Show Journal 1998-11-29
Finally our streak of lame shows at EJ’s ends. It was cool to play with Tenpin again and it was even cooler to get to open for the Real McKenzies. You might have seen them on the Warped Tour … they were the ones dressed in kilts with a bagpipe player. Imagine the movie Braveheart set to punk rock. Very cool.
Show Journal 1998-11-28
Once again Daddy O’s in Ashland proves to be one of the best places to play in Oregon. Well worth the drive. Did you know that Blaze and John are cooler than you? But not as cool as Brent for coming to see us … again.
Show Journal 1998-10-31
Halloween in Spokane was a good show. We actually dressed up in costumes! Bryan was an arab oil baron, Dave was a priest and I was a doctor covered in blood. I hadn’t dressed up for Hallow’s Eve since middle school so it pretty fun. The show went really well … a ton of people came out to see the local heroes Motherload. Also, keeping with the previous night’s theme there were two fights. Thanks to Motherload for bringing us along on these past couple of shows.
Show Journal 1998-10-30
The Tri-Cities show was cool. We played well, Motherload played well and there was a big fight. What more can you ask for?
Show Journal 1998-10-28
Another so-so show at EJ’s. The show was really up in the air and we didn’t know we were going to play until about 7:30 that night. It actually felt like we were playing out of town because we hardly knew anyone there. Tonight’s funny moment was when Scotty from Motherload asked the soundguy for more “kick ass” in the monitors. Well, at least I thought it was funny.
Show Journal 1998-10-09
Day 15, 16 – At last, after almost two weeks or driving we finally saw a piece of tumbleweed blowing across the road. We also claim to have unraveled the mystery of the elusive White Ryder. Later on we hit the largest bug I’ve ever seen in my life on the windshield. It was so big it woke me up from my sleep when it met its untimely demise. Today also marked the last MRE. Coincidentally, today was the day Nate unleashed the nastiest expulsion of gas any human has smelled and lived to talk about. People gagged and even a dog left the room. Tonight’s show was in Keith’s basement. It was a pretty fun show. A lot of people showed up and they seemed pretty enthusiastic. The first band was a pretty good hardcore band called SFL. I guess eveyone assumed we were going to be hardcore too. We started playing and it felt like the people there didn’t really know what to think of us. “Do we like them, they aren’t real heavy?” I didn’t really care though, it was the last show of our tour and I was stoked (yes, stoked). After the show we just got in the van and trucked on back to Portland (only a mere 8 hours). No one really said anything, I think we were all just going over the trip in our minds. Yeah the shows were cool, and the “touring band” thing was cool, but if you ever have the means, gather up your best friends, get in a car and go somewhere. When you look back later, it seems like such an amazing experience.
Show Journal 1998-10-08
Day 14 – Today’s drive ruled. Driving from Denver to Utah is one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever seen. City, mountains, canyons, desert … it was pretty amazing. After seeing corn for so many miles it just seemed extra cool. I’ve now heard “Fire it Up” well over 100 times and I still can’t understand more than 2 lines. You just can’t sing along with Busta. All you can do is just raise the roof over and over and over again. Tonight we are going to stay with my friend Aaron. I haven’t seem him in 3-4 years so that should be fun. The show tonight kinda sucked. There was only a handful of people there. The sound guy was really good and the other band were really nice guys. These are the only things that made this evening tolerable. We did get free pool though. If that weren’t enough now I’m losing my voice from this godforsaken cold.
Show Journal 1998-10-07
Day 13 – Today’s MRE was actually pretty good. I’m actually starting to enjoy them. I finished two books in the van today and got a splitting headache. Tonight we played at some guy’s house. It was a total crusty punk house with a crappy PA (a home stereo with a mic). REO Speed Dealer was supposed to play but cancelled. Bummer … however the opening band was way rad. They were called Wednesday and they were awesome. It amazed me not more people wanted to see them. When we started playing a bunch of people showed up and the place went nuts. Every time we would try to stop they kept making us play more. We played 5 or 6 extra songs. We played a Misfits cover and they went ballistic. At one point there was 6 or 7 people of the stage (which was tiny to begin with), people in the crowd slamming and jumping around. Some dude even took a header into my amp and guitar. Ouch. Anyway, I can’t say enough good things about this show. Chris, the guy who put it on even cooked for us. How cool is that? We stayed with one of Nate’s friends from school named Eli. He was a really nice guy. Thanks Eli.
Show Journal 1998-10-06
Day 12 – We drove around Beale street for a bit and carried on to OK City. We ended up driving through a big storm which spawned a few tornados in that part of the state. It was pretty hairy for a while driving through that stuff. Tonight we stay with Lisa (the Amazing Lisa to you). We are all getting nasty colds. Dave referred to the van as “the rolling petri dish.” Surprise … another show fell through. The PA got broken by Peter and Test Tube Babies last week and the night before some gangsters broke out the club windows last night. Amazingly the club owner (who also owns a record store) insisted on paying us anyway. We refused some of the money, but that was an awfully nice gesture. Instead of playing we hung out with Lisa and went to meet her friend Mike at work. Mike works at the National Severe Storms Lab where they monitor severe weather and issue warnings. Later on we went to check out the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. There is a big chain link fence around it that everyone leaves items on in remembrance: pictures, poems, shirts, toys, etc. I didn’t think it would be as emotional as it was. Afterwards we watched Mike and Lisa do bike tricks and also watched in shock as Bryan immersed himself in their Beanie Baby collection. We are all getting very sick (except Nate) so I want to apologize to Lisa and Mike if we made them ill. Thanks for the places to stay and also the entertainment!
Show Journal 1998-10-05
Day 11 – The show in Memphis fell through, but it was an ok day to have off, because we were staying next to the king. We put up the cash and took the full Graceland tour. We had seen it before, but it’s always fun. They give you headphones which kinda sucks, because part of the charm was being led around by some gum chewing girl with a thick southern accent describing how Elvis once ate meatloaf for six months straight and other useless facts. We had an interesting experience at Jiffy Lube today. The guys working there (Step and Mack) thought we were cool and gave up a stack of Jiffy Lube cups. Weird.
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