800 Octane

6/5/03

Corvallis, OR @ 526 House

Compact 56, The Front

I am a disgrace to our band. Seriously. We were having a great show, people were moving, we were rocking and at some point during the last part of our set I jumped in the air, came down and landed squarely on top of Dave's broken ankle. Yep. 175 pounds careening onto the freshly fractured leg of our singer. As soon as I landed I felt a foot underneath me and I thought "please god let that be his other foot". No dice. I could hear the shout of agony and pain over the drums and guitars followed by the shouting of the word 'fuck' into the microphone. We knew there was a risk of someone in the crowd stepping on Dave's leg but a band mate doing it? I suck. I really, really suck. Aside from me being an idiot the show totally rocked. The Front stole the show with their punk assault and had everyone moving. Compact 56 was outstanding as usual and it's always great to spend any amount of time with them. Big thanks to everyone who endured the heat and made this such an great show.

6/3/03

Portland, OR @ Meow Meow

Bigwig, The Gamits, Stereotyperider, Low Tolerance

Ahhhh yes another painfully hot evening at the Meow Meow. If you saw our news page recently then you are aware that Dave currently has a broken leg, a broken ankle and is in a cast for the next several weeks. Doctors orders are not to stand or do any physical activity so we had our friend (and one time guitar player in '99) Lyle fill in on bass. The rationale was that if Dave is just singing he would be less likely to fall over, get knocked over or somehow injure himself more (if that was even possible). Lyle did great and even nailed the Day Of The Dead bass solo. Oddly enough a lot of people seemed to dig us as a 5 piece. It was kind of cool with Dave in a cast because he was limited on stage. When he's fully mobile again he'll probably start up on some euro/tribal/interpretive dance bullshit and then everyone will hate us. Anyway, onto the other bands. Low Tolerance was solid and catchy. Stereotyperider was great even though they didn't play the Jane's Addiction cover that I longed for. The Gamits were great (as usual). Different lineup every time I see them but I suppose the same goes for us recently. Bigwig was awesome even minus a guitar player. I've had their CD in constant rotation since November so it was nice to see them play songs I knew. The cover of 'Waiting Room' by Fugazi was great as well. Thanks to the usual peeps who helped put on the show!

5/11/03

Portland, OR @ Meow Meow

Death By Stereo, Western Waste, Countdown To Life

My neck hurts. Why you ask? Headbanging. Uncontrollable headbanging for an entire evening. The discomfort is partially because we hadn't played in so damn long (3 1/2 months) but mostly due to the fact that all of the bands provoked this sort of response. Despite a flaky guitar amp CTL ruled. If you haven't seen them you are foolish. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just get your late pass and step. Damn it was nice to play again. Our whole set was kind of a blur, only occasionally interrupted by smiling faces and fists in the air. I can't believe how much support we had and it was totally appreciated. (Now is a good time to give props to the PDX street team - you rocked!) The new songs went over well and the one we refer to as "the new metal song" appears to be everyone's new favorite. Perhaps this was because we were at a hardcore show? Who cares, I like it. I only watched a few songs of Western Waste because quite honestly I thought I was going to vomit. This statement begs the question "Eric, why were you going to vomit?" however I've decided to leave it creepy and mysterious sounding with no explanation. Anyway, from what I heard they sounded good. This was my first Death By Stereo and it will not be my last. Here's the thing about DBS ... people don't just like them passively ... people LOVE them! I can totally see why too. They are amazing musicians, they have a million sing/shout along parts and their singer is insane on stage. My god they were good. There are too many thanks tonight to list individually so you'll have to take it upon yourself to pat yourself on the back if you did any of the following: a) helped us load b) brought friends to the show c) sang along d) sold merch e) wore a shirt that said "kill eric" f) played drums or lastly g) crawled in the roof of our van with another female and simulated an orgasm while shouting "Eric, Eric, Eric". Ah yes, it's good to be king.

1/25/03

Eugene, OR @ North Eugene High School

EPD, Thirty-six Drive, thebuddysystem

Despite the surprisingly large crowd I'm not sure we really played as well as we could have. We did ok and the new songs went over well but ultimately I think we were all preoccupied with the fact that this was Dan's last show with us. I don't know if it showed on stage but I gotta confess my mind was somewhere else for much of the show. I'll spare any further insight because it was still a good time. Big thanks to all the bands who played, particularly huge shot out to the hip hop group who's name is escaping me, more thanks to Conor and crew, and the biggest thanks go to Sam and the EPD boys for setting up this rad show. I guess one last thank you should be reserved for Dan. Despite it not working out in 800 Octane I wish you the best!

1/24/03

Corvallis, OR @ Club Escape

Stand Off, Zeke Davis

Good things about this show included all the cool people we met, the highly amusing and very rocking kids from Stand Off, getting to see (and apologize to) Brandon from Mass Productions, finally having a request for 'Get In The Van' at a show and the large assortment of backstage food which included lasagna, salad, chips, m&m's, coke, gatorade, water and red vines. Some lesser points included our slow and sloppy renditions of our normally easy to play songs, the wet and slow drive to Corvallis and the late start time. All in all a pretty good evening. Thanks to James and crew for making this show happen!

1/17/03

Seattle, WA @ Zak's

Millhous, Load Levellers, Pornstore Janitor

I really thought this show was going to be great and at approximately 10:02 PM I watched my high expectations turn into the dismal reality of being an unwelcome band in front of an apathetic and intoxicated crowd. We actually started off strong opening with 'Kelvis'. Beer was spilled and bodies were moving. By the second song people realized something was amiss. They wanted long hair and metal. We had neither to offer and soon the projectiles began to fly. For each can, cup and lit cigarette that was tossed at us we cut another song on the set list. We finished 9 songs in just over 20 minutes and that was more than enough. Truth be told we actually did get a lot of compliments from people but sadly the section of the crowd that didn't like us was the more vocal section. Dave tried to rationalize things afterwards by saying that "sometimes people throw beer on bands they like". That is often a true statement (especially at Zak's) but not tonight. All that came to mind was the line from the Blues Brothers ... "those lights are off on purpose". We watched Pornstore Janitor's set and bailed. I really hate bands that do that but we really needed a change of scenery. After returning to Kevin's crib, we ordered 120 hot wings, many drinks and did our best to forget our excursion to Zak's. Despite my complaining we do want to thank Brian and Janitor Jon for hooking up the show.

1/11/03

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

Pornstore Janitor, Dry County Crooks, Barbarella, Tim Riley Factor

Whoa ... people at the Satyricon ... what the hell? For the uninitiated the show tonight featured some of the bands that listen to (and call into) the Rick Emerson show in Portland on 1080 AM. The main attraction of the evening (and the cause of the large crowd) was of course the appearance of Rick himself and his band called 'The Tim Riley Factor'. Lots of bands, lots of music, lots of funny commentary and even a fight or two. This was easily the most fun we've ever had playing at the Satyricon and since Rick is a huge Ramones fan we even learned a cover just for the occasion. I gotta reserve most of my praise for Pornstore Janitor as they totally rocked. They just get better and better with each show and the fire dancers was a nice touch. Big thanks to Paul for hooking us up with the show and even more thanks to Rick and staff for all the support.

1/4/03

Springfield, OR @ Jaron's House

Kiniption

My god ... where do I start on this one? Initially we were supposed to be headlining an all day 9 band show in Creswell, OR. We ended up playing in Springfield at someone's house for 10 people. How you ask? I'm not quite sure but here's my account of the story. I woke up to an e-mail from the promoter of the show asking me to call him. He informed me that 3 of the bands cancelled, more specifically the 3 bands that I most wanted to see. I would have cancelled us too, but the guy jumped through some hoops and ladders to get us the show and in a good time slot. Anyway ... Justin had to work today so we sent Dave and Dan to the show early with the van and the gear while Justin and I drove separately. We got out of town around 4:30 and got a call from Dave. I asked how the show was going and Dave responded with one word ... "terrible". He went on to inform me that there were maybe 12 people there at most and half of them were parents. The show was in a gymnasium and the vocals were running through the overhead PA. Not a real sound system but those little 6" white circular speakers you see in schools and office buildings. The sound quality was somewhere in between a blown out dashboard speaker and a hissing snake. To make matters worse 3 more bands cancelled!!! Six bands cancelled the show!!! Despite all logic the guy running the show had the bands play as they got there. So there was a band, a gap, another band and another indefinite gap until another band (us) showed up. Not a good plan for anyone involved. By the time we got to Salem we checked in with Dave again and apparently there was only 2 people remaining. They were about ready to pack it up and come home early (we were still an hour away) then someone at the show says "hey, if we can find a PA would you want to play at my house instead?" To make a long story short that's exactly what we ended up doing. Dave, Dan and the local Eugene crew found a PA, gathered up some friends and we all met up at Jaron's house to play some songs. Jaron's band played a few songs (quite well I might add) and then we played a few songs until the neighbors threatened to call the cops. Nothing quite as satisfying as hearing the phone ring in between songs and the caller ID says it's your impatient, annoying, elderly neighbor. At one point Jaron answered and asked that she doesn't call the cops because we were almost done. 2 minutes later ... ring, ring. (On a side note ... how bad could it be to hear music from next door for maybe 25 minutes? Christ, it's early on a Saturday night ... mind your own business. Turn on the TV, listen to the radio, have a conversation, do something constructive other than sitting around looking for a reason to bitch at your neighbors.) We had to call it quits after 6 songs but I guess that's ok. We played all of Crozz's requests so that's good enough for us. Playing tonight was so-so but I think we had the most fun just hanging out waiting to play. We had pizza, we quoted 'Office Space', we discussing kids urinating in public and we watching Justin belch into an unplugged microphone. Making the show happen was the real achievement tonight, not the actual performance. Anyway, big thanks to everyone who helped to save us from wasting 4 hours at that damn Creswell show. It actually ended being a pretty fun evening!

12/31/02

Portland, OR @ Nocturnal

Thirty3, Countdown To Life, The Runaway Boys

Man, what a great night. Highlights included: all of the Runaway Boys set, Danny from CTL's jokes and stage chatter, the mysterious dancing man, the unexpected circle pit in the fancy club, the 80' DJ, the piñata boobs, the much anticipated but never seen potatos, the unnamed person who did 'the worm' on the floor ... after the show (yuck!), our set of covers which included 'I Ran', 'The Safety Dance' and 'We're Not Gonna Take It', all of Thirty 3's set and the ending multi band cover session which included a NOFX song, a Lifetime song and the best way to ring in the new year ... an Andrew W.K. song! Dan said it best - "that was one of the best New Years I've ever had". I agree. Super big thanks to all of our friends including Ashley, Sesha, Sarah, Angela, Jon, David, Crys, Larissa, Lee, Danny, Josh, Ty, Attom from C56, Tim from 3xR, Jesse, the other Jon and Sara. I'm sure there are more but seriously, thanks to everyone else who chose to spend the evening with us!

12/26/02

Vancouver, WA @ Mt. View Ice Arena

Not Long After, PDEX

Ugghh. Our set was such a disappointment tonight. The other bands played great, there was a ton of people, everyone we met was totally friendly, but we really kinda sucked. Drum parts broke, amps malfunctioned, cords failed, and we played sloppy. Definitely not the best of performances. Thankfully NLA turned the evening around and got everyone excited and moving again. Thanks to them for being totally cool to meet and hang out with. Good album too!

12/20/02

Bend, OR @ Domino Room

All Out, Paint By Numbers, No Cash Value, The Suspenders

Crap. I just typed out a really long review and accidentally erased it so here's the abbreviated version. The snowy drive sucked. Arriving late and missing the first 2 bands sucked. All Out did not suck. PBN did not suck. We did not suck. The long drive home with 100 miles of snow did suck. Despite the long drives tonight did not not suck. Thanks go to all who deserve them.

12/14/02

Richland, WA @ Atomic Records

Compact 56

Holy crap ... most intense show ever! This show also had the distinction of being the hottest show ever, the loudest crowd ever, our longest set ever (well, since the Hoss days), and a close run for the most fun show ever. Just an awesome, awesome night. Big thanks to everyone who came out to the show because you all are the reason why Richland is the most consistent and best crowd we play too! Bigger thanks to our street team peeps who busted their ass to help get some new people in the door! One more thank you is reserved to Compact 56 for playing these last 6 shows with us. I know you felt like the new guys on our little tour but you've totally got our respect. These last few shows were some of the best times we've ever had in the band and that is in large part due to you guys so thanks again. My only complaint ... even after 6 shows we still don't know any of your damn lyrics!

12/13/02

Portland, OR @ Paris Theater

Compact 56, Monkee Torture, BXF

If I had to rate it I'd give tonight's show a 6 out of 10. Not the most thrilling show by any means but definitely a good time for everyone in attendance. BXF started off and sounded great. I wish more people were there to hear them but that's the first slot at the Paris for you. (By the way thank you for coming down to play on short notice!) More people did show up in time for Monkee Torture but most were met with great confusion. The confusion was twofold ... 1) what's with the slow heavy metal dirges and 2) who is this masked man known as Baron Von Torture who is insulting us? You gotta see them live to understand what I'm referring to ... highly recommended. Compact 56 was third and they sounded amazing. I feel that I am qualified to rate them as I have attended their last 5 shows. Brutal sounding tonight ... just awesome. Chris owned the stage and we were humbled to follow them. Our set? I'll just offer up the usual "we had fun playing" response. Nothing too earth shattering to report but we did play 3 new songs. Then there was that moment when Dave violated the Compact 56 banner. Thanks to those who drove long and far and thanks to those who come to see us regularly. Extra thanks to Ashley and her posse which consisted of roughly 12% of the crowd.

12/11/02

Bend, OR @ Bend Community Center

Compact 56, Two The Front

Pretty fun and laid back show tonight. I was definitely surprised with the turnout on a Wednesday night, especially for some relatively unknown bands like us and Compact 56. Highlights of the show were Two The Front's bongo player, Chris from Compact using the F word 20 times in one sentence, Justin falling off the stage (again), and the 800 Ball cookies. Thanks to Mike for setting up the show, PJ for getting us in touch with Mike, the staff at the BCC for being so friendly and everyone who hung out on a Wednesday evening with us.

12/8/02

Spokane, WA @ Fat Tuesdays

Compact 56, Coldsnap 9, OTTL

The quote of the trip came from Ben who woke this morning up and proclaimed to 9 other people "I can't tell if I'm just really sweaty or if I pissed myself". Priceless. We had another breakfast courtesy of Compact and this time we had more than enough to eat. Full of eggs and bacon we headed to Spokane. It was cold and windy but the views of the Montana mountains were awesome. We watched 'Glory' in the van which took up about half the drive. Upon arriving in Spokane we ate at Dick's hamburgers and spent the better part of thirty minutes making lame jokes about all the way to eat dicks, consume dicks, and taste dicks. Not funny now but highly amusing after 6 hours in the van. Fat Tuesday's was a weird place. It's big and looks more like a themed restaurant than a venue. The sound on stage was terrible but the sound out front was huge. We played first to about 30 people including the other bands. Oddly enough it was still totally fun because the other bands were all there standing up front and making noise between songs. Sure most of the noise in question was insults and 4 letter words but that's what friends are for. Before CS-9 played I asked Derik if they were going to do any more guitar spins for us and all he said was "Yeah, we're going for the record tonight". I didn't know there was such a title to be had but I counted at least 9 spins. Too funny. OTTL was third and although our styles were totally different they were definitely fun to watch. Their singer was very charismatic and kept the small crowd at attention. (By the way thanks to those guys for hooking up this show!) Tonight's headliner was determined by the size of their banner so by default Compact had the honor of going last. They were trying their hardest to rock but were all thwarted when Dave placed his 11 x 17 hand drawn interpretation of Chris being sodomized by the band members on the stage. The fine piece of artwork was titled "Cum-packed 56" and it was fun watching each member wander by it and totally lose their concentration. That set the mood for their set and we all had a good time watching them. At one point Ben (who has a wireless on his guitar) did a guitar solo from the back balcony of the club. This was extra funny because it's this huge room and there were maybe 30 people there at most. Too funny. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and headed back home. Three more shows with these bands this week and we can't wait.

12/7/02

Billings, MT @ Eleven:11

Compact 56, Coldsnap 9, The Front

Woke up quick at about noon just felt that I had to be in Billings soon. Compact 56 made us all breakfast today but by the time Dave and I got there we only had enough for 1 egg each. Chris sold out Dan and told us that he ate our share of the food. He's unemployed so I am willing to forgive his sins. The tiny breakfast was a good excuse to go to Perkins and get some real food. Afterwards we went back to the house, watched a Pantera DVD for inspiration and headed out to Billings. We were a little sad that the air hockey table was gone but aside from that the Billings show was insane. The crowd was at least three times bigger than our last show there and a lot of people from the Bozeman show came all the way to Billings to see the bands again. Compact was first and sounded huge. The Front was second and although I liked them before, they sounded even better when you can hear the vocals. Derik and I particularly enjoyed their set. For our show tonight we played almost an entirely different set which made it cool for us. Coldsnap was last and this was hands down the best I've ever seen them play. Why? Two words ... guitar spins. Derik and Eric has mastered the art of spinning their guitars around their bodies in mid song. Sometimes forwards, sometimes backwards and the highlight of them all ... "the double spin". Justin, Dave and I were completely humbled by this display of rock and roll showmanship. CS-9 is from a town just outside of Billings so this was more or less their home town. To the dismay of many people they announced that this would probably be their last show in Billings. We didn't realize it when we booked these shows but apparently they are breaking up after this. It was kind of bittersweet to see because they are such a great band. For better or worse I've seen quite a few "last shows" but this one was one of the best. No one left early and everyone sang along. They got the treatment that a loved hometown band deserved and it was cool to be a part of it. Afterwards us and Compact headed back to Bozeman to the person's house who's name I still can't recall.

12/6/02

Bozeman, MT @ Blue Iguana

Compact 56, Coldsnap 9, The Front, STD

No sleep till ... Bozeman. We actually left for this show on Thursday night. We drove a little past Spokane and slept at a truck stop we have stayed at 4 times before. I was actually able to fall asleep in the roof of the van tonight which was a first. Usually I just lie awake listening to Dave and his window rattling snoring until I can't take it anymore and begin driving. Day 2 of the drive was uneventful at best. We watched movies and several hundred miles of snowy Montana mountains pass by the window. We got to the club early and met up with Compact 56 who's drive had not been nearly as peaceful. Apparently Ben drove 99% of the trip without ever stopping to sleep. He said at one point he was so tired he thought he heard an explosion in the engine. There is tired and then there is "I think the van blew up" tired. Amazing. We were all pretty stoked to meet up with CS-9 again because we had played with them quite a few times before over the past 2 years. In fact they recently added a new guitar player who happens to be none other than Derik from STFS who we did our summer tour with. Even more surprising still was when Adam from STFS walked into the show carrying his bass! Apparently he would be playing these shows as CS-9's new bass player. It totally caught us all off guard and we were all stoked to see him again. Dave started in on the 'dirty hippie' jokes almost immediately but we all realize that is Dave's twisted sign of affection. To make the STFS reunion complete Damon even came out to the show. I don't think I got a chance to say more than 5 words to him but it was totally appreciated and good to see him again. One question though ... where was Bill? The show itself was cool. STD opened up and oddly enough I actually recognized them as they had attended out last two Montana shows. Pretty solid set from a fairly new band. The Front was next and although you couldn't hear their vocals they were fun to watch. Compact was 3rd and dropped their full contact rock bomb on the unprepared Montana crowd. Adam and Spinelli they took the whole "crowd interaction" thing a bit too far and played most of their set in the midst of pretty tough looking circle pit. I kind of enjoyed seeing them play to a crowd that had no idea who they were and watch them slowly win them over. We played 4th and it was damn cool to see people signing along to our songs so far from home. Definitely as good as ... perhaps even better than our last show in Bozeman. Coldsnap was last and I was glad we didn't have to follow them. They ruled plain and simple. After the show we all went out to eat but I had such a raging headache I ended up sleeping in the van while everyone dined on greasy breakfast foods. Apparently some dude was staring Justin down in the restaurant. I guess they didn't like his kind in those parts. Afterwards we went to crash at a friend of Chris's who's name is escaping me.

11/30/02

Palo Cedro, CA @ Millville Grange Hall

Beautiful Beginning, Rocket Fuel Is The Key

How was Redding you ask? Dave lost his voice within 10 minutes of starting the set. I cut my hand open. Justin fell off the stage. Dan's drum stool broke during the last song and he fell to the ground. Definitely one of the more fun shows we've had there! Thanks to Chad and Brad for having us play. Even more thanks to all who bailed on their families to come see us play!

11/23/02

Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bigwig, Slick Shoes

After 5 years in Portland we finally made it to the Crystal Ballroom. How was it? Put it this way ... on a scale of 1 to 10 this show was a 253. Seriously. All four of us agreed it was the most fun we've ever had at a show. Our set was so much fun to play I almost felt guilty. The sound was amazing, we played well and the crowd ... oh my god ... the crowd was so rad. They bounced when we bounced, they rocked when we rocked, they shouted when we shouted and people even crowd surfed for most of our set. Awesome feeling to see so many people into our music especially after playing last night to 20 people! I was kind of amazed at the response because we had people coming up to us all night who had never heard of us before who wanted to meet us, talk music and hang out. Too cool. The other bands? Slick Shoes rocked. Bigwig was outstanding. I wasn't sure if the Bosstones would live up to their reputation as a great live band but they did. I heard the opening chords "the impression that I get" and I was sold. They were so damn good. Serious thanks to everyone who helped out, hung out and made this such a great night!

11/22/02

Newburg, OR @ George Fox University

Rhythm of '84, 3 Times Removed, Controvert, Seth Martin

Damn fun show tonight except that all of the fun seemed to be at other people's expense. First was the belittling of Dan. Well, that really hasn't stopped since we added him to the band. Then there was the insulting of Rick which grew more and more abrasive throughout the evening and eventually culminated in Dave chasing him outside the venue and throwing him to the ground. There was a fair share of good natured smack talking between us and Rhythm of '84 during both of our sets. At some point during ours Justin was violated by the headstock of Dave's bass on stage. At another point during load out someone was "humped" by a guitar cabinet. I guess there was a show tonight too? A fun time was had by all and Rick learned the hard way to never to raise his hand at Dave again. Thanks to Darin and Tim for setting this thing up and even more thanks to the small percentage of people who actually stayed to see all the bands.

11/17/02

Portland, OR @ Meow Meow

Near Miss, Knockout, Paint By Numbers

Tonight's lineup was almost a repeat performance of Friday's show except in Portland. The turnout was extremely low but everyone seemed to be in a good mood. From the looks of it everyone seemed to enjoy all the bands which is kind of rare. Paint By Numbers rocked tonight and everyone knows it. They've gotten so damn good since we last played with them. Plus I am currently obsessed with the guitar part in the song 'Bully'. Knockout and Near Miss both sounded much better tonight and seemed much happier than the previous outing in Longview. Our set was cool, people stood up front, sang along and generally made it fun. One funny moment was during load out when I spotted the guitar played from Near Miss walking with one of our t-shirt boxes towards the staircase. By the time I turned the corner I heard our box of merchandise rattling and bumping down a flight of stairs. The guy was laughing hysterically and announced that he had just thrown Knockout's merch down the stairs. He had a good laugh until the box turned sideways and rather than seeing Knockout on the side of the box he saw 800 Octane written in huge letter. He shouted an obscene word and quickly turned around only to find myself and Dan standing right behind him staring at him. He turned bright red and apologized about a dozen times over the course of the night. The look of horror on his face was priceless and we all got a good laugh out of it. Thanks to Rick, Conor, Alex, Dan and crew, Jeff and all at the Meow Meow.

11/15/02

Longview, WA @ Reid's Pit Stop

Near Miss, Knockout, Rhythm Of '84, The Laxatives

Long night tonight. We arrived at 7:00, watched 4 bands and didn't even start playing until almost midnight. The Laxatives were fun to watch and earned many punk points for smashing a guitar on stage. Rhythm of '84 was depressing to watch, but that's because they are so damn good. You either don't get into them at all or your jaw is on the floor when they play. Mine was definitely the latter. I missed 95% of Knockout's set because we went out for some Taco Bell. When we returned (during their last song) it seemed that about 3/4 of the crowd was outside. I thought it was odd, but the word was that they made some derogatory comments about Rhythm of '84. Not cool ... especially since they play in Longview a lot and even have a L-view native on bass. I didn't hear it first hand, but if the rumor was true that was totally lame on their part. Near Miss was next and they did not seem happy to be there. They "joked" about the small turnout, cut their set very short and generally seemed irritated. I know they are on a real label and are used to much bigger crowds but it didn't really seem like they even tried to have fun. The songs they did play sounded pretty amazing so I hope our show with them on Sunday goes better because they seem like they could of/would of/should of totally rocked. We played last (not sure why) and I can't even begin to thank everyone who stuck around enough. It would have been a very lonely show but you all stayed and made noise and we can't thank you enough for it. The highlight for me was when Justin announced that 'Tina' was a "good song to load out to" when we spotted the other bands moving all their crap by the stage during our set. Thanks to TJ and Chris Reid, bigger thanks to David for the cymbal, biggest thanks to everyone who stayed late and no thanks to the person who had to explain us the meaning of the "red sock".

11/9/02

Pullman, WA @ Stephenson Down Under

Suspect #6, Darling Bastards, LANDis, A Note Called Gram

The drive to Pullman was really long and really boring. We had never been to Pullman before and were duped by Mapquest into thinking it was a shorter drive. To pass the time we watched movies, insulted Dan and listened to Justin belch for the better part of the drive. You can always tell when Justin falls asleep because the burping stops and a sense of peace comes over the van. Then suddenly it begins again and you realize he has awakened. The show itself was cool because a) it ran smoothly b) there was a decent crowd and c) we all got free cake. I felt like we played well but it's hard to tell sometimes in a new location with a crowd that's never even heard of you. It was definitely fun though and that's all that counts. The drive home was not as fun though. Dave drove the last leg of the trip. As he got more and more tired his driving was becoming more and more erratic ... crossing lanes, slowing down and speeding up, etc. We offered to drive but he refused telling us it wasn't much farther to Tri-Cities. Finally Dave pulls over and throws in the towel saying he couldn't drive anymore because he was seeing things. "Seeing things" I inquired? Dave mentioned that he thought he has seen "a large group of cats crossing the road". Suddenly I felt much better that I was driving. Literally after about two minutes behind the wheel we reached a truck stop, pulled in and called it a night. I slept maybe two hours tops and out of sheer boredom got up and decided to start driving. It was nice to actually see the Gorge in the daytime for a change. Thanks to Yotes for having us play. Even bigger thanks to Dalene and her crew for finding us the show and promoting it!

11/2/02

Portland, OR @ Blackbird

Antiworld, Pornstore Janitor

Totally fun show tonight. I didn't know what to expect with the mix of bands but it was a blast. Aside from Dave breaking his bass fun was had by all and we even got the debut a new song affectionately known as "the metal song." Mad props go out to the following: Pornstore Janitor for rocking the stage, the guitar playing Janitor for teaching us the machine gun guitar technique, props for Antiworld and their props, the drunk guy who stage dove alone, and especially big thanks to our friends who came out to the show early.

10/28/02

Portland, OR @ Meow Meow

Stavesacre, Believing In June, Flatus

I don't even know where to start. I loved and hated this show at the same time. I loved it because we finally met and hung out with Flatus. They have in depth knowledge of Dio as well as Digital Underground and we therefore see them as equals. Plus they rocked. Believing in June played a great set and although they were definitely not my usual thing Stavesacre put on a solid set as well. So what was the bad part? Our set. 30 minutes of torture for us and apparently the audience as well. Technically we played well but the crowd response was zero. Nil. Nothing. Nada. Literally we would finish a song and out of a room full of people I could count the number of people clapping on one hand. By the second song some people started heading towards the door. The clincher was when some dude in the front of the crowd sat down and covered his ears for the last two songs. I'm not a violent person but I have never so badly wanted to walk into the audience and just kick someone in the fucking teeth. I can't stand kids who are too cool for punk. To lower my opinion of the show even further as we were loading out a friend of the second band said that the show was "awful" because "the other 3 bands all sucked". Thanks asshole. To put our utter and complete lack of connection with the crowd into perspective out of 150 people we sold $2.50 worth of merch. Ten more cents and we can each buy a taco. There was one highlight though that is worth mentioning. During 'New Song #2' Justin fell off the front of the stage and flat on his back! Right down to the concrete! The cool thing was (and I swear this is not embellished) he continued to play the song perfectly while laying on the sanitationally unsound floor of the Meow Meow! Extra big thanks to Flatus for being cool as hell.

10/26/02

Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater

Gwar, Dead Stars On Hollywood, Deathline International, Kandles At Nine, Ghost Parade

I just spent the past 15 minutes attempting to scrub off a mixture of blood, semen and urine from my face and arms. This means either one of two things ... I just got back from another bukkake party at Dave's house or I just saw Gwar. Thankfully it was the latter. Seeing Gwar is a pleasure enough for me (this being my 5th time) but getting to share the bill with them totally made my day! The show tonight was very unique and very cool because there was so much happening. On the ground floor they had a small stage open for the bands and performance art groups plus an even smaller stage for go-go dancers in between acts. The second floor had the main stage for the "real" bands and the bigger performance art groups (body modification ... ewww!) and two more platforms for even more go-go dancers. Since it was a Halloween show we decided to get into the act and play with zombie makeup and blood. Not quite as gory as the album cover but pretty gnarly for sure. (Did I really just say gnarly?) We kind of thought we were getting screwed for a while because we ended up having to play on the considerably smaller lower stage and at the same time as another band played upstairs on the main stage! In fact when we started our set there were maybe 30 people watching us at most. However as we kept playing more and more people kept rolling in from upstairs and by the end of our set the whole room was packed with people watching and cheering which was an amazing feeling. It's not nice to be competitive with other bands but I gotta admit it was very heart warming to know there were more people watching us on the small stage than watching the band in the main room! I could talk at great length about how good this made us feel but this review is getting too damn long. All in all the show was fantastic. Thanks to Daria and Gustav for helping us get and stay on the bill, our Seattle posse of zombies, our Portland posse of doctors, witches and those who arrived sans-costume, Lee for the rad makeup job (again), Lyle for hanging at the merch table and of course Severina for making everything run so smoothly.

9/21/02

Portland, OR @ Satyricon

Hellside Stranglers, Jimmies, Compact 56

I can't believe it had been a year and a half since our last Satyricon show. Amazingly enough there were actually people there this time. Compact 56 started out and bludgeoned everyone with rock. Loud, aggressive, in your face and just awesome. They get better with each show. The Jimmies were next offering up good, solid, catchy songs but we've grown to expect that from them. Up third was the Hellside Stranglers. We practice down the hall from them so it was nice to actually see them play their instruments rather than hearing them through the walls. They rocked ... good vocals and awesome guitar parts ... very cool. Our set was good. People stuck around and cheered which is not the Satyricon that we remember. All in all a good show. After the show things started getting a little weird. We saw some good friends get in a fight, we saw people that we don't know get in a fight, we saw some slutty drunk girls get in a fight, we saw another set of slutty drunk girls yelling at drunk guys, then we saw someone vomit outside the club, and the grand finale was Dave witnessing someone getting a hummer in a car parked next to van ... it was just a weird night. I didn't really want to leave because I felt like I would miss something. Trying to extend the excitment Dan and I cruised around the block for a while looking for more entertainment however we quickly realized the grasping hand of excitement usually passes right by two guys who smell like the Satyricon and are listening to Slayer while rolling in a station wagon. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us ... you know who you are!

9/14/02

Roseburg, OR @ American Legion Hall

Ambitious Career Woman, Blue Sky Mile, 18 Fatal Strikes, Decibal Network, Insomniac Folklore

Long show tonight but the diverse lineup made it manageable. High points included pretty much all of the 18 Fatal Strikes set. I'm always a sucker for old school hardcore, especially if that old school hardcore is complete with "bitchin' solos". (Their words - not mine!) In addition to rocking they have to be some of the nicest guys in the world. Well, unless of course you are standing up front and they almost start a fight with you. Blue Sky Mile rocked. Nuff said. Ambitious Career Woman was damn impressive too. It's sad to say but I actually recognized their "name this video game theme" within six notes. Sad. Very sad. Our set was cool. Definitely nice to play somewhere new and actually have people there. Everyone seemed a little worn out after watching 5 bands (including us) so we appreciate everyone who stuck around. Big thanks to Nate for setting up the show and of course even bigger thanks go to Dan for filling in for show #4!

9/6/02

Richland, WA @ Atomic Records

Midnight Thunder Express

Back up in that ass with the resurrection! Hands down the best show in Richland ever ... possibly the best 800 Octane show ever! Everyone else in the world missed out. The following items rocked my world tonight ... Midnight Thunder Express, Dan's drumming, Dustin and crew, the loose shoe that Dave threw out the window, and most importantly the crowd who made this so much fun to play for us. Seriously, it was a perfect ending to what has been the best string of shows we've had in ages! Thanks to everyone in attendance!

9/5/02

Portland, OR @ Meow Meow

Tsunami Bomb, Days Away, Redline 6

I was a little skeptical of playing a matinee show but I would dare say this was the most fun I've ever had playing at the Meow Meow. Lots of new faces, plus lots of old faces (i.e. - Rob The Stalker). We had a great time playing, Tsunami Bomb kicked ass and we want to thank King Banana. Word.

9/4/02

Longview, WA @ Reid's Pit Stop

Tsunami Bomb, Days Away, Countdown To Life

Everything was a little crazy tonight but we've come to expect it from Longview. Highlights include the police barging in during CTL's set and threatening to arrest everyone under 21. Long story but thankfully it didn't happen. Also while the cops were there someone on a very big and very loud Harley drove it inside the club. Yes, inside. Very strange. CTL sounded great tonight. I missed Days Away because Dan and I went over to Jack In The Box. We got our food to go so we could eat it at the club but when we got back there it was already time for us to load in. That means I missed Days Away and my dinner. In fact I think my chicken pieces and fries are still out there on the street. Perhaps a homeless person will salvage a free meal from them? More realistically perhaps Dave happened upon it and threw it at someone smaller than him. Setting up took forever because we had to go straight from the van onto the stage. Thankfully the set went great. Fill in drummer #2 (you can call him 'Dan') played great. All in all it's safe to say I had a lot of fun playing tonight. Up last was Tsunami Bomb and my god they sounded great. They were good before but they can totally work a crowd now. Very impressive. Looking forward to seeing them tomorrow night. Thanks to all who stayed late, all our guest vocalists, all our equipment loaders and of course TJ and Chris.

8/9/02

Portland, OR @ Paris Theater

Compact 56, .44 Caliber Heroes, The Civies

If a band plays a song at the Paris but no one is there to hear it did they really play a song? The attendance was pretty sparse but we did have a few people who road tripped from Eugene and Bend which kind of made up for it. If our calculations are correct the flyer to person ratio was about 180 to 1. Big thanks to The Civies for playing on 6 hours notice. I would comment on their set but I missed it because on the way to Burger King I drove through a yellow light and was given a $175 ticket. What a lousy way to start off the evening. I can't think of any other moving violation that is less glamorous than driving through a yellow. I once got a ticket for doing 71 in a 30 with no proof of insurance. Now that's the kind of ticket you can be proud of - a real man's ticket. The kind you can carry with you and take pride in the fact that you gave modern traffic law the middle finger. On the other hand this driving through a yellow stuff is almost embarrassing. I'm whining aren't I? Girls don't like whiners. In fact nobody likes a whiner. I will stop now. Back to the show. The .44 Caliber Heroes sounded great ... definitely worth checking out. Compact 56 was amazing. Seriously ... best I've ever seen them play. They sounded tough as nails. The full speed rodeo flip by Chris onto Attom's back was quite a sight to behold. Our set was fun, Justin got drilled in the head with a beach ball, I spit a mouthful of water on Rick, Dave broke a bass string and briefly sang without an instrument, Justin did the Mick Jagger dance for me, and most importantly David played great. Thanks to Larry and apologies to Mocephus.

7/30/02

Portland, OR @ B Complex

H2O, Madcap, Authority Zero

My god ... what a bad ass show! H2O rocked the house tonight but more on that in a second. Our set was good, dare I say very great. This was the first show with David also known as "the borrowed drummer from Rhythm of '84" and he totally rocked. Dare I say he even "represented"? We had warned him that if he screwed up too badly we were going to destroy his drum set when we were done playing. Luckily we didn't have to resort to such measures as he played great. Authority Zero was up next and they were definitely entertaining to watch due to their endless energy. Madcap was third and good lord they sounded good too. Catchy songs, a thick sound and they just ripped through each song as if it was their last. Last but not least was H2O and good grief they were good tonight. The crowd was really small tonight (because Bad Brains cancelled) so H2O threw away their set list and took requests all night long. They busted out some old ones that I've never seen them play live, they played a ton of covers (including an Ice Cube one) and they even played 3 new songs that have yet to be recorded. There was a ton of people stage diving and the band seemed to be having a blast. During one encore song Toby jumped out in the crowd and led everyone in a massive circle pit. For their last song it got even more bizarre ... they had everyone in the crowd get on the stage and the band went out the floor and played up to the crowd. It's very weird sounding, but somehow it just kind of worked. Very cool set by one of the best live bands around. Big thanks to the following, Rick Emerson and Clyde Lewis from 1080 KOTK, Lara, Sarah (and roommate), PJ and Chrissy, Mike F., Mike T., Wookie and to the other bands who were all very cool to hang with.

7/19/02

Bend, OR @ Pine Forest Grange

Spare Lead, Backwash, Point.Blank

Super fun show this evening. Our van is still dead on the street in front of Dave's house so we ended up renting a trailer and taking Dave's car to the show. No big deal but we ended up running way late because of it. In fact we totally missed Point.Blank and only saw the last few songs of Spare Lead. Backwash was up third and it was nice to finally play with them. From what we saw the crowd seemed kind of subdued the whole night but when we played thankfully everyone seemed to wake back up. One odd thing about tonight was that all of our amps were powered by a surge protector that was located at the front of the stage. It was a pretty rowdy crowd so every few minutes the thing would get knocked loose and our amps would turn off. That might sound annoying but the cool thing was that whenever it happened everyone in the crowd would sing along for a few seconds until someone plugged the power back in. Other random show highlights include Dave making an inappropriate joke about "pussy fingers" on stage, Jon commanding everyone to "wang chung tonight" from the merch table, and the realization that someone in the crowd had most likely crapped their pants. Good times. Thanks to Chrissy, PJ, Spare Lead and extra thanks to Jon for coming along for the ride and helping with our merch and power issues!

7/17/02

Govt. Camp, OR @ Rat Skellar

The Civies

Today was Jim's birthday. We were supposed to play a show in Govt. Camp with the Civies tonight but sadly we were stopped by a broken water pump somewhere in Gresham. Not only did we miss tonight's show but we were forced to cancel tomorrow's Redding show as well. I hope my birthday is better than Jim's.

7/16/02

Portland, OR @ F.O.E. Eagles Lodge

Strike Anywhere, Thirty3, Rhythm of '84

Oh ... my ... god ... Strike Anywhere was incredible tonight. Easily the best band performance I've seen in ages. Absolutely amazing. As Ice-T would say I am completely and totally on their jock. Seriously if you like hardcore/punk/emo or anything in between go look at their website and see if they are playing near you. I promise you will not be disappointed. Speaking of amazing bands ... Rhythm of '84 ... I don't even know where to start with these guys. They are so spectacular live it's almost discouraging to watch them play. So talented and so good. Thirty 3 sounded great tonight as well. The pink sailor outfits were a little unorthodox but we've come to expect the bizarre when it comes to Thirty 3. We played third and since we are the greatest band on Earth every one was humbled by our presence. Hardly. Truth be told I'm not sure if our set was good or not because I was so traumatized by facing the public with my disgusting leper-like sunburn I couldn't make eye contact with anyone in the crowd. All in all a great show. Thanks go out to Crys, Mocephus, Lee, Ashley, Michelle and her cookies, the anonymous Huffy riders, all the assorted members of local bands who came out and especially to everyone who was respectful of the Eagles Lodge.

7/14/02

San Francisco, CA @ Pier 30/32

Warped Tour 2002

We finally got to play the Warped Tour and you know what ... it was actually pretty cool. We left on Saturday afternoon and drove straight to S.F. through the night. We did see a pretty large wildfire which was kind of cool. We arrived to the venue around 5:00 AM but they weren't allowing extra vehicles in the lot so we were instructed to park outside the gate along the street. After about 2 hours of sleep we woke up to meet our Ernie Ball contact person and load in our stuff. Since we were playing on the Ernie Ball stage we were given special "Ernie Ball VIP passes" which kind of equates into being a second class citizen at the show. You can't go backstage, you can't park in the band lot and you have to use the main gate to go in and out. Kind of a pain the ass for an all day event but I kept reminding myself it was free. The venue was totally cool ... it was on a pier on the water beside the Bay Bridge and you had a perfect view of the city. The first few hours of the show were cool, Justin and I wandered around and watched tons of bands. I think the highlight was seeing Hot Water Music ... after seeing them live I have a new found appreciation for that band. Awesome place to hang out! Around 2:00 we went to set up and play. Oddly enough we ran into a group of people from Portland there! They were following the Warped Tour for a few days and were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Quite a few people stopped to watch us which was very encouraging. Some people even moved which was very nice to see. We sold quite a few CD's despite not having a merch booth and felt good about our set. We watched a few more bands (most notably The Line) and after an hour or two we were all pretty burnt out on seeing bands so we decided to pack it up and head back. (Speaking of 'burnt out' I have never been so sunburnt in my entire life. As I type this I have a bright red face with swollen blisters. I am not happy.) All in all the day was good but the drive home totally sucked ass. About 30 minutes outside of S.F. we decided to stop at In And Out Burger. We couldn't find it and ended up driving on a road parallel to the interstate for a few miles to a Burger King. We got some food, started driving and after about 30 minutes realized we could see the Sacramento skyline. In a cruel twist of fate it turns out the turn towards I-5 was at the exit where the In And Out Burger was. There is nothing as discouraging as starting a 11 hour drive and realizing you just added an extra hour to it. The rest of the drive was grueling ... we kept having to stop to take naps because we couldn't stay awake. Thanks to my sunburn I was driving with swollen eyes. Well, despite the miserable drive the whole experience was great. Thanks to everyone who traveled to see us including Stephanie from Redding, Angela from Portland and extra huge thanks to Kevin, Sam, Al and Chris for traveling from Seattle!

7/5/02

Longview, WA @ Reid's Pit Stop

Dirt Bike Annie, Amazombies, The Daryls, The Laxatives

Yet another good Longview show for the books. We finally got to hear The Laxatives which was cool since those guys ALWAYS come to our shows! The Amazombies were up next and they were awesome. Jim and I listened to their CD on the way home and determined that it is also awesome. The Daryls were up third. Fast, funny, catchy and clever, you just gotta love those guys. Last was Dirt Bike Annie and holy mother of rock ... they were awesome! They have elevated the art of synchronized rock star moves and poses to the greatest of heights. They sounded huge too. Our set was fun as usual. Guest vocals, crowd singing, what more could we ask for? The quote of the night was overheard outside the club and goes like this "my love for you is like diarrhea ... I just can't stop it." Thanks to all the Longview regulars, Darin and crew, TJ, and the guys from Shoot For Friday and Countdown to Life.

6/29/02

Portland, OR @ Widmer Brewery

Longshot, Redline 6, Syx, Docile

Well the Widmer Dock Rock actually kind of rocked! It was a big show sponsored by KNRK featuring 5 local bands who had previously appeared on the morning show. The venue was interesting ... the stage was actually on the loading dock of a brewery! Pretty cool setup, nice weather, what more can you ask for? All the bands were very good today and it was a nice change of pace to see some different styles of music. Plus all of the bands were all really cool. We didn't see any rock star attitudes that you might expect to find at an event like this and everyone was totally friendly. As for the performances most of my props are reserved for Longshot who absolutely tore through their set and left people begging for more. They are so good they make me want to quit. The show had to be wrapped up by 9:00 and since everyone was running late we were only allowed to play 15 minutes. We managed to squeeze in 6 songs and I think everyone seemed to have fun. Big thanks to the KNRK for finally taking notice of the bands in their back yard. There are plenty more good ones out there to choose from so they've got their work cut out for them. Thanks to all out friends who came out!

6/26/02

Portland, OR @ KNRK

Live on the Morning Show w/ Daria and Gustav

Today was our second time on the morning show and it was much more laid back since we knew what to expect! Daria and Gustav were on vacation so Nik and Dan were the hosts of the show today. We watched 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High' on a huge projection screen to pass the time between music segments. It worked out that every time there was nudity on the screen someone on the NRK staff would walk by, do a double take and then stare at us disapprovingly. I'll be surprised if Josh isn't sued for sexual harassment by creating a hostile work environment.

6/15/02

Travel Day 2002 @

Day 9 - Today started with a round of sink showers (aka - whore baths) and then we pressed onwards. As expected the drive today was pretty uneventful ... lots of movies, hamburgers at Dick's and more movies. We did a little over 1000 miles today (a new record) and got into Portland around 2:00. All in all it was a pretty fun trip. I wish we had more shows but oh well. Thanks to everyone who helped us out, came to the shows and made this fun for us. Super big thanks to Derik, Damon and Adam ... seriously you guys are one of the coolest bands we have ever played and hung out with!

6/14/02

Travel Day 2002 @

Day 8 - The morning started with a freezing cold shower but I got my money back, so it was cold but free shower. During the day we watched a few movies, listened to some new music, took lots of naps and pulled about 900 miles in the van. There were lots of cool storms and lots of movies to be seen so the time went by quickly. We did stop at the Space Aliens cafe in Bismarck but it was pretty gross this time and I don't think I want to return again. At some point after dinner we drove through a swarm of moths and were hitting one on the windshield every few seconds. When you turned on the high beams it was like driving in snow. It lasted about 5 minutes and was so absolutely disgusting to scrape off. We crashed out in a rest stop outside of Billings.

6/13/02

Travel Day 2002 @

Day 7 - Today we started off with our trip to Six Flags which was totally what we needed for a day off and last day with STFS. The cool thing was that it was overcast and a little cold so there was hardly anyone there. On some of the older rides they actually told us if there is no one in line you can just stay on it! That's almost unheard of at Six Flags. Usually you wait 30 minutes for even the crappiest of rides. We rode so many rides it was amazing, some we even went on 3 or 4 times. Awesome, awesome day. The only thing that kinda sucked was Derik getting sick. After the second ride he turned ghost white, started sweating and puked every time he stood up. He ended up sleeping in the infirmary for most of the day. Later he told us he was sweating for two hours and puked a few more times. God I really felt awful. By late afternoon he met back up with us and we all felt a little better once we saw he was doing ok. It was so much fun and I really can't imagine having a better day to hang out with everyone. After the roller coaster extravaganza we went out for one final dinner with STFS. It was pretty cool reminiscing about the trip and the other stuff that happened. I'm a little jealous they still have two more weeks of shows but that's how the cards fell. We had a great time with them and after so many truck stops, late night meals and conversations I almost felt like we were all in the same band. Huge thanks to them for the shows, the fun and just being cool as hell. We said goodbyes, wished them good luck and managed to get one last food projectile at their van. The unfortunate thing is that we now have to drive straight back to Portland from there which was a very, very long way. 2200 miles to be exact! After nearly 30 roller coaster rides and 300 miles of driving that night when the van finally stopped we all slept like babies.

6/12/02

Milwaukee, WI @ Punk Mahal

STFS, The Shut-Ups, The Squish

Day 6 - Woke up today, scraped the food off our van and got some breakfast. Before leaving Jim decided to buy some eggs to throw at our touring rivals. We all decided eggs were too messy and probably crossed the line of good humor. In a strange twist of fate about thirty seconds after saying that we hear the distinctive thumping sound of food products on our van windows. Those damn STFS bastards were bombarding our van with donuts and creamers! Throwing our morals out the window (sorry) we immediately retaliated with an attack of eggs on their windshield. Later they confessed that when it got hotter the eggs started to cook and smelled really bad. The drive today was really kind of boring. At some point Justin and I were throwing some kind of snack cake at each other. Trying to be funny I whipped it in the back seat and managed to smack Kevin in the eye. I couldn't imagine feeling like any more of an asshole and can't apologize enough. At another point during the drive we were sitting at a traffic light and Damon sneaks up beside our van and squirted a Capri Sun all over our windshield. At first we felt defeated and humbled but then remembered they were the ones driving around with a big dick on their roof. Finally we got to the venue (a house), met the owner and went out of dinner at some bar in downtown Milwaukee. After eating we headed back to the show to find that the first band had already played and they were waiting on us. Whoops! STFS set up real quick and rocked the small but vocal crowd. Meanwhile we got to see Lugs and Eric from the Shut-Ups and thank them for setting up the show. When we played there were a few more people and they all seemed to like us. During the set we decided to play a Misfits cover and out of nowhere comes the guy who owns the house, grabs the mic and sings the whole damn song. Amazing. It was the best I've ever heard anyone sing that song. Later he showed us his collection of Misfits tattoos which explains his amazing skills. Last up was the Shut-Ups. To this day I still swear that the first time I saw them play was the best set by an unsigned band I have ever seen. I think they were almost better this time. They are so loud and so bad ass and sound like a mix of Zeke and AC/DC. I was so stoked they played the show because they are so good. This was technically our last show of the tour which was a little depressing because we had really just started to get in the swing of things. However we still had one more day planned. We coiuldn't get a show in Chicago so we had been planning on going to Six Flags for a little amusement park fun before heading home. After loading we pulled STFS aside and told them we wanted to treat them to Six Flags on us. They had been so cool to travel with and had hooked us up with two rad Montana shows it was the least we could do! They gladly accepted our offer and we headed out to a truck stop just outside of Illinois. After breathing all that smoke and being in that loud ass basement I was feeling like crap once we stopped. I bought some dinner but had two bites to eat and went back to the van to sleep.

6/11/02

Travel Day 2002 @

Day 5 - We started off the day with an amazing breakfast of eggs and pancakes by Carl. We were originally supposed to play in Minneapolis tonight but it ended up falling through. Amazingly we were offered a show in Aberdeen tonight. We actually have a few people there who like us (from the last 2 tours) but since we no one knew we were going to be playing we all decided to start the long haul onto Milwaukee. The drive there was really slow. Lots of small towns and 30mph zones. We did get to see the World's Largest Ball Of Twine though which was a treat. At some point during the drive (right after cleaning the van) we were assaulted by handfuls of a green soupy substance that STFS was throwing at us. We jumped out and hit them with pudding pops and applesauce which we purchased just for this occasion. The best part is that it happened right in front of the truck stop restaurant! Everyone looked on in horror as we threw food at one another. We didn't have much to do in Minneapolis so we checked out the Mall Of America. We had seen it before but it was still a worthwhile detour. A rematch of the air hockey game ensued and a karaoke video was filmed of the 2 bands singing the song from 'The Wonder Years.' It's very, very silly. After the mall we decided to eat downtown. It was almost 10:30 on a weeknight so there wasn't anything open. We were down by the 1st Ave which really isn't the best neighborhood to hang out in. We couldn't eat at a bar (since Adam is 19) so we were referred to the Olympic Cafe. It was a in a pretty sketchy neighborhood and we all felt pretty out of place. At one point this guy came in walked around us, left and came back with another person. They left and came back with two other people. Another group came in and was saying some shit to the guy working there about kicking his ass. Eventually the four that came in earlier came back with a few more people and we quickly decided it was time to get the hell out of there. Kevin laughed at us for overreacting but we were all pretty uncomfortable and were convinced there was going to be an ass kicking in our future. Anyway, we pressed on to somewhere in Wisconsin and hit up another truck stop. We all went in for a late night dinner. Eating so late at night was a bad idea because everyone got wound up and the food wars resumed. We all got settled in and then heard giggling outside our van. We looked out only to discover the letter 'STFS' written in catsup on the side of our van. We retaliated, they retaliated and at some point there was an actual foot chase that ended in Dave losing his shoe and falling down a grass hill. Classic.

6/10/02

Aberdeen, SD @ Matt's House

STFS

Day 4 - After cleaning up (i.e. - bathing in the sink in the restroom) and watching everyone in STFS get stared down by the management we drove on. A few minutes into the drive El Santo attacked the STFS van with an array of condiments and food products. The war has begun. At a later stop Damon was spotted behind our van affixing a sign that says "honk at us we're morons". Later Justin put mayonnaise under their door handles. They threw stuff, we threw stuff and I'm sure the drama will continue all the way to Wisconsin. The drive to Aberdeen was slow. There was lots of road construction and at one point we found a section of the highway that was going to be closed for "about 30 minutes". We were pointed to a bypass that involved 5 miles on a gravel road. It was a very weird feeling to be in the middle of nowhere, no cars in sight, cruising down a dirt road going to show. Not very "tour like". For this trip Justin decided to save money by bringing bulk foods. At one point he asked for his trail mix and as I went to hand it to him the bag ripped and spilled about a pound of mixed nuts all over the van. Ughh. Due to all the traffic and construction we were pretty late to the show. Matt booked our show for us in Aberdeen last year and since there weren't any clubs available so he just had us play in his basement. That was so cool and we can't thank him enough! During the STFS set Jim and Kevin "painted" an enormous penis out of masking tape on the STFS van. I can't wait until they pass a trucker who sees a van with a huge penis on top of it! The turnout was admittedly pretty low, but we both got to play and sold a few things so it was all worth it. Thanks again Matt! After the show we checked out Carl's collection of Harley's (he owns a shop) and while some people played poker Dave and I stayed up discussing bands and music with Matt and his friend (who's name has totally escaped me ... sorry). We all crashed in the comfort of a nice basement with beds, thick carpets and couches.

6/9/02

Billings, MT @ Eleven:11

STFS, BomberMan Awesome

Day 3 - I had a real shower today and it was amazing. After two sweaty shows I needed one bad. Today we went out for breakfast with Bill and his roommate Helen which was totally fun. Afterwards we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some extra foam for the back seat as well as a few forgotten items. It was cold and raining all day and feels like winter. Kevin proclaimed 'just give me one day over 80 degrees and I swear I'll wear out 3 pairs of shorts in one day'. We stopped in Livingston to reunite Adam with his band mates. That was where Dave used the toilet that he named "the sidewinder". The drive to Billings was real short which was kind of nice. We kept smelling something bad in the van and later realized we are burning transmission fluid. Swell. The club in Billings was nice and they actually gave us free food. It sounds so trivial but a free meal the greatest thing in the world. The show tonight was great. Quite a few people from Bozeman made the drive to see the show which was totally cool to see. We gladly let STFS play last this time which was wise as they had pummeled us with rock the night before. Tonight they busted out a cover of 'Wish' by NIN. It was so awesome sounding I can't even describe it. I love the original so I am surely biased. After the show we witnessed the most intense air hockey game I've ever seen between Justin and Kevin. I want to describe it more but I just can't. Amazing though. Absolutely amazing. Oddly enough it got kind of warm after the show. Not for long though because by the time we stopped to sleep it was damn cold again. At some point during the trip Kevin began impersonating Cobra Commander. It's sounds very ridiculous ... and well it is. Our parking lot of choice this evening was beside a free dirt pile in the back of a truck stop. Unfortunately everything on the floor of the van got coated in mud. Before we slept we watched a few episodes of Sealab 2001 and we all impersonate the BeBop cola machine.

6/8/02

Bozeman, MT @ Blue Iguana

STFS, Coldsnap 9

Day 2 - Woke up in Idaho and ate a big breakfast. We had a real nice waitress who took our order. She went on break and was replaced by a really rude one who messed up our orders and accused us of lying. The old bait and switch routine again. During breakfast we got a call from STFS saying they had driven through the night all the way to Livingston. Crazy bastards. I hope this isn't the norm for their driving excursions. We are getting too old and lazy for that. It was actually snowing on the pass into Montana. I can't believe it's snowing in June. Some tour. On the drive music highlights included the appearance of Body Count (which we all loved and loathed at the same time) and later the playing of Dee Dee King. If you aren't aware of Mr. King, do some homework and see what you think. Justin's belching has repulsed us all. He can burp pretty much non stop for sometimes 5- 10 minutes at a time. It's loud, it's gross, and as mad as we all get at him it's still a little amusing. $5 says his throat will burst open one of the days. The show was cool because we knew quite a few people. Lots of people from last year's Livingston show including the return of "the loadie" as well as O.G. Bill. We missed the first band tonight but did get to see Coldsnap 9 again. My god they were even better than last time. I was embarrassed to play after them as they are so good. I thought STFS was good last night but they were even more rocking tonight. It was cool seeing everyone sing their songs. After the show everyone hung out for a while careful not to be assaulted by Coldsnap 9's "hackey sack to the balls" trick. Derik and Damon from STFS drove on to Livingston to stay in real beds. We however stole Adam and crashed at Bill's house where they had a few people over. I was the bastard of the group and stole the only free bed for myself.

6/7/02

Richland, WA @ Atomic Records

STFS

Day 1 - And so begins our fifth tour. I hesitate to call it a "tour" because we only have 5 shows (with 9 days of driving) but the way I see it anything more than a week in the van should count. Dave started us off with an inappropriate playing of The Ventures as we hit the road. We used to take off from town blasting Motorhead at top volume, later it was Sir Max-A-Lot and now sadly enough we have digressed to playing the Ventures. We all bitched and moaned until he shut it off and put in another CD more to our liking. What we didn't realize is that we had awoken the presence of Dave's new alter ego known as "off key whistling man". When Dave is agitated with your actions he whistles to any CD off key and off time until you submit defeat and apologize. We've played in Richland a dozen times before but somehow we managed to miss our turn and got terribly lost. Probably because we were busy trying to figure out how we were going to tell Derik and Damon apart in STFS. Dave suggested we call them Tweedledee and Tweedledamon. I can't possibly imagine them being amused by that. We got to the show late and loaded in while STFS was playing. I was very glad to see everyone going off to STFS's music. We sat in awe for a the rest of their set as they have become an awesome band since last time we saw them. They jump, they yell, them play hard and my god they rock now. They were good before but they seem like a whole new band when they play live. I am so glad we get to play so many shows with them. We had an amazing set tonight. I think this was the best show we've ever played in Richland. The guitar carnage started early tonight ... 3 broken strings and a dead wireless. Seriously the show totally rocked, I would write more but words can't do it justice. I think it was my second favorite show we have ever played. Afterwards we finally got to say hi to STFS (since we got there late) and then we headed out to Spokane that night. We watched an informative movie about the dangers of STD's that was produced in the 50's to pass the time. Pretty classy stuff. We followed STFS to Spokane to pick up Adam's backpack which he had left there. We got pretty lost but didn't really care since we were all still so amped to be getting out of town. We ended up staying at a truck stop in Idaho as STFS drove onward.

6/2/02

Portland, OR @ KNRK

Live on Blackjack Radio w/ Art Alexakis

We played 'Day Of The Dead' acoustically tonight on NRK. It all sounded fine and dandy until Dave inexplicably decided to do an Elvis impression during the breakdown and comment on Justin's guitar solo in a "king like" voice. I swear I could hear the collective groan of every band in Portland that wouldn't dare do anything like that on the air …