Show Journal 2007-08-12
We’ve played two free house shows in the past few weeks and I couldn’t imagine having them being at any further opposite ends of the musical spectrum. One was a loud hot drunken mess in a dingy basement, while this one was outside near cute dogs, soft drinks, bowls of candy, a trampoline and a high ratio of straight edge folks. The reason for the season was Michelle’s 24th birthday. We actually had a horrible surprise planned for her where we were going to dress up as clowns. Seriously. In fact we all spent quite a bit of time and money procuring appropriate clown attire over the past week. However after having to setup the gear, change band lineups on the fly and soak in how few people were in attendance we opted against it at the very last minute. We do apologize to the few who were in on the secret and attended the show in hopes of seeing that spectacle. The good news is, sometime, somewhere, someday we will put those shoes, oversized neckties and horns to good use when everyone least expects it. Broadway Calls opened the show and yes, they are still my favorite local band. Now that I have their CD in my possession and have learned many of the songs I like them even more. Every time they play it makes me want to quit because we’ll never write hooks that good. I’m not sure we did as well but we did have one secret weapon up our sleeve, a whipped cream pie with Michelle’s name all over it. Predictably she came up to sing Golden Road and when we got to “her part” Justin smacked her in the face with a cream pie. That wasn’t some sort of sexual innuendo; it was literally a whipped cream pie. Within seconds it was picked up off the ground and applied to Dave’s face, only with the less appealing addition of dirt and grass. Yuck. The New Found Glory Holes were up last. They could best be described as several guys who probably know better, playing pop punk songs and sung by a gang of people who knew not all, but many of the words. By all accounts it really was pretty terrible, but then again I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be. It did make me smile though and in all reality I think that was the goal. Happy b-day to Michelle and thanks to those who attended on a lazy Sunday.
Show Journal 2007-07-28
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to play a good basement show. Our recent Portland shows have ranged from “sort of ok” all the way to “totally underwhelming” so when Krush Klamath asked us to play their basement we were all over it. Everyone there was totally cool and although we didn’t know too many people we all seemed to know the same people. All night was a perpetual game of two degrees of separation. Before the show we headed over to Dial A Pizza. Let’s just say I was correct to be skeptical of any place offering two pizzas for $9.99. Should have been dial a toilet for the next half hour. Embrace The Kill (aka – most of Valid Effort) opened the show playing a handful of good songs. Krush Klamath was the main attraction and I was totally impressed. Their songs were catchy but totally rocking too. In fact I should point out all of those dudes were totally cool too. All I knew was their song called ‘Can’t Skate’ from the Crash Assailant comp and I really enjoyed seeing them play in person. We played last and it was a blast. It was incredibly hot by the time we went on, people were sloppy drunk, the floor had about a quarter inch of beer on it and we were playing on borrowed gear. I swear I lost about 5 pounds from sweat alone. Totally fun evening. Thanks to Krush Klamath for setting everything up and letting us use your gear!
Want to see what boredom looks like?
How’s this for too much information? A complete map of cities we’ve played in. Kind of hurting on the midwest but that’s an awful lot of tiny towns in OR/WA.
Somone likes our band!
Got an e-mail from a guy named Brandon on MySpace who liked our band and made a post about it. It’s always a glad thing to be mentioned in the same company as the Suicide Girls. Check out Brandon’s Yahoo Group here.
Listen to Viva LaLuna on tonight
There’s a new radio show in Portland called Viva LaLuna airing on KUFO on Sunday at 9:00 PM. Not sure if they’ll play us or not (fingers crossed) but a show playing local music on a big radio station is always a good thing. You can listen live or via the web at kufo.com. Let’s show them some love because they seem very cool and aim to play all styles of music as long as it’s local and good.
Our van is really starting to suck
Unfortunately, we couldn’t make tonight’s show in Roseburg due to a van problem. This year alone it’s been rendered undriveable at least 3 times. We’re contemplating changing the title of ‘Get In The Van’ to ‘Get Out Of The Van and call a tow truck’. In 2007 alone we’ve had the brakes seize up, first gear stopped working, electrical problems, brake lights that stopped working and oil leaks. I’m glad Dr. Kevorkian is back out of jail as we might be right ready to employ Oregon’s assisted suicide laws and have it euthanized. We do apologize to Carlson who set up the show and all in Roseburg who were hoping to see us. Playing there again is long overdue and we promise to reschedule.
Show Journal 2007-07-13
Now that was a damn fun show. Sadly Mourningstar couldn’t make it due to a tour cancellation. You know, come to think of it at our last show in Richland the touring band we were going to play with cancelled too. In fact both shows were on a Friday the 13th. Weird. Although Mourningstar was absent Stupid In Stereo filled in which was cool because we knew their singer from a previous band in Pullman. Nice to see them play finally. I don’t have much else to say about the show other than that it was a total blast to play. Kind of a small turnout compared to some past shows, but I think we played well and that’s something. Thanks to all at Atomic, the other bands and those who stayed until 1:00 in the morning to see us play!
Show Journal 2007-06-09
The show tonight started off with a hearse rally. What’s a hearse rally you ask? It was a gathering of the Coffin Cruisers club of Portland and despite the rain they brought out about 13 hearses of varying age and styles. I didn’t see it until a few had dispersed but pretty cool to see darkening up the otherwise hippie-ish part of town. The show was cool. Missed the first band but Hot Rod Carl was pretty damn good. Antiworld was up third and I thought they sounded a little more rocking than normal. They are quite possibly some of the nicest people we know and we don’t get to play with them enough. Our set was uneventful and that’s a good thing. Pretty solid, no major mistakes, all good as the kids used to say. Sado-Nation was last and really caught all of us off guard. They started in 1982 and completely and totally rock. Seriously the guitar player was amazing and despite being several years older than us (and we’re old) I think they had just as much energy as we did on stage, quite possibly more. Very impressive and I’d like to see them again for sure. Thanks to all who attended and to Mt Tabor and Antiworld get getting us on the show!
Slow month fo’ sho’
Well, it’s kind of been a bummer of a month. The split CD still isn’t done, the August tour might be postponed until later in the year and due to personal schedules we’ve only got one show in June and three in July. Slow going is an understatement. The good news is the weather is changing for the better, Eric and Dustin are up to the hard level in Guitar Hero, Justin has a new dog and Dave is expecting a new two legged addition to his family! We’re on a new compilation called ‘Corruption Of American Youth’ on Crash Assailant Records. Also, we appeared in the first Scene Not Herd sampler CD out of Longview, WA. Both are worth the look up. Good stuff! Oh yeah, we still have shirts for sale here.
Show Journal 2007-05-18
Ok, now that was a pretty fun show. I would even dare say it reminded me of the “good old days” of Longview shows. Lots of kids just there to see some decent live music which was a welcome change from the dwindling attendance over the past few years. I guess if you have Broadway Calls in your hometown why would you bother seeing anyone else? I wouldn’t. Anyway, solid lineup, solid crowd, solid show. Bowels? Not so much. One way mule was not what I expected. They had a very diverse sound and lots or refreshingly original guitar parts and sounds that went from radio friendly rock to metal to punk. Pretty cool stuff. It was great to finally see Dead Fucking Serious play featuring Sam and Chris from EPD/This Day’s End. The song were definitely abrasive enough to be worthy of containing the f-bomb in their band name. It was an awful lot of hostility from a frontman short one testicle. Maybe that explains it? Our set was fun. Justin went through broken strings on both guitars and couldn’t work his strap for at least one whole song but what else is new? All in all we had a very fun time playing. Jackmove was up last and killed it like always. I always forget how incredibly bad ass they are until I see them again. They are kind of like Zeke but a little catchier. Very cool night so thanks to the usual suspects who always show us a good time in Longview.
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