Show Journal 2003-10-27
God I love playing the Roseland. The sound on stage is so impressive I can’t even describe it. I wish we could have sound checked for an hour because it’s just that good. The turnout tonight was actually pretty small. I guess the last 2 times through town Zebrahead sold out the Roseland but tonight was only a few hundred people. Granted that’s a few hundred more than we usually play too but it still seemed pretty small in such a large venue. Despite the less than stellar turnout it was still the Roseland and after all the big shows I’ve seen there over the years it’s impossible not to have a good time playing on that same stage. On a different note I gotta say Zebrahead was probably the nicest and friendliest band we’ve ever run across. I really hadn’t heard more than a song or two of theirs and I was totally impressed with them live. Surprisingly rocking, very catchy and they totally know how to work a crowd. Thanks to Double Tee, Zebrahead, Ashley and Angela for “hooking people up”, Michelle for the cookies, the purple twins in the restaurant for inspiration and motivation and an especially huge thanks to Chris 3.
Show Journal 2003-10-25
Eugene rocks and we really need to play there more often. The show tonight was great. I think what made it so cool was that everyone in the bands and the bulk of the crowd was totally cool and friendly. We play a lot of shows with bands that are just too cool to talk to you (or too cool to watch your set), not the case in Eugene. It really makes shows a lot more fun for us. We missed Under Enuff and want to apologize for that. Doubtfully Yours was second and for a new band they’ve got a lot of potential as well as a fairly bad ass drummer who can rock like no one’s business. EPD was third. I would write something about how well they played well and how their new songs show a lot of progress but ultimately I am haunted by the image of Sam in a dress and don’t want to think about it much more. Alter-Ego was 4th and sounded good. Lots of catchy and funny songs including the “best song ever!” Our set was awesome. Everyone who was still there was right up front circled around us and sang along. We played a few new ones and even wound up playing 3 extra songs. I’d call it an encore but there was no foot stomping or chants of “Oct-tane, Oct-tane, Oct-tane” … nope just a handful of dudes saying “can you play some more”. We’re easy like that so we did. Many thanks to the following: EPD for being cool as hell, Eric and Doubtfully Yours for the awesome show, the fine craftsmen who built the stage, the girl who’s name is escaping me right now that helped sell our merch, Conor for attempting to sing Golden Road, Susan for reminding us to play in Eugene, Josh Outreach for watching us two nights in a row, no thanks to Jeff, and thanks to everyone else to stuck around and made this a fun show!
Show Journal 2003-10-24
For such a small turnout this show was a blast. The drive down ended up being pretty damn amusing. First we rocked the new CD by ‘Man’ who is an one person band that consists of vocals, a bass and a kick drum. The guy is so angry it’s hard to fathom. Next we watched Escape From New York and decided that a) someone should be nicknamed ‘Fresno Bob’ b) the van could use some chandeliers on the front of it and c) the movie is much funnier if you imagine that the Duke of New York is in fact human excrement. In typical Bend fashion we arrived late and ended up missing the first band. I wished I had seen their set because they had a member that looked exactly like Justin. Same sweatshirt, same shorts, same belt, same shoes, same haircut, same tendency to wear sunglasses on his forehead at night and even the same desire to wear shorts in 30 degree weather. It was uncanny. Since they were from Canada so we got to hear Dave’s assortment of anti-Canadian jokes which is always a treat. I did get to see all of Monkee Torture’s set which is always a highly amusing experience if you are listening carefully. I could swear there was a song about wanting to be a hobo. Then of course the classic WWBVTD? Very good set from the best punk rock/butt rock hybrid around. Thirty 3 headlined and I thought they sounded great. Afterwards we inquired as to how many Care Bears were killed to make the fuzzy lining on their amps but were not given a response. While they were loading Jim found a can of spray on snow (for X-mas stuff) and proceeded to write ‘Portland School For Retarted Boys’ in huge letters on the side of their van. Somewhere a picture exists. Big thanks to PJ and Mikey for hooking up the show, Kaylin for the cookies (and company), all our friends in the other bands and everyone who spent a cold Friday night with us.
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This just in — we’re playing with Zebrahead @ the Roseland in Portland this coming Monday. It’s short notice and a total surprise but a) it’s the Roseland and b) it’s Zebrahead so no complaints here.
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10 days until the big Halloween show in Longview. The word on the streets is that there will be some video cameras and audio recording equipment there. Not sure what we’re going to do with the footage just yet but it should be interesting. Also, you can expect some appropriate covers that evening. Lots of other shows in many places coming up over the next month and a half including trips to Eugene, Bend, Richland and Govt. Camp. Also, we have our first show in the booming metropolis of McMinnville coming up as well. After that we’re taking a few weeks off so we can write some more songs for the next album.
Show Journal 2003-10-10
I’m not quite sure why we only make it to Roseburg once a year but it just seems to work out that way. We arrived to learn we had an interview/write up in the local paper that featured the teachings and wisdom of Dave as well as what we were told was a pretty terrible picture of us. As expected the evening went very smoothly and was a blast courtesy of Nate and Rock4Reason. The only exception to this was a nasty “girl fight” that happened moments before we got there. It’s too bad we missed it because there’s something really exciting about a full on cat fight. Then again maybe I’ve just seen too many movies about women in prison. Most of the bands tonight were screamy hardcore/metalcore stuff (except for the acoustic guy from I.F.) so I think we caught a few people off guard with our not so metal sounds. Note to self: play more Misfits songs in Roseburg as everybody there seems to know them. Second note to self: do not follow up a Misfits song in Roseburg with your own because it will be very anti climatic. Oh yeah, we busted out another mostly unheard song tonight at the show. The working title is “Paging Mr. Bronson” which really doesn’t have anything to do with the song but cracks us up when said in a Pee Wee Herman voice. It probably goes without saying but CTL absolutely ruled tonight. I’ve seen Danny take some falls but I had never seen him take that much abuse for 30 minutes and still rock the house. Perhaps the power of Ty compelled him? Man I love that band. Actually, all the bands we met tonight were very cool to hang with and we wish them luck on their respective tours. Thanks again to Nate for the show hook up!
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Ok, here’s a weird bit of news: there is now a local roller hockey team called the Octane Zombies which will be playing games in Oct, Nov and Dec. The team’s captain who is a fan of ours (obviously) is inviting everyone out to see a game. Games are on Sunday evenings, last about an hour, completely free and sometimes contain mild violence. If you want to see a game e-mail Jerad for a schedule and more info. We are definitely intrigued
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Thanks to everyone who checked out the KNRK 94 cent show this weekend. Stay tuned for lots more upcoming local shows including the Halloween bash in Longview and many more!
Show Journal 2003-10-04
Pardon my French, but holy shit this show was fun. Honestly this was probably the best show we’ve ever had at the Meow Meow and one of the best ones ever in Portland. The show was a special for local radio station 94.7 KNRK where tickets were only $0.94. (Actually they were $1.94 … damn service charges!) I was hoping there would be a lot of people there but I had no idea it would be totally sold out. Our set was great. No one fell in the holes on stage, Dave broke his bass and wireless in one smooth motion, Justin didn’t lose his shoes, the message board crew represented the front row, Michelle outbelched Justin publicly and someone offered to take a picture of “my instrument”. What a fun time. Billy Talent? I was skeptical of this “up and coming radio band” but I gotta admit I think I’m a fan now as they were pretty damn good live. I can’t recall the last time I felt the floor of the Meow Moew bounce like that. Apologies to all of the people who came out and couldn’t get in and huge thanks to Thrasher and crew.
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Late but cool show addition
