West Indian Girl

ok so I finally added some more show reports. scroll down or check out the show report column on the right to read about the m theory in-store, the last show with turin brakes in s.d. and the solana beach show with sound tribe sector 9. I’m finally kicking it back into high blogging gear folks so watch out. oh yeah i also added a links section to the blog below the show reports.

If you’re curious as to what we are doing now we are banging out songs for our next record in our studio downtown. the shit is sounding awesome. downtown L.A. sure is depressing though. it’s like crack central a few blocks away. our block seems to be getting a bit more sketchy these days cos some real crazy street people have started crashing there. when i say crazy i mean crazy…like talking to themselves as well as talking shit to my dog crazy. if had a ton of money i would get them all hotel rooms but i don’t.

oh yeah, if you ever happen to be watching the AMC channel on tv listen for us cos they will be using “what are you afraid of” in their month long promos. “Miles From Monterey” was also used in the new Fox show called Bones. i didnt hear it but i’m sure it sounded cool.
F.TEN

NPR INTERVIEW – CLICK HERE

hey guys- so remember my blog about playing live on WXPN in philly before our show that night with turin brakes. (if you don’t check it out here – click this link and scroll down till you find it cos this will be good background for what was going on.) so anyway, this was our FIRST ever live performance as a band on the radio and it was early and it was fun but it was pretty sloppy. wrong notes abound (gotta love me hitting the wrong note in monterey) but that’s the magic of being live. i still can’t thank the station and david enough for giving us the opportunity to play – they are a HUGE HUGE reason we have such a great fan base in the philly area. thanx again and i hope you enjoy this rare stream.
F.TEN

ps – i would also like to thanx our fans from philly for making me aware of this – (ie bill walsh who sent me the link) and for all the positive feedback

we have a myspace account. i know i know, what is the world coming to, right? listen, i know you all have one, i had one. if you don’t already have our band as your friend, chop chop and get adding.

you know you’re going to click this…

bigkiss.

mariqueen

ps – hey this is Fran, fyi i rarely answer mail on our myspace account so if you need to get in touch with me just do it via this blog ok. otherwise mariqueen will be writing you back (which i’m sure every guy is really going to bummed out about. yeah, right)…

cool live shots taken by nik atkins – thanx man

we played at the roxy last night which officially ended our 4 show mini tour with sound tribe sector 9. the sound tribe shows were great in that we got to play in front of a different crowd. the sts9 guys were all really awesome and i want to thank them all for being so cool to us. i hope we can play some more shows with them down the road.once again we tried out a different set list and in retrospect it might not have flowed as well as anaheim did but at the end of the day you live and learn. the roxy has never been on my list of favorite clubs to play at as an opener and it still continues to be so. as we were playing i saw the moniter guy leave the booth as well as the house sound guy. that kind of sucks, plus we didnt get any sort of our rider fulfilled and their merch booth is possibly the worst one (followed by portland’s doug fir) i’ve ever had the displeasure to work. i was kicked out of the bar on top of the roxy 2 years ago and vowed never to return there because the guy working the door that night told me my band would never play there. ahhh, hidnsight is 20/20, if only i had listened to him. oh yeah, the best thing about this show was derek (on right) who came up from sd to help us out. not only did he help me take care of a ton of shit ranging from settling the show, loading, unloading, writing set lists, helping out with merch, making sure our van didnt get a ticket etc etc etc he did it all extremely well and professionally. i was so impressed with how he busted his ass and took charge of things on his own that i asked him to be our tour manager from now. you will be seeing more of him i promise. on a random note a photographer from rolling stone was there to take pics of us for their “random notes” section. and on another really random and strange note there was a guy there filming me for an upcoming documentary film on minnesota viking fans. my reality tv 15 seconds of fame are finally upon me but in the weirdest of reality worlds…i get filmed while drinking beer and swearing while watching the vikings on about 3 hours of sleep the night before. good stuff.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: oh la… that is all.

The Venue: i have no comment.

The Show: again, no comment.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “why can’t i fucking hear myself?” and a whole bunch of other things you really don’t want to know.

Interesting Things After The Show: i met a wonderful man named david bendett. Carter’s Conscience

The Roxy, LA– This whole tour was a good experience, we got to meet a lot of great people, and I think we gained some perspective on our future by observing the community of people that STS9 brings together at every show. As the West Indian Girl community grows, we hope to include/invite different types of artists to perform with us, as well create an environment to promote awareness for social and environmental causes. Sound tribe does a great job combining all that into their show, and they had a genuine and respectful crew working for them, which says a lot. The show itself was fun, although the sound onstage wasn’t the best. But I was thrilled just to be standing on the same stage that Bob and the Wailers played on in 77′!
We’ve started to work diligently on tracks for our new album, and in a way that show marked both the end of an era for West Indian Girl and the birth of something beautiful. Take it easy
Carter

lewscious in a tribal zone

i have no memory of this event

loadin’ up suck serious ass

F.TEN

house of blues…our little vegas

i really like playing at the house of blues in anaheim. it was sort of like the belly up in that they take care of the band with meals and have a great staff there. anaheim has probably one of my favorite merch booth set ups. it’s on the second floor outside of the club. it’s rather nice to be outside selling stuff with plenty of room to spread out. we also had the sd crew – walt, doug, tim, nick and derek come up there. good times all around. mariqueen’s mom and dad also showed up and were very happy they could hear their daughter this time. zontobi was also in the house. oh shit i almost forgot the newbold’s, drew, erin and taylor showed up. they came down from sacramento. now that is fucking awesome. we love those guys so much and i cant really thank them enough for helping to spread the west indian girl word. i’m glad we played some new material for them as well because they have been through a lot with us and could really appreciate the new takes on some of the old songs. hopefully one day soon we will get to play in sacto proper so that they wont have to drive so far to see us.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: oh anaheim… that is all.

The Venue: i’m not really into the house of blues security guards. they rub me the wrong way and are power trippers and rude. the house of blues staff, however, all rule your face.

The Show: this was by far, our best yet. we were yet once again, tight like sardines but for some reason it worked. i of course hit carter’s equipment again and i think fran even hit rob’s guitar head with his bass. i got into our new songs and had a lot of fun turning my mind off and just cruising at auto pilot.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “mmm…” no really, that’s all… “mmm…”

Interesting Things After The Show: well, while we were partying with the other band, i had to use the bathroom. pretty bad. they directed me to sound tribe’s to use and i walked in and discovered their drummer taking a shower. he purposely flashed me his butt. it happens.

Carter’s Conscience

The House of Blues, OC– funny night overall. We’ve played the House of Blues a lot, and overall its been great there. They really take a lot of precautions with security, I guess Disney must be a potential target for terrorists or something. You have to go through various ID checks, everyones has to get out of the van, were mickey mouse badges, special wristbands, etc. Its pretty much a nightmare, but when your inside the HOB you pretty much forget that outside, Downtown disney is indoctrinating children to a life of loyal consumerism. Whoops, did I say that out loud? I don’t want to be on the terrorist list the next time we play there. Seriously, my biggest complaint about Downtown Disney (where the HOB is situated) is that you are constantly bombarded with crappy elevator music, or even worse showtunes! Its not safe for people like us there, trust me. .. Before you know it you’ll be listening to Kenny G and arguing that perhaps evolution is just a theory. . .

these guys are everywhere
packin’ up the merch booth – a thankless job
erin…what more can i say? you rock
walt and tim making it count
doug, mariqueen and tim…a few drinks later

F.TEN

live shots sent in by mike sherry – thanx mike!

i love solana beach and the belly up – it’s one of the better sounding stages that we’ve played at. the sound crew there is totally pro and what a difference that makes when you’re playing. in many ways it’s like the troubadour in that they are all right there with you when you are playing helping to make a better show. i know this must be getting old saying this but the crowd was typical for s.d in that they totally rocked and gave us that unconditional love you crave for when you’re up onstage giving it your all. the new songs – indian ocean and hopi sounded pretty good. both of those new tunes are pretty long but they went over well. we also experimented with a long version of monterey which i was totally feeling. i’m not sure what else to say except s.d is the best. it was great to see russ, leo and derek there. thanx for the support guys. oh yeah, thanx to jim brown for driving us down there in his cool van (seen in the pics) – it has a loft in it so you can sleep in style. we loved it.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i have nothing but love for solana beach. outstanding.

The Venue: it was nice to be back at the belly up tavern. i had fond memories of opening up for gomez there and was jazzed to be back because i think the venue has a really great sound system and they have the best lighting. plussssss, they serve amazing food. can it get any better? well, this particular night it could’ve. you see, i don’t know how or why, but the pathway to our dressing room smelled like dried up puke. was i ecstatic about it? hmmm… not so much.

The Show: the show was cool. i still think we played hellaciously early but it was better than the day before. one huge problem was the stage set up. sts9 has like, a bazillion equipment and it’s not like west indian girl is a small band. we have our own trailer filled to the brim with gear. through out the set i think i hit carter’s rhodes and boom stand a total of ten times.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: um, all i really thought about was not hitting anyone else.

Interesting Things After The Show: i got to hang out with my fabulous photographer of a friend, troy, who had actually brought some of his friends with him. they were our paparazzi. it was great. the most interesting thing by far was the smell of the venue. hmmm…

Carter’s Conscience

San Diego/ Solana Beach– The Belly Up is an awesome venue. The stage is great, the sound on stage is fantastic, and the crew that works there are all-stars. STS9 has a pretty massive stage setup, and my keyboard rig is somewhat massive on its own, so it was a real juggling act to get us set up after their sound-check. It could’ve gotten ugly if the guys that worked
there hadn’t been so cool. We finnally decided to balance our monitors on road cases in front of the stage to give us more room, which worked okay. As far as the show went, I think we played a few new songs, Indian Ocean and hopi. Those are both working titles, so don’t expect to see those track names on the next record. In fact, by the time we record them they probably won’t sound remotely the same anyway! I remember we did an extended version of Monterrey, which I thought was really cool. Hung out with all the guys from sound tribe as well. They have a great scene that they’ve built, a great mix of people in the audience. Everyone from LRG wearing hip-hop types to the semi-hippy crowd. I had as much fun hanging/watching the crowd as I did the show. thanx again to the belly up.

tight stage – tighter show
leo and ash
these two are simply the best people ever

making the set list in the van

F.TEN

our gorgeous hollywood couple

last night we played at the majestic theatre with sound tribe sector 9. i was really looking forward to these 4 sts9 shows just because we were playing some new songs in hopes of working out some arrangements for them. we ended up playing at 7:30 and thus played to about 20 people max which is the least amount of people we have ever played for. it was kinda funny but i thought we played the new songs pretty well. kampy made my night by showing up even though he missed “northern sky” which we played especially for him. at the merch booth after the show i drank too much on an empty stomach (because we had no food in our dressing room) and ended up puking. i actually made myself puke cos i cant stand being drunk. after that i crashed in the van til i felt better. it was nice of everyone else to pick up the slack at the merch booth for me. thanx guys i really enjoyed the nap.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: ventura sounds a lot like it belongs in the inland empire. to my pleasant surprise it was breezy and beachy. it’s a cute little town and reminds me a lot of huntington beach.

The Venue: the theatre was majestic and grand. what wasn’t was the plastic patio chairs they used for the audience to sit on. what is that all about? i was particularly excited about the picture booth. so far this is the only venue besides the double door in chicago, that i’ve seen, to have, what i feel, is a necessity at every bar, club and home. way to go ventura theatre. too bad you didn’t supply me with fruit and water in my dressing room. sadfacesadfacesadface.

The Show: um, we played at seven thirty. that’s all i’m going to say about that, ok?

What Were You Thinking While Playing: seriously, you don’t want to know…

Interesting Things After The Show: kampy came up and introduced himself bearing gifts! he was sweet enough to give me a jäger shirt and i think he even gave fran and lewis something. i don’t think they were quite as cute as my tank top. then… all of a sudden… i was drunk. i blame the following: kampy for the two jäger shots, carter for the one jäger shot and some really nice sts9 fan who for some reason was more than happy to buy me a shot and a drink. fran got sick and was banished to the van for a little while. mark, carter and i all made attempts at hoola hooping. no dice. since fran was out of commission we all took turns holding down the merch fort. at one point i saw rob walking around with the email list clipboard and a bag of buttons. that’s pretty sexy. then fran, mark and i ended the evening buy taking pictures in the photo booth. yes, all three of us… and no you can’t and won’t ever see them. do you know how long it took for me to find the code to spell jäger properly? the things i do for our readers. ♥

Carter’s Conscience
Ventura– this was our first show of a four day stint with Sound Tribe Sector 9. I’ve seen a lot of great concerts at the Ventura theatre, I think the last one was Burning Spear. The show itself was really weird. We were scheduled to go on at 7:30 I believe. I don’t even eat breakfast until 7:30 some days! The sun is still shining! I don’t even think they had opened the doors when we started, because for the first half of our set there wasn’t a single person in attendance. What can you do in a situation like that? We just laughed and played all of our new songs, and by the end a little crowd of people had showed and were appreciative. So i hope we rocked the shit out you, if you were one of the lucky few to be at our first Ventura gig! This was such a surreal experience, especially considering that our previous show in San Diego was absolutely amazing! The San Diego was sold out for weeks, all over the radio, newspaper articles, kissing babies etc. etc. But anyway, the crowd showed up a few hours later for Sound Tribes set, and they put on a really cool show. We partied a bit, as you do when you haven’t played a gig for a while, and I think at one point I actually tried to hula hoop! I’m man enough to admit that. . . . Fran and Q were not capable of operating heavy machinery either. I think Fran actually got sickat one point and had to leave the merch booth, which is a first in the history of the band as far as i know!

kampy and lewscious at the merch booth

F.TEN

for those of you who don’t know, aaron chang is a surf photography icon. he is also the newest member of our extended family. aaron’s beautiful work lends itself wonderfully to our musical vibe. please do yourself a favor and check out his site where he has just posted a slideshow on New Zealand using the song “northern sky”. thanx aaron we fucking love you man. Aaron Chang Gallery – Surf Photography

F.TEN

i know you’ve all been clicking on our blog link and thinking to yourselves, “what’s become of fran?”…

here’s the skinny—he’s been busy. it’s hard being francis ten. seriously. if you knew all the stress he endures regarding the band on a daily basis, you would be surprised and probably love him for taking the time to be so dedicated to the blog.

he’ll be back… promise.

as far as the blog goes we’re working on uploading pictures from our second troubadour show and then uploading the pictures from our casbah show. as far as the band goes, we are in the midst of working on our next record and we just finished four days of opening up for sound tribe sector nine and i don’t know if i can speak for the rest of the band, but i am mentally and physically drained. why? you’ll find out when those show reports come.

so hey, we’re doing the joshua tree festival on saturday, october fifteenth. [look how pretty it is out there] we’re headlining the second stage and slated to play at eleven thirty. come out and dance and in the desert and scream out how much you love us… don’t forget to bring me presents.

♥ mariqueen