation from every angle, and you really have to be alert to take it all in. None of that was a problem. Despite a little bit of rain (that never completely stopped throughout the whole eve), we got to the venue and were able to unload AND find a close parking spot (apparently a minor miracle in Manhattan). My friend Pat told me of some band he knew that went to NYC in about the same kind of rental van that we were using...... After they somehow parked, went in and came back to the spot, the van was not only gone, but later that night they saw a bum wearing one of their t-shirts. Unbelievable. So, we were very careful, and then even a little MORE careful to zig-zag our gear during unloading/loadup -and to not leave even the smallest valuable uncovered in the parked van. Everything was smooth though, and luckily no mishaps. Pianos used to be a piano store back in the day, and the venue kept the name and the antique storefront sign. So it has a certain amount of oldschool charm, like you can imagine many of the old NY neighborhood bars have. I guess one of the problems was just the layout of where the live music is featured. The front part is the actual bar, where the built-in clientele and customers are in and out all evening..... but then the music/band part is in a separate room thru a door in the back. So unless a band has a sizable audience coming specifically to see them, it can seem a little dead back there..... meanwhile, the front-room bar is bustling. Which was kind of the case for us Wed night. Also the bands that we shared the bill with were good, but maybe not the best match for us. They seemed more straight-ahead gtr/bass/drms rock, etc.... while we are, well, a bit weirder. Then, the soundman was either completely aloof or kind of had a tude, or maybe both. When we first got there, I noticed during the first band's soundcheck that they were being really demanding (and what I might consider a bit rude) to the soundman, so I decided right then that I would be especially nice to him..... which is what we always try to be. I mean, these people are usually working hard too, you know, and a little respect goes a long way when it comes to them helping you achieve a good sound. But during our setup, he claimed our keyboard mixer line outs weren't working correctly, giving him no signal. I was 99 percent sure they WERE working correctly, having used them the exact same way, still plugged in, every previous night of the week. And he was being a little short with us about it instead of being helpful. However, I didn't say anything, realizing that cables or whatever CAN go bad sometimes, and I wanted to try to keep positive vibes intact. But later when we were all set up and about to start, I realized my bottom bass cab from the backline bass setup wasn't working at all. I should mention here that I usually use my own bass setup, but this venue had requested we use backline drums and bass gear. I asked him about it, and he replied that yeah, the bottom cab didn't work. Well, if they'd have mentioned this, I certainly would have used my own cab. It would have taken about an xtra 5 minutes to unload and setup. But we were about to start, so I had to go with what was dealt. Maybe I voiced my "concern" a little over the mic. Whatever. I think the adversity made us dig in a little harder, and most of the people in there really enjoyed it. Afterwards, both Rachel and Henna had friends there to hang/w, and Sarah and I ended up texting each other from the van cab(me) to the Pianos bathroom(her). We finished the night with some very righteous NY pizza slices, and that was NYC.
     We drove to Long Island that night and crashed at Rachel's aunt and uncle's house. Wow! How nice that was.... Good peeps! Throughout the trip, we very much enjoyed the various contrasts in the places we stayed from night to night. all an adventure. (Great deli food next day!)
     Philly was really good. The kids in Voodoo Economics have a funky practice warehouse in very beat part of town.... called Inciting. They have rockshows there! Both VE and Busses were a trip to watch.... we had a fantastic Thurs night. Everybody was into it, the bands were great, and it turned into a fine, righteous party. We actually crashed that night at the space, which was a situation all on its own you might say. As I said the place was pretty beat, but with character. We laid sleeping bags on the floor, washed up a little in the bathroom, and had a campout. (I should say here -that you can learn a lot traveling with the ladies in MB.) Later, I imagined giant rats in the ceiling, but those were actually just birds chirping at 430 in the morning. The next day Allison from Voodoo Economics took us out for good chow in downtown Philly. We took pics of murals!

Sun Apr 5, 2009 (Brooklyn, Worcester, Boston)
     Brooklyn was cooooool! Driving back into NYC and then into Brooklyn was amazing. We were driving over the Brooklyn Bridge (I think), and as the rain was just ending and the sun was coming out over the skyline, we saw the most intense rainbow. Sarah needed to find a bathroom pronto, but I was in a daze, watching people walking across the streets and footbridges. MonkeyTown is a beautiful venue, part nice restaurant and part art/music space. Of course everybody knows that for several years now Williamsburg has been thought of as a hipster mecca.... but I was surprised just how laid-back everyone seemed to be. Everybody was very nice. The music setup at Monkeytown is pretty unique in that the band is in the middle of the room, with couches and tables all around the outer perimeter (the round!) No stage either, right on the floor. Each of the 4 walls then has a giant video screen, so as we played, we were able to project our funky Japanese home videos. They loved it. We loved it. It was an amazing experience. Henna's friend Mark (Graffiti Monsters) delivered our new tshirts to us (Bearded Lady had sent the shirts directly to his residence), so we had new merch to sell! After our show and loadout, it was recommended to us to stay and watch the late show, so we ordered some food and settled in. Damn! A Brooklyn band called Nightowl set up in chairs and on the floor, with vintage synths, effects and old drum machines, and proceeded to play a live soundtrack to the movie "Total Recal". They had the English subtitles on, but mostly kept the sound from the movie turned down. They had the movie-audio piped thru their mixer though, so they could bring Arnold's voice in here and there, sometimes adding a little delay or echo. Very, very creative. Amazing! The sounds these guys made were swirling and fantastic! We were blown away. I mean, we played a super-fun show, and then we were able to kick back on these sunken couches with a great meal and beverages, and watch/listen to some of the most tripped-out music you can imagine. Oh, I guess I should mention that Henna, Sarah and I ate a few special mushrooms with our meal (god's wonderful gift!). It was an incredibly uplifting night. (H especially became quite the giggle-box). Upon leaving our parking space, with Rachel behind the wheel (not only due to her being the most sane one of us that evening, but also bc we were headed back to her aunt and uncle's house on Long Island), we put another slight scrape and dent on the van. Oh shit! None of us noticed that the thin light post we were parked near had a huge base at the bottom. Nothing serious, but it'll be a miracle if we get the thing back w/o any more mishaps. comical. We got back to Long Island and had a very nice sleep and visit with Rachel's grandparents the next day before heading to Worcester, MA.
     Worcester........ special place. To me, it seems like a mix between working-class and art community. Very quaint. Ralph's is sort of a dive but with good feeling. I had played there once before back in '06 when I toured with AM Syndicate. And again, the band sharing the bill was The Pandas (we like). It was a great night. Early in the evening after we loaded in, Sarah, Rachel and I sat at the bar with the locals and ordered grilled burgers. It's the little things (though the burgers were quite large). We ended up having an awesome turnout, probably the best of the tour, and good sound as well. (rare combination). Sarah's parents flew up and came to see us, and will be at the Providence show Monday night.
     We stayed at Luis' (Pandas) tricked out apartment that night. Very comfortable pad.... Luis is a very happening host, spinning Sunny Ade on vinyl in his living room. His friend Birgit made us such a rightous breakfast the next morning. Potatoes with onion and bacon, eggs over-medium, the best creamy spinach I've ever eaten, Bruschetta w/tomato, basil and mozerella, orange juice and coffee. Wow! it was like a gourmet restaurant. I learned Luis is an avid William Burroughs fan. He had all kinds of great books around his pad.
     We left midday, with only a 40 min drive to Boston. Day beautiful with a blue-sky sunshine. When we got there, we dropped Henna off to meet some of her friends, then went to the Harvard area to hang around and engage in some consumerism alongside mostly people w/lots more money than us. We met Rachel's friend Jeff and had lunch at an old-school pub. (fish and chips!) Sarah and I split off and went to a tea shop. I also bought a Prince Purple Rain t-shirt for 10 bucks! My friend Travis at the library is gonna love that. The venue Midway Cafe (in a different part of town - Jamaica Plains) was very small and working-class.... reminded me of the front part of Hole-In-The-Wall in Austin. The owner/soundman was very gruff and very Boston (my limited perspective), but really very nice. I talked to a man outside who called himself Smilin' Dave, and he too was very cool. He told me about his adventures of traveling around the US in 1969! Both of these guys seemed to have a great affinity for Texas and some of the mythology or stereotypes that often or used to go along with it. But we all agreed that everything everywhere is so homogenized these days that not even Texas is that extremely different from anyplace else anymore. It is and it isn't.
     Not a super-large turnout, sunday night and all, but lots of Rachel's friends came as well as some regulars and people with the other bands. Sarah was starting to get a little sick, H not feeling good, but we managed to get down and project as much energy as we could muster. Sometimes you gotta keep a little on reserve no matter what. Like an old showbiz ethic. Carnies, traveling sideshow..... that sort of thing, at least in fantasy. Definitely not a normal existence. We stayed with Rachel's friend Glen, who took us to his basement for smokes and music listening (to his new rap recordings). The next morn Sarah and I went out and got breakfast for us and Henna at an awesome little momandpop italian diner. The small-sized pancakes had powdered sugar on top! plus very crispy bacon. how fortunate we are.

Fri Apr 10, 2009 (Providence, Washington DC)
     Monday night was Providence, RI at AS220...... art gallery/cafe/bar/music venue. Nice stage, definitely not a dive. Sarah's parents met us there and brought us back some chicken caesar salads from the restaurant where they had dinner. The Inclined and Brother Kite were both bands of good people who ended up donating part of their show money to us...... it being Monday night and us being the touring band. Very nice! The turnout was actually better than I expected, though our set was a little off I think. Rachel had accidentally left her in-ear monitors in Boston (luckily her friend went back to the venue, found them and will be sending them back to her), and though she had another set with her, they weren't quite as loud as the other ones, and we kept having to turn them up throughout the 1st couple of songs. It's amazing how something so small can alter the flow of a set. Also, we had gone to extra pains to fit ourselves in front of the video screen..... (which pulled down not in the back of the stage but right in the middle), only to find out that the dvd player there would not read our home-made dvd. Ok.... oh, and a sizeable number of people had begun to file out after the second band played, before we ever started. So all these things together made for the kind of night Mike Watt calls a "character builder". But still we had some good moments, and for a Monday night, didn't do too bad money-wise, especially after the other bands were so generous to give us some of their part.
     Vaguely I remember doing a motel 6 that night, but it was so uneventful that I have nothing to say about it. Sarah did remind me however that the smell of wet dog hit you in the face upon entering the room. She wasn't feeling too great, mainly the result of bad allergies. Feel pretty good through most of the day, then congested up until the show. But then much better right afterwards from the adrenaline/energy of playing, then rundown again before crashing. Heavy cycle! Luckily we were able to stop in at a pharmacy and get extra allergy meds. That stuff doesn't do any more than treat symptoms... but anything to help roadsickness. Even the mildest fever or sore throat becomes a little more uncomfortable when traveling.
     Washington DC was a trip. Looked like lots of good restaurants. We were glad to find out that we would be playing first that night, since afterwards we knew we were gonna have to bail and drive thru some of the night. DC to Athens was gonna be the longest drive of the tour, so leaving the whole drive to start in the morning and having to rush all day didn't seem too appealing to us. Henna actually prefers driving at night, and traffic is of course not as bad. Seems like with AM Syndicate we did that quite a bit, but it can wear you down quickly. Better later in the tour than earlier for sure. The Velvet Lounge wasn't a great place to play, for one thing bc the stage area was upstairs, which meant carrying everything up a very narrow stairway. However the room was kind of tight and dead-sounding, a nice thing in this case, sort of like a studio or living room..... w/carpet on the stage...... I liked the intimacy. Our sound was pretty good in there. I guess it would have been better if the place had been full of people... but some of Henna's friends were there (very nice!), and some of the other band people were there. Maybe another character builder, but we still had a good time. H and Rachel took us on an unplanned but very scenic tour of the city on our way out of town. I looked out the window.

Sat Apr 11, 2009 (Athens, Houston)
     After DC, we drove longer than we really intended b4 stopping to crash at a tel (3rd and final usage of a tel on this tour). We must have driven til 430 or so, 1st Henna then me. But after sleeping about 5 hours, the rest of the drive was a piece of cake. Rested, sunshine, coffee and sandwiches, we got to Athens in plenty of time to hit a thrift store and eat some very righteous quality pizza and salads (H went to sushi restaurant). Athens is beautiful..... a very quaint college town feel, lots of creativity, trees and greenery...... but Southern. Both other bands were way cool. (Mr. Falcon used a trombone). It was a good night, not packed but well-received, which is really what matters. We stayed with contacts of H's (Maserati!), a very trick house with one sweet, older dog, another little spastic dog, and one big kitty. They had The Wall movie on in the background when we got there. hmm. curious. Slept hard, with one of those old, velvet-looking portraits of Elvis looking down on us. They took us to the Grit the next day. Sarah and i bought a scrumptious piece of almond crunch pie to take with us..... but later that day, half of it fell into the water that still needed to be emptied from the ice chest. pie water. (we promptly cleaned out ice chest at next stop.)
     Thurs was our one night off of the entire tour. We would have filled it if something good had come thru. But it didn't, and we were very much ok w/that. We were able to drive all the way to Baton Rouge, LA to another contact, Mr Fred Weaver. Look Fred up and see what an interesting path he's taken. he's an individual. His house was full (literally) of instruments, recording gear, tape machines, console, cables, mics and more instruments.......... I mean the whole house. wow. Also two cats milling about, climbing all over the amplifiers and making Henna sneeze. Even more surprising was finding out that his father, a retired English professor from LSU, was sleeping in a back bedroom. (We met him the next morning.) Driving thru Baton Rouge the next day i was struck by the swampy, old-world feel.... crawfish, shrimp and dilapidated old homes with vines growing up the walls. way cool and 4 hours to Houston!
     It really didn't matter that Super Happy Fun Land turned out to be a gigantic room, and we knew we would never be able to bring enough people in to fill it. Whatever..... It was our last show, and we already knew of several people coming to see us. Quite frankly we were glad to be there. After loading in, we drove thru the barrio hood of the venue and found a taqueria, just what we were looking for! At last, after 2 weeks, we got to eat TexMex! The venue (SHFL) was surreal, a warehouse, a painting, byowhatever, bathroom art, nonexistent monitors. awesome. swirling and block colors all over the walls. Unexpected guests arrived (Mark Roach!)...... nice vibe. good time. Also, we were able to project our video during the show. Everybody was very kind. Rachel went back w/C. H, S and I crashed at Sarah's parent's house (after a small toast). We woke up the next day, touched up our van scratches and blazed back to Austin. Back to work yes. yes animals!

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