Monday, June 28, 2004
so as long as i am going to be spending to much time on the computer putting up pictures from europe, i thought i might as well overhaul the entire site. i'm tired of looking at the current one. i have time this week since i'm not scheduled to work again until July 5. For the time being if you want ot see some photos from england check the shotgun democracy page at http://www.shotgundemocracy.com/tourphotos.html
Thursday, June 24, 2004
so we're back, safe and sound in TX...boohoo. We've had so much fun this last month...I can't believe that it's over. We'll be hanging out at the warped tour for the next 3 days and then it's back to real life. We'll update the website, photos, journals and reply to emails next week....I think we have about 600 digital pics to sort through. aiyiyi. Thanks to everyone in Europe who made this tour so amazing!!!
Sunday, June 13, 2004
English fact of the day: Most English men are uncircumsized. Trying to get a look at foreskin was a big priority...but didn't happen. Research purposes only mind you.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Only 3 days left in England. I'm sad.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
***Taken from my tour journal***
"At the show in Lincoln. Super FUN! We played well despite some technical difficulties and Shotgun layed down the rock as usual despite more broken strings and Champy still being sick, and maybe alittle out of it from all the medicine he's been taking. DayQuil mixed with alcohol makes an already mellow guy, super-duper chill. The soundguy Steve is possibly one of the most excited, hyper people I've ever met and its always refreshing to play a show with a sound engineer that takes his job seriously and knows what he's doing. We had a little tension earlier, when the possibility of not getting our guarantee came up...but everything is fine now...either we'll get it from the club, or this kid Johnny, with a ton of Star Wars tattoos, will pay us out of his pocket..how cool is that.
Last night we stayed with Marc and Lyn...two very cool people. I honestly cannot believe how many amazing people we've met on this tour. Not that I didn't already love the English, but throughout this tour my impression just keeps getting better. We're back to Marc and Lyn's tonight, where I plan on watching the full Buffy musical episode...last night we just got teased with the finale. There are two other bands staying there tonight as well...I think it'll be about 20 people. I hope there is room for us!"
"At the show in Lincoln. Super FUN! We played well despite some technical difficulties and Shotgun layed down the rock as usual despite more broken strings and Champy still being sick, and maybe alittle out of it from all the medicine he's been taking. DayQuil mixed with alcohol makes an already mellow guy, super-duper chill. The soundguy Steve is possibly one of the most excited, hyper people I've ever met and its always refreshing to play a show with a sound engineer that takes his job seriously and knows what he's doing. We had a little tension earlier, when the possibility of not getting our guarantee came up...but everything is fine now...either we'll get it from the club, or this kid Johnny, with a ton of Star Wars tattoos, will pay us out of his pocket..how cool is that.
Last night we stayed with Marc and Lyn...two very cool people. I honestly cannot believe how many amazing people we've met on this tour. Not that I didn't already love the English, but throughout this tour my impression just keeps getting better. We're back to Marc and Lyn's tonight, where I plan on watching the full Buffy musical episode...last night we just got teased with the finale. There are two other bands staying there tonight as well...I think it'll be about 20 people. I hope there is room for us!"
Monday, June 07, 2004
Just had a full nights sleep in a bed, am waiting in line for the shower, maggie and chris are off to the store to find makings for breakfast tacos(it's time for some real texas food...i'm sick of beans and stewed tomatoes), and i'm using the computer without feeling rushed. I'm one happy bunny!
Last night we played in Middlesborough. It was at a bar but it kinda felt like a legion hall show. It was a six-band bill which made for a long show, but amazingly everyone was really good, so i didn't mind sitting around and watching. All the other bands were pretty poppy, so we pulled out some of the pop-songs that we hadn't had a chance to play yet. The club was right next to a stripbar, so there were alot of half naked ladies walking around outside, and really drunk dudes asking us if we'd seen Debbie Does Dallas, but other than that it was rockin!
The night before we played Boston...OH MY GOD! Those kids are crazy! They totally rocked out for our whole set...building human pyramids, moshing, doing backflips off the ceiling. Christina and I were on the floor so i didn't do much singing, as I kept having to step back to avoid getting my teeth knocked out my the flailing mic. SGD played an awesome set as well..the best was that the crowd did anything Joe told them too. can't wait to post the pictures.
showers free..gotta go!
Last night we played in Middlesborough. It was at a bar but it kinda felt like a legion hall show. It was a six-band bill which made for a long show, but amazingly everyone was really good, so i didn't mind sitting around and watching. All the other bands were pretty poppy, so we pulled out some of the pop-songs that we hadn't had a chance to play yet. The club was right next to a stripbar, so there were alot of half naked ladies walking around outside, and really drunk dudes asking us if we'd seen Debbie Does Dallas, but other than that it was rockin!
The night before we played Boston...OH MY GOD! Those kids are crazy! They totally rocked out for our whole set...building human pyramids, moshing, doing backflips off the ceiling. Christina and I were on the floor so i didn't do much singing, as I kept having to step back to avoid getting my teeth knocked out my the flailing mic. SGD played an awesome set as well..the best was that the crowd did anything Joe told them too. can't wait to post the pictures.
showers free..gotta go!
Saturday, June 05, 2004
here's part of an email that i sent my mom, thought it made for a pretty good journal as well.
(JUNE 2,2004) "quick message cuz this computer is slow. you'll never guess where we are...on a farm in somerset...we fed calves, saw cows hooked up to a milking machine, drank FRESH unpasturized milk, took a hayride up to the hills, and saw the smallest church in england. we also had a full on english breakfast - bacon, eggs, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding, eaten on a picnic table in the garden. courtesy of our host's mother. and to top it off, she's got a chicken cooking in the oven for lunch. this is amazing, i wish you were here. we're taking loads of pictures. the kids seemed really into us at the show last night (yeovil)..."
(JUNE 2,2004) "quick message cuz this computer is slow. you'll never guess where we are...on a farm in somerset...we fed calves, saw cows hooked up to a milking machine, drank FRESH unpasturized milk, took a hayride up to the hills, and saw the smallest church in england. we also had a full on english breakfast - bacon, eggs, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding, eaten on a picnic table in the garden. courtesy of our host's mother. and to top it off, she's got a chicken cooking in the oven for lunch. this is amazing, i wish you were here. we're taking loads of pictures. the kids seemed really into us at the show last night (yeovil)..."
Not much internet access on this tour has forced me to do it the old fashion way...writing in a journal, then copying it to the computer. Trying to keep things fresh in my mind gets alittle hard, it all starts to run together.
***June 3, 2004*****
I'm sitting upstairs in the "band room" at RMs Rockclub in Wales, listening to Shotgun Democracy do their soundcheck, and all I can think is that this is absolutley fucking amazing! I am having such an awesome time...even with being tired and dirty and often cold. It is still so surreal to me that SDS is touring the UK...and even though this is only our 3rd show, I'm already sad that it's going to end.
Quick summary of what's happened so far:
Got to London on the 31st at 6am...the SGD boys were only an hour late to pick us up. we weren't sure what to do so early in the morning, so we just headed to the house where the show would be that night. Ended up parking in front, then taking the tube into London, where we proceeded to get stuck in some weird time-warp. i swear it felt like the day was never going to end...just walking and walking and walking. all i wanted was to find a nice park and take a nap...but the boys just kept going. finally made it back to the gig, where for some reason, it was canceled. kinda sucked, but also a bit of a blessing, as we were all so tired. Regardless, thanks to Alex for the work he put in.
That night we drove on to Yeovil, where some marathon drinking went on at ChicagoRock, then it was off to the van for some sleep. The original plan was to psuedo-camp but as luck would have it, it started to rain, so no sleeping outside. The boys gave us the bed, better than the floor, but still quite croweded.
Next everyone went off and walked around, went to the movies...except me, I slept in the van trying to beat the jetlag(which i think i've finally done). The show that night was really fun. The other bands were great, especially Bencycolpedia..kinda All-American Rejects meets Rocket Summer and it was fantastic to finally see Shotgun Democracy. That night we stayed on a full-on English farm...it was so rad(see maggie's journal above). The only bad part is I got bit by a baby cow...I was very worried about Mad Cow Disease, and my finger is quite swollen(left-hand pointer) which has made playing a bit hard. I'm toughing it out though.
The next night we played in London at The Poison Club. It was a full-on squat....not much to say about it. I almost puked when i used the bathroom(it was so dirty), I told a crusty punk girl to fuck-off(yikes), some people we know from Texas showed up, and overall it was a fun time. After the show we headed to Wales for another night in the van.
****OK...now i'm back to regular blog writing****
The show at RMs was pretty rockin' although the hot emo kids maybe were alittle too emo...they watched the show but didn't really show much interest. at least the kids in austin bob their heads. maggie got pissed cuz everything on the drumset went wrong,(hi-hat broke, snare fell and the tom wouldn't stay put). and after the show she had to leave and go for a walk...but then she remembered she was in Wales rockin' and everything was ok. The opening band This Weeks Charity was really good, and hot, which is always a plus...and they had cool Welsh accents. Some band members got pretty wasted, and some true rockstar behavior took place. We stayed at the club, everyone got a shower and tea in the morning, and despite some slight tension between bandmates, it was still an awesome time.
Last night was Bristol. We were very scared, as the show was a punk/hardcore show, and we were scheduled to play third. compared to the other bands we felt like we might sound more like Britney Spears than a punk band. However, it ended up being really fun...a little fear can make a girl play really well and really fast. The best was seeing the big, skinhead-looking guys dancing. The other bands were good too...Municipal Waste were fellow Americans from VA...super nice guys..hopefully we'll see them again. After the show we went to a Rock Club, where we had a dance marathon. Another night in the van, in need of a shower, i'm sure i'm leaving out tons of good stories, but everyone is waiting so we can get driving to Boston.
more soon(hopefully!)
***June 3, 2004*****
I'm sitting upstairs in the "band room" at RMs Rockclub in Wales, listening to Shotgun Democracy do their soundcheck, and all I can think is that this is absolutley fucking amazing! I am having such an awesome time...even with being tired and dirty and often cold. It is still so surreal to me that SDS is touring the UK...and even though this is only our 3rd show, I'm already sad that it's going to end.
Quick summary of what's happened so far:
Got to London on the 31st at 6am...the SGD boys were only an hour late to pick us up. we weren't sure what to do so early in the morning, so we just headed to the house where the show would be that night. Ended up parking in front, then taking the tube into London, where we proceeded to get stuck in some weird time-warp. i swear it felt like the day was never going to end...just walking and walking and walking. all i wanted was to find a nice park and take a nap...but the boys just kept going. finally made it back to the gig, where for some reason, it was canceled. kinda sucked, but also a bit of a blessing, as we were all so tired. Regardless, thanks to Alex for the work he put in.
That night we drove on to Yeovil, where some marathon drinking went on at ChicagoRock, then it was off to the van for some sleep. The original plan was to psuedo-camp but as luck would have it, it started to rain, so no sleeping outside. The boys gave us the bed, better than the floor, but still quite croweded.
Next everyone went off and walked around, went to the movies...except me, I slept in the van trying to beat the jetlag(which i think i've finally done). The show that night was really fun. The other bands were great, especially Bencycolpedia..kinda All-American Rejects meets Rocket Summer and it was fantastic to finally see Shotgun Democracy. That night we stayed on a full-on English farm...it was so rad(see maggie's journal above). The only bad part is I got bit by a baby cow...I was very worried about Mad Cow Disease, and my finger is quite swollen(left-hand pointer) which has made playing a bit hard. I'm toughing it out though.
The next night we played in London at The Poison Club. It was a full-on squat....not much to say about it. I almost puked when i used the bathroom(it was so dirty), I told a crusty punk girl to fuck-off(yikes), some people we know from Texas showed up, and overall it was a fun time. After the show we headed to Wales for another night in the van.
****OK...now i'm back to regular blog writing****
The show at RMs was pretty rockin' although the hot emo kids maybe were alittle too emo...they watched the show but didn't really show much interest. at least the kids in austin bob their heads. maggie got pissed cuz everything on the drumset went wrong,(hi-hat broke, snare fell and the tom wouldn't stay put). and after the show she had to leave and go for a walk...but then she remembered she was in Wales rockin' and everything was ok. The opening band This Weeks Charity was really good, and hot, which is always a plus...and they had cool Welsh accents. Some band members got pretty wasted, and some true rockstar behavior took place. We stayed at the club, everyone got a shower and tea in the morning, and despite some slight tension between bandmates, it was still an awesome time.
Last night was Bristol. We were very scared, as the show was a punk/hardcore show, and we were scheduled to play third. compared to the other bands we felt like we might sound more like Britney Spears than a punk band. However, it ended up being really fun...a little fear can make a girl play really well and really fast. The best was seeing the big, skinhead-looking guys dancing. The other bands were good too...Municipal Waste were fellow Americans from VA...super nice guys..hopefully we'll see them again. After the show we went to a Rock Club, where we had a dance marathon. Another night in the van, in need of a shower, i'm sure i'm leaving out tons of good stories, but everyone is waiting so we can get driving to Boston.
more soon(hopefully!)
Friday, June 04, 2004
Tour is awesome...having sooo much fun. playing bristol tonight....hopefully won't get beat up by all the hardcore kids. more details when i have time...gotta go to the show now...late already.
