Show Journal 2001-12-15
What a weekend. The Deviates called us up a few weeks ago and asked us to play the last show of their tour in L.A. with them and The Line. Given the sad state of our last L.A. shows combined with our admiration of the Deviates we happily agreed to play the show without hesitation. The reality of it was that we would drive just under 1000 miles for one show. 18 hours in the van for 30 minutes of playing. Was it worth it? Hell yeah it was! With the company of Nate Dogg (who roadied our first tour) the drive down was actually a blast. We installed a VCR in the van before we left, so we just kicked back, watched movies and played Nintendo the whole way down. We joked around, ate junk food and the day flew right by. Plus, Portland has had over 30 straight days of rain so we were just excited to see the sun and clear skies. Periodically Jim would turn on the windshield wiper fluid to remind us of home. Nate decided that Justin’s new nickname was ‘Slim Shaky’ because of his often erratic driving. One cool thing was that we stopped in Redding to eat and there was a van in the parking lot with 2 of our stickers! We ended up sleeping at a truck stop somewhere near Bakersfield. Before sleeping Dave decided to watch one more “movie” in the parking lot. I’ll skip the details but rather than a “recreational vehicle” our van is now classified as a “procreational vehicle”. (Dave would prefer that all females reading this immediately forget the previous sentences and try not to draw any conclusions about his movie collection.) It was really cold in the van that night and to complicate things we had forgotten to crack the windows and woke up with condensation on everything. After a truck stop shower we drove on to L.A. and basically just hung out for the afternoon. We ate lunch outside at a little Mexican restaurant where a bird flew in, grabbed a beakful of my nachos, and then flew off. Little bastard. After that we cruised around L.A. for a while. Nothing quite like rolling down Rodeo and through Beverly Hills in our incredibly dirty and enormous white van. At one point we happened across the “L. Ron Hubbard Winter Wonderland” complete with choir and Santa Claus. Experiencing a Scientology Christmas was very strange indeed. On to the show … the show was a ton of fun for us but a little weird. Stranded was up first and I thought they rocked. Heavy, fast and good. They got a very lukewarm crowd reaction which was surprising since we were all so impressed with them. So we played next and here’s where it got weird. We played really well. Really, really well I would dare say. As hard as we played though, no one really got into it. A few people started a pit on a few songs but just like the first band the crowd just never really got into it. Some people cheered, some people clapped, some people booed but on the whole it was just a very apathetic reaction. No matter what the reaction we had a great time playing and were totally pleased with the way it turned out. The sound system was incredible, the stage was huge and it’s always cool to play for 500+ people! The Line and the Deviates said they enjoyed our set which was flattering for us. Since it was the last show of their tour and a big night for them we were stoked they liked it. I would have hated to suck on their big show! Speaking of not sucking The Line and The Deviates both played so well I can’t even put it into words. They both had endless energy and played each song faster and better than the one before it. The Line … my god they can rock. I had never heard them and was very impressed. The Deviates were on fire at this show. It was great to see them in their hometown crowd and their set was bordering on inspirational. So much so that we ended up listening to their CD 3 times on the way home. After the show we had to bail to start the haul back to Portland, so we said our goodbyes and headed out. We made it about 2 hours out of L.A. and slept at a truck stop that we have stayed at on two previous outings. It was really cold damn cold that night and we could see our breath in the van. The drive home was long. There were two snowy passes we had to cross and it rained for the last half the drive. I think we watched about 4 or 5 movies on that drive. Nothing too noteworthy to mention except that we learned a) the back seat causes people to have gas and digestive problems and b) when someone needs to go to the bathroom Justin is very slow to get out of the way. Thank you’s go out to The Deviates for asking us to play and making this so easy for us, The Line for being cool guys and rocking so hard, the staff at the Troubadour for being cool, Ty for coming our early, Robert for the chicken wings and the Doggfather for coming along for the ride and being part of the fun.
Show Journal 2001-12-10
Pretty cool show tonight. Since it was a Monday the turnout was kind of low but the crowd seemed pretty attentive and into the music the whole time. About the bands … Thirty 3 was great tonight. We practice just down the hall from them so it’s nice to hear them play without the muffling of a door. Jet Lag and Downway both really impressed me tonight. I had never heard either band and was totally surprised by both. Downway especially kicked everyone’s ass with their super fast and very catchy songs. Our set was o.k. We played a lot of new songs and it’s always hard to gauge everyone’s reaction to them. You think you’re playing them well, but you look and no one is moving, but then you realize no one know the songs. Well I suppose most people don’t think about that kind of crap on stage but I do so there you go. Anyway, we ended our set pretty strong so all was well. A few thank you’s go out to Jeff for setting up the show, Erica for having a birthday, Dan for doing nothing in particular other than asking me to mention him and lastly thanks to the guy who sang ‘Still The Same.’ The biggest thank you goes out to Meg and Paula who drove from Redding, CA for the show! 800 miles to see us play! Wow! We hope you got home safely and enjoyed ‘Condescend’!!!’
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Big show news
Show Journal 2001-11-17
Have I mentioned before that Longview rocks? Of course I have! I say it every time we play there. Tonight’s turnout was kinda small compared to previous Longview shows but still bigger than most Portland crowds. That says either really good things about Longview or really bad things abut Portland. The show tonight was really long but still pretty solid. The Lolligaggers were first and surprised us with 3 Misfits covers complete with the Danzig-esque howl. Nobody Wins was second and let me tell you I thought they rocked. Very energetic, very catchy and very good. A lot of people left when they played because the PA was so loud but those with earplugs were treated to a great set. Stunt Monkey was third and sounded pretty cool. Mostly I was impressed with their assortment of merchandise ranging from shirts to temporary tattoos. Longshot was 4th and I think this was the best I’ve ever seen them play. Once Chris Tucker stopped talking and Nate returned to the microphone they played an absolutely incredible set. The show tonight was billed as “800 Octane vs. Longshot” and I think they served us a TKO. So finally, four hours after the whole thing began we finally got to play. Also, after sitting motionless for 4 hours we decided to relieve Rick of his merchandise duties to enjoy himself while we played. In Longview fashion the show was great. “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb” continues to be a crowd pleaser and most of the other new ones went over nicely as well. We had 3 songs tonight featuring guest vocals!!! The guys from The Laxatives sang Day of the Dead, Brady sang … err … screamed all of Still the Same, and two members of Almost Heroes sang Berserker. I just want to say that I love the fact that people know the words to our songs well enough to want to come on stage and sing them. Without sounding cheesy it really means a lot to know people like your music so much. Anyway, all in all the show tonight was great. Thanks to TJ, Mocephus, Longshot, Out of Touch, and everyone in Longview!
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Oh my god
Show Journal 2001-11-10
Oh my god what a fun show! We had been looking forward to this one for weeks. Usually when you do that it’s a let down but not a chance tonight. This show was so much fun for us to play I can’t even put it into words. Pretty big crowd and just like all the past visits they were going off to the music. Half our set was new material and thankfully everyone rocked out just the same. For the older songs we even had a few people on stage singing along which is awesome to see because a) they know our songs and b) it keeps Justin from talking so damn much. Big thanks to Kaddisfly for helping us get on this show, big apology to Hydroponic for missing their set, thanks to Lacey for helping us sell stuff, and lastly a big collective ‘boo’ to Grey is Grey for having to cancel. Oh yeah, I would personally like to thank everyone who ate Justin’s doughnuts … that’s what he gets for not loading stuff in the van! Thanks again to everyone who stayed late and had a good time. Hopefully it won’t be 9 months next time.
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Happy Halloween everyone! Finally the 2001 Tour pictures have been added!!! Also the guestbook has gotten a slight makeover
Show Journal 2001-10-20
Ok, I take back what I said about the Ash Street last month. We actually had a very receptive and very enthusiastic crowd tonight. I thought we played great and what can I say … it was just a really, really fun show to play. We played a new untitled song as well as our newly crafted punk rock opus entitled “Bomb Osama Bin Laden”. All Out was up after us and those guys can still rock like no one’s business. I haven’t seen them play in quite some time and they seem like twice the band they were before. So much energy, so much personality … they rock. I Know Kung Fu was up next and as a homeless man in Chattanooga once said “everybody know that y’all turned it out”. They sounded great tonight … mostly because they played Logan’s Run and man I love that song. Interestingly enough this was the 4th time we’ve tried to book a show with ‘the Fu’ and this was the first one that actually came through, so I must say that I am still amazed. Hopefully the curse has been lifted. The Catholic School Girls were up last as I’m not sure what to say. Fast, loud, aggressive, large shirtless men with a bubble machine and toilet paper launcher. They put on a great set. All in all a very good show. Only time will tell if the Ash Street is this kind to us again.
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After eight months of waiting we finally have another show in Bend. It will be on Nov. 10th
Show Journal 2001-10-13
Usually when we drive 7 hours for just one show I start to complain about it but I gotta say this one was totally worth it! The show tonight was a benefit concert for the Red Cross and the NYC bombing. When it was all said and done the show pulled in well over $1000 to donate! For a punk rock show in a smaller town I think that’s incredible. The venue was a very large high school auditorium complete with balcony, spot lights, a big sound system and an enormous stage. We saw lots of familiar faces tonight which was really encouraging. Tons of people from the Chico show as well as our last appearances in Redding. Lots of 800 Octane stickers in the parking lot too! We missed most of All But Forgotten since we made a hamburger run to Bartel’s. I didn’t want to miss them but as Dave’s said “damn those burgers was good”. Spent was up second and I thought they sounded really good. After missing their set last time it was finally nice to hear them as a full band and not a three piece! Good job guys. Hand Over Fist. What can I say about Hand Over Fist? I think those guys absolutely rock live. They go from technical quiet parts to just balls out rock faster than you can blink. I think they are a great band and it will amaze me if they don’t go on to bigger and brighter things in music. Jimmirig was up next and they were just as impressive as last time. Catchy songs, great musicians … they are just a really solid band and nice as can be. We were up last and I think we played well. I figured everyone would be burnt out after watching 4 bands, but that was not the case. People moved, cheered and quite a few people actually knew the words which is always great to see. We played a brand new song tonight and it seemed to go over well. Heads kept bobbing the whole song but now that I think about it they could have just been hypnotized by Justin’s crotch. Anyway, I could go on and on but I’ll just say that it was just a really fun show to play. Mad props got out to Dave who became the first member of 800 Octane to get to sign a girl’s breast … and a fake one at that! Of course Stephanie got to touch them but if I elaborate more we could get arrested. Special thanks to Chad from Spent for putting this whole thing together … venue, lineup, staff, etc. People like him make me feel really lazy. Thanks again to everyone in Redding for another rad show.
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