Show Journal 2004-05-11
I had been warned that the Black Forest was “a freedom rock kind of bar”. I had visions of wood paneling, neon beer signs, dartboards, and those video poker machines with the naked girl pictures on them. I was surprised to find that it was clean, had a stage with lights and was populated by reasonably cool looking people. The Wobblies were first and pretty entertaining to watch. We were second and got a pretty lukewarm reaction. No one really left and they clapped and cheered, but then again no one really moved either. Of course when was the last time we played a bar in Eugene? Exactly. The Independents were third and Dave absolutely loves this band. After our set Justin and I wandered down to the Circle K to get some drinks. After the clerk tried to sell us a copy of Legally Blonde 2 we slowly wandered back to the club. Real slowly. In fact we missed the Independents. Dave and Jim both said they were real good so we’ll have to take their word for it. I still can’t believe I totally missed them. PB Army was last and was pretty rocking. Under normal circumstances they might have been more rocking but it was 1:30 in the morning and for me no one sounds really good that late. Thanks to Evin for the show, Jessica for the roadie skills, Conor for his quick yet terribly inefficient microphone repair, and to Darin and Tim for driving from Newburg.
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After messing around with flash, coding, and databases for hours on end we posted what seemed to be the best layout. Ironically of all the web site versions we came up with it was the easiest to make. Too bad that other 40 hours of Eric’s life will never be reclaimed. Anyway, we’ve removed some things, changed some others and will slowly be adding more. Other news … new mp3’s and a DVD preview video clip will be posted on May 18th. Also on that day we will begin taking advance orders for the new CD which will be discounted slightly and shipped before the public release on June 8th. Lastly, if you live near Portland or Seattle come check us out with Zebrahead this weekend!
Show Journal 2004-04-22
When we pulled up to the club tonight Dave backed the van up perilously close to a dumpster. As I reached for the door handle and mentally prepared myself to squeeze out between the van door and dumpster a bum’s head peered up, slowly swiveled left and right to survey his surroundings, locked eyes with me and then slowly ducked back down to the safety of the dumpster. It’s sounds awful, but I absolutely could not stop laughing. We still had Dave’s dirty Santa Claus hat in the van (from the bum show last year) and contemplating getting in the dumpster with him to see if he’d say anything. Yes, my name is Eric and I’ll see some you in hell. Anyway, it was early and it was a weeknight but it seems that our crew was out in force tonight. As people started filing in the door I’d find myself saying “oh, I know them” at about every other person that entered. Kinda cool to get so much support for a local show. Spare Lead was up first and was the first time I’ve seen them with their new and totally rocking drummer. Musically they are in a totally different place than they were even a year ago and they were pretty impressive. We were up second and had a blast playing. No matter how many times I see it I can’t get enough of people’s fists in the air and the singing along. It makes me tingle in places that shouldn’t tingle. Aside from the carpeting on my side of the stage that kept coming up in pieces and causing me to nearly do the splits on several occasions it was great. Nuclear Saturday was third and totally owned it. I’ve been obsessed with their last album since it came out, so I had impossibly high expectations. I was definitely not disappointed. Damn, homeboy can sing. Totally cool guys too. Not Long After was the headliner and in an effort to plug their new CD they even raffled off a signed guitar. How cool is that? I hadn’t seen NLA play in about a year and they sounded tight and better than ever. I realize that the 4 NSR bands that played tonight aren’t the biggest bands in town, nor is NSR the biggest label around, but it was damn cool being part of this show and this group of people. I wish all our shows were this fun but if they were then I might not appreciate them.
Show Journal 2004-04-14
I witnessed the coolest and most flattering thing I’ve ever seen in this band … an actual 800 Octane tattoo. Yep, Joel (aka – the guitar player from BXF) likes our band enough to mark his body with our skull logo. Man, after 10 years that was one of the best feelings ever. Of course now whenever Joel sees us I feel like we have a lot to live up to! Anyway, I can’t believe it had been 6 months since we had been to Longview. Despite the long wait the show was good. Real good. The Hordel rocked with super heavy metal/hardcore riffs. We played second and I thought it went well. We played 6 or 7 new songs that seemed to get a good response. The Code was third and I thought they rocked. Sadly, about half the crowd was outside and missed out on their super fast political punk anthems. AAA was last and seemed much more lively than they were when we saw them on Monday. Thanks to all who arrived early and hung out on a weeknight. Also, props to TJ for hooking us up with the show and all those who braved the ferry.
Show Journal 2004-04-09
Damn fine show tonight. A lot of people hung out late despite the lengthy show (which is always appreciated), we talked to lots of people, played lots of new stuff, busted out ‘Next Exit’ for someone, had a fun sound guy and pretty much just had a good time. Sadly we missed the first two opening bands so our apologies to them. No real comedy or drama to report so I guess that’s really about it for this one. Thanks to Crystal, Kaylin, PJ, and the folks in the other bands we met!
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A date has been set for our CD Release show … June 4th at the Nocturnal. Cheap show, discounted CD’s, and street team people get in free! Mark your calendar!
Show Journal 2004-03-20
We’ve had a real hit or miss relationship with Spokane over the years. A few hits way back in the day and a series of misses for the past few, oh, 3 or 4 years. For the first time in many moons we actually a) had more than 8 people in attendance and b) saw a glimmer of interest for at least part of our set. This was very encouraging since after completing the math we realized for each minute of playing we spent 22 minutes in the van. The first two bands were pretty entertaining. The first band played ‘Sex And Violence’ by The Exploited which oddly enough we covered a few times back in the NC days. The second band was a little tighter and was also pretty entertaining to watch. We were up third and I think the general reaction was “ok, what the hell is this?”. When we started there were only a handful of people up front (several of which had driven from Richland) and by the end of 4 songs, there were still only a handful of people up front. We decided to unearth our cover of ‘Halloween’ which thankfully seemed to wake everyone up (even starting a pit) and also seemed to grant us a temporary approval rating from the initially uninterested crowd. The second half of the set was much better for everyone involved and made the drive worthwhile. It should also be noted that to the left of me was a guy with a mohawk shoving his hands down the pants of a younger girl. At first I thought “ewww” but later the lecherous and seedy side of me hoped for a second look. Ahhh, teenage romance. The Creeps played last and holy crap they rocked it. Despite the small crowd of 50-60 there was seriously painful looking circle pit which just added to the chaos of The Creeps already energetic set. Afterwards we stopped at Dick’s where Dave consumed 3 whammy burgers in less than 5 minutes. The drive home sucked ass but what else is new. Major props to the Richland crew who made the drive to see the show, Josie for bailing on her play to see us, and the Creeps for helping us out with our first decent Spokane show in a long time.
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Recording for the new album is complete. Now it’s off to get mastered w/ Rodney Mills in Atlanta. Also, it looks like we are shooting for an early June release date. Thanks to Conrad Uno at Egg Studios and also to Kevin and Sam for the place to crash!
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We’re headed back up to Seattle this evening for the final 4 days in the studio. On a different note, check out the show list … we finally have a Portland show confirmed. $2 show yo!
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New interview posted with Justin and Eric for a webzine called Artsy Noise.
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