at long last...
SUMMER TOUR 2007 II: THE RECKONING
TOUR JOURNAL PART ONE
TUES 8/28
1230am
Home
In 12 hours, tour starts. My laundry’s done, my ipod’s updated with new playlists and a handful of new releases, and I’ve made a pile of books to bring:
Harry potter 6 + 7
20000 leagues under the sea
Palm Sunday (Vonnegut)
Lord of the Rings (one volume trilogy)
Chuck Klausterman IV
We’re playing 18 shows in 13 states; 14 are in cities I’ve never been to with KG. 3 are in states I’ve never been in at all.
WED 8/29
1230am
The house we’re staying at, somewhere in northern Kentucky
Left home at 10, picked up Katie, loaded up the van, and picked up mandy. On the road by 1230. 9 hours to cincinatti, missed fizzgig, loaded in, set up, and played. Whole thing was over by 1130. best cincinatti show we’ve had so far (20 people…). Staying with todd’s (Second Saturday drummer) girlfriend in Kentucky. Wonder Lake, Illinois tomorrow.
Tired.
1130am
In the van, outside cincinatti
Towns we drove past on the first day:
Friendsville, MD
Accident, MD
Prosperity, WV
Baltimore, OH
Cereal with warm (room temperature) soy milk isn’t as bad as it sounds, but it is a little strange when you’re used to cereal being cold. I will attempt to remember to bring some in from the van at night.
2pm
Indiana, I-65
1. joe’s friend’s mom bought us a bunch of groceries for tour - cereal, chips, granola bars, bottles of water, etc. she also baked us cookies. I’ve never met her, but she is now in the running for Best Person Ever.
2. I wish reggie and the full effect would just concentrate on being awesome. We’ve been listening to them for about an hour, and we’ve skipped the metal songs, the linkin park song, a bunch of songs involving fake people that are actually james dewees, and at least a dozen tracks that aren’t songs at all. Give me Greatest Hits 84-87, minus the skits. Maybe cut out the birthday song, too.
3. this part of the country is obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. When you enter Kentucky, the signs say “welcome to kentucky, birthplace of Lincoln.” When you reach Indiana, they say “Indiana - Lincoln’s boyhood home.” Illinois? “the land of Lincoln.” We just passed a billboard for the “Lincoln lodge - color tvs in every room!” the stores here only take pennies and fives. Okay, that’s a lie, but I wouldn’t be that surprised.
345pm
Still Indiana
We just passed a town called Hobart. I couldn’t get a picture of the sign from the van. (later in the day, we passed Lilyville, IL. Lily and I had a pretty entertaining conversation via text message, which I was going to transcribe here, but it’s not in my phone any more. Your loss.)
THUR 8/30
2pm
Sam’s house, Chicago suburbs
Played an awesome house show last night in wonder lake, Illinois. Staying with a guy named sam from a band called dormlife, who kg go way back with. Having a nice lazy day, because we’re only an hour from tonight’s show, and we’re staying here again tonight. Time to go change my guitar strings.
FRI 8/31
7pm
The Annex, Madison, WI
Some days, you just don’t have much to write about, which is why I didn’t do tour journals the last couple of times we went out.
Chicago was pretty good (a free show where we got paid and fed!), and we stayed with sam again. Slept in, got burritos, and drove to Madison. My first visit to Wisconsin (leaving only a half dozen states I’ve never been to), so far a favorable impression. Pretty scenery - like the Midwest, but with more hills and lakes and rivers.
SAT 9/1
Noon
Some Coffee shop, Still Madison
We played to 7 people last night. Apparently, the doorman was telling people (including some friends of ours) that the show was pushed back to 10:00. we went on at 9:30. even the other bands (except for one guy from mad trucker gone mad) didn’t watch us play, which always sucks. But it all worked out - we still got some gas money, sold a bit of merch, and got three different offers for places to stay. The venue offered to have us back, and to set up a better bill for us (this show was all whiskey-and-cowboy-hat rock and roll bands). We ended up staying with a friend of a friend of a friend of one of kg’s old guitar players, a guy named alex, who has an awesome place, and draws a sweet webcomic, which you can check out here.
Today is the fifth day of tour, and I’ve spent $15. I finished HP6 yesterday, and am now well into HP7 (for the third time). These books get better every time I read them.
SUN 9/2
1245pm
The van. On the way out of Iowa
Last night’s venue had the worst load-in of all time. The venue, called the hall mall, is in the middle of a long strip of bars and restaurants, which faces another long strip of bars and restaurants, with a big patio/walkway thing in between, with tables and benches and foodcarts and hundreds of drunken college idiots. So the closest we could get the van was maybe 50 yards away. Also, the venue is on the second floor. And, as advertised, it is a Hall Mall - that is, a long narrow room with shops all down the sides (or at least, spaces where shops could go. All but 2 were empty). When we arrived, the promoter (and I use that term extremely loosely here) is drunk and passed out on a couch. He doesn’t seem to know anything about the show, except that there is one. The first band is playing their first show ever, and they leave right after they play. Unfortunately, they take the dozen or so people they brought with them when the go. So we play for 7 or 8 people (3 from the last band, and one guy who appears to be homeless), make $18 from the door, and don’t sell a thing. Luckily, we already had a place to stay (2 girls who found us on the myspace).
Iowa City wins the new “worst place in the world” award.
TUES 9/4
1230pm
I seem to do all my writing in the van, Minnesota
Our show in Minneapolis on the 2nd was probably the best one so far. The venue was cool - the acadia café, a coffee shop with a good-sized room for bands to play in. they fed us (a delicious veggie melt for me, black bean burgers for everyone else), and they had an excellent beer selection (many of which I had never even heard of). Since we booked the show, it was also our job to run the show. So we scheduled set times, ran the door, divided the money, and assisted in the changeovers between bands. The other bands were enjoyable, especially now now every children.
After the show, we stayed with Jen, and old friend of mandy’s. we had Monday (labor day) off, so we hung out with jen and her boyfriend all day. We went out for thai, and it was amazing (and also the most expensive meal of tour so far: $13. I suspect house party will exceed that). After lunch, we watched 300 in HD, which didn’t really look much different, while the girls went swimming, and later we watched Hot Fuzz. I thought it was okay - I’ve been hearing about how awesome it is for a while, so I was a little let down when it was merely entertaining. Also, it’s hard not to think of those guys as their characters from shaun of the dead.
Having just about worn out our welcome at Jen’s, we stayed with Brandon, who runs sound at the acadia, last night. As we were all settling into bed, brandon’s cat started howling like crazy and jumping up on the window sills. Before we could figure out what he was so upset about, the cat managed to push a screen out of a window and escape into the night. By the time I got outside, the cat had been followed across the street, down an alley, and into someone’s backyard. Brandon was able to catch it (somehow), and we returned to the apartment. Apparently, there was another cat (or cats) howling outside, and the girls witnessed some sporadic cat fighting and hissing.
Disaster averted, we shut all the windows and went back to bed.
THUR 9/6
430pm
Brandon’s house, KCMO
We arrived in Kansas city Tuesday night to an amazing dinner prepared by our friend Brandon. He thoroughly spoiled us with a couple of delicious asian dishes, ice cream, and a substantial quantity of tequila (the later of which was consumed in large part by people who are not me). We spent a highly enjoyable evening swapping tour stories and reminiscing about common acquaintences.
Wednesday morning, we went to the bell street café for breakfast, where we had decent omlettes served by a waitress who had plainly been a man for most of her life. She was about as good at waiting tables as she was at covering up her masculinity - she only visited our table to take our order, bring the food, and deliver the check. My coffee cup was empty for most of the meal, and her adam’s apple was more pronounced than mine.
Wednesday afternoon, we hung around brandon’s house, and among other things, watched an episode of the Bodog Entertainment Battle of the Bands. This program made me want to stop playing music, and possibly stop living, too. Shows like that are the reason I don’t have TV anymore.
Around 5, we hit the road for St Joseph, which about an hour north of Kansas city, for a show at a place called scalliwags. Scalliwags looked like it used to be a nice venue, but had fallen into disrepair.
Highlights of the show included two stellar “team additions.” First, a crazy, drunken, potentially homeless man who danced both awkwardly and constantly, whether or not music was playing. He was frequently heard to yell “rock and roll!” and “I love dancing!” and at one point he attempted conversation with me, but he was slurring his speech so badly that I could not understand a single word. So I just smiled and said “yeah!” He is now a star of joe’s team. Second, the bassist in the opening band: he was dressed in denim overalls, women’s sunglasses, and a bandana, and playing a dean “explorer” bass. He danced in a very similar manner to the drunken weirdo, and now resides on mandy’s team.
Also of note was the owner/soundman, who unplugged every mic cable between each band, only to have to untangle them each time, and inevitably plug them back into the same things while the next band was setting up.
We played one of the weaker sets of tour (two days off and retched on-stage sound will do that to you…), the architects killed it, and we headed back to brandon’s.
Thursday morning we slept in, and eventually went out for burritos and coffee. The girls visited a yarn store while joe and I checked out a used record/book store. I didn’t buy anything, but the girls loaded up on yarn, and joe almost bought a paula abdul 12” single (cold hearted).
THUR 9/6
745pm
The van, on the road to Wichita
A billboard, seen from the van:
“Accept Jesus and be saved- OR REGRET IT FOREVER!”
(almost as good as “jesus is coming… AS LIGHTNING!” which is the best billboard ever.)
TOUR JOURNAL PART ONE
TUES 8/28
1230am
Home
In 12 hours, tour starts. My laundry’s done, my ipod’s updated with new playlists and a handful of new releases, and I’ve made a pile of books to bring:
Harry potter 6 + 7
20000 leagues under the sea
Palm Sunday (Vonnegut)
Lord of the Rings (one volume trilogy)
Chuck Klausterman IV
We’re playing 18 shows in 13 states; 14 are in cities I’ve never been to with KG. 3 are in states I’ve never been in at all.
WED 8/29
1230am
The house we’re staying at, somewhere in northern Kentucky
Left home at 10, picked up Katie, loaded up the van, and picked up mandy. On the road by 1230. 9 hours to cincinatti, missed fizzgig, loaded in, set up, and played. Whole thing was over by 1130. best cincinatti show we’ve had so far (20 people…). Staying with todd’s (Second Saturday drummer) girlfriend in Kentucky. Wonder Lake, Illinois tomorrow.
Tired.
1130am
In the van, outside cincinatti
Towns we drove past on the first day:
Friendsville, MD
Accident, MD
Prosperity, WV
Baltimore, OH
Cereal with warm (room temperature) soy milk isn’t as bad as it sounds, but it is a little strange when you’re used to cereal being cold. I will attempt to remember to bring some in from the van at night.
2pm
Indiana, I-65
1. joe’s friend’s mom bought us a bunch of groceries for tour - cereal, chips, granola bars, bottles of water, etc. she also baked us cookies. I’ve never met her, but she is now in the running for Best Person Ever.
2. I wish reggie and the full effect would just concentrate on being awesome. We’ve been listening to them for about an hour, and we’ve skipped the metal songs, the linkin park song, a bunch of songs involving fake people that are actually james dewees, and at least a dozen tracks that aren’t songs at all. Give me Greatest Hits 84-87, minus the skits. Maybe cut out the birthday song, too.
3. this part of the country is obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. When you enter Kentucky, the signs say “welcome to kentucky, birthplace of Lincoln.” When you reach Indiana, they say “Indiana - Lincoln’s boyhood home.” Illinois? “the land of Lincoln.” We just passed a billboard for the “Lincoln lodge - color tvs in every room!” the stores here only take pennies and fives. Okay, that’s a lie, but I wouldn’t be that surprised.
345pm
Still Indiana
We just passed a town called Hobart. I couldn’t get a picture of the sign from the van. (later in the day, we passed Lilyville, IL. Lily and I had a pretty entertaining conversation via text message, which I was going to transcribe here, but it’s not in my phone any more. Your loss.)
THUR 8/30
2pm
Sam’s house, Chicago suburbs
Played an awesome house show last night in wonder lake, Illinois. Staying with a guy named sam from a band called dormlife, who kg go way back with. Having a nice lazy day, because we’re only an hour from tonight’s show, and we’re staying here again tonight. Time to go change my guitar strings.
FRI 8/31
7pm
The Annex, Madison, WI
Some days, you just don’t have much to write about, which is why I didn’t do tour journals the last couple of times we went out.
Chicago was pretty good (a free show where we got paid and fed!), and we stayed with sam again. Slept in, got burritos, and drove to Madison. My first visit to Wisconsin (leaving only a half dozen states I’ve never been to), so far a favorable impression. Pretty scenery - like the Midwest, but with more hills and lakes and rivers.
SAT 9/1
Noon
Some Coffee shop, Still Madison
We played to 7 people last night. Apparently, the doorman was telling people (including some friends of ours) that the show was pushed back to 10:00. we went on at 9:30. even the other bands (except for one guy from mad trucker gone mad) didn’t watch us play, which always sucks. But it all worked out - we still got some gas money, sold a bit of merch, and got three different offers for places to stay. The venue offered to have us back, and to set up a better bill for us (this show was all whiskey-and-cowboy-hat rock and roll bands). We ended up staying with a friend of a friend of a friend of one of kg’s old guitar players, a guy named alex, who has an awesome place, and draws a sweet webcomic, which you can check out here.
Today is the fifth day of tour, and I’ve spent $15. I finished HP6 yesterday, and am now well into HP7 (for the third time). These books get better every time I read them.
SUN 9/2
1245pm
The van. On the way out of Iowa
Last night’s venue had the worst load-in of all time. The venue, called the hall mall, is in the middle of a long strip of bars and restaurants, which faces another long strip of bars and restaurants, with a big patio/walkway thing in between, with tables and benches and foodcarts and hundreds of drunken college idiots. So the closest we could get the van was maybe 50 yards away. Also, the venue is on the second floor. And, as advertised, it is a Hall Mall - that is, a long narrow room with shops all down the sides (or at least, spaces where shops could go. All but 2 were empty). When we arrived, the promoter (and I use that term extremely loosely here) is drunk and passed out on a couch. He doesn’t seem to know anything about the show, except that there is one. The first band is playing their first show ever, and they leave right after they play. Unfortunately, they take the dozen or so people they brought with them when the go. So we play for 7 or 8 people (3 from the last band, and one guy who appears to be homeless), make $18 from the door, and don’t sell a thing. Luckily, we already had a place to stay (2 girls who found us on the myspace).
Iowa City wins the new “worst place in the world” award.
TUES 9/4
1230pm
I seem to do all my writing in the van, Minnesota
Our show in Minneapolis on the 2nd was probably the best one so far. The venue was cool - the acadia café, a coffee shop with a good-sized room for bands to play in. they fed us (a delicious veggie melt for me, black bean burgers for everyone else), and they had an excellent beer selection (many of which I had never even heard of). Since we booked the show, it was also our job to run the show. So we scheduled set times, ran the door, divided the money, and assisted in the changeovers between bands. The other bands were enjoyable, especially now now every children.
After the show, we stayed with Jen, and old friend of mandy’s. we had Monday (labor day) off, so we hung out with jen and her boyfriend all day. We went out for thai, and it was amazing (and also the most expensive meal of tour so far: $13. I suspect house party will exceed that). After lunch, we watched 300 in HD, which didn’t really look much different, while the girls went swimming, and later we watched Hot Fuzz. I thought it was okay - I’ve been hearing about how awesome it is for a while, so I was a little let down when it was merely entertaining. Also, it’s hard not to think of those guys as their characters from shaun of the dead.
Having just about worn out our welcome at Jen’s, we stayed with Brandon, who runs sound at the acadia, last night. As we were all settling into bed, brandon’s cat started howling like crazy and jumping up on the window sills. Before we could figure out what he was so upset about, the cat managed to push a screen out of a window and escape into the night. By the time I got outside, the cat had been followed across the street, down an alley, and into someone’s backyard. Brandon was able to catch it (somehow), and we returned to the apartment. Apparently, there was another cat (or cats) howling outside, and the girls witnessed some sporadic cat fighting and hissing.
Disaster averted, we shut all the windows and went back to bed.
THUR 9/6
430pm
Brandon’s house, KCMO
We arrived in Kansas city Tuesday night to an amazing dinner prepared by our friend Brandon. He thoroughly spoiled us with a couple of delicious asian dishes, ice cream, and a substantial quantity of tequila (the later of which was consumed in large part by people who are not me). We spent a highly enjoyable evening swapping tour stories and reminiscing about common acquaintences.
Wednesday morning, we went to the bell street café for breakfast, where we had decent omlettes served by a waitress who had plainly been a man for most of her life. She was about as good at waiting tables as she was at covering up her masculinity - she only visited our table to take our order, bring the food, and deliver the check. My coffee cup was empty for most of the meal, and her adam’s apple was more pronounced than mine.
Wednesday afternoon, we hung around brandon’s house, and among other things, watched an episode of the Bodog Entertainment Battle of the Bands. This program made me want to stop playing music, and possibly stop living, too. Shows like that are the reason I don’t have TV anymore.
Around 5, we hit the road for St Joseph, which about an hour north of Kansas city, for a show at a place called scalliwags. Scalliwags looked like it used to be a nice venue, but had fallen into disrepair.
Highlights of the show included two stellar “team additions.” First, a crazy, drunken, potentially homeless man who danced both awkwardly and constantly, whether or not music was playing. He was frequently heard to yell “rock and roll!” and “I love dancing!” and at one point he attempted conversation with me, but he was slurring his speech so badly that I could not understand a single word. So I just smiled and said “yeah!” He is now a star of joe’s team. Second, the bassist in the opening band: he was dressed in denim overalls, women’s sunglasses, and a bandana, and playing a dean “explorer” bass. He danced in a very similar manner to the drunken weirdo, and now resides on mandy’s team.
Also of note was the owner/soundman, who unplugged every mic cable between each band, only to have to untangle them each time, and inevitably plug them back into the same things while the next band was setting up.
We played one of the weaker sets of tour (two days off and retched on-stage sound will do that to you…), the architects killed it, and we headed back to brandon’s.
Thursday morning we slept in, and eventually went out for burritos and coffee. The girls visited a yarn store while joe and I checked out a used record/book store. I didn’t buy anything, but the girls loaded up on yarn, and joe almost bought a paula abdul 12” single (cold hearted).
THUR 9/6
745pm
The van, on the road to Wichita
A billboard, seen from the van:
“Accept Jesus and be saved- OR REGRET IT FOREVER!”
(almost as good as “jesus is coming… AS LIGHTNING!” which is the best billboard ever.)