Wednesday, April 28, 2004
There's nothing like sitting in a library in St. Louis, after spending a night in the freezing cold van...with two days off looming in front of me. Right about now, I'd really just like to get the van and start driving home....I hate canceled shows!!!! Just a tip to kids that promote shows in small towns....if you don't think you can put on a show...just tell the band NO when they first get in touch. And if you're gunna cancel, more than a week notice would be fantastic.
Anyway, on a better note, we went to The Strokes show last night(yep, another day off...but not so bad cuz we had something to do). It was fun and sweet-talk and VIP passes managed to get us into the expensive reserved seating area, so we got to sit down and have a good view of the band. I saw the show in Austin too...and I think this one was better....they seemed happier to be there and the drummer fell off his stool at the end which was pretty funny. After the show, we met up with my friend Jamie and went to this weird little bowling alley/bar and hung out. Didn't bowl, but played a couple of really bad games of pool. It was fun, and the night ended too soon...sending us back to confines of our van for a good night's sleep(insert sarcasm)...Maggie tried sleeping on my amp...she made it for about two hours, but eventually had to move to a seat. It wasn't too awful. I just kept reminding myself that nothing is as bad as sleeping at the West Palm Beach Airport.
On Monday night, we played in Springfield, MO. When we first arrived, I thought it was gunna be awful. No promotion, no opening band, and no people. We decided to go ahead and play anyway...we can always use the practice. So, after setting up, we all went outside to try to recruit people to come in. Downtown Springfield is pretty dead on Monday nights, but a few people walked by and said they'd come back for the show. We walked down to this other bar that had kamikazee karaoke and watched a bunch of jugaloos(or something like that..Insane Clown Posse fans..it's my new word for tour) sing along with metal songs. It was interesting. After a song or two, we went back to The Rockwell and amazingly, almost every person that said they'd show up did....and it ended up being a really fun show. Thanks to Louis and the jugaloos for making us welcome, and to Eric, Derek and John for the pizza and place to sleep!
Sunday night was a last minute show in Wichita, KS at Kirby's Beer Store. Another show that I though was gunna be no good and ended up being suprisingly fun. The guy that played before us(Orphan Train) was really good, and it turned out he is good friends with some friends of our in LA...small world. Thanks to the IGTF guys for coming out and puttin' us up for the night.
Anyway, on a better note, we went to The Strokes show last night(yep, another day off...but not so bad cuz we had something to do). It was fun and sweet-talk and VIP passes managed to get us into the expensive reserved seating area, so we got to sit down and have a good view of the band. I saw the show in Austin too...and I think this one was better....they seemed happier to be there and the drummer fell off his stool at the end which was pretty funny. After the show, we met up with my friend Jamie and went to this weird little bowling alley/bar and hung out. Didn't bowl, but played a couple of really bad games of pool. It was fun, and the night ended too soon...sending us back to confines of our van for a good night's sleep(insert sarcasm)...Maggie tried sleeping on my amp...she made it for about two hours, but eventually had to move to a seat. It wasn't too awful. I just kept reminding myself that nothing is as bad as sleeping at the West Palm Beach Airport.
On Monday night, we played in Springfield, MO. When we first arrived, I thought it was gunna be awful. No promotion, no opening band, and no people. We decided to go ahead and play anyway...we can always use the practice. So, after setting up, we all went outside to try to recruit people to come in. Downtown Springfield is pretty dead on Monday nights, but a few people walked by and said they'd come back for the show. We walked down to this other bar that had kamikazee karaoke and watched a bunch of jugaloos(or something like that..Insane Clown Posse fans..it's my new word for tour) sing along with metal songs. It was interesting. After a song or two, we went back to The Rockwell and amazingly, almost every person that said they'd show up did....and it ended up being a really fun show. Thanks to Louis and the jugaloos for making us welcome, and to Eric, Derek and John for the pizza and place to sleep!
Sunday night was a last minute show in Wichita, KS at Kirby's Beer Store. Another show that I though was gunna be no good and ended up being suprisingly fun. The guy that played before us(Orphan Train) was really good, and it turned out he is good friends with some friends of our in LA...small world. Thanks to the IGTF guys for coming out and puttin' us up for the night.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Just got home from the show at The Green Door in OKC, and it was Fun...with a capital F! Not sure it was best show we've ever played, but I had a really great time. It was our first time to play Green Door(after three years of trying to book a show...see persistence really does pay off), and I definitely hope we'll get to play there again.
The first band, The Kostellos, were cool. The crazy thing about them though, was it turns out that a couple of them saw SDS's very first show. Wow...blast from the past. One of the girls said she thought we were good then, and that we were even better now. Improvement is a good thing.....and I certainly hope that we are at least a little better after 5 years! Up next was 40 Minutes of Hell....old friends of ours and guaranteed to please. Christina was stoked to see them cuz she'd heard a couple of their songs and liked it. Brandon(the singer) is insane..even if you're not into their kind of music, the show is worth seeing just to see what he does...just watch out for flying beer. They also had some great stickers with lots of funny phrases on them..my favorite being "Be cool or fuck off". That's the truth! We played third...a good show, but a few mistakes on all parts. We all rocked pretty hard though, and had a good time. The Methadones were last. It was the last night of their tour, and they had the long drive back to Chicago looming ahead of them, but they didn't act like it...they played a great show. The guitar player kept throwing his pick in the air and catching it in his mouth which I though was a pretty good trick. They were kinda pop-punk..with more punk than pop. Good stuff...the last song they played is still stuck in my head.
I'm off to bed now....tomorrow we go to Wichita. Thanks to all our friends that came out to the show, and Happy Birthday to Mom and Kyle!!!!
The first band, The Kostellos, were cool. The crazy thing about them though, was it turns out that a couple of them saw SDS's very first show. Wow...blast from the past. One of the girls said she thought we were good then, and that we were even better now. Improvement is a good thing.....and I certainly hope that we are at least a little better after 5 years! Up next was 40 Minutes of Hell....old friends of ours and guaranteed to please. Christina was stoked to see them cuz she'd heard a couple of their songs and liked it. Brandon(the singer) is insane..even if you're not into their kind of music, the show is worth seeing just to see what he does...just watch out for flying beer. They also had some great stickers with lots of funny phrases on them..my favorite being "Be cool or fuck off". That's the truth! We played third...a good show, but a few mistakes on all parts. We all rocked pretty hard though, and had a good time. The Methadones were last. It was the last night of their tour, and they had the long drive back to Chicago looming ahead of them, but they didn't act like it...they played a great show. The guitar player kept throwing his pick in the air and catching it in his mouth which I though was a pretty good trick. They were kinda pop-punk..with more punk than pop. Good stuff...the last song they played is still stuck in my head.
I'm off to bed now....tomorrow we go to Wichita. Thanks to all our friends that came out to the show, and Happy Birthday to Mom and Kyle!!!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
So, i was reading through old show journals the other day, trying to remind myself of some funny stories that happened on the road(for an online interview), and i decided I really need to get back in the habit of writing. I know i've said this before, but I really mean it this time. I'm feeling much more motivated now that the band is staying busy, we're getting ready to tour and it's finally getting fun again instead of just being a big pain in my ass.
We're psyched about heading out on the road again. Unfortunately, we've had to cancel a week of our midwest tour, but we're still going out for a few days and I think it'll be good....plus we're gunna make Christina go camping for the first time. I've been trying to make more beanies, but it's pretty slow-going. I'm the only one left that makes them...Maggie had to give it up cuz it made her hands hurt. I guess playing drums, using chopsticks everyday at work, and knitting was just too much. So instead, she is making mesh trucker hats. Not exactly making the hats...but sewing on these cool patches. I personally think they look pretty rad.(thanks to jared for the design!!).
We played a few shows last week that went pretty well. We played all of them with this funny band from Wichita called I've Got To Fart. The first was at Buzz's Subs in Norman, OK. It's always nice going back to OK, and lots of our good friends came out.
The next night was in Denton. This show was crazy. During the first band it started pouring rain. The band room was basically outside on a covered patio...luckily the stage was completely covered, but there were plenty of leaks over the audience so alot people went inside. Right before we started playing we realised the club didn't have a mic stand for Maggie, so she had to run out to the van to get it. Unfortunately the back door locked behind her, so she had to run all the way around to the front. By the time she got back inside she was soaking wet. We started playing and I have to say it was pretty scary playing when there is lots of lightning. I just kept thinking how much it hurts when I get shocked by a microphone when my amp isn't grounded (or for whatever reason that happens)...I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if there was some crazy electrical surge. About halfway through the set, during "Greetings", there is a big crash, a bunch of water starts pouring onto the stage(almost on Christina), and then a string of lightbulbs hung right in front of the stage comes crashing down...a couple of them exploding when they hit the ground. Somehow, we managed to keep playing, even tho I swear I could hear the electricity coursing through my mic. The next thing I know Christina has jumped off the stage and is out walking around in the rain and HAIL! Through it all, it was a fun show, plus we got free pizza. Thanks to all of X-tina's friends for coming out and dancing in the rain.
The next night we played in Austin at this coffeeshop Jakarta Jack's. It was a good time. The turnout wasn't quite what we hoped, but I'm blaming that on the dreary night. Maggie had more bad luck with locking doors. She went backstage to set up her drums, only to find out once again the door locked behind her....only this time there was no way out. She attempted to text message her way out...but it was so loud in the club, no one heard their phones ring...except Myung who texted her back saying "Any cute boys back there?" Always thinking, that Myung!
I guess thats the news for now. I'll definitely be updating this puppy on tour...so you can all hear our wild and crazy tales from life on the road. ROCK!!!
We're psyched about heading out on the road again. Unfortunately, we've had to cancel a week of our midwest tour, but we're still going out for a few days and I think it'll be good....plus we're gunna make Christina go camping for the first time. I've been trying to make more beanies, but it's pretty slow-going. I'm the only one left that makes them...Maggie had to give it up cuz it made her hands hurt. I guess playing drums, using chopsticks everyday at work, and knitting was just too much. So instead, she is making mesh trucker hats. Not exactly making the hats...but sewing on these cool patches. I personally think they look pretty rad.(thanks to jared for the design!!).
We played a few shows last week that went pretty well. We played all of them with this funny band from Wichita called I've Got To Fart. The first was at Buzz's Subs in Norman, OK. It's always nice going back to OK, and lots of our good friends came out.
The next night was in Denton. This show was crazy. During the first band it started pouring rain. The band room was basically outside on a covered patio...luckily the stage was completely covered, but there were plenty of leaks over the audience so alot people went inside. Right before we started playing we realised the club didn't have a mic stand for Maggie, so she had to run out to the van to get it. Unfortunately the back door locked behind her, so she had to run all the way around to the front. By the time she got back inside she was soaking wet. We started playing and I have to say it was pretty scary playing when there is lots of lightning. I just kept thinking how much it hurts when I get shocked by a microphone when my amp isn't grounded (or for whatever reason that happens)...I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if there was some crazy electrical surge. About halfway through the set, during "Greetings", there is a big crash, a bunch of water starts pouring onto the stage(almost on Christina), and then a string of lightbulbs hung right in front of the stage comes crashing down...a couple of them exploding when they hit the ground. Somehow, we managed to keep playing, even tho I swear I could hear the electricity coursing through my mic. The next thing I know Christina has jumped off the stage and is out walking around in the rain and HAIL! Through it all, it was a fun show, plus we got free pizza. Thanks to all of X-tina's friends for coming out and dancing in the rain.
The next night we played in Austin at this coffeeshop Jakarta Jack's. It was a good time. The turnout wasn't quite what we hoped, but I'm blaming that on the dreary night. Maggie had more bad luck with locking doors. She went backstage to set up her drums, only to find out once again the door locked behind her....only this time there was no way out. She attempted to text message her way out...but it was so loud in the club, no one heard their phones ring...except Myung who texted her back saying "Any cute boys back there?" Always thinking, that Myung!
I guess thats the news for now. I'll definitely be updating this puppy on tour...so you can all hear our wild and crazy tales from life on the road. ROCK!!!
