Eric's Show Journal - posted on April 20, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-04-20

Oh my god Longview ruled tonight! I think that was the best show we’ve ever had there. There were tons of people there which was totally cool to see since we were “the headliner”. Perhaps it was the influence of 4/20 but there was a lot of weird crap going down early in the evening. The night began with NTTY observing a drug deal, an hour later rumors circulated of a drunk man in the bathroom attempting to solicit “favors” from guys, later a drunk woman from the bar next door kept starting fights with girls half her age, at one point a fight broke out between some intoxicated Longview locals at the bar, and the climax of it all was when a guy on a Harley decided to drive his bike full speed through a crowd of kids. It seemed like every five minutes someone would come up and say “did you hear about …” and follow up with a story more outrageous than the one before it. All that weird crap kind of added to the atmosphere though as no one really ever had time to get bored. As for the music Shoot For Friday started things off right and sounded great as usual. They are going on a 5 week tour in June, so keep your eyes open … they will probably be playing near you. Next was No Thanks To You. I think their style caught the crowd a little off guard but by the end most people really dug them. The four of us were totally impressed and to quote Jim “damn, those guys are good.” The Daryls were up next and just like the night before they rocked. The Longview crowd knew their songs which was cool because their style of music is so much cooler to watch when people know the words. Our set felt great and probably ranks in our top five shows ever. We all had a great time playing and it was cool to finally be able to play songs from “our new album”. Didn’t think I’d ever hear those words again! Super big thanks to everyone who made this cool … Dan, Brady (and others) for vocals, Matt for his bass playing on Berserker, TJ for setting up the show, everyone who stayed late and stayed awake. Most of all huge props go to the guys who came out from Tri-Cities!

Eric's Show Journal - posted on April 19, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-04-19

It’s been a while since we played somewhere totally new so we were all pretty stoked on playing Bainbridge Island. The drive up was nice because going up and down I-5 to Seattle really gets to be a drag sometimes and the variety was a welcome change. The show was at a high school and since we were there so early we decided to grab a basketball and play a game of Horse. Sadly though the game took about an hour since none of us could make it in the basket. Despite the lack of actual running involved in Horse, the three old men in the band (i.e. – not Justin) were all tired afterwards and regretted our decision to play before a show. The show itself was pretty fun. There were quite a few people there and they actually had two band areas set up which was kind of cool. The first band (made up of two VERY young kids) played first on the main stage. After that there was another band (who’s name is escaping me right now) setup in the opposite corner of the floor. They played while we setup which was pretty unique because it didn’t give people time to get bored. When we were done setting up, they stopped playing, we started and life was good. The show was cool but I must confess that the sound on stage was awful, bordering on terrible. The amps were all about 3 feet in front of Jim so he couldn’t hear anything we were playing. The stage monitors weren’t working and as we later discovered they weren’t plugged in. (Insert groaning sound here). Still there was a crowd, they stood up front and they seemed to dig us so we can overlook the terrible sound on stage. When we finished, the other band (the one in the corner) played again, and eventually the Daryls took the stage. They sounded great and the kids loved them. That’s not a surprise though because they totally rock. After that the show wrapped up and we all got to bail pretty early. Thanks to Kelvis, Sam and Chris for walking the trail of tears to come see us play.

Eric's Show Journal - posted on April 17, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-04-17

Last time we played on KPSU we had a ton of phone calls. At the time Wookie (the host) told us it was the most calls he ever had on his show. Since we previously had such a good turnout we were asked us to play during pledge week for KPSU to help them make a few extra bucks. We played some live songs (6 of them), played some tracks from the new album, did an interview and donated some signed merchandise. This all seemed like a good way to help KPSU make money but during our hour long visit only one person called in to donate. Either something good was on TV tonight or we just really sucked … I’m not sure which. We still had a good time despite the painful lesson in humility. Oh yeah, hello to The Speds.

Eric's Show Journal - posted on April 5, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-04-05

I’ll keep this one brief … Jackmove was awesome, Burnout was good, Suburbia was amusing, the Ash Street staff was cool and Nate Dogg was in ‘da house.

Eric's Show Journal - posted on March 19, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-03-19

Nothing too earth shattering to report tonight. Small turnout but it was a Tuesday so what do you expect? Seeing New Society was pretty cool. I think they have a new singer now. Interestingly enough their guitar player used to play in a band we played with back in 1997 so it was cool seeing him again. I should also point out that The Gamits played very well this evening as they always do. Even Lyle liked them and Lyle hates everything! Also, if you like your rock really fast do yourself a favor and check out Downway … they are a fantastic band. Very tight and very fast. Thanks to all our repeat customers who came to see us on a Tuesday. Extra special thanks to Jeff for setting up the show, Mocephus for help on the staircase of doom and a shot out to Rob The Stalker for not making us play ‘Metal Guys.’

Eric's Show Journal - posted on March 16, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-03-16

In the words of Stuntmonkey I think this show lasted about 2 days. Truth be told there was 9 bands in all and the show lasted about 8 hours total. Pretty long show but not nearly as bad as it sounds. Seeing Burnout again was really cool and A Time Too Many was a major surprise as well. Countdown To Life was f*ing incredible. Justin and I stood up front and drooled uncontrollably at one super bad ass guitar part after another. Those guys were way beyond rock … they were like the whole damn quarry. I could ramble on and on about how good every other band was but instead I wanted to tell everyone about the cool kids in Longview that come to see us at EVERY show. Dan, Cam, Brady, Matt, Mason and the others who’s names are escaping me right now … they come to every show, they stand up front, they move around, they know the words and they sing along to every song they know. It’s not just guys either, the girls come out and rock just as hard. What makes it really cool is that they go and support every band with the same enthusiasm. It’s the coolest thing in the world and it makes Longview one our favorite places to play. Can’t wait until April when we have a new recording for everyone there!!!

Eric's Show Journal - posted on February 13, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-02-13

Dude, who expected 300 people on a Wednesday? Certainly not me! Super cool show tonight. The Civies sounded cool with their fast Rancid-esque style. Nekromatix was really good too. There were a little more subdued than the other bands but their cool look and coffin bass more than made up for it. Tiger Army headlined and oh my word, Tiger Army rocked! The crowd went nuts for them and it was great to watch. Since their CD travels everywhere we do in the van we all knew the songs and were very impressed. Oh yeah, we played too. I would dare say I really like playing at the Meow Meow. All our shows there have been fantastic and this one was probably the best one yet. I think the funniest part of the evening was when someone snatched away our set list and scrawled their own personal favorites onto it. Very innovative way to hear your favorite songs. Big thanks to Mike Thrasher and crew, Tiger Army, Mocephus, the cookie girls, and of course the almighty SDS.

Eric's Show Journal - posted on January 26, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-01-26

Yet another great Bend show for the record books. Big crowd, cool bands and my ears are still ringing so things must have been good. It was nice to finally see Hydroponic play (since we missed them last time) and I thought they sounded great. Kaddisfly played well also and I’ve gotta say they are one of the nicest bands we’ve ever played with. Nothing else too exciting to report, just a really fun show. Thanks again to all our friends from Bend who came out to support us!

Eric's Show Journal - posted on January 18, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-01-18

A little over a year ago we were proudly shouting “Fuck the Paris Theater” to any and everyone who would listen. After tonight’s show I gotta say that my opinion is changing. Everything about tonight was really good. The sound was good, the staff was cool, the new sound guy was great, the lineup was good and most importantly the crowd was cool! This was our 8th show there and easily the most people I’ve ever seen in the Paris for a show of all local bands. The first two bands tonight were very energetic and pretty cool to watch. Spare Lead was good tonight as well and the crowd really seemed to dig them. The miniature drum contest was awesome! No Thanks To You was absolutely incredible tonight. I hadn’t seen them play in a while and they were amazing. They seemed so much heavier than I recall but still catchy at the same time. All members of 800 Octane were impressed. Even after four bands, there were still so many people at the Paris it would have been impossible for us not to have a good time. We played a bunch of new stuff and during mid set we played our Dramarama cover. Sadly I can count the number of people who knew it on one hand but it was still fun. Highlights of our set include Dave accidentally spitting on Justin, me playing bass at the end of Feeding Time when my guitar cord broke, and Dave unknowingly showering the sound guy and expensive PA equipment with bottled water! Thanks to all of our friends that showed up … too many to list … but you all know who you are! Thanks to NTTY for asking us to play and also thanks to The Paris for helping change our opinion about your club!

Eric's Show Journal - posted on January 16, 2002 by

Show Journal 2002-01-16

Tonight we got to play live on the ‘Argy Bargy’ punk show on KPSU in Portland and damn it was a lot of fun! The most exciting part of this for me was that we got the rare opportunity to play the song ‘Radio’ on the radio. (What a sad world I live in when these are the moments which define my life.) Anyway, after that we played about 7 more songs, did a real short interview and then took some calls. The calls were in fact nothing more than a glorified opportunity to shout ‘whazzup’ over the radio airwaves at every caller and then to insult Justin in a public forum. At least we refrained from using the ‘F’ word like our irresponsible host! Thanks to Wookie for inviting us to play and thanks to all who tuned in on the web and in Portland!