Show Journal 2002-07-14
We finally got to play the Warped Tour and you know what … it was actually pretty cool. We left on Saturday afternoon and drove straight to S.F. through the night. We did see a pretty large wildfire which was kind of cool. We arrived to the venue around 5:00 AM but they weren’t allowing extra vehicles in the lot so we were instructed to park outside the gate along the street. After about 2 hours of sleep we woke up to meet our Ernie Ball contact person and load in our stuff. Since we were playing on the Ernie Ball stage we were given special “Ernie Ball VIP passes” which kind of equates into being a second class citizen at the show. You can’t go backstage, you can’t park in the band lot and you have to use the main gate to go in and out. Kind of a pain the ass for an all day event but I kept reminding myself it was free. The venue was totally cool … it was on a pier on the water beside the Bay Bridge and you had a perfect view of the city. The first few hours of the show were cool, Justin and I wandered around and watched tons of bands. I think the highlight was seeing Hot Water Music … after seeing them live I have a new found appreciation for that band. Awesome place to hang out! Around 2:00 we went to set up and play. Oddly enough we ran into a group of people from Portland there! They were following the Warped Tour for a few days and were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Quite a few people stopped to watch us which was very encouraging. Some people even moved which was very nice to see. We sold quite a few CD’s despite not having a merch booth and felt good about our set. We watched a few more bands (most notably The Line) and after an hour or two we were all pretty burnt out on seeing bands so we decided to pack it up and head back. (Speaking of ‘burnt out’ I have never been so sunburnt in my entire life. As I type this I have a bright red face with swollen blisters. I am not happy.) All in all the day was good but the drive home totally sucked ass. About 30 minutes outside of S.F. we decided to stop at In And Out Burger. We couldn’t find it and ended up driving on a road parallel to the interstate for a few miles to a Burger King. We got some food, started driving and after about 30 minutes realized we could see the Sacramento skyline. In a cruel twist of fate it turns out the turn towards I-5 was at the exit where the In And Out Burger was. There is nothing as discouraging as starting a 11 hour drive and realizing you just added an extra hour to it. The rest of the drive was grueling … we kept having to stop to take naps because we couldn’t stay awake. Thanks to my sunburn I was driving with swollen eyes. Well, despite the miserable drive the whole experience was great. Thanks to everyone who traveled to see us including Stephanie from Redding, Angela from Portland and extra huge thanks to Kevin, Sam, Al and Chris for traveling from Seattle!
Show Journal 2002-07-05
Yet another good Longview show for the books. We finally got to hear The Laxatives which was cool since those guys ALWAYS come to our shows! The Amazombies were up next and they were awesome. Jim and I listened to their CD on the way home and determined that it is also awesome. The Daryls were up third. Fast, funny, catchy and clever, you just gotta love those guys. Last was Dirt Bike Annie and holy mother of rock … they were awesome! They have elevated the art of synchronized rock star moves and poses to the greatest of heights. They sounded huge too. Our set was fun as usual. Guest vocals, crowd singing, what more could we ask for? The quote of the night was overheard outside the club and goes like this “my love for you is like diarrhea … I just can’t stop it.” Thanks to all the Longview regulars, Darin and crew, TJ, and the guys from Shoot For Friday and Countdown to Life.
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Happy 4th of July. We aren’t doing anything particularly special but we do have piles of new 2002 Tour pictures posted. Most have little or nothing to do with music but that’s half the fun. Check them out and then remind yourself that Kevin is the man.
Show Journal 2002-06-29
Well the Widmer Dock Rock actually kind of rocked! It was a big show sponsored by KNRK featuring 5 local bands who had previously appeared on the morning show. The venue was interesting … the stage was actually on the loading dock of a brewery! Pretty cool setup, nice weather, what more can you ask for? All the bands were very good today and it was a nice change of pace to see some different styles of music. Plus all of the bands were all really cool. We didn’t see any rock star attitudes that you might expect to find at an event like this and everyone was totally friendly. As for the performances most of my props are reserved for Longshot who absolutely tore through their set and left people begging for more. They are so good they make me want to quit. The show had to be wrapped up by 9:00 and since everyone was running late we were only allowed to play 15 minutes. We managed to squeeze in 6 songs and I think everyone seemed to have fun. Big thanks to the KNRK for finally taking notice of the bands in their back yard. There are plenty more good ones out there to choose from so they’ve got their work cut out for them. Thanks to all out friends who came out!
Show Journal 2002-06-26
Today was our second time on the morning show and it was much more laid back since we knew what to expect! Daria and Gustav were on vacation so Nik and Dan were the hosts of the show today. We watched ‘Fast Times At Ridgemont High’ on a huge projection screen to pass the time between music segments. It worked out that every time there was nudity on the screen someone on the NRK staff would walk by, do a double take and then stare at us disapprovingly. I’ll be surprised if Josh isn’t sued for sexual harassment by creating a hostile work environment.
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Big thanks to everyone who voted for us in the KNRK / Widmer’s Dock Rock showcase! Because of your votes we get to play this cool sounding show. Too bad it was determined by voting … it would have been cool to see all of the bands play.
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We came back from tour to discover we are playing on the San Francisco stop of the Warped Tour! We are on the Ernie Ball stage which should be kind of fun. Oh yeah, we should have some pictures from our Midwest tour with STFS up in the next week or so.
Show Journal 2002-06-15
Day 9 – Today started with a round of sink showers (aka – whore baths) and then we pressed onwards. As expected the drive today was pretty uneventful … lots of movies, hamburgers at Dick’s and more movies. We did a little over 1000 miles today (a new record) and got into Portland around 2:00. All in all it was a pretty fun trip. I wish we had more shows but oh well. Thanks to everyone who helped us out, came to the shows and made this fun for us. Super big thanks to Derik, Damon and Adam … seriously you guys are one of the coolest bands we have ever played and hung out with!
Show Journal 2002-06-14
Day 8 – The morning started with a freezing cold shower but I got my money back, so it was cold but free shower. During the day we watched a few movies, listened to some new music, took lots of naps and pulled about 900 miles in the van. There were lots of cool storms and lots of movies to be seen so the time went by quickly. We did stop at the Space Aliens cafe in Bismarck but it was pretty gross this time and I don’t think I want to return again. At some point after dinner we drove through a swarm of moths and were hitting one on the windshield every few seconds. When you turned on the high beams it was like driving in snow. It lasted about 5 minutes and was so absolutely disgusting to scrape off. We crashed out in a rest stop outside of Billings.
Show Journal 2002-06-13
Day 7 – Today we started off with our trip to Six Flags which was totally what we needed for a day off and last day with STFS. The cool thing was that it was overcast and a little cold so there was hardly anyone there. On some of the older rides they actually told us if there is no one in line you can just stay on it! That’s almost unheard of at Six Flags. Usually you wait 30 minutes for even the crappiest of rides. We rode so many rides it was amazing, some we even went on 3 or 4 times. Awesome, awesome day. The only thing that kinda sucked was Derik getting sick. After the second ride he turned ghost white, started sweating and puked every time he stood up. He ended up sleeping in the infirmary for most of the day. Later he told us he was sweating for two hours and puked a few more times. God I really felt awful. By late afternoon he met back up with us and we all felt a little better once we saw he was doing ok. It was so much fun and I really can’t imagine having a better day to hang out with everyone. After the roller coaster extravaganza we went out for one final dinner with STFS. It was pretty cool reminiscing about the trip and the other stuff that happened. I’m a little jealous they still have two more weeks of shows but that’s how the cards fell. We had a great time with them and after so many truck stops, late night meals and conversations I almost felt like we were all in the same band. Huge thanks to them for the shows, the fun and just being cool as hell. We said goodbyes, wished them good luck and managed to get one last food projectile at their van. The unfortunate thing is that we now have to drive straight back to Portland from there which was a very, very long way. 2200 miles to be exact! After nearly 30 roller coaster rides and 300 miles of driving that night when the van finally stopped we all slept like babies.
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