Show Journal 2009-06-05
Right from the get go this show was looking pretty grim. Traffic was awful, there was an insane windstorm, gas was stupid expensive and when we arrived to the venue Stupid in Stereo was playing to literally about 5 standing people. This is definitely not what you want to see after a 4 hour drive. They played well and seemed quite a bit more polished that I recall seeing them before. Props to Ryan and the boys for that. Reviver took the stage and played to even fewer standing people. This was a shame because they have been on tour for 2 months and although the crowd response was pretty weak, I thought they sounded good. Neutralboy was up 3rd and I was stoked to see them due to what I had seen and heard about them online. We don’t meet too many bands that have been at it longer than us and are still doing it all themselves. Quite a few more people trickled into the venue. It’s a shame the place wasn’t more lively because they played well, sounded good and were a step above most bands I’ve seen. The comment of the evening came from their singer who was attempting to antagonize the mostly seated bar crowd and said the following: “I can’t wait until I get back to Seattle tomorrow so when my friends ask how was Richland, I can respond it sucked because everyone sat on their lazy asses.” The reverse psychology actually worked as the place seemed to wake up for the last 2 songs. We played last and thank god some people came out of the woodwork and decided to go a little crazy up front. I do think it was the first time we’ve seen the bar section outnumber the all ages section but it was cool nonetheless. I was also very glad to see people knew the new songs since we hadn’t played there since December of 2007. All in all it turned out to be a pretty great night. Thanks to Dustin, Ray’s and all the familiar faces and friends who made it out to the show!