Pittsburg: Phoning it in Since 1758

We played another open mic in Pittsburg, PA last night. It seems that this is a really bad city to play music in during the summer. The students are all gone, and as Gene (who used to go to school here) said, the market is flooded with venues.

So we played a whole bunch of songs to no one except the bartender, sound guy, and MC, and I put together the most half-assed bootlegs yet.

First, Gene

thE32nd - (17)
Company - Soothing you in improperly balanced stereo since 2009.
If I Gave You a Guitar - If we ever install a poll plugin to the blog, the first question will have to be "If I gave you a guitar, would you write me a song?" Followed, of course, by "Do you like me? Circle one: Yes/No"
Chelsea Hotel - Dave likes this song, but he missed it. Sucker!
I Likes - Me talk good!

Then, all of us

It's a Good Thing - Zombie Dog phoning it in, Whoo! Actually, we played alright, I'm just too lazy to make the bootlegs sound good.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - I have nothing to say about this that wouldn't be a potentially offensive joke about our ritard in the second verse.
TAoCP2 - Ok. I'm trimming something out of this beast.

Finally, all of us but with Gene singing

thE32nd (full band) (18)
Commotion - I wish I knew if having my own room in Hell was standard or if it's actually a perk...
Catch Me - Barring any unusual capitalization, I'm pretty sure I got the name right.
Something In Between - Gene's told me that name something like three times, but I keep calling it Supervillain. I'm "that guy" in the band.
Karate - For the last time, we're like Jackie Chan in that movie where he was his own twin and not the one where he teamed up with Jet Li in feudal China.


Share and enjoy

Pittsburg, for real this time.

We finally made it to Pittsburg on this tour. Last night we played an open mic at PD's Pub. The audience was pretty apathetic, but their equipment was very nice.

Theoretically, there was a live feed of the show somewhere, but I haven't been able to find an archive of it yet. Perhaps on their MySpace?

It's a Good Thing - Nothing really exceptional or funny here.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - This is the catchiest drum beat the computer has ever picked for this song.
TAoCP2 - No time for banter! Next song! Next song!
Happiness - This was the happiest those bar patrons have ever been.
Fat Kid Emo Pants - Those woahs are painful, ain't they!

More Cleveland

We played the Kobalt in Cleveland again.

No time for banter!

It's a Good Thing
Total Eclipse of the Heart
TAoCP2
Silly Dreams
Black Girlfriend
Company
thE32n'd - (16) half way there!

Cleveland acoustic set

We played an open mic hosted by The Uncanny XeLa outside of Cleveland. Our band were about the only musicians who showed up, so we each did sets.

Dave - rawking the house since 1983!

Christmas Eve - A ghost story by Dave. How sweet!
Must've been the pills I took - Dave's favorite Hank Williams the Eighty-Seventh cover

Gene - Singer/songwritering your faces off!

Black Girlfriend - Gene busts out the Porno for Pyros. (Hi mom!) Complete with Xe La discussing how this open mic usually goes and hecklers demanding drums.
Summer, a Year Ago - A new Gene original.
Bearsaw - This is another Gene original that I don't know the name of. However, you can't really hear it over the discussions of the bear loose on campus and the movie Saw II (warning: spoilers!), so I decided Bearsaw is a good name. (Gene says it's "Catch Me", but I'm sticking with "Bearsaw").
Bermuda Highway - Seriously! This is like New Gene Song Extravaganza '09 around here... Oh wait... He tells me this is a My Morning Jacket song. Cancel the Extravaganza
Commotion - How can you not get up and dance to this upbeat number?
Company - I suppose we could call it Old Gene Song Extravaganza '09...
Summer, Before Last - Ok. That's probably not the name, but I'm too lazy to find Gene for the real name again.

Zombie Dog - These songs sound awful acoustic!

Acoustic Grindcore - well that ended predicably!
It's a Good Thing - Actually, that went pretty well.
TAoCP2 - Meh...
Happiness - Theoretically, this one should work pretty well acoustically, right?

Steve - Too nerdy to rock, huh? Well I'll show you!

Nerd Rock - Not really rock with just an acoustic, but whatever.
Teenage Girlfriend - A brand new one! Never before heard by anyone but me.

Pickup show in Toledo

We randomly played in a bar run by one of Gene's friends in Toledo. Some other acts were playing that evening, and we loaned them some equipment. In a fit of gratitude, they let us clear the bar out with our loud-ass music.

It was an interesting setup because the house PA wasn't your standard "two big speakers next to a stage" array. They had an assortment of different sizes of speakers throughout the bar to play the radio through, so depending on where you were, different parts of the music were FAR more pronounced than others and blah blah blah to the nerdy nerd nerd.

It's a Good Thing - The DR-1 was really close to the vocalist, so somehow the vocals actually come through ok.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - In case you can't tell, our rhythm section was a little stoned that night. We also played the song at 240 bpm, which was an adventure.
TAoCP2 - and then the wheels fell off...
Happiness - Why is the song getting slower as we go?!?
Summertime Roll - I give up! We're not even using the microphones anymore!
thE32nd - (15)
Company - I'm done! It's all you Gene. *leaves in a huff*
Bean and Joe - By popular demand. (Seriously, there were death threats if Gene didn't play this.)

The girl running the open mic in Chicago who kept yelling, "Sexy beast!" at Gene while he played bought us a round and had this toast for us:

To all of you and your enormous dicks.

I couldn't stop laughing.

Then, the legitimate show we played the day after in Chicago was great. There were tons of people who were getting into it, my sister and brother in law were there, we played well, and the banter was good. Now, I yell, "Zombie Dog!" after roughly two thirds of the songs we play. Then,

Girl: My brother runs this place. I loved your set, BUT! WHAT IS YOUR BAND CALLED?!
Me: Uh... Zombie Dog.
Girl: Oh, huh.

Now we're hanging out in Toledo for a couple of days. We played a surprise show two nights ago, went dancing last night, and are about to hit up a sweat lodge which is some sort of insane sauna that's frankly quite scary.

Chicago... Let's call it a "cool down" show?

We played at the "Friends and Co." bar. Once again, we felt bad for crushing the hopes and dreams of a local musician.

The guy who organizes shows hooked us up with a guy named Ken who did acoustic covers of punk ballads. He was super excited to rock out with a serious band from New York. Then we let him know how "serious" this band really is. He seemed sad. :(

Either way, we played these songs:
(Note, the file transfer is going slowly, so not all of the songs may be available immediately)

Honest Man - Gene rocks the My Morning Jacket.
Company - I still want one of those books about parachutes.
Bean and Joe - As plagiarized by Paul Simon.
The Breathing - I can't remember who this is a cover of. So I'm gonna guess... Disturbed? That sounds like the name of a Disturbed song, right?
It's a Good Thing - Chicago's a good thing.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - I decided to try out adding curse word(s) to this song. I'm still unsure as to if it's awesome enough to be worth the cursing.
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - I was planning to make meaningful eye contact with one of the cuter girls in the bar on the word "baby" (You know, as a flirty stage presence thing.) But she took that exact moment to go to the bathroom.
Fat Kid Emo Pants - As requested by Tricia our sister.
Happiness - No time for banter, we're leaving in 5!
Carpedium - One day, we'll play this song well, and it will rock!
Karate - So many f bombs! Good thing it's a bar, and there's no kids around. (Also, we are definitely not like Jackie Chan in that one movie I hear he did early in his career which was actually an adult film and not a kung fu flick at all!)

Chicago. Let's call it a "warm up" show.

We played an open mic in Chicago last night. Our sister Patricia came along.

At one point in the evening, she asked if all open mics are as much of sausage fests as this one.
I said, "yeah, they're usually a lot like this."
"Though in this case, it might be more due to the 1950's era pornography they're showing on all the TVs."

Yeah... That was weird.

Company - Gene returns with this popular classic.
Chelsea Hotel - Dave loves this song. I'm pretty sure I don't know how to spell it.
thE32nd (just Gene) - (13)
It's a Good Thing - The sound system was pretty awful, and we didn't do a sound check. Long story short, the guitar is very quiet, and we sound remarkably good!
Total Eclipse of the Heart - It's still epic, even if we played it 50 beats per minute too slow.
TAoCP2 - Old song, new abbreviation.
Happiness - By executive decision of Dave. I think Gene and I both wanted to sing Karate.
thE32nd ('full' band) - This place had the worst boom mic I've ever used, so no backup vocals. Also (14)

Amusing stories we've been meaning to post

Gene finds a new sleep aid

Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you have trouble sleeping through the night? Do you wish you could just have a good night's sleep? Well now there's hope.

From the makers of the antidepressant "Beer" comes "Tequila." Tequila's mono-medicinal treatment has two stages. Alcohol helps you fall asleep, and alcohol helps you stay asleep. Finally, you can have the deep, restful sleep you deserve.

Tequila.

Side effects of tequila include decreased motor skills, poor judgment, and sudden emotional swings. Make sure you can dedicate at least seven hours to sleep and/or partying before taking tequila. Do not operate heavy machinery while using tequila. Pregnant or nursing women should double their dosage as they are drinking for two.


Magic guitar pick day

About two years ago, I (Steve) had backstage passes to see Eric Clapton in concert. Clapton himself leaves immediately after the show to call his family and sleep, so I didn't get to meet him. However, I did get two guitar picks stamped with info about the tour. ("Eric Clapton USA tour 2008" etc.) They're pretty nice picks so I've been using them on tour.

Unfortunately, I lost one of them early in the tour. My set of picks was incomplete. *sad face composed primarily of punctuation*
Then, in Seattle, I saw a red guitar pick on the ground. I said to myself, "Sweet! Free guitar pick." I picked it up and started reading the text on it: "EC WORLD TOUR '06/'07"

Wait a minute... "EC"? I had just found the same pick I had lost, but from the previous year's tour!

And that's how I saved Christmas

When a Band Loves a Girl

Most of the time it's us three dudes hanging out with each other, getting on each others' nerves, and punching each other in the arm. So when we get to a party or show or something with cute girls, or even just one cute girl, we start hitting on everyone pretty much. The funny thing is that a good percentage of the time, we all pick the same girl to flirt with.

That's right, if we're coming to your town, you may be the lucky girl to get a van full of rock stars/weirdos flirting with you all night. It's funny too because there's this tension where we all root for each other, but at the same time want the girl to like ME. Hence, we get pretty mixed results as wing men.

We have various styles and approaches. Apparently I use a different voice, and Gene knows instantly when I'm hitting on someone without even looking. Steve goes for an I-don't-care approach and cracks dumb jokes, which works really well, confusingly to me, as I usually just punch him in the arm when he starts cracking dumb jokes (you know, unless the rhythm section got stoned earlier). Gene plays it cool because he's cool I guess. It helps that I'm the good looking one, though I am the drummer and married and all.

We're ridiculous. Me in particular. Rock and Roll!

Dickin' Around

We tend to blog about the more adventuresome parts of the trip, but I thought I'd dedicate a post to the activity that takes up, oh I don't know, 60% of our time.

We spend a lot of time driving around fairly lost, leaving messages at venues that never really call us back, waiting for someone to finish packing up so we can go already, waiting for the show in a couple of hours without much to do in the meantime, waiting for the first five acts to wrap up, standing around outside after the show trying to flirt and schmooze a floor to sleep on, waiting for the friend you just met to call his friend and see about the party, and so on and so on.

We are master dicking arounders. Our favorite ways to kill time include

1. Chucking a frisbee around.
2. Picking on Steve.
3. Flirting with the same girl (more on that later).
4. Calling Mara.
5. Drinking, much more so if the beer is free.
   

Rock and Roll!

Madison then... silence.

We're taking a few days off to visit family, so don't expect too many posts for a bit.

Yesterday, we played on the campus library mall at Madison. It was pretty rawkin!

It's a Good Thing - Despite being our sound check (again), we sounded pretty good on this one!
Happy Birthday - Technically, the copyright infringement entailed by playing this song is among the least illegal aspects of the show... Happy birthday, Nathan Hotdog!
Total Eclipse of the Heart - So. Damn. Epic!
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - People have told me that I don't sound particularly concerned as I sing "Look out! Giant booger, baby." I showed them last night. Listen to the concern in that last chorus! I am concerned, my friends. Concerned!
Happiness - We're gonna say that that's "concern" you hear in my voice and not "angst."
Fat - Ok. That is angst you hear there, but it's ironic angst.
thE32nd - (12)
Company - You can't hear it, but Dave and I danced around and looked really cool during this one.
It's a Good Thing (Reprise) - It's not just repeating a song from earlier if we call it a reprise.

We should be back to posting by Tuesday

Minneapolis

Yesterday's show was an open mic in Minneapolis, MN.

It was pretty fun. Then Dave and I drank a bunch and got in an argument. Good times!

It's a Good Thing - yup.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - indeed
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - fer sure
thE32nd - (11)
Company - yes
Chelsea Hotel - OK.

Steve Decides Not To Pick Up a Hooker

After the last Fargo show we went to grab a beer. I went outside to call Mara, and came back in to grab a slice of pizza. Steve and Gene made a friend! Only later did I piece together bits and pieces of the conversation from talking with Steve and Gene. I wish I had been there.

Girl: I've got a mixed kid so you know I like creamy guys.
Steve: Um... That's cool.

Girl: I used to strip.
Gene: How long ago was that?
Girl: Two years ago. I still do for the right people. I do other work too.
Gene: I bet you do.

Girl: I'm going to find some company.
Steve: Good luck.
Girl: What, you don't think I can do it?

Other guy: I thought I gave you five dollars to call a cab.

Steve's Birthday and a Few Other Things...

1. I am the sweetest pool player in this tribe.

2. Dave MAY or MAY NOT take his love for Santagold a little too personally.

3. The fact that I am an ex-addict has so far had NO immediate barring on my ability to seem more "mysterious" and/or "interesting", despite certain rumors.

4. This entire experience has absolutely hindered my ability to have an intelligent conversation or seem at all interested in a potentially-intelligent conversation.

5. There is yet another contest to find out who will kill another band mate first.

6. "Ruling out no possibilities at all times" also means that sometimes I have to enjoy when and where I'm at, even if its just driving (and we all know how much driving can be a pain-in-the-ass).

7. Loneliness is harder the FURTHER you are from home.

8. There is no time for hesitation now...

9. I am beat beyond belief and there is no end in sight.

10. Dreams of peril for men of peril. Everything else is a lure to your definite end. Besides, if I didnt suffer from nightmares, I would sleep all the way through the living madness. THANKS NIGHTMARES!

12. "You too" is NOT a proper response to a sentiment like "Sweet Dreams" or "Nice to meet you" or anything of that caliber..U2 is a band, not a response.

(heart) Gene

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my birthday, so here's some bootlegs from the show we did in Fargo yesterday. (4 people showed up; it was awesome!)

Carpedium - This is a way better choice for our sound check than our hit song!
Summertime Roll - We figured out how to get the delay pedal working again, so we can play this song again.
It's a Good Thing - And yet... we still haven't gotten our sound issues ironed out. Dammit!
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - Too little, too late, sound system.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Once upon a time I was falling in love; then I was only falling apart.
Happiness - Whoo! We kept the beat on the bridge!
Fat Kid Emo Pants - Sing-alongs work best when only 4 people show!
thE32nd - (10)
Company - My books mention parachutes. I don't know what Gene's problem is.

2-fer except not really.

It's been two shows since I last posted bootlegs, so theoretically, there should be two sets of bootlegs. Unfortunately, yesterday's show was at Project Noise in Bismark, ND (a very cool venue. Check it out), and somehow we are unable to record successfully there. The first time we played, the recordings didn't turn out. This time, we forgot to make the recordings in the first place...

Anyway, Missoula! We played a sweet show with a bunch of experimental and hardcore bands including Moms, Fag Rag, and Filth Mattress. (Kind of like Rush with two drummers and no Geddy vocals, weird deerhoof-esque experimentation and squealing, and melodic hardcore but with a punk drummer and vocalist respectively).

We played this stuff:

It's a Good Thing - I have nothing witty to say.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - We're starting to get solid enough with this material that I have not quippy witticisms for you.
Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - "This song is about giant snot monsters attacking Russia. It's dedicated to the ladies!"
happiness - "This is our ballad, but we dedicated the last song to the ladies already... SO this one's for the dudes!"
Fat Kid Emo Pants - Drawing a blank on funny things to say again...
Karate - Once more, the movie where Jackie Chan was his own twin, not the one where he conducted a police investigation completely straight without doing anything funny at all.
thE32nd - (9)

The Other Team

Last night we headlined AND got paid $40, which we spent entirely on beer. After only an 11 hour drive from Montana, I'm beginning to see the financial sense in starting a band.

At the bar after, Gene and I hit it off with an all-girl birthday party.

Guy from band: Looks like you guys made some friends.
Me: I guess so.
Guy from band: I wonder if they play softball together.
Me: If they do, they're all batting for the other team.
Guy from band: (thoughtful pause) I wonder if they're lesbians.

A later non-sequitur from the same guy: Man, if I went to prison, I'd find the girlie-est looking guy and totally have sex with him.

More power to you my friend.

clicking links is easy..you can get off this ride whenever you want to..

Spirits of the Red City

MISSOULA

polebridge polebridge

ODE to the Roddes

and then there's ME..

xo GENE

Driving

Against all our best efforts, we played a second show in Montana last night. We pretty much rocked. Now, the 10 - 12 hour drive to Bismark, ND, where I guess we're headlining (but not being paid). That's how you know we're awesome.

A Show in Montana

For the 8 or so days we've spent in this glorious state, last night was the first time we played a show. The Missoula crowd convinced us to stick around for tonight's party, which is more in keeping with the party-don't-play-shows that I'm used to in Montana.

More quotes I had lying around:

Me: Can I get the keys?
Gene: Do you need your cocaine out of the van?
Me: That's right.
Gene: Well don't do too much.
Steve: To be fair though, we are rock stars.
The empty bar: silence.

This was a story Gene had the last time we were in Billings, which we're skipping today so we can party in Missoula.

I was dancing with this girl, and it's really fun. Then Mr. Stud walks in and that was the end of that. Steve left already, and I didn't remember how to get home, what the address was, or either of your numbers. Some guy spends the next hour and a half with me trying to get home. Finally I call my brother. I said, "What's the number I've been calling you from?" He said, "Do you realize it's 6:00am here?" I said, "IT'S 4:00 HERE! JUST GIVE ME THE NUMBER!" Then Steve picked up and we were right around the corner.

What?!? We played a show in Montana?!?

That's right! Over the past two weeks, various members of the band have spent about 8 days in Montana; last night was the first time we played a show instead of just partying.

We hadn't practiced in about a week, yet last night was one of our tightest shows so far. If only the PA had been badass enough to handle all that rock... (You might hear a little distortion on the mp3s.)

It's a Good Thing - Considering this is one of our best songs, we probably shouldn't open with in since we've never got our sound issues ironed out yet. Oh well, I suppose that just makes really good recordings of it extra special.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - You can tell we played this one well because we didn't cut the intro from the bootleg.
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - Where's part one, you ask? Well, you see, part 1 isn't as good. It's part of a rock operetta entitled "A Brief History of Canada." Obviously, part one is a low part of the quintet used only to establish plot. (Also, Dave probably would have vetoed it as "too nerdy.")
Happiness - You may have noticed that I'm rambling a lot in the commentary today. I'm not going to tell you why. Suffice to say, listen to that distortion on the synths! Weird!
Fat Kid Emo Pants - Guess who's gotten most into the sing a long part of this song so far:
   A. Drunk hecklers in a bar
   B. Actual emo kids
   C. Dave's friends in New York
   D. My friends in Eau Claire
   E. all-ages art school crowd
     Yup. The answer was B (though the drunk hecklers were pretty enthusiastic)
thE32nd - (8)
Company - Some encouragement would do us all some good, but you're not getting it!
Karate - No, we're not like Jackie in that movie where he worked as a TV chef either.

Share and enjoy

A Lot of Imaginary Action

Our band is good and all, but I'm personally most proud of our banter. The, uh, bits where we aren't playing our instruments. I guess most of the time it's a you-had-to-be-there kind of thing, but for kicks, here's the banter and a transcription from our last show.

The Audio

The Transcription

(we play Total Eclipse)
Audience: Yes!
Me: Zombie Dog!
Audience: Is that an original?
Me: That's original, we wrote that, most people don't know that about us. I still don't know who actually wrote that song. I keep saying it's Bonnie and Clyde or Sonny and Cher.
Steve: Bonnie Tyler.
Me: Oh yeah, this one's a good one. If I do say so myself.
Steve: This one's about giant monsters destroying Russia.
Me: It's in Russian actually, watch out.
(we play Adventures Of...)
Me: Oh yeah, so check it out. My brother wrote this software that plays along with the band. It's not just pre-recorded, it's actually, like, listening and responding.
Steve: We gave the computer sentience so it could play along with us.
Me: Yeah, but it's trying to take over the band, so we're kind of rethinking that one.
Audience: Like Terminator.
Me: Exactly. It's like Hal over here. "I'm not going to let you play that tempo Dave." That's funny because my name is Dave, so... Yeah, this one's good too, it's got a sing along bit which... You'll see it coming, it's pretty obvious.
Steve: It is.
Dave: Just follow me, I'm the drummer.
(we play Fat Kid Emo Pants)
Me: You see all that singing and drumming at the same time? That shit's hard man. Wait, I mean stuff. This is an all ages show isn't it. Don't tell your mom we just swore.
Steve: Did you notice that as soon as we mentioned the computer it turned it's volume way up? It thinks it's all important, like, "I'm the best member of the band!"
Me: "Computer solo!"
Steve: "Whoooo!" Um, should we do our ballad?
Me: Yeah, let's do the ballad.
Steve: You guys want to hear a ballad?
Me: This one's for the ladies!
(we play Hapiness)
Audience: That was lovely.
Me: Awwwwe. That was written for an imaginary girlfriend of the band's. That's not weird right? We're getting a lot of imaginary action on this tour, you guys have no idea. We're going to do one of Gene's songs. We picked this guy up in Toledo. He's like, "Can I be in your band?" To which we said, "Ok." That's about as complicated as that conversation was.
Steve: Turns out he's a cook!
Gene: I just got done reading Dale Carnegie, and I approached them very tactfully and said, "You guys are really good, but you need a bass player."
Me: Which is true.
Gene: "And I am a bass player. So you should take me." Dale Carnegie.
Me: We're all Dale Carnegie fans here I imagine, so... we've all read his latest books.
Steve: I have no idea who that is. Way to make me look like a moron.
(the mic is way too short for Gene)
Steve: Adopt a wider rock stance Gene.
Gene: This is a true story.
Me: Mostly about me.
(we play Karate)

Just some stuff and stuff

Katie: You remember how you used to borrow my toothbrush when you came to visit?
Me: Yeah. Why, you need to borrow my toothbrush?
Katie: No, but the dog did.

Steve: I was nonplussed.
Me: I think you're using nonplussed backwards.
Steve: Well then I was plussed.
Me: Plussed isn't a word.
Steve: Yeah it is, I plussed two and two to make 4.

Spokane

Right now Dave and I are in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada visiting our little sister; Gene is somewhere in rural Montana. Quick recaps of how we got here:

Friday, we played in Spokane, WA. At 8:00 we called a punk venue called the Cretin Hop. (Bootlegs below)
Friday night, instead of sleeping, we piled into the van to drive to Polebridge, MT for a July 4th party we'd heard rumors of.
Saturday, we partied in rural Montana with some friends from Missoula. Notable events there:
River surfing. Someone tied a surfboard to the bank of the river. We all took turns trying to surf on it. Dave, lacking clothing that would not get swept down the river opted to do so naked. We forgot to take pictures, but it looked like a much less majestic version of this:

Dave also tried to throw the van keys into the river. Fortunately, he missed by several inches, and we weren't stranded in Poleridge.
The drinking Frisbee game. It involved throwing Frisbees at empty beer bottles and drinking. Good times.
Music. A local band called "7 Smart Fellers" played pretty decent "jug band" country pretty much all day.

Today, we abandoned Gene with some Missoula friends so that Dave and I could come to Canada and visit some family. We'll get the tour back on track in about 4 days when we meet Gene in Missoula again.

Here's what we played in Spokane:
Total Eclipse of the Heart - We played "It's a Good Thing" first but forgot to record it. Is it ironic that our radio single is the song we have the fewest recordings of?
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - How does the octave jump sound? I think I'm keeping that!
Fat Kid Emo Pants - It was kind of a punky venue, so we got right to the punky music
Happiness - It was kind of a punky venue, so we... played our soothing love ballad?
Karate - We're like Jackie Chan in that movie where he was his own twin, NOT the one where he teams up with Chinese pop stars to fight vampires.
thE32nd - (7)

Hanging out with my bro'

My name's Steve; I'm Dave's little brother. I'm this many.

I like hanging out with my big brother. He's really cool. But sometimes he's mean too! He yells at me and calls me annoying, and sometimes he even beats me up!

But when he smokes pot, he becomes the coolest brother ever! He doesn't yell or anything. He says nice things and laughs at all my jokes. Hanging out with Dave is way more fun when he's high! Thanks weed!

50%

Yesterday marked the exact halfway point in our 64 day tour. We've been out here barely over a month, though it kind of fells like it's been years.

Anyway, we played at a biker bar. Aside from a few "tips" (wink, wink; nudge, nudge!), the audience was pretty lukewarm. But the beer they paid us in was cold, so they had that going for them. Anyway, here are our bootlegs, completely free of audience interference!

Summertime Roll - This is the version we played first, while our rhythm section was still relatively sober.
It's a Good Thing - Don't bother listening, it took us until adventures to get our sound issues ironed out.
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Seriously, you're just wasting your time clicking that link. Skip on to Adventures!
The Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - There ya' go!
Fat Kid Emo Pants - If I know one thing, it's that grizzled old bikers in Kaiser helmets love being called fat kids!
Happiness - We were going to do this one before Fat Kid, but the hot girls we wanted to dedicate it to had stepped out for a smoke.
"smoke" break
If I Gave You a Guitar - Some soothing Geneius music to ease us into our second set.
Bean and Joe - Dave demanded chelsea hotel. This was played instead?
thE32nd - (6)
Karate - We're not Jackie Chan from that movie where he teamed up with Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen either, just the one where he was his own twin.
I Am the Greatest - Ah, Boomerang looping pedal. How much ass can you kick?
Carpedium - I think you can consider this day seized.

Lessons learned - The computer is less prone to attempt to seize control of the band when we make it louder.
Old bikers really don't like being called fat kids.
Tire irons hurt.

Thanks Cody, Alice, and Portland

Our fine hosts in Portland showed us a great time, gave us a great place to sleep, and made us breakfast. They're my new favorites.

Last night at the last minute I got us a show at a local biker bar. We rocked medium hard, and got flashed twice, but I missed it both times! Gah!

Steve: It's a good thing we quit when we did as the rhythm section got more stoned after every break.

I should really be more on the ball about this

So here are the bootlegs from two days ago in Seattle. Last night's show doesn't have any recordings because I forgot the DR1 at our hosts' house.

Chris' poem - A guy named Chris came up to me before the open mic to ask if I could play some sweet guitar riffs along with his poem. I said ok. What resulted is some of the finest white-boy AABBCCDDEE... poetry you've ever heard! (Ok, maybe not finest, but it's better than For My Dad)

Adventures of Cristobal Pt. 2 - I should count my blessings that I didn't subtitle that song. Otherwise my wrists would already have fallen off from typing it.
Fat Kid Emo Pants - Sadly, all the kids (fat or otherwise) had left the open mic before we played this one.
It's a Good Thing - No Total Eclipse that night. They had a pretty staunch "no covers" policy.
I Am the Greatest - It just doesn't sound the same without the Boomerang. Wah de da, wah de da, WAAAAAAH!
Happiness - This song is quickly become the ballad I've played the most times.
Karate - Note: I am not like Jackie Chan in that movie where he had a robo-tuxedo; only in the one where he was his own twin.

Gene did a set on his own:
Company - I've got a set of those books where they mention love and parachutes. Let me tell you, that is a thrill ride!
thE32nd - (6)
Gene hasn't told me the name of this song yet - Apparently, the guy from Spirits of the Red City, whose songs all seem to be about alcoholism, broken relationships, and suicide thinks this song is pretty dark. Kudos, Gene! Kudos.

Quote Roundup

Last night's open mic in Portland was fun, and the bar had a great depressing/meth head vibe to it. The women's bathroom door said, "Drugs are your problem, don't make them our problem." There was a crazy older guy who was flash-dancing all over the place, doing somersaults and running backwards with high knees, that kind of thing. The bartender, while nice, didn't give me a free drink after I tipped him $2.50 on $5.50 worth of beer, played a set he really liked, and told him I only had a dollar left. He took my dollar and brought me back a 6 oz. glass of his cheapest beer. Haha!

This morning at 7:30 my phone started ringing. I couldn't find it, woke the entire band up, and finally got it. I got the message, "This is a reminder that your gas meter reading schedule will be updated to..." to which I (quietly) started yelling, "fuuuuck youuuu!" Then we slept in to 1:30.

Alright, quotes!

Steve: The super gas was the same price, so expect a little more ass kicking from the minivan this leg.

Gene: I'm doing laundry. Hopefully you don't mind if your underthings tumble with mine.
Steve: Just so long as they aren't tumbling with your sugar momma's underwear.
Gene: I think you missed the point of that entirely.
Me: Haha!