Show Journal 2000-01-07
“Enough love songs, it’s time for some fucking metal.” That quote by Portrait of Poverty really set the tone for the whole evening. It was a total rock show tonight. It was really loud, a lot of people came out and every band sounded great. What else can I say … it was a good night.
Show Journal 1999-12-03
We were supposed to play in Bend tonight but that fell through. Then we were supposed to play in Longview but that fell through too. We were supposed to play in Redding the following night but that even fell through. Damn promoters. It’s a different story every time but it’s always the same result … you aren’t playing and you’re screwed. I’m done whining now. Miraculously, we ended up playing a show for Ollie’s Skateboards at some rented hall out in Beaverton. I have to admit even though it was totally last minute the show was fun. The wasn’t much of a crowd but they all seemed to dig our music. We finally got to meet and watch Watson One Shirt and Berzerk play which was a treat. There wasn’t too much else to report from the show so I’ll stop now.
Show Journal 1999-11-29
Tonight’s show sucked. I had been looking forward to this show for over two months. We had never played at the Crystal Ballroom before and we had told all of our friends to show up around 10:00. We get there and find out we are up first and have to start by 9:00 and be finished by 9:30. Uhhhh. This means another evening of playing to a handful of people. That was kind of a drag, but to make things worse when we were playing the sound on stage was really bad. Lyle was 15 feet away from me with a 100 watt amp and I couldn’t hear a note he was playing. The sound guy thought we were too loud. “Can you turn down some?” Christ I hate that. Like the 10 people there really care anyway? Jim had it the worst, I don’t think his monitors were even working. Just one frustration after another. A few people there said they really liked our music and had fun, so I probably shouldn’t bitch too much more. Between you and me though … what a let down. On a positive note, everyone at the club was very nice and helpful. Also, mad props to Last Regiment for the surprise drive/walk by.
Show Journal 1999-11-05
Spokane is a 6 hour drive. The drive home is … well it’s also 6 hours. We usually play for about 30-40 minutes. That means for every 1 minute of playing we averaged 20 minutes in the car. Despite the ridiculous amount of driving, the trip was totally fun. We had a long soulful sermon in the van from Mother Mary about, well, that information is only for us to know. Not too many people came to the show, but that’s Spokane for you. (Besides the Hookers were playing the next night, so I wouldn’t have gone to see us either). We hassled Brent from All Out for most of the show which made us crowd favorites. Mary did a fly girl dance during Holiday which was quite a treat for all of those who prefer dance music to that rock and roll stuff. All Out and their new lineup rocks pretty hard. Once again Donny hooked us up with food and a floor … thanks Donny!
Show Journal 1999-10-30
For Halloween this year, we dressed as an 80’s metal band. We played our heavy metal guitars, wore big silly wigs, tight clothes, animal print boots and Lyle even brought along “the package.” In fact one girl wanted to touch it and we have the picture to prove it.
Show Journal 1999-10-28
The show tonight totally rocked! I’m not to sure what the “general public” thinks of our new lineup, but the past couple of shows have been so much fun to play. I’m sure that means more energetic shows as well. I find myself laughing and having fun which is a new experience. Playing live is always fun, but this is like a whole new world. Maybe someday we will let Lyle be an official member. Ha! Anyway, I’ve decided that when Cookie is having a good show with a good crowd they could quite possibly be the best band in the north west. Well, besides us of course. Their new drummer rocks, and I think everyone there had a great time watching their set. Unfortunately I had to duck out and missed the other bands set so I don’t have much else to report from the show.
Show Journal 1999-10-17
Today’s show was a little weird right from the get go. First off, it was at a chinese restaurant. Second it was early and all ages (which is also a very welcome change from typical portland shows). If you are familiar with Stach and the Rapes or Antiworld then you will understand the strangest part of all. Let me explain a little. Statch plays punk rock straight out of 77. Antiworld plays goth punk rock straight out of 83. Thier fans like music straight out of 77 and 83 and dress like they are straight out of 77 and 83. In simpler terms we played to a club (ok, restaurant) full of spikes, mohawks, dyed hair, ripped clothes, safety pins, makeup and tattoos. And then there was us. Don’t get me wrong everyone was totally cool and fun to hang out with but for the casual observer it just looked a little wrong. It got really funny when we started playing, because you could just see it in their eyes … “Do I like this? It’s fast and it’s loud and it seems cool but I’m not sure if it’s punk.” By the end everyone seemed to dig it but I do think we caught a lot of people off guard. That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about this show, but the bottom line is that it was still way fun. Statch played real well, and Antiworld’s halloween props could not be beat. Shows like this always make stop to think about how un-punk we truly appear but at the same time it’s always cool to playing to people that might not normally come see you. The only thing that sucked was that I forgot my camera to take some “pictures” for Statch.
Show Journal 1999-10-09
I can’t believe we hadn’t been to Bend in almost 2 years. The club has changed names but the town still seemed the the same. The drive down was interesting. Jim invented a new game called “freak the driver.” If you are familiar with Jerry Springer you can already imagine how this works. Here’s what you do, at some point during the drive (when you feel inspired) one of the passengers gets up and in true hoochie fashion you grind the back of the seat of the driver. It sounds stupid now and, well, it is. The show went pretty well. This was the first show where Jim was our “official” drummer and to mix things up even more we also had an appearance by Lyle, our “unofficial” guitar player. This was our first show as a 4 piece since 1996. Oddly it didn’t seem weird at all. Between the four of us, we provided more rock than the feeble little club could handle. They kept asking us to turn down during our set because “people can’t hear anything because of the volume.” How sad. The other bands were pretty cool to watch, but unfortunately we had to leave early to make the trek home back to Portland and didn’t get to hang out much. The drive home was interesting, topics ranged from investments to clown penis’s. Also, if you ever come see us play, be sure to ask Lyle about his ill fated trip to Spokane in his previous band. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Battle Dome. Thanks to Conor for putting on the show and the kids at the show for not rioting this time.
Show Journal 1999-09-11
Today’s show was unexpected. We got a call Friday night asking if we wanted to play a demo show for a local skate shop on Saturday morning. They said was it was an outdoor show with skate ramps and bands … sounded good to me. So we tracked down Jim (our borrowed drummer from tour), said yes and sure enough by noon the next day we were setting up getting ready to play a show. The weirdest thing about the show was that it was in the parking lot of a National Guard Armory and coincidentally was sponsored by the National Guard. I guess Guard enrollment is getting pretty low if they are recruiting local skaters. Anyway, the show was marginal at best. It’s difficult to be really into your own music when everyone is sitting down and passively listening. It was such a nice day out and with all the ramps and skating it was hard to really pay too much attention to the bands. Still it was fun so thanks to Ollie’s Skate Shop for putting on the show.
Show Journal 1999-08-21
Day 15 – Last show of the tour. To prepare for tonight’s event, we sat around Jim’s house, ate pizza and went swimming all day. We saw a big snake by the pool which really has nothing to do with the band, but it was pretty cool. We pushed on to Ashland and were greeted at the club by Jim’s girlfriend and Dave’s girlfriend. The ensuing barrage of cuteness and “I missed you” was disgusting and depressing for me. If anyone tells you that “chicks dig guitar players” don’t believe them. It’s a lie that was designed to trick people like me into thinking you can be cool. Anyway, here’s the highlight of the whole tour. We’re sitting outside the club in an alley contemplating the show and literally out of the darkness comes Nate Dawg, our roadie from the last tour and our good friend. Bear in mind that we are 300 miles from Portland. Man it was great seeing him again. Most people don’t realize that going on the tour is a big deal for us. Jen came too which rekindled by love life depression, but who cares, it was the coolest and most perfectly timed moment I’ve seen in a long time. That totally made the show for me and we hadn’t even played yet. The show itself went pretty well. Not too many people, but the ones who were there seemed to appreciate it. We ended up driving home that night. (Well actually Sesha drove, Dave slept and I just sat there and ate beef jerky). The final mileage (a.k.a. – the painometer) finished just a hair over 7200 miles. Ouch. I guess all in all it was success. The three cancelled shows and ensuing downtime was the hardest. The drives were fun, the shows were great and everyone we met was very supportive. I got to see many new parts of the country and got to see about a dozen things that started with “world’s largest.” I know we made some new fans along the way which is really the best part about it all. Thanks to all the bands, bartenders, sound guys, booking people and everyone else who helped us on the road. Oh yeah, one more fuck you to the Ford dealer in Philip, SD. Also, I need to take a second to thank Jim for coming out on the road for us. Bryan left some pretty big shoes to fill, but I think Jim filled them and made us remember why we are doing this to begin with. I’m not sure what his plans are for the future, but I’m sure we’ll be down for a long time. Thanks Jim.
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