Show Journal 2009-04-24
We don’t put this stuff on flyers or on the website, but we really needed this show to be good. Our last 3 shows were fine excuses to get out of the house but as a band, especially one that has been playing so long as us, they were completely dismal and totally depressing. All were plagued by equipment failures and worse still a complete and total lack of both of interest and attendance. They’ve been bad enough that I find myself thinking “why do I still do this?” Tonight’s show was why we still do this. I’d love to claim it was some huge packed affair with hundreds of people (like the surge in Bend shows circa 2001), but it was not. What it did have though a dozen or so folks up front absolutely losing their minds to our music. It’s been a while since we’ve seen and felt that and it was a welcome change. There were plenty of people in the place who probably didn’t give a shit about our set, but the few that stood up, sang along and cut loose really made the whole night worthwhile for all of us. We must have had 20 people says “yeah, I saw you guys back in 2001” or “my band used to play with you guys in 2002”. Most came up afterward with compliments and a few said we were just as good now as we were back then. To an outsider it probably wasn’t anything spectacular, but for us it was a minor redemption of sorts. As for the rest of the trip it was pretty good. Aside from Dustin’s breakdown on the way to van the trip was uneventful. Last Stand sounded good and Kill The Kids were great as usual. Hands On Throat were pretty excellent and really surprised us with their energy and unique sound. Good stuff. Many thanks to the folks at Players and to Marty for hooking up the show.
Yes, it’s 4/20
Would you believe many years ago we actually found ourselves in Weed, CA on 4/20 at 4:20pm? Ironically we were stopping for gas, soda and junk food. Go figure. Anyway, later today when you done eating cheetos and discussing what it would be like to be weightless take a second and look us up on Facebook. As of typing this we’re at 36 friends which is pretty sad. The number of friends really should be higher than the number of drummers we’ve had.
Show Journal 2009-04-18
It’s 12 hours later and I’m still not sure what to make of this show. It didn’t suck, but it definitely wasn’t great either. Some good points were the fact we were playing at Dante’s, Visqueen was amazing, Kleveland did in fact rock, doughnuts we’re consumed (maple bacon bar!) and by end of the night there were a lot of freaking people in the crowd. On the bad side, we played first and early to a bunch of seated folks, Justin’s guitar stopped producing sound and Dave was playing on borrowed gear which didn’t quite sound right. A surprising number of folks said they enjoyed it so I shouldn’t complain but these last two shows have just seemed “off” in almost every regard. The highlight of the evening was our new van. It’s actually the same van we’ve had since 1996 but after spending two hours removing mold from the inside and peeling back its protective layer of moss and mildew from the outside it looked and felt like a whole new ride. Anyway, thanks to Lisa and Dante’s for having us and also to the folks that arrived early to check us out.
Saturday night redemption
So, our last bar show was literally attended by about 6 people. We’ve set the bar (no pun intended) pretty high and are shooting to double that total tomorrow night at Dante’s. Be part of the cool crowd and show up early to rock. Even more reason to attend are the two headliners, Visqueen and Kleveland. Both are stellar bands and will rock your face. Aside from the music you have drinks, pizza and doughnuts all within a 300 yard radius. Good times. Remember, we’re up first so arrive early!
Tonight Reid’s, tomorrow the world
Tonight we’re playing at Reid’s Pit Stop in Longview, WA with Accidental Gun Death and 5 other bands which you can see on the flyer below. Hard to believe it’s been over a year since we’ve been back. Scarier still is that this will be our 20th show there. Hopefully it will not suck. Also, for the first time in a long time we’ll have new shirts at this show. Check it out if you live in the area!
Uhhhm, never mind
So we got an e-mail late this afternoon to tell us the show tonight is canceled. There’s some long excuse about city inspectors and building changes. The good news is we no longer have to endure a 7 band set. The bad news is there is no makeup date in sight. Ughhh.
Show Journal 2009-04-08
Its odd how I’ve reached the point I can enjoy what by all means was a pretty terrible show. One of the bands cancelled, Dave’s bass couldn’t produce sound reliably for more than 5 seconds and outside of band members and their immediate friends there were less than 10 paid attendees. So the crazy thing was it was actually still a pretty good time. It’s always fun to play at the Ash Street because the sound system is great and Heather is the coolest booking person/sound person in town. The reason we took this show was to try and help support Creepsville 666. We’ve know at half of them from their former lives in the Billings, Montana band Coldsnap 9. It’s been many, many years since we’d seen them so it was cool to play the same place again after all this time. They sounded pretty great and it’s cool to see they can write good hooks in any style. Particular props for their unusual yet still totally rocking cover of Where Eagles Dare. I certainly wish more people were there to see them but that’s Wednesday night for you. It was also nice to finally say we’ve played with No Secrets Between Sailors again. We’ve had 1 degree of separation from them for the past few years so it was good to actually be at the same show again. They seemed to have a reasonably good time playing and on a low energy night like this it makes all the difference. Thanks to the proud few who stuck out the otherwise slow night. Apologies to Tizzle, well, just because.
Wednesday is rock night, part two.
Tonight we’re playing at the Ash Street in Portland with No Secrets Between Sailors and our longtime friends Creepsville 666 who is on tour and based in Phoenix, AZ. A few of the members used to play in a band called Coldsnap 9. If you’ve followed us for a while you may recognize the name as we’ve played quite a few shows with back in the day. In fact you can even see Justin rocking one of their shirts inside ‘The Return’. If you have the means and the time come check it out.
Show Journal 2009-03-04
Twelve years later and we’re still playing weeknights at the Satyricon. The neighborhood has been cleaned up a bit but the bathroom is still scary and the streets are still populated with crackheads. We were pretty stoked for this show because we hadn’t played an all ages show in forever and we were really intrigued to see Blitzkid. In order to play the show, we had to get to the show and as usual that was an adventure. Due to where we live it’s actually been a while since I’ve had to ride in the van. Having seen it up close for the first time in months, it’s disgusting. Dustin and I opened the door we might as well been opening a door directly into a sewer. It reeked of mold and mildew. Everything was damp to the touch. There were cans of half finished soda and even a half eaten deli sandwich covered in mold. Inexplicably there was a dog collar in there too. As soon as we started moving water poured in through the windows where the seals had rotted away. It deserves a good once over but I’m not sure where to find a hazmat suit. We got the show, unloaded and hung out for a bit. I wound up leaving in hopes of finding a clean restroom (mission accomplished!) but missed most of Steady Approach. It’s weird playing a show and not seeing, hearing or meeting any members of a band. The Dicers were up second and sounded good playing pretty gritty rockabilly stuff. Blitzkid was the main draw and played third. I wasn’t sure what to expect because on their web site they are covered in makeup, blood and playing what seemed to be large festivals in the US and Europe. I was having visions of fog machines, banners and over the top rock mayhem. Instead we got 3 pretty cool guys who played amazingly well and had a full set of solid songs. Their vocals were fantastic live and overall I was very impressed. We played last and nothing too noteworthy happened. We played T-Minus and Golden Road for the first time in a long time which was nice. People seemed pretty entertained and that works for me. Thanks to the Satyricon, Blitzkid and the folks who didn’t have anything else to do on a Wednesday.
Latest Photos