Tourzo
We went on tour with Iji for a month-plus of pacing ourselves, Pizza and science fiction. I learned a lot from the places I hadn't been before (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Idaho, Montana) and was affirmed by the places that I had.
We broke down by the border, were examined by a half a dozen sharp-nosed drug dogs, ate a pizza that couldn't fit into a garbage can, slept in punk houses, learned some new games, and lost money.
Rundown:
Vancouver - Nyala with Collapsing Opposites. Tons of snow- took forever to get there, stayed in a mansion, which was very nice. Gentle snow all night. Slashed Tires played too, who were amazing.
Seattle -Healthy Times with S. Funkee who was terrific though overly self-deprecating. Afraid for his equipment as Jamie and I hung our lights. Zack and Kenneth played horns with James Rabbit. Just Another Snake Cult sounded amazing.
Olympia - house show, with loop pedal guy and no-show Angelo Spencer. Show was nice, crowd wasn't terribly moved or abundant. Stayed at Shelby's house, played Kinect with his brother.
Portland - Glitter Dome with Team Orca who donated $1 dollar 'to buy some Skittles'. Merch table surrounded by cloak of invisibility. They make a drink with Blenheim's Ginger Ale on Alberta. Trevor's very nice housemate made us pancakes, which we sugared up.
Corvallis - Stumptown Sounds with very nice Brian and combustible Aaron, who played traditional jewish hymns to reggae. Zack, by participation was christened Maraca Man. Stayed in a spotless and gargantuan Co-op (Brick House), which had a shower with a radio, which was tuned to the perfect station.
Chico - Played 15 min. set with hard rock band and acoustic duo. Big turn out! Local hard rock band claimed the door, though over the course of the rest of the night contacted Zack to give a few, then a few more dollars. Bands sang karaoke. Delicious, cheap burritos, at a place whose name escapes me at the moment. Made a copy of my card game 'Beans' at a Starbucks.
Davis - Played a house show with World History, summoning police. First of two shows with Spencer Owen. Very good show (though the band said I was hammy). Ate late night burritos at La Pinata.
Oakland - Dropped Conner off at airport, practiced songs with Spencer. Very long show with 10 or more bands, seemed like it was 12 hours long. Played with Hosannas, who had an electric piano and Taurus pedals. Show went well, we had a balloon spider and my portable Christmas lights worked for the first and only time.
Santa Cruz - Nice to get a good shower.
Santa Barbara - Very warm, welcoming house. Ate a combination of nachos, burrito and quesadilla at a place nearby. Tacked with Zack re: Phoenix's party terrorism scene of years past. Played ukulele on a beach during one of this tour's rare moments of depression.
Los Angeles - Amazing show at the Smell, met Mike Sherk (either he or his girlfriend set us up what was to be an amazing show in Santa Fe, New Mexico). Played with Pangea, whose amazing new album I almost immediately lost, and Moses Campbell. Stayed with Dan and Alisha. Went to Galco's Soda Pop Stop - a dream come true! Chuck Potashner and Gabe Saucedo were at the show too, a West Coast pop re/union!
San Diego - At the Park Gallery with the Dudes (formerly Da Bears, whom we went on our first west coast tour with) and some guys with a Yamaha SK-50 (I rarely feel keyboard envy!) The sound guy was AMAZING and accommodating and a skilled craftsman.
Iji's van broke down in Jacomba, we worked the rest of the day trying to get the team to Zack's parents house in Chandler AZ at 3:00 a.m.
Flagstaff, AZ - played in a basement to enthusiastic Flagstaff residents. Played with Ash Rickli, who was thoughtful and good.
Phoenix - at the Trunkspace with an energetic young band, Feel Free and Stephen Steinbrink, whose band was very precise and lovely. Show felt really good, high energy. Its hard to find coffee in Chandler, AZ. Went to a gelato place, whose owner took frequent breaks to glare at the recently opened Fro Yo next door. Good big pizza at Jimmy Joe's or whatever its called.
Tucson - Brootal Sun Fest at Skrappy's. Logan Greene was a fantastic planner, everywhere he needed to be across the two venues (we were unfortunately only around for the third day of the festival). Played with Feel Free, Jaime J and Andrew Jackson Jihad. Shelby got a new car. Ate at Eegee's, got a veggie grinder (which was okay) and an Eegee, which is a frozen beverage and AMAZING. Imagine an ideal Jamba Juice for cheaper with more flavor, unfortunately only in Tucson. Dry River Space, the other venue, was a very inspiring space.
Santa Fe, NM - drove forever and was very cranky, but pulled off an amazing late night show to about fifteen of the tour's most enthusiastic audience members. Had a delicious breakfast, stayed at Rebecca's house.
Amarillo, TX - played at the 806, which was in a great neighborhood with abstract street signs. The 806 seemed like a unique safe space. Stayed with Rigel and John in an apartment they were house sitting, alphabetized some DVDs.
Grapevine - Play, Pause, Repeat. Our first taste of SXSW came as an overflow bandpile show. All audience and other bands left before our set, leaving the owner of the venue and some of his friends, who were very nice and let us stay over. Donut stop was delicious and tolerant of our antics. There was an amazing music store that stocked amps I had only previously dreamt of.
Austin - 3 days, Long story. "Free" fun at SXSW, though I felt like money was running through my veins. Saw a lot of cell phone screens recording performances. Stayed with a wonderful person named Susan. Owen Pallett, one of the acts I enjoyed, was an outstanding musician and an inspiring man. Jamie and I stacked toppings on frozen pizza; his was Huevos Rancheros and mine was french fries with Tapatio. Quiet Hooves, who had four keyboards and no guitars, became our most-listened-to CD of tour.
Houston - Played at a gallery/house with a very receptive local band, who seemed to enjoy our set. The house had free beer on tap in the kitchen. Woah!
Norman, OK - Dropped off Dylan at airport. Fixed my trumpet (which had fallen off stage in San Diego to have mouthpiece stuck in the body). Show promoter had not returned our calls, so we split into two groups; ours headed off towards Kansas City.
Kansas City, MO - Picked up Rita, went to J. Ashley Miller's house and played ninja late into the night. Jamie voted, we went to Broadway Cafe (which had very good coffee), Succotash (which had very good and big pancakes), YJ's (which had very delicious food) and Epsteins (which had very good mostly American-made hand tools). Our show with Blondie Brunetti and Ashley Miller presents: Ninja was very fun.
Denver, CO - Drove forever, played at Yellow Feather Coffee, with All Liver, No Onions. Ate at the Same Cafe downtown, which was a donation-based cafe, which was delicious and amazingly functional. I wish every city could have one. Read Buck Rogers in the library.
Grand Junction - House show had been canceled, but when we showed up they said, 'f- it, let's do it anyway'. Pulled together a bunch of people and had a great time. Made late night pasta.
Salt Lake City, UT - Homing missiles sent after us in the Mormon temple. Played a super-sketchy but wonderful basement with a 12-piece Arcade Fire-type.
Logan - The last band of the night mixed it up and was good. Our last-minute host, Natalie, was very nice and let us stay in her house.
Missoula, MT - At the Lab. Very warm crowd. Played with Bad Naked, which was our favorite 'band' of tour and like an inside joke come true. Hung out downtown, went to a great bookstore across from the Butterfly herbs and coffee shop.
Moscow, ID - Maybe funnest day of tour. Ate Conner's birthday dinner at a burrito place. Played a show in a basement, the last band Butterballs had a different economical and good-sounding setup for each song. Got HUGE pizzas from Perfection Pizza and stayed up late watching a warped teen movie. House bought us donuts in the a.m. Super fun people, receptive scene.
Spokane, WA - Punk house, opener was a guy with acoustic guitar, very good. Ate at Satellite Diner. Talked about driving in the snow with some resident punks. They said that this was the least violent show they'd ever had at their house, citing the lack of smashed windows.
Seattle - Funny Button. Homecoming of sorts. Very warm reception. Ate at Beth's which was tolerant of our late night antics for the cost of about three late night breakfasts. Zack missed his flight.
Look for us in your neighborhood in Summer. Til then we have a CD named Cactuses to mail to you.
We went on tour with Iji for a month-plus of pacing ourselves, Pizza and science fiction. I learned a lot from the places I hadn't been before (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Idaho, Montana) and was affirmed by the places that I had.
We broke down by the border, were examined by a half a dozen sharp-nosed drug dogs, ate a pizza that couldn't fit into a garbage can, slept in punk houses, learned some new games, and lost money.
Rundown:
Vancouver - Nyala with Collapsing Opposites. Tons of snow- took forever to get there, stayed in a mansion, which was very nice. Gentle snow all night. Slashed Tires played too, who were amazing.
Seattle -Healthy Times with S. Funkee who was terrific though overly self-deprecating. Afraid for his equipment as Jamie and I hung our lights. Zack and Kenneth played horns with James Rabbit. Just Another Snake Cult sounded amazing.
Olympia - house show, with loop pedal guy and no-show Angelo Spencer. Show was nice, crowd wasn't terribly moved or abundant. Stayed at Shelby's house, played Kinect with his brother.
Portland - Glitter Dome with Team Orca who donated $1 dollar 'to buy some Skittles'. Merch table surrounded by cloak of invisibility. They make a drink with Blenheim's Ginger Ale on Alberta. Trevor's very nice housemate made us pancakes, which we sugared up.
Corvallis - Stumptown Sounds with very nice Brian and combustible Aaron, who played traditional jewish hymns to reggae. Zack, by participation was christened Maraca Man. Stayed in a spotless and gargantuan Co-op (Brick House), which had a shower with a radio, which was tuned to the perfect station.
Chico - Played 15 min. set with hard rock band and acoustic duo. Big turn out! Local hard rock band claimed the door, though over the course of the rest of the night contacted Zack to give a few, then a few more dollars. Bands sang karaoke. Delicious, cheap burritos, at a place whose name escapes me at the moment. Made a copy of my card game 'Beans' at a Starbucks.
Davis - Played a house show with World History, summoning police. First of two shows with Spencer Owen. Very good show (though the band said I was hammy). Ate late night burritos at La Pinata.
Oakland - Dropped Conner off at airport, practiced songs with Spencer. Very long show with 10 or more bands, seemed like it was 12 hours long. Played with Hosannas, who had an electric piano and Taurus pedals. Show went well, we had a balloon spider and my portable Christmas lights worked for the first and only time.
Santa Cruz - Nice to get a good shower.
Santa Barbara - Very warm, welcoming house. Ate a combination of nachos, burrito and quesadilla at a place nearby. Tacked with Zack re: Phoenix's party terrorism scene of years past. Played ukulele on a beach during one of this tour's rare moments of depression.
Los Angeles - Amazing show at the Smell, met Mike Sherk (either he or his girlfriend set us up what was to be an amazing show in Santa Fe, New Mexico). Played with Pangea, whose amazing new album I almost immediately lost, and Moses Campbell. Stayed with Dan and Alisha. Went to Galco's Soda Pop Stop - a dream come true! Chuck Potashner and Gabe Saucedo were at the show too, a West Coast pop re/union!
San Diego - At the Park Gallery with the Dudes (formerly Da Bears, whom we went on our first west coast tour with) and some guys with a Yamaha SK-50 (I rarely feel keyboard envy!) The sound guy was AMAZING and accommodating and a skilled craftsman.
Iji's van broke down in Jacomba, we worked the rest of the day trying to get the team to Zack's parents house in Chandler AZ at 3:00 a.m.
Flagstaff, AZ - played in a basement to enthusiastic Flagstaff residents. Played with Ash Rickli, who was thoughtful and good.
Phoenix - at the Trunkspace with an energetic young band, Feel Free and Stephen Steinbrink, whose band was very precise and lovely. Show felt really good, high energy. Its hard to find coffee in Chandler, AZ. Went to a gelato place, whose owner took frequent breaks to glare at the recently opened Fro Yo next door. Good big pizza at Jimmy Joe's or whatever its called.
Tucson - Brootal Sun Fest at Skrappy's. Logan Greene was a fantastic planner, everywhere he needed to be across the two venues (we were unfortunately only around for the third day of the festival). Played with Feel Free, Jaime J and Andrew Jackson Jihad. Shelby got a new car. Ate at Eegee's, got a veggie grinder (which was okay) and an Eegee, which is a frozen beverage and AMAZING. Imagine an ideal Jamba Juice for cheaper with more flavor, unfortunately only in Tucson. Dry River Space, the other venue, was a very inspiring space.
Santa Fe, NM - drove forever and was very cranky, but pulled off an amazing late night show to about fifteen of the tour's most enthusiastic audience members. Had a delicious breakfast, stayed at Rebecca's house.
Amarillo, TX - played at the 806, which was in a great neighborhood with abstract street signs. The 806 seemed like a unique safe space. Stayed with Rigel and John in an apartment they were house sitting, alphabetized some DVDs.
Grapevine - Play, Pause, Repeat. Our first taste of SXSW came as an overflow bandpile show. All audience and other bands left before our set, leaving the owner of the venue and some of his friends, who were very nice and let us stay over. Donut stop was delicious and tolerant of our antics. There was an amazing music store that stocked amps I had only previously dreamt of.
Austin - 3 days, Long story. "Free" fun at SXSW, though I felt like money was running through my veins. Saw a lot of cell phone screens recording performances. Stayed with a wonderful person named Susan. Owen Pallett, one of the acts I enjoyed, was an outstanding musician and an inspiring man. Jamie and I stacked toppings on frozen pizza; his was Huevos Rancheros and mine was french fries with Tapatio. Quiet Hooves, who had four keyboards and no guitars, became our most-listened-to CD of tour.
Houston - Played at a gallery/house with a very receptive local band, who seemed to enjoy our set. The house had free beer on tap in the kitchen. Woah!
Norman, OK - Dropped off Dylan at airport. Fixed my trumpet (which had fallen off stage in San Diego to have mouthpiece stuck in the body). Show promoter had not returned our calls, so we split into two groups; ours headed off towards Kansas City.
Kansas City, MO - Picked up Rita, went to J. Ashley Miller's house and played ninja late into the night. Jamie voted, we went to Broadway Cafe (which had very good coffee), Succotash (which had very good and big pancakes), YJ's (which had very delicious food) and Epsteins (which had very good mostly American-made hand tools). Our show with Blondie Brunetti and Ashley Miller presents: Ninja was very fun.
Denver, CO - Drove forever, played at Yellow Feather Coffee, with All Liver, No Onions. Ate at the Same Cafe downtown, which was a donation-based cafe, which was delicious and amazingly functional. I wish every city could have one. Read Buck Rogers in the library.
Grand Junction - House show had been canceled, but when we showed up they said, 'f- it, let's do it anyway'. Pulled together a bunch of people and had a great time. Made late night pasta.
Salt Lake City, UT - Homing missiles sent after us in the Mormon temple. Played a super-sketchy but wonderful basement with a 12-piece Arcade Fire-type.
Logan - The last band of the night mixed it up and was good. Our last-minute host, Natalie, was very nice and let us stay in her house.
Missoula, MT - At the Lab. Very warm crowd. Played with Bad Naked, which was our favorite 'band' of tour and like an inside joke come true. Hung out downtown, went to a great bookstore across from the Butterfly herbs and coffee shop.
Moscow, ID - Maybe funnest day of tour. Ate Conner's birthday dinner at a burrito place. Played a show in a basement, the last band Butterballs had a different economical and good-sounding setup for each song. Got HUGE pizzas from Perfection Pizza and stayed up late watching a warped teen movie. House bought us donuts in the a.m. Super fun people, receptive scene.
Spokane, WA - Punk house, opener was a guy with acoustic guitar, very good. Ate at Satellite Diner. Talked about driving in the snow with some resident punks. They said that this was the least violent show they'd ever had at their house, citing the lack of smashed windows.
Seattle - Funny Button. Homecoming of sorts. Very warm reception. Ate at Beth's which was tolerant of our late night antics for the cost of about three late night breakfasts. Zack missed his flight.
Look for us in your neighborhood in Summer. Til then we have a CD named Cactuses to mail to you.
