The mini-tour was fun. It was booked last minute but every show was fantastic.
Here are pics from the tour: facebook.com/357lover
Here’s video of the Nashville show:
Here’s a dog napping on my belly while I watched Drag Me to Hell:
Here’s a dog watching Dave play Red Dead Redemption:
Here’s us blowing out the sound of the video in Akron:
Here’s the last show of the tour in Denton, TX:
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Archive for the 'Blog/Tour Diary' Category
I played Colgate University a couple of weeks ago. It’s up in Hamilton, NY. Not having a car, I hitched a ride with my friend, Jerm, who had a show up in Potsdam. He wanted the company and some help with gas. It’s a really pretty drive from NYC to Hamilton. It was snowing on the way up and a few times we found ourselves in patches of blizzards.
Neither of us had phone service at the point we past Sidney which meant that the gps on Jerm’s phone was gone. So, we bought an old-timey map which worked perfect.
I neglected to find out where on campus I was playing, so I wandered a bit. I asked someone and she pointed me to downtown Hamilton. I had a nice walk.
I got to the venue, The Barge, and camped out in the back. The manager, Susan, introduced herself and hooked me up with a place to stay, so I canceled my hotel.
It was a fun set. Everyone was really pleasant. I met my hosts for the night and they took me to the beer store. Upstate NY makes really good beer.
My new friends – showed me a good time with food from their respective jobs, beer and wine. Such lovely people. Randy and Joe have a band called Rabbit in the Rye. They played some songs in the kitchen. The kitchen is the best place for songs.
Goodnight, Mo.
When I got back, I got a nice handwritten letter from them.
Day 4
I opted to ride with the Petrojvic brothers. Charles wanted to leave right after the show rather than get up early.
One of my favorite drives is Oregon through northern California.
It was hard to sleep in the truck but I got a few good naps in. We pulled over to a quiet road near Mt. Shasta at dawn to sleep but because it was so pretty we stayed awake.
We listened to a Dune audiobook for most of the trip. My voice was wrecked from the night before so I kept quiet.
When we got to SF, I stayed with my friends Rich and Jenn. We ordered pizza and played video games. Then, we watched the Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
I like Slims. They made us dinner and provided beer and snacks. The security was really nice, too. I made sure they knew that. They really appreciated the crowd that came.
Kimric of Smythe’s Accordion Center brought some refurbished accordions to the show. Accordions that I couldn’t afford but wanted including this red one:
The show went well. A friend of mine from back home in Kentucky came to the show. It was good seeing him.
After the show, I walked a good while to catch a cab. I like walking in the rain but was missing out on some good hangout time.
Rich and Jenn made me nachos while pouring me whiskey shots. Then, we made up arguments like “Phil Collins or Rod Stewart”; “Steely Dan or Rush”; “buffalo wings or bbq wings”. Fun and fun.
We left late to get to Eugene. The first band was sound checking when we got there. They’re called Aeon Now – Trombone, glockenspiel, banjo, violin, accordion, washboard, bass drum, snare, cymbal. They dress like the Upper Crust but with cooler make up. They were excellent.
This was the most eclectic crowd of the tour. I could play to this crowd every night of my life. They weren’t better than any other crowds but the ages went from one to eighty. That’s a true all-ages show. I appreciate older people coming to clubs. I made a new fan who was in her late sixties.
One of the other things I love about Eugene is the way people dress. There’s an individualism that shuns the conventional hipster boundary. In some scenes, those who follow trends and wear the unwarranted badge of trendsetting offer an unsatisfied boredom. However, the ones in Eugene who aren’t worried about fitting in wear cool shit. I mentioned this to a girl who accented her makeup with a fake stitch across the front of her neck. She agreed.
The show was good overall. It’s inspiring to watch Jason every night. He’s doing it awesome.
Day 3
We had a late start leaving for Portland. Renee sang Christmas parody songs like the ones I used to read in Mad Magazine. Then she sang Weird Al’s “Christmas at Ground Zero” for me and Jason. She’s a joy.
Kennedy School is a great, great place. So much attention went into making the former school into an amazing complex of bars, restaurants and theaters. The venue we were in had a shitload of couches. It was an old auditorium converted into a movie theater converted for us into a music venue. Me and the Petrojvics drank at a tiny bar they dubbed Hogwarts.
The crowd was great. So nice. From the stage it looked like the seating for the Muppet Movie. For some reason they decided to ask questions like “What’s your favorite color?” “What’s your favorite fruit?” “What’s your accordion’s name?” I had the answers.
I really liked them.
Afterward, we went back to Devin’s. I stayed here before back in ’07. He heard that the Corn Mo name came from RBI Baseball and we played it. This time, he had to go to work, so Jason and I played Dr. Mario where he kicked my ass 3 times. I shouldn’t have dawdled so much with the bricks and should have focused on killing viruses. But I still had fun.
Day 4
I met up with Johnny Murder and Wells at the Vita Cafe. We were in a couple of bands together: The Dooms UK and The Golden Vipers. It was good catching up. He’s into manbroidery now. His work is really good. And he has a new band called Night Beach.
Jason and I walked over to the Shook Twins‘ house. They were working on a Christmas set for a private party. Their banjo, mandolin and other instruments were on the floor when we showed up. Nice girls they are. I love twins who talk at the same time. It’s nothing new but it’s still novel, like a 3-year-old reciting poetry.
I hadn’t brushed my teeth in a couple of days so I bought a toothbrush and some floss. It felt good to have a clean mouth.
Speaking of kids who recite poems, there was a 3-year-old back at the house we were staying at who reminded me of the kid who was in City of Lost Children. He was into tractors and Jason got him to sing along with him at the piano. What a cool kid.
Devin has a guest book that goes back to 2000. I found the entry i left in 2007.
Day 2
Jason and I went to pick up t-shirts near the airport. They look really good. Jason is better at telling stories than I am. He told me some good ones about hooking up, epic stories that fiction couldn’t hold.
We picked up the Monsters of Accordion t-shirts and they looked really good. I like watching machines make things and they had one that screenprinted the tees.
Jason and Renee went to Petosa’s to take back an accordion. I hung out with Chris Weber.
We ate Vietnamese then went back to his house which was built by the 3rd most powerful man in Washington state. He’d built it with his dad in the 70′s. He’s a state senator and Chris’ landlord. It looks like an old national park building. There’s a small house outside that the senator keeps. Chris has never seen the inside and the senator holds the door closed when he talks to him.
We hung out and talked about wrestling while watching the stop-motion Community episode.
Neumos is a great venue. Good people.
This was my first time watching Renee and the Petrovijk Brothers. I was blown away by both. It was my second time seeing Amy Denio. What a beauty she is. She has the voice of an angel.
The audience was great. They made the show for me. I enjoyed my set.
Jason brought a huge bag of noisemakers. He’s really good at getting people to do stuff. I love watching him play. He’s a super nice fellow who plays with all of his heart. Like Klaus Meine.
All of us came on stage and played “Fairytale of New York”. What a wonderful time.
Afterwards, I got to see my friend Raj. He’s an excellent musician. He just moved to Seattle from NYC.
I saw a lot of old friends as well. That is one of the many reasons why it’s really cool to tour. Another one is that Max had a party at his house. He and his wife, Theresa, broke out the cookies and booze. The dogs were so excited that I woke up before they did.
What an excellent night.
me and max
12/14/10 – Day 1
Flew Delta. It was an old-timey plane that still had the “No Smoking” lights that turn on and off. They showed Eat Pray Love on the aisle televisions. I didn’t want to watch it but had nothing else to do. I was too tired to read or write. So, I made myself sit through it. I unplugged my earphones within the last 20 minutes. It was that bad. Even when I saw The Postman I had to finish it. (The book The Postman is much better than the movie and the movie strays from the book). This movie was like looking at a Rothko. It just pissed me off. At least Rothko didn’t have someone looking over him to make his painting more appealing to movie audiences. Just restaurant ones. There’s really no reason for me to get upset. I do admire Rothko for making me upset.
Then, I was awake enough to read an old ag textbook I’d brought.
I got my luggage, saw Jason and then met Renee. What a sweet person.
Jason, Renee and I went to Hing Loon. They were out of funn.
Renee schooled me on band camps in California. I had no idea there was such a thing outside of the obvious public school marching band camps. These were like retreats. They sound rewarding.
We got the seafood hot pot, snowpeas and scallops, plain congee and spring rolls.
The Petrojvic Brothers showed up soon after. They drove straight from LA. They’re nice fellows. We ordered more dinner for them.
We stayed at Max’s house. He has a wonderful home. What wonderful man he is. He has a beard with no moustache and has an honest smile. His home has a lot of joy. Max’s birthday was at midnight. He gave us free rein of his home. His dogs showed off for us. His wife made two pies for his birthday. There are a shitload of rocks in the bathroom. Max told me to take one. I did. I really love good people.
We stopped at the Czech Stop in West on the way to Austin. Ron and Suke had never been there and wanted to make sure we stopped there again on the way back so they could stock up on kolaches (Czech pastries). I wrote a song about that place once and gave them a recording of it. The town has a big festival and Myron Floren and Brave Combo have played there along with many other accordion players.
brave combo on the simpsons
It’s a great town.
SXSW registration was overwhelming. Ron and I went to register while Suke and Dave looked for a place to park the van. At one point we were going up the escalator and Ron said, “Do you feel a knot in your stomach?” “Yeah, I do.” I’ve never seen such a concentrated cool contest as I did there. Not that everyone was trying but enough were to make me feel like I was in high school again. I saw a group walk by that looked as if their manager made them go to a stylist before registration. They looked very uncomfortable as if their stylist was mom. From clowntown. I saw my friend, Will Johnson, and everything was better. The registration was very easy, too. It was very organized.
Afterwards we went to Charlie’s house to hang out. Charlie makes t-shirts in his garage. He’s really good at it. We had an order with him and they look really good. To kill more time, we watched Blazing Saddles. I won a trivia night in Belfast one night with my keen eye for the great Cleavon Little.
Charlie photo by suke
The Beauty Bar was run just like registration. They were a well-oiled machine. They helped us load in and load out. Really nice people. It was a bitch trying to park the van but we found a place 10 minutes before set time. I saw my friend, Erica, who was in the band after us, The Faceless Werewolves.
We had a good set. My sustain pedal went out halfway through and luckily Suke brought his soldering kit with him, fixing it the following day.
Afterwards, I wanted to watch The Faceless Werewolves but we had to get our stuff in the van and get out of there.
We went to a bar outside of the festival and I saw another friend from working there. We drank beer and watched the Spitzer news.
the late Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder
We drove to Dallas from Athens. We stayed at my old roommates’ (Corbett and Becky) house where they were watching Cat Soup. Beth made ravioli lasagna for us. She’s real sweet.
We’d been craving Shiner Bock since the tour was planned and Corbett and Becky had it. Corbett was in an art rock band with Dave and me called The Dooms UK. His moniker was DJ Geeky C. He had good samples. He also has an awesome dog named The Baron. I love that dogs don’t worry about being over excited. What a joy. I had a dog in high school that pissed everytime she saw me come in the door. That’s a lot of excitement.
On the way to Athens, we stopped to get gas in Harlem, GA. It’s the birthplace of Oliver Hardy. Subsequently, there is a museum dedicated to Laurel and Hardy. It was closed. I’m sure it's excellent.
closed. coño. photo by suke
Lori, the owner of 283 bar, is a sweet sweet lady. We arrived in Athens and she immediately gave us drinks and let us hang out a bit before loading in. During the load-in she made note of the coin-slot disco ball by the jukebox. She would deactivate the monetary switch in order to give us carte blanche with the ball along with the smoke machine.
photo by suke
We wandered the downtown with cd’s trying to put some on consignment. They are good with the local music but understandably not willing to burden themselves with unsigned touring bands. Except Wuxtry. Mike, the fellow working there, recognized me as a friend of Fishboy and allowed me to sell him some of our cd’s. Friends are good to have. He then put the cd's in the display case, replacing the remastered Joshua Tree cd. That was extra nice of him.
wuxtry photo by suke
The next stop was Wilson’s Restaurant. That place is amazing. The ladies were sweet on us and made us fried pork chops and fried chicken with the most comforting sides.
suke's dinner-green beans, mac and cheese, okra and tomato, biscuit photo by suke
the ladies who made our dinner photo by suke
My friend, Doug, was getting off work so we went to his house. He has an amazing place and a great dog, Tiny Doug. The last time I was out there we went out on his boat, Woman Magic. He’s my good times friend. He owns a flooring company that reclaims wood floors. He used to be an entomologist and still has museum-style glass cases with taxidermied insects. He’s selling his house complete with a movie room and fenced-in yard for Chinese Crested dogs like Tiny Doug.
Tiny Doug and Doug photo by suke
We hung out for a bit and then Lori came over. After porch sitting a while in good weather we went back to the venue. Edison Project pulled up and we helped them load in. We had a good night. The crowd was great and we had fun. Athens is a great town.
Lori's other place is Dynamite photo by suke
shirt from Dynamite photo by suke
one more pic of Tiny Doug photo by suke