West Indian Girl

things to do in denver… 4.26.06

we played at the 3 king’s tavern in denver. not only was denver the last show of the tour, it was our 69th show EVER…and to be honest with you all it wasnt too sexy. extra large technical difficulties during the first song forced us to go into random jam mode a tad bit early. i was kind of freaked out about doing this but it all worked out in the end. [one great thing about this tour is all the little lessons you learn from the crazy problems that arise on stage — these are things you can never predict, they just happen and you have to learn to roll like nothing’s wrong.] the club and the crowd at the 3 kings was really great. it sort of felt like a special secret show for people in the denver “know”. we even ended up playing “dream” as an encore – one of what seems like 12 different versions we have of that song. no doubt about it, i give the denver crowd a big A+ for making the last show a special memory.

the show was put on by miles and doug of rising up productions. those 2 hooked us up with great hotel rooms at the best western. they were actually the best hotel accommodations of the tour and they came at the perfect time cos we were in need of a bit of comfort. the afternoon before the show we also did an in-store at tower records which was pretty grim. it was actually more funny than grim. in-stores are never that great no matter where you are – unless you’re on the verge of becoming a massive band in-stores generally blow. after the in-store doug took us to a fly vegan place where i ordered halibut…you know…just for the hellofit.

mile high thanks to: miles and doug of course for being 2 great promoters with a lot of heart. these guys are believers in the cause and i cant thank them enough for all the time and effort they put into making this show happen. thanx to tim dwenger who made a great tour poster for the show. the poster is already rare and the remaining ones will be sold in our online store. also, thanx to bill d, scott k, tony, juel and frank for keeping it real, and last but not least the guy who said he was andrew and amy’s (from sf) friend that came up to me while i was playing and slipped me a little bag of pot. it was the first time that has ever happened to me. ironically im the one in the band that doesnt really smoke so i made sure to let everyone know about the little gift i received.

dressing room and rider wrap up: i dont really remember the dressing room – i was only in it for like 30 seconds to grab a beer with bill d. it was behind the stage which was cool cos you could walk right from it on to the stage. no rider just beer. the staff at the 3 king’s was really really cool. they let tony run around inside the club during soundcheck as well as after the show which was super dope. as a general rule if you treat my dog well i will say very nice things about you.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: a really dear friend of mine is from denver and he warned me about it’s potential for lameness. i was proven wrong and i owe it all to doug and miles. thank you so much for making us feel right at home.

The Venue: the 3 kings tavern is a pretty awesome bar. there are a ton of pool tables a great sized dance floor and tons of places to sit and enjoy yourself. good job.

The Show: well… before the show we went to an in store at tower records. it stunk. sigh. at least i walked out of there with a dusty springfield album and a david sedaris book. i suppose sitting in the store hiding behind magazines was worth it after all. after that fiasco we went to a cool restaurant where i overindulged in throat coat with extra large cups and a meal fit for two. of course i got sick after that so i was kind of weary about my performance. but come on now, how could we not do well on our last night of tour? i’ll tell you how… technical difficulties. no one had good sound onstage except for nathan. rob had no monitors, i barely had any, fran’s was all messed up, mark’s was a nightmare and we had problems with a strobe light. but still, it was a great show… with an ever better crowd.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was really uncomfortable on stage because of all our technical difficulties… id share my thoughts but… im over that…

Interesting Things After The Show: the usual post show events occurred and then i got summoned to the comic book wall where the lovely laurie scavo took some awesome shots of the band. thanks, doll… let’s hang out when i come back. then nathan and i hung out with the house sound guy and the bartender who happen to be in a band together. after most of us were nice and buzzed we all participated in a group session of herbal delights. propositions for rooftop rendesvous were made and then rejected and after calling everyone to persuade them to take me to eat and getting denied i passed out in my cozy bed.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE
denver omelet: last show on the road. tension was high, and the anticipation of completing our journey was soaring. stayed two nights at the best western “ho-tel,” where, purportedly, there was a prostitution ring being run out of the second floor. unfortunately i never had a chance to confirm or defraud this allegation. maybe someone could conduct some covert investigation into this and get back to me? inquiring minds want to know. started off the whole affair somewhat on the wrong foot with an in-store appearance down at the local tower records- never a good idea in my book- which, as i’m sure has been previously stated, didn’t bode so well. the initial plan of performing acoustically didn’t pan out due to some legality issues, paperwork/ waivers left unsigned, etc. so we ended up just setting up a makeshift table where our throngs of adoring fans could get their w.i.g. merch and/or body parts signed. i’m going to just cut the crap here and describe the whole debacle in two words: SPINAL TAP. if you’ve seen the movie, i think you know what i’m talking about. yeah, it was really sad, extremely embarrassing, but funny as hell at the same time. fortunately that proved to be the end of the silliness, as the rest of the night progressed in fitting, rock star fashion. doug, our promoter extraordinaire, rebounded right away, appeasing any sense of wounded pride by treating us all to a very nice meal somewhere downtown. this also gave us a chance to see a bit of the city with all the driving around, something of a rare treat when touring. well, the show started off proper, with perhaps one of the most unusual opening acts i have had the pleasure of playing with. using only a stand-up bass and some assorted gadgetry, the extremely talented miss julie davis- under the moniker of “bluebook”- put on one helluva show. think lawrence welk on ‘shrooms. ‘twas lovely to make your acquaintance, julie. next up, cat-a-tac (a palindrome for your thoughts, sir) put the crowd in a stand-uppity, shuffle-towards-the-stage, head-bobbity, and ultimately hootin’ and hollerin’ kind of mood. then it was our turn. unsurprisingly, after a booming and grand introduction by doug, we started things off with a technical glitch that prevented us from kicking off our first song as planned. so… instead we rehashed another rendition of “traverse city balls,” which you may recall the origins of from an earlier post in this here blog. after that, everything got sorted out and the show continued as planned. i think it went well… in all honesty i don’t really remember too much. borrowing from Q here, i’ll comment on some of the random thoughts that crossed my mind during the show. “i wish those mesh half-shirts from the ‘80’s would come back in style.” “i can’t feel my feet.” “hey… who’s that hottie snappin’ all the photos?” “i like cheese.” then, the whole shebang was over. the girl with the camera- the illustrious miss laurie scavo- took a gazillion more photos of us. i was blessed with the chance to talk with her quite a bit afterwards, and even managed to impress her with my memory skills by addressing her by a completely wrong name before she left. yeah, i’m all slick with the ladies like that. denver, we’ll have to do this dance again.

jeanine pettibone, derek smalls & viv savageyou cant see it but Q is throwing up W I G in her pocketdenver’s finestfrank and juel… what a lovely coupletim – your poster kicks assrob & Q invoking or invocalingthe tall dark & handsome sideteam F10team JAMESteam RISING UP

-F10

our home away from home 4.23.06

the record bar – normally when you think of clubs in strip malls your smile turns into a frown but not in this case. the record bar is owned and operated by a few guys from the band roman numerals. let me tell ya something, if i could do what they’re doing in la i would do it in a second. they’re doing it all right. who are theses guys you ask? well, billy and shawn are these guys and they totally rule and made west indian girl believe in kansas city. we played the show with a band called anvil chorus and they were pretty damn good. anna cole we love you – i think your guitar player andy is rad. let’s play together again.

as far as the show went. well i kept thinking to myself that i missed the light show we were encased in when we played those dates with bump. i thought the show itself was just ok cos there were a few sound problems on stage. i think the room might have had our sound guy confused for a bit. thus, i feel the burning need to get back to kc and put on a much better show. it was just ok for me and that bugs. who knows maybe it was because i was real tired that night. shit, just look at me. i’m like a haggard old la bitch in some of those pictures. i guess in the end it didnt matter though, by the time we left the majority of us were really wasted. i mixed way too many drinks that night thanx to shawn.

“kansas city here i come baby” thanks to: billy for the many phone calls it took to set this show up, shawn for shooting to the top of our list for dope club owners, ben (golden republic) and katie for being uber cool, kato for the support and last but not least my main man frob and his wife amanda for just being all around great people. frob is one of a kind.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at the record bar is basically the bar – they keep it plain and simple here, they give you food and get you drunk with smiles all around. no complaints here.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: what a breath of fresh air. we arrived at kansas city and the weather was a little hot and damp. i obviously didn’t see much of it but i definitely want to come back and hang out. the people that i’ve met in this city are, for lack of a better word [or five], the cream of the crop…

The Venue: i wish there were more bars like the record bar. the world would be a better place.

The Show: i was so sketched out because i was still really sick. nathan made me a hot tea elixir of some sort that miraculously caused me to sing fantastic. the man is kind of a genius. i got used to having lights to go with our show [thanks to patrick, currently touring with bump] and was sad that our stage was so naked.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: hory mory, nathan is blirriant.

Interesting Things After The Show: we hung out with chris [thanks for the corkscrew and the cards!] and his wife amanda [thanks for the necklace], ben from the golden republic came out with his wife katie and they stuck around well after three am… mike, one of mark’s friends who i’ve seen at a couple of our troubadour shows apparently has a house or two in the city and came out. we had many a shot and drinks with the anvil chorus [another great band and great new friends… we were really lucky on this tour to play with such dope people… i already miss paucity and the bump guys… sigh.] and shawn [wonderful owner of the record bar]. after awhile we had tony come inside. it was the most fun i’d had on the whole tour.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

i had heard good things about kansas city before coming here, but i certainly didn’t have my hopes up. for one thing, it was a monday night, and by dusk the clouds would converge in foreboding fashion to unload their great, grey deluge. this aside, my spidey senses began to tingle the moment i walked into the record bar… not only was i having my first “good hair day” out of the whole tour, the venue itself seemed to emanate with a very positive and welcoming energy. the entire night felt like a much needed high for me. we had the pleasure of playing with yet another wonderful opening local act in “anvil chorus.” these guys- and gal- really went all out with promoting the show as well, much to our relief. everyone i met struck me as the kind of people i would love to hang out with on a regular basis. unfortunately, by the end of the evening i was so blasted i couldn’t remember anyone’s name. so, uh… if i happened to talk to you that night, and you’re reading this… feel free to drop me a line as i could use a bit of a refresher. what i do recall is that it seemed like we pulled off an amazing show… great energy, nice full sound… also, the moment i stepped off stage i was inundated with girls offering to buy me shots. i do believe that was a first. yes, the musicians life may have its rough spots, but times like this make it all worth while. i only wish i could remember more of it. weeeeeee…

pre show rituals interruptedwelcome to the darkside aka stage leftyet another classic vocal momentlook! janine from traverse city!rob & kato – a meeting of the mindsmike and mark, great minds that think alikekansas city franwichnathan working on drink number fiveteam frobwe love anvil chorusplayers: Q, ben, katie – status: wastedwest roman republic

-F10

purple reign 4.23.06

sunday at the ascot room. how appropriate for us to play in minnesota on a sunday. if only this was football season. alas, it’s not and downtown minny seemed sorta like a ghost town – just a bunch of raprock kids hanging around waiting for a mentally challenged convention, i mean concert, to get started at the club below us. anyway, this would be our last show teamed up with bump. bump is a great group of guys….they’re like a traveling sitcom — clint and nadz should have their own tv show. the ascot room is a difficult place just to find once you’re inside the quest complex (prince used to own the quest many cherry moons ago). if you did find the ascot room you saw a great show. just like the last time we played there the crowd was extremely positive. minnesota fans make you feel good. next time we roll through minny im going to make sure it’s not on a sunday and that there’s way better promotion done for the show. by the way, i love the light show bump travels with. we got to use their lights again and they totally put me in another zone for this one.

big HHH metrodome thanks to: the lovely mandy cox, swirly girl sid and elizabeth, todd gustav anderson (pictured), sean tucker, and i think it was john (who gave me a great critique of the show) for coming to to support the band. i appreciate it. you helped make a sleepy sunday show that much more of a success.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at the ascot room is just a little room off to the side of the stage with a door that doesnt really work. it was basically a little office with a cooler in it. there was also an open area for all the bands to hang out in but you couldnt really hang out because the mood was completely spoiled by the heinous raprock shit that you could hear everywhere you went. on the flip side – the staff at the quest was very nice and helpful.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i remember enjoying minneapolis the last time i was there. i don’t think i enjoyed it as much this time around. why? well, we had to play yet another show in a row, i was sick as a dog, my left eye had gone retarded so i spent most of the day with no contacts on – totally blind, and we over ate at a great restaurant so i felt fat. sigh.

The Venue: well… our second time at the ascot room. this was the first time our champagne request got fulfilled. a cute little bottle of veuve clicquot was sitting there and fran and i wasted no time and popped that sucker open and drank it. i can’t say that it’s the best venue around. i think they need to figure out how to block sound coming from the quest. some horrid rap rock monstrosity was playing downstairs. i had the displeasure of having to witness the chaos because the only bathrooms available were at the quest. just imagine a bunch of minnesota preteens with their hands in the air pretending theyre gangsters. horrible. i swear little white boys and some samoan kid started yelling things like, “northside!” and southside!” i actually felt my IQ dropping every time i had to go to the bathroom.

The Show: well… i was sick… really sick… coughing up phlegm, i was tired, i was moody, i was almost done with my period and i felt like vomit. i thought the show was my worst but rob told me at the end of the night that he was really proud of me and called me a true performer. that was nice.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: im going to die…

Interesting Things After The Show: eh, not so much… i just wanted to curl up and fall into an eternal sleep. i was really sad that amidst the chaos of loading out and my sickness, i wasn’t able to properly say bye to the boys from bump. big nadz, chris, clint and yorg… it was a pleasure playing all these shows with you and getting to know you. i miss you guys and can’t wait to see you again. vaporize the world!

THE JAMES REPORT

The Vikings conquered Minnesota? Or did they move there to retire? Either way West Indian Girl will dock our plundering vessel there anytime. Exploding packets of neuron energy rained upon a 2 mile radius of the venue as we pulled into town. Mandy, get your restaurant ready, we’ll be coming back sooner than you think.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

fair minneapolis, i hardly knew thee. i was admittedly a bit discombobulated for this venture into the land of purple rain, running on fumes and feeling the need for sleep. luckily i was able to steel some z’s out in the van after sound check and a meal, feeling a little better afterwards, but not much. the night before i found myself supine on a moldering motel 6 bed somewhere in the sprawling midst of wisconsin, thumbing the tv remote with sound man kevin snoring away on the other bed. desperately needed food but was too knackered to move, and the only 24 hour dive was blocks away. then, by chance, i found a showing of “judgement at nuremberg,” and old 1961 classic w/ spencer tracy, burt lancaster, & marlene dietrich, about an american tribunal wherein 4 nazi judges were tried for war crimes… i found myself hopelessly lost in no time… had to watch it all. it was wonderful, though as i said, i paid for it the next day. attendance that night at the show was a tad sparse, but those who were there all seemed to come away changed by the magic that is west indian girl. yeah, every once in a while it kinda hits me, how incredibly therapeutic our music is, as though it somehow possesses healing qualities for the troubled soul. all in all, not a bad night. thanks to the super cool dudes from this world fair who opened up the show. sorry i slept through your set, but well, you know… at least you’ve got molly, who was so lovely i totally choked up when she tried to talk to me. urp!

the young and the restlessraise your hand if you loathe rap-rockrob ♥ mandyQ LOVES BIG NADZladies & gentleman, once again… mr. robert james

-F10

yes, miracles happen at martyrs 4.21.06

when i lived in michigan i used to scoff at chicago…now that i dont live in michigan i really enjoy chicago. its my new favorite midwestern city. we were playing with our boys bump again at a club called martyrs. this show turned out to be a much needed shot in the arm…of positivity that is. the stage was great and had a great sound and vibe to it, the club was nice and roomy and the crowd was fantastic. so far the audience reception we have had both times in chicago has been above and beyond the call of duty. im totally down with chi-town. before the show q and i shopped at trader joes and found a cafe with wifi to be all computerized at. after the show we all got to stay at rob’s bro’s house. i actually slept in the van with tony because they have 2 dogs and tony isnt cool with that but it was fun for some reason. bill and pam rock. their house is killer and bill even let me use the shower in the master bath that had a steamer in it. you drop in these eucalyptus drops and bam you’re incased and infused and purified with this great smelling steam. it was sick. after that i kicked back in a hammock and then ate some bbq. life is good in chicago. bill and pam even put their own dogs in crates for a while so i could bring tony in their yard and run around with him. how is that for hospitality. im glad west indian girl has such nice families conveniently located in all the major time zones.

wrigley doublement thanks to: dave for stopping by and shooting the show. dave waited patiently after the show for all of us to be in one place at the same time so he could mastermind a band photo shoot on the street. it was good fun and im glad he took so many shoots. when he sends some over i will be sure to post. send em over d – and hey man, thanx for kudos on the blog. i always appreciate it when people ask about the blog. it means we aren’t just spending all this time for nothing. i also wanted to thank one of our biggest fans lorena for showing up and requesting/yelling “northern sky”. it was because of her that we added it to the set. lorena and mike, you guys are awesome and really brought the positive energy. it was so positive that at one point i thought you were one of rob’s relatives. i love you guys and am glad we made your evening so much fun. i also want to say hey to the wonderful anne reeves. anne was at the nyc show and im glad she got to see us on such a better night. thanx for the wheat brew, it was one of the tastiest beers i had all tour.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the green room at martyrs was umm, actually all green. it was upstairs and very much away from all the fray. i was into it cos it was like having your own apartment with bump as your roommate that never leaves. we got the basics from chicago….beer and pizza. all good, no complaints – the staff at the club was all real cool as well… and that goes a long way around these parts in case you havent read.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i really enjoyed chicago the last time i was there. we played in an area a bit more yuppyish this time around. not that there’s anything wrong with yuppies… i always secretly wanted a friend like alex p. keaton. anyway, if i had to live in chicago i wouldn’t complain.

The Venue: we played at martyrs which is a great bar. we had a huge green room [it was literally green] fully decked out with board games and four couches [it gets my vote as best green room on the tour]… buttt no throat coat and apples. sigh. i walked over to trader joes and fixed that.

The Show: i was starting to feel the symptoms of congestion so i was scared that i wouldn’t perform up to par. at this point in the tour i was beyond cantankerous. i was physically drained and mentally unstable. i guess you don’t need to be of sound mind and body to play an amazing show because that’s exactly what we proceeded to do. uh uh uh awe. some.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: all sorts of lunacy. i needed rest… and fast.

Interesting Things After The Show: i went straight to the merch booth where i was greeted nicely by a lot of enthusiastic west indian girl believers. i got lost in a conversation with the lovely lorena [she introduced herself… “lorena… you know, like bobbit!”… that’s awesome] but in the midst of it all i think i scared off a particulary kind fan. he asked me to sign a napkin and was about to tell me something when someone else came up to me and asked me to sign a cd. im a pretty decent multi-tasker so i was planning on signing the cd infront of me while listening to whatever this sweet gentle guy had to say, but i looked up and he was gone. i looked at my tour manager, ian and he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “what can i say, youre scary.”… great. oh well, hooray for dirty martinis! rob and i went up on stage with bump for the last time and did “send me an angel”… hi bump boys: i just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much fun i’ve had with you… I love YOU GUYS! speaking of bump, joey choma [you know… the guy who’s ALL OVER most of our show reports] and jc came out which was super fabulous five thousand. dave [tall one on the right] came to our show with a canon 20d on hand. he snapped tons of, what i can only imagine, really cool shots of us but i have yet to see them. hi dave please send those pictures to mariqueen@westindiangirl.com puhleaze. thank you so much for coming out it was nice meeting you. rob and fran’s friend, amanda came and brought her friend sasha. sasha also brought her friends meshuggunah and hutzpah… ask nathan about them. god where are those toothy smiled emoticons? after packing up, eating burritos and the dramatics that entail alcohol men and women… we packed it in the van and drove to deerfield, where rob’s brother [thanks bill and pam: couldn’t have asked for better lodging and you guys were so much fun!] let us sleep in his lovely home. poor fran had to sleep in the van that night. aw.

THE JAMES REPORT

Chicago is the shizznet. My brother came out in full force and brought all his peeps. Bill, Pam, Mark, Becky, Allysa, Brian, Lisa: I love you. I had more fun in Chicago than humanly possible. Thank you.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

it was a warm, sunny, and almost windless day in chicago when we rolled into town, something i’m not at all accustomed to from this city. martyr’s bar- aptly named, if you consider performers as a martyr to their craft- was situated in the ravenswood vicinity of north lincoln avenue. after soundcheck and a helping of bland pizza provided by the venue, i decided to take a stroll southward on lincoln in an attempt to find a cafe, other than starbucks, where i could relax and recharge. i must have walked for 5 miles, passing along the way a gazillion bars and pubs and pizzarias, all bustling with a frenetic buzz, and about six different starbucks establishments, all of which were eerily empty. having struck out on my quest to find a cafe, i finally gave up and hailed a cab for a $10 ride back to the venue. perhaps because of this, i had trouble locking into a groove for this night’s show, but it was still fun and seemed to go over well. afterwards, i had the great pleasure of meeting meshuggunah and hutzpah, all warm and squishy and full of life. sure would’ve loved to spend more time with them, but mama sasha had other ideas. sasha came down with her friend amanda, who apparently knew rob from somewhere. later, i would discover that amanda and i actually attended the same stinkin’ high school, though not quite at the same time, and that she had met my sister, kristen, previously. small world. well, it was sad to part ways and vacate the city i never seem to have enough personal time in, but i’m sure we’ll be back. until then, let ’em hang low, chicago.

sending bump an angel…in booty shortsmulti tasking – stylin and profilinit’s a hard job but someone’s gotta do itour favorite blog celebritieshappy shiny peoplethe man with the planyet another shitty qb in chicago

-F10

tony back on tour 4.20.06

hello moline – tony was back in the van for the remaining 5 shows – that probably sucks for everybody else to have a dog in here but it had to happen and im glad everyone is being so cool and dealing with him. i wasnt expecting much from moline and as a general rule its good when you dont expect much because you’re pleasantly surprised. we played a place called the bent river brewery which had some really tasty beer – the raspberry wheat and coffee flavored beer were tops in my book. as for the show – this one was like a laguna ocean st brewery show….set up on the floor and play. it was pretty cool because the bump boys are gangsters and travel with a full light set up that they were kind enough to let us use as well. i cant stress this fact enough….lights help no matter where you play. we switched up the set tonight and i thought lewscious and i played “what are you afraid of” the best we have played it on tour thus far. another highlight for me was getting to watch rob and q sit in with bump on send me an angel. it was fun to watch and listen to. this was a kooky gig all around. long live moline.

mississippi river thanx to: this guy (forgot his name) at the bar who told me that the mississippi river was literally a few blocks away. i grabbed mariqueen and tony and set out on a quest to see it. the dude was right…i walked a few blocks and blam, there it was in all its brown glory. tony even dipped his paw in trying to get some ducks. in general it didnt really seem like much was going on in moline…we walked by 3 other bars on my way to the river and they only had a few people inside them. weird. sort of lonline if you ask me.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: moline is a really quiet town. really quiet as in we arrived at the venue at five something in the afternoon and nothing was open. i’d say next time you consider moline as a vaca spot remember my words and just go with aruba instead.

The Venue: we played at a bar called the bent river brewery. yes, bar. bar as in no amps, no real monitors. no stage. but! they had wireless internet and some of the tastiest beer i’ve ever had. sweetest bartender i’ve ever had the pleasure of getting endless free drinks from… hooray svedka and fruit flavored beer. if you were to ever come to moline, i highly suggest you visit the bent river brewery… and bring your laptop.

The Show: well, it was what it was, you know? after playing all those crappy michigan shows this wasn’t even anything disappointing. i knew what we were getting ourselves into. oh looky here, surprise surprise, i couldn’t hear myself the whole entire set… the bump guys had been kind enough to bring amps and monitors for the show [theyre stellar]. when we sound checked i heard myself just fine… showtime came… nothing. i’d say this was the fifth time it’s happened. that is five times too many if you ask me. i guess it’s a small blessing in disguise because i finally got used to having crap sound on stage and just rolled with it. you gotta do what you gotta do… right?

What Were You Thinking While Playing: am i getting sick? how many shows in a row have we played already? im getting sick, i can feel it… great, i have no more airborne. shizer. i guess i’ll just have to drink more beer and vodka.

Interesting Things After The Show: i sold t-shirts for half of what i should’ve… i blame the alcohol for my poor judgement, then i got my ass kicked by nathan at cricket [damn you raspberry beer delight!]. rob and i did send me an angel with bump. fran and i walked tony to the mississippi river… and then nathan disappeared with three girls from the bar. if there was a toothy smiley faced emoticon i would stick it right here.

THE JAMES REPORT

Who would have thought there was so much love in Moline, IL. Great energy, great people. We’ll meet again.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

Moline: This charming little burgh is actually part of the Quad Cities megatropolis. Never heard of the Quad Cities before? Well, neither had we. Permit me, gentle reader, to thus acquaint you with a poignant morsel of historical erudition by way of this illuminating and little-known vignette. You see, in days of yore, well before the modern advancements of things like lava lamps, 8 track players, and sticky notes, an intrepid explorer by the name of Buck Von Benderswerth was purportedly commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801 to assess the value of the territories north, and to the west of, the port of New Orleans, ostensibly to help inflate its retail value by any means necessary. Though still under Spanish control, the sprawling Louisiana territory was set to be turned over to the French, thanks to the secret treaty of San Ildefonso. Rather than utilize this new acquisition as a launching pad for an almost unequivocal invasion of American interests, an idea favored by French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and others of the aristocracy, Napoleon instead held fast to the notion that it would better serve to be auctioned off to that ninny, Thomas Jefferson, with the potential earnings from the sale going to fund his beloved covert ice cream initiative. Though pundits today would attribute the invention of ice cream to nearly a century later, Napoleon believed he was on to something when a certain Jean-Luc Dubois claimed to possess the fabled recipe for a desert so refreshing, it was said to give convulsive chills of delight. Napoleon’s downfall was twofold: Dubois turned out to be nothing more than a Swiss mental patient on the lam, while Benderswerth himself was, in fact, an idiot. Benderswerth, through a stroke of utter fancy, concocted a plan to carve from the earth a vast tributary of the Mississippi River which would branch off to the northeast well into Wisconsin. He would then attempt to convince the Americans that this new river was in fact the Mississippi, which would thus allow Napoleon to finagle the sale of property which was in fact already theirs to begin with. Robert Livingston would later refer to this as the single most retarded ruse ever conceived. To Benderswerth’s credit, the plan was actually completed using a herd of trained gorillas imported from Africa as his loyal minions. Thus, the Rock River, as it is called today, was born, and the now the famous Louisiana Purchase was thereby negotiated by the Americans for a measly 3 cents per acre. Benderswerth, rather than face the humility he was sure to be branded with back home and abroad, elected instead to stay right where his futile endeavors left him. There, at the intersection of the two great rivers, he founded Moline, Illinois, and drank away the rest of his days in an oblivion of insignificance. The Bent River Brewery- which, by the way, has some of the tastiest microbrews I have ever tasted- is said to be built on the very spot where Benderswerth, after a last horrific bout of drinking, was found lifeless in a pool of his own sick. This is also where the term “bender” happens to come from. And that’s the truth, Ruth. What about the show, you ask? Well, I met some wonderful people that night- you know who you are- and rocked the dart board afterwards. Also, Bump performed a rousing cover of Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel” with Q and Rob joining in, something they had started doing the previous night in Grand Rapids with just Q. Highly amusing… ol’ Benderswerth would’ve been proud

a mississippi blues momentour favorite burn outsflash onflash off“send me an angel”

F10

test driving the intersection 4.19.06

i highly recommend never playing the intersection again. why you ask, well, the main reason is that the sound guy at the intersection cared more about getting high than giving the bands a sound check. when a band is on time for load in and is waiting around for a club’s crew to get it together you have to wonder what sort of an operation the intersection is running. let me state that i am in no way shape or form against people getting high but getting so rocked out of you gord so that you cant perform your job (a job that involves helping my band to sound good) then yeah i’m against it. normally i could brush something like this off but not tonight. sadly enough this was the first time my parents have ever seen my band and all the while i’m at the mercy of a lazy dope telling me “that’s just how we do it here….festival style”…even though this wasnt a festival – it was a show in a club on a wednesday night. frustrating. in retrospect i spent way too long standing around waiting for the fog inside this idiot’s brain to clear up when i could have been visiting with old friends and family. way to go intersection. you should be embarrassed.

as it turns out i couldnt really relax much at all just because this wasnt how i envisioned the first time my parents seeing a west indian girl show would be. deep down inside it made me feel like a failure. of all the great places and venues we have played momma and pappa 10 had to witness the grand rapids show. at least i got to see them for a minute before i played – they were at a table with a few friends teddy (pictured), weas, and eric. my brother chris and his friends were there too. chris saw the kalamazoo show as well as this show…after these 2 he must be wondering what the hell im doing.

how was the show you ask? well, it was good for what it was. i remember liking the stage. i like big stages in general and the stage was pretty nice. just like in kalamazoo, the wonderful paucity opened the show but i didnt get to see them cos i had to rush and go eat before we played. im sorry paucity but at least we got to hang out afterwards and shoot pool. kertis, mike, and mandy that was the best part of my evening. oh yeah, the other surprise of the evening was q sitting in with bump during their cover of “send me an angel”. after seeing her from the crowd’s perspective i now understand why she is so special.

and thus ends our stretch of michigan impossible shows. we are now entering the final week of the tour and i must say it seems like it is taking a bit of a toll on some of us. im sure the band is happy to leave this state – i’m just sad i didnt get enough quality time in with my mom, dad and bro. it was great seeing them and long over due. final score on the michigan impossible tour is west indian girl 4 – michigan 2. We win.

THE ONE MUSICAL BRIGHT SPOT OF GRAND RAPIDS was doing an interview that afternoon with craig and sandy (above) from grand rapids internet television. they had us over to the offices for a real chill interview. good times, great job and thanx again craig and sandy. next time we are in town we will do it again. you can watch the interview right here….GRIT Interview

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i’ve already written about grand rapids. please check the drive out to michigan blog. right before we arrived at the venue we did a fun little interview with GRIT tv. we got to sit around in the sun, eat apples [they read our blog ♥] and the boys drank beer. they even came and recorded our set. i heard a rumor that it’s up on the internet but i haven’t found it yet…

The Venue: the intersection. thanks for the soundcheck, you incompetent fools… im really pleased that we had two disrespectful potheads doing our monitors for us and refusing to give us a soundcheck because they did things “festival” style. yeah ok… i don’t see a festival kind of gig ever happening at the intersection. EVER. other than that the intersection is like a huge hall… huge… but from the stage it almost looked like a barn. i wasn’t too impressed. of course there were no throat coat and apples. michigan, i’ve completely given up on you as far as my rider needs [amongst others] are concerned. utterly hopeless.

The Show: despite our lack for a soundcheck and our incredibly short set i thought it was great. i knew fran’s parents were in the crowd and from their feed back they loved our performance. that makes me very happy.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i just kept envisioning a grand rapids county fair taking place inside the building. you know, arts & crafts, scary carnies, cows…

Interesting Things After The Show: well, after our set, joey c. [the kid was everywhere on our michigan impossible tour] convinced me to go up on stage and surprise the bump guys by singing with them on their cover of “send me an angel”. after two shots of jager and two grey goose and tonics i happily agreed. happy times. then me and mark explored the hip hop room or whatever and we danced while all five of the club goers stared at us. bah. so i went back to the main area & hung out with paucity [another great band & great new friends]… we drank a lot to celebrate the end of michigan impossible and i accidently lifted kertis’ bracelet [sorry, lovee…]. back at mom and dad’s house, fran and i finished off the rest of the baked ziti and then some. fran and i both slept on the floor in sleeping bags as ian was tucked away on his couch bed and mourned our last night at his parent’s house. sigh. i miss them already.

THE JAMES REPORT

Dave Burns could have been a rock god…at least that’s what his sister tells me. Thanks for coming out buddy. Grand Rapids didn’t know what hit them that night

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

first off, there’s a free podcast available for download on itunes of us being interviewed for GRIT (grand rapids internet television). they did a pretty good job cutting up the interview with segments from the live show as well. so, like, go download it and stuff. well, i’m not going to waste time griping about our inexcusable lack of a proper soundcheck, or the lack of promotion, or the ridiculous enormity of the venue as compared to the meager crowd that showed up. no, that stuff is boring, and this is my nonsense so i can do and say what i want. instead i will again take a moment to plug the brilliance of paucity, and how cool it was to actually hang out with the band this time, especially with kertis, jared, and of course anna. anna is a certifiable genius, and is as charming as her talent is inspiring. she’s also very modest and would probably object to all this attention. too bad, girl. thanks for the pile of books you lent us… i snagged one for myself. until next time… adieu.

crash course in “festival” style performingjoey c and mq version 2.0me and the weaspaucity minus 1

-F10

another show for the dogs 4.18.06

i like kalamazoo as a town but the show sucked ass. yet another michigan show that i shouldnt have booked! the promoter put 3 other bands on the bill which wasnt too bright considering the show started at 10pm. im still kicking myself in the ass for not insisting we play third because we ended up going on way too late for a tuesday night. at this point the band was, im sure, pretty bummed out about the michigan shows i had a hand in setting up. even though it was way after midnight when we hit the stage the crowd that was there was pretty stoked. the best part of the evening was meeting nic and nick who are now official kzoo wigheads. my brother chris also made the trip down for his first west indian girl show.

huge kzoo thanks to: my friend mandy/anna’s band paucity. paucity opened the show. i loved them not only because they’re all really nice but mostly cos they reminded me of slint. too bad they had to play first… in retrospect it was lucky for them actually because they got to get it over with first and go home. i wish we had played first.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at club soda sucks – it’s right behind the stage and used by all the bands. there is no point even using it or talking about it. we ended up getting free beer a 6 pack of water. michigan sucks. score now, west indian girl 3 – michigan 2

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: kalamazoo… it was a lovely day to be in a city with such a silly name. i was a bit groggy from the night before and was still grumpy that we had to play yet another show. in michigan. the day was spent sleeping then fran and i found a cafe with wireless internet and hung out there but not before stopping on some train tracks so fran could take some really retarded pictures of me.

The Venue: i don’t even remember the name of the venue, that’s how incredible it was.

The Show: whyyy… why did we have to play this show? first of all there were FOUR bands on the bill. we didn’t even play until after midnight. midnight… on a tuesday evening… in a city called kalamazoo. whyyy? even though we had the worst time slot, i would have to say it was one of my best shows. i had one of rob’s cookies and assorted spirits before our set and was ready to dance and sing straight from my soul. i actually had the time of my life on stage UNTIL… some random body building, nu-metal wannabe, started shouting, “rock & roll! [in a cholo accent, mind you] rock & roll! hotel california!”… he then tried to slam dance… into fran’s poor brother and his friend. im not really into drunks who smoke meth… every time he came to the front of the stage i would just turn around and vibe with mark. so after embarrassing himself [earlier in the evening he tried to hit on me… i actually gagged in front of him] he made a quick exit and the positive vibes from my band mates flowed. other than that… it was a really sad turn out… probably like twenty people… l a m e.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i wasn’t thinking at all… except for when speedy gonzalez was annoying me, i just closed my eyes and asked the forces of nature to will him to leave.

Interesting Things After The Show: we met two great guys. nick and nick. im glad we had the chance to play kalamazoo because now we’ve made two of the best fans a little band from los angeles could ever have.

THE JAMES REPORT

Nick and Nick graced our presence in Kalamazoo. These guys are glorious diamonds in the rough. They shine like the brightest stars. Keep the faith fellas.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

kalamazooky: hmmmm…. well, it was really nice to meet the fine folks from paucity. i recommend everyone go check out their tunes pronto. then there were those two fans that showed up… other than that, i can’t really think of anything nice to say about this blowhole of a city. i don’t even think i got drunk that night. oh wait… yes i did. ok, so there was this behemoth ass-clown of a troglodyte that kept bouncing around, knocking into innocent bystanders and shouting requests for hotel california at us. i knew this cudmunch was going to be trouble when he grabbed me by the lapels before our show and asked me to dance to some speed medal song that was playing. it was all i could muster not to introduce him to nathan van headbutt-in-the-face. hey, in retrospect, this night is actually sounding more interesting than i think it actually was. like, i also remember sighting some girl at the show that was actually taller than me! i believe that’s a first. i also got a kick out of hearing fran’s impersonation of “she wants revenge” as we walked around town soaking in all the fabulous sights… guess you had to be there. next time i set foot in kalamazoo, i’m packin’ heat.

-F10

tight quarters 4.17.06

oh ann arbor how is it possible? i havent been back in so long and the blind pig still smells like shit. i guess some things never change. tonight’s show was with a cool band called lotus. we jumped on the bill last minute and please remind me not to do that again because it always leads to no sound check, not much promotion and a way too fucked up of a stage set up. we played our shortest set of the tour and played it pretty well i think. once again i think rob and mariqueen have really become great singers. the best part of this show was being able to see a bunch of my friends. it’s a shame i didnt get to show the band more of the city because ann arbor is actually pretty cool…but as far as the the corner of first and liberty where we spent all of our 8 hours in town…not so much.

go blue thanx to: barbara and george, robin and john, chris, shan kong, robin, and jubei for making it out. also thanx to our wighead michelle who i didnt even get to meet but heard she was there! next time say hello michelle.

rider and dressing room wrap up:the people at the blind pig werent too friendly. our dressing room was upstairs above the bar and shared with the other bands. there obviously was no rider. overall this evening was another michigan show that probably shouldnt have been booked. the score is now tied – west indian girl 2 – michigan 2

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i kept hearing how awesome ann arbor was. i only saw a little bit of it so i can’t really agree or disagree.

The Venue: the blind pig smells like butthole but at least the bartenders are really sweet. too bad the actual faculty that works there can’t take etiquette lessons from their own bartenders. i guess if you aren’t punk then you can’t be smiled at. i’ll remember to come back with safety pins and anarchy patches. sike sike and sike.

The Show: i was ridiculously grumpy because i was worn out and needed a day to rest. to my disappointment we weren’t going to get it and to top it off we weren’t going to get paid enough to play this show. here’s to gas money, i guess. anyway, we opened for a band called lotus, who had in ear monitors [preventing mark from having a monitor mix] and equipment that took up eighty percent of the stage. it reminded me of our mini tour with sound tribe sector nine which was kind of a nightmare. needless to say, i was the grumpiest person on the planet and i felt really bad about how terrible the show turned out…

What Were You Thinking While Playing: this sucks. i can’t see mark. this sucks. fran keeps hitting me with his bass. this sucks. i can’t hear myself. this sucks. all these people are here to see us and we can’t even give them a decent show because of all the equipment that [isn’t ours] in our way. this sucks..

Interesting Things After The Show: i was happy to see joey choma came out. i also hung out with a cool girl named michelle for a little bit, thennn nathan, mark and i got all liquored up and danced our troubles away to the smooth sounds of those lotus boys. let’s just say i was grumpy no more.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE Special Edition!

West Indian Girl saves the day!
So, we were all safely back at our Grand Rapids headquarters getting ready for our next show later that day in Ann Arbor, when suddenly, tragedy was narrowly averted. I was staying at Fran’s brother’s place, along with Mark, Rob, and Kevin. At some point, just past 11am, I went out front for a morning smoke. Almost Immediately I could sense that something wasn’t quite right…. Chris’s condominium complex seemed as it should be, tranquil and calm, but great clouds of smoke were wafting up from the northern ridge, just behind a row of garages. I grabbed Mark, who had just come out to get in some skating time, and we decided to go check it out. From atop the ridge we could see that someone’s entire back yard, which was less than 40 yards away from the complex, was on fire. the flames were obviously out of control, spreading outward from a barbeque pit that had evidently been left unattended. 3 little kids, aged 5 to 10, were busy running tiny plastic buckets of water back and forth from the house, while their frantic mother was seen panicking in the distance. By this point, Chris had come out as well to see what was going on. The three of us immediately sprang into action, each grabbing a length of hose, two industrial sized buckets filled with water, and a shovel from Chris’s garage. Within 5 minutes, we had that blaze fully contained. It didn’t take a genius to see that had it not been for us, that fire would have swept right up that ridge and engulfed a good portion of the condominium complex. The flabbergasted mother promised us a good home cooked meal, and said she would come check us out when we played in Grand Rapids later that week. Neither of those promises were actually kept, but hey, that’s alright. In the end, we were left with the satisfaction that due to our quick thinking and determination, life in this snoozy little cove would continue as it was. (Note: pictures were all reenacted well after the flames were put out.)

Ann Arbor: awe… my pal J.D. showed up again and brought me some flowers. thanks, honeybunches! well, honestly, all i remember from this show was how stinkin’ small the stage was at the ol’ blind pig. of course that didn’t stop us from rocking it proper. afterwards, mark, Q, and i launched into a procession of jaeger shots that would not actually stop for the rest of the tour pretty much. follow that up with some freaky moves on the dance floor as we blew out the night with Lotus helming the stage for what seemed like an eternity. i have to say, Lotus puts on a pretty intense show. it was downright mesmerizing, and quite inspiring as well. don’t miss it if you ever get the chance.

joey c and mqchris donnely and robin vincenti love barbara and georgetrouble comes in threes

-F10

the road to nowhere 4.15.06

playing a show in marquette, mi is not something most bands do. marquette is in the upper penninsula — it might as well be considered part of canada. basically it’s a haul from any major city. but as they say in show biz…”if you pay them well they will drive to marquette”. this city is pretty awesome and you never forget it once you’ve been there. we got to drive over the mackinaw bridge to get there. true story – a yugo actually blew off that bridge. for that reason i always get a bit nervous driving over it. it’s like driving over an ocean.

up front and company was a pretty nice place… a restaurant club combo place. the show was pretty good. it was more of a college crowd there and plenty of people were dancing that night. funny how in some cities people just stand and watch our show but in other cities like marquette people dance. hey, variety is the spice of life right”?

big pastie thanx to: jon ruuska for being a great host and putting michigan back in our good graces. we were treated to what felt like a 7 course meal before the show and had a nice private dressing room as well as hotel rooms at the local ramada. way to be jon. the bartenders were all cool too – they let us hang out there as long as we wanted after the show. the score is now west indian girl 1 – michigan 2

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: marquette… really pretty… i think it should’ve been a canadian city. forgive me for being uneducated, but the only thing that truly struck my fancy was this “thing”. it was a bridge or a loading dock or what used to be a train track… rob and fran know because fran asked a marquetian [let me know if this is not appropriate] and i think rob overheard but i am too lazy to call and ask either one of them what it is. i couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. please refer to them and you will understand what i mean.

The Venue: we played at the upfront and company. apparently this restaurant turns into a bar and then becomes the hip and happening spot to see bands. the stage felt a little banquet hallish. i don’t know why, i suppose it’s because we had to sound check while people were still eating. at least this place had really great food. and when i say really great, i mean outstanding. thanks for the wonderful food and the hotel rooms, jon… youre awesome and i really appreciated it.

The Show: a lot of people danced… that was nice.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: are we done yet? i felt really fat and bloated from dinner and kept thinking about what a hippo i must’ve looked like. gross.

Interesting Things After The Show: i don’t know about interesting. but right after the set was over, a guy introduced himself to me [i forgot his name… im bad at that] but i remember him telling me he used to do the booking for the venue. i don’t know why he stopped [doing the booking] but he’s a bartender now. well… he offered to get me a drink, which was very sweet of him, so i said yes. the drink had a bottle cap in it. um… great. he then cheekily demanded a cigarette from me. i said sure. here you go. he then proceeds to close talk [you know… when someone talks WAY too close to your face] and tells me how awesome he thought our set was. i thanked him endlessly but was dying for the dressing room because A. i wanted my purse B. i wanted to regain my composure C. i needed to use the bathroom and didn’t feel like using the one that all the patrons were using. i finally realize that this dude is hammered when he clumsily pulls out a stool for me to sit on. i decline politely and he took offense to it. i told him i had to go upstairs and get my stuff and then he laughed and said, “ohhhh! you’ll be back” and put his fingers up as to quote unquote my supposed lie. i whispered in his friend’s ear that he was wasted and i was outta there. as i walked away, i heard him yell about how he thought i was so hot and after that i refused to come out of the dressing room for an hour. of course then i had to because nathan came up and was being stalked by some completely anihilated chick. hey marquette, good times.

THE JAMES REPORT

Up yonder in the great land of the north, they know how to drink and party like no other. Saul keeps a fire lit for all those passing through. Thanks buddy. The ghosts of the Edmund Fitzgerald visited me backstage. The spirits were high that night.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

Marquette: long drive, long drive, crazy crazy lakes… boom shakalaka boom boom… took me an hour to find this damn place on the map… boom shakalaka boom boom… got lasso’d in by some drunken lass, all tryin’ to get up ons… took me a while, but i gave her the slip… guess she wanted me to come home with her cuz the hubby was away (yeesh)… ramalama ding dong… afterparty, afterparty, everything’s a blur… mark and i lost $4 on a pool game… merde!… some kid named derek professed to me that his great dream in life was to be a band roadie who’s main job was to score the drugs (keep shootin’ for the stars, buddy!)… scuttling back to the ramada at the buttcrack of dawn, wasted and freezing on a fine easter morn’… and that about wraps it up… boom shakalaka bam boom!

how many people know what this is….i doscenic views everywhere in the UPband photo op could not be ignoredone of the few live shots takenour host jon ruuska and friends

F10

joey c… c as in class act 4.14.06

we played the majestic theatre on friday with our friends bump – yorg (pictured), clint, chris and big nadz. i love these guys they are all insane and tons of fun to be around. this show was a resounding success and lord knows we needed one after crap ass traverse city (please refer to that show report if you havent read it yet). the bump fans were out in full force and they were a great bunch of people to play in front of. since we were the middle band on the bill we changed our set up a bit and that seemed to work well. the stage sound sucked at the majestic but that wasnt a surprise…it has always sucked there. when i was up on stage i had sort of an out of body experience. i was looking at rob and q playing and thought to myself “we are getting to be a pretty good band.” it was the first time on stage this tour when i felt like we were finding our comfort zone…especially without an extensive sound check. we just went up there and played. hats off to rob and q for really stepping it up. im proud of the whole band for going up there and giving detroit a great show

big majestic thanx to: jc and joe from maple park media for being a class operation. they did everything possible to make our stay in detroit great. they’re both great guys to have on your team and if i didnt already have a team i would make sure they were on mine. bump is in good hands with mpm. thanx to all my old friends from detroit (all pictured below) for paying the price of admission to see the show, to the metro times for giving us a nice plug as the thing to do that evening and last but not least all the new friends and fans we made that bought our cd. michigan is back in our good graces. the score is now west indian girl 1 – michigan 1

rider and dressing room wrap up: this was one of those shows when we had to share the dressing room with all the bands and their entourages. although this may seem like fun it kind of sucks for q and rob because they like to warm up their voices before they go on and its impossible to do so when you share dressing rooms. one thing i can say is that there was no shortage of beer there and that’s always a plus. the majestic back stage area for bands is far from majestic – they need to spruce that bitch up.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: hi detroit… it’s nice to meet you again, im sorry we started off on the wrong foot… actually im not apologizing to you… the stupid people that i encountered the last time i was there should apologize to you for making my first experience so terrible. im glad i came back because this time around i encountered a bunch of great people… some who i know i will know for the rest of my days.

The Venue: majestic is huge and they gave the boys beer and water but no throat coat and apples for me… i don’t know… i don’t understand why a venue would take the name majestic and serve drinks in plastic cups… it’s like going to a castle and eating cheetos..

The Show: god what fun! i loved every minute of it… even the parts where we screwed up. i think west indian girl is made to play huge stages. it just feels like home. you know? the best part of the show was having hot teenage girls telling me they loved me and wanting to touch me. you are so jealous.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i thought of jumping into those kids’ arms… i thought of how many people in the audience knew how much i loathed detroit and wondered if they knew that i had changed my mind… i thought of how much i was smiling and how goofy i looked… i thought of how much fun everyone seemed to be having…

Interesting Things After The Show: my friend sergio came out and brought me pocky sticks and chocolate truffles. everything gets a little fuzzy after awhile… i had three grey goose and tonics, two dirty martinis and a swig of jim beam. in the midst of all that mark taught my friend how to properly karate chop someone… i think… i remember getting about ten hugs from JC telling me what a great set it was… that kind of made my night… and then joey c. in a beautiful drunken moment came up to me, spread his arms and said, “on behalf of detroit, this is for you” and proceeded to give me a warm hug. JC & joey choma. don’t ever forget their names. theses men will do great things. before and after the show we all hung out with bump [great band & great new friends]… i felt so at home with them that i went ahead and defaced one of the backstage toilets even while yorg was in the bathroom. can you feel that love?

THE JAMES REPORT

I love Detroit. Our fans were inspired nuggets of pure light…exciting all my neural receptors into frenzied bliss. Mucho thanks to Bump for the hook up. They vaporized all our minds away with their fresh music and joyful energy. Thank you.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

Now it just so happens that Detroit was the first place in the world that I ever lived, albeit only in my first year of infancy. After that, my parents relocated up to a tiny little town called Goodrich, which is about 30 minutes southeast of Flint. So, that being the case, this Michigan Impossible leg of our tour was actually something of a strange homecoming for me. It had been over 20 years since I last set foot in the state I once called home.
I guess we came into Detroit via the back door, along the infamous 8 mile road. Scanning the unfamiliar desolation, I happened to notice an unkempt little marquee in front of some dilapidated night club that read: R.I.P. Proof. I think that might have been the highlight of the Michigan scenery right there.
I was brimming with anticipation as we finally pulled into the venue. Those wiley (not an actual word but I like to use it anyway) Bumpsters were there waiting to greet us. I could tell from the getgo that these guys were going to be trouble… trouble in a good way, that is. A very good way.
Didn’t take long for us to figure out that the Majestic was a great venue, but the hospitality was sorely lacking, i.e. no meal or buyout provided, and the backstage was as big as a shoebox. Despite the cramped conditions, however, this night wins hands down for the wildest night of debaucherous abandon for any of the backstage areas on the entire tour. I’ll just leave the rest to the imagination, and instead move to something wholesome….
On returning from my overpriced dinner, I ran into Ian, our trusty tour manager, who informed me that some of my relatives had come by the merch booth asking for me. My response was something like: What did they look like? You see, I hadn’t seen any of them in well over two decades, so I had no idea what to expect. Luckily, it wasn’t hard to spot my Uncles Mike and Doug along with Aunt Janice cowering in the back, defending themselves as best they could against the aural onslaught of the opening band. We did our best to shout our cordial greetings to each other. Then they called over my cousins Jessica and Kurt, along with their better halves, Matthew and Stephanie, respectively. It was a full scale reunion, only nobody could really hear what anyone was saying unless it was shouted in their ear. Also in attendance that night was my good friend Jason, or J.D., who helped participate in some of the aforementioned debauchery.
Before leaving, my relatives gifted me with a loaf of Nisua bread along with the recipe, such as my dearly departed Grandma Sophie used to make. Jessica’s last words to me I believe were: I was up all last night making this fucking bread for you, so you better damn well eat it! OK Jessica, I ate and shared that wonderful bread. Thank you, relatives, and thank you Detroit for an undeniably kick-ass show!

for great show pictures go to 2SnapsUp
thanks michael spleet for the awesome shots

judd and Qrob, rick and Qgreat picture i took of Q before the show

team lonniesue lott & phil durrthe hamiltonschris varady god bless younathan looks good in greenladies and gentleman, robert james…a majestic bass moment

F10

red light special 4.13.06

note – this is the first of six shows in our “michigan impossible” which was mariqueen’s nickname for the run of dates…

dear traverse city, thank you for being the first black spot on our tour. the promotion of our show at union st station flat out sucked ass…so bad it was embarrassing….it cant be beat – out of the 20 shows we will have played on this tour you will win hands down for being the worst. its funny cos of all the show reports i write (ie every single show we ever play) i have never said this about a venue yet. adding insult to injury, the door man thought we were a cover band…cool. this gig was sad and its a shame music fans in the area werent told about it because its not often that national touring bands make it up to of all places traverse city michigan. (please note that: i am very fond of the city…traverse city) i feel bad for taking the band there. its not like we dont have better things to do than to waste the gas and our time than to play in front of a mostly disinterested bar during thursday pool night. once again union st station, thank you for wasting our time. ps- if the money for this show was close to being respectable i wouldnt be bitching at all. but it wasnt – it sucked. once again, the promoter for traverse city sucked ass.

the one bright spot of the evening was that one of my old old friends kenny olsen (who went on to achieve fame as kid rock’s guitarist) was there. kenny is actually a traverse city native and happened to be back in town for a while. they have a shrine up in the bar for kenny as well as having named the stage after him. anyway, it turns out that kenny was in the bar while we were there setting up and still had no clue we were even in town. this town is very small people – that’s how bad the word got out about this show. the other cool thing about the night was that we jammed out a new song aptly named “traverse city blues”. we rounded the evening up (of course) by playing (and betting on) some thursday night pool before we split. score: west indian girl 1 – michigan 0

big cherry festival thanx to: the few people that were in the bar that cared ie the thursday night pool regulars. janine, a flight attendant, bought a shirt….remember her name.

rider and dressing room wrap up: reminiscent of northampton but not nearly as nice, this dressing room was in the basement of the club. it’s out of the way and sort of like a dark clubhouse…no real reason to hang out down there. traverse city did give us some food – their clam chowder was good. no rider to speak of – i remember paying for my drinks and that’s never a good sign when you’re the entertainment.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: well i didn’t see any of the town. traverse city didn’t seem much different from any other city in michigan except that it was a complete pain in the ass to get to. i suppose it didn’t help that it started raining as soon as we got there. i should’ve took that as a bad omen…

The Venue: was a decent bar. buttt… the promoter sucked, the patrons stunk, we had to pay for our alcohol, the food wasn’t even that good and to top it all off, i had no throat coat and no apples. alright union st. station! way to be completely useless.

The Show: i guess the optimist in me would say at least i got paid to rehearse [in front of a bunch of drunks]. hooo… rah. at least rob and fran got to work on their comedy routine. we actually made up a new song that night and nathan named it “traverse city balls”…

What Were You Thinking While Playing: well at one point in the show mark was pretending to ram his drum stick in his head and i was pretending to hang myself with my necklace and slashing my wrists with my tambourines. i kept chanting out loud to him rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal. it would’ve been a nice day off… i spent most of the show daydreaming about rose’s [fran’s lovely mother] beautiful breakfast and fran capturing my sleepy happiness with his camera and thanking god that i decided not to wear my contacts so i didn’t have to see the mess around me.

Interesting Things After The Show: a very inebriated woman went up on stage to molest rob… then her husband took her home… apparently she also ran up to nathan and gave him a kiss on the lips. classy. after that charade everyone got drunk because it was the only way we could deal with being in that venue. fran and i lost a game of pool to mark and nathan… thennnn rob and ian won a game against mark and nathan because nathan tried to get showboaty and failed. moral of the story is: don’t be a show-off and don’t ever play a show at the union st. station in traverse city.

THE JAMES REPORT

We knew we were in for a long night when the promoter/bar thought we were a cover band. Thank our lucky charms that local hero/resident and friend Kenny Olsen happened to be in town. It was great catching up buddy. We had a blast on stage even writing an impromptu song “Traverse City Balls”. At first, Fran had a look of horror but eventually loosened up.

“traverse city balls”don’t they look ecstatic?rob and kenny – a magical guitarist moment
nathan and mariqueen soaking it infrancis penn & robert teller

F10

dark and sexy in pittsburgh 4.11.06

has anyone reading this blog ever been to pittsburgh? well i have twice and both times it was at night. what i remember about it was that i loved driving into city because of all the lights on the hills and bridges. out of all the cities to drive through at night pittsburgh always stuck in my head. oddly enough i never got to see much of pittsburgh so it remained a mystery. well, after my most recent stay i can confidently say pittsburgh is now at the top of my list of cities i want to live in when i decide i’ve had enough with the great weather, smog, high rent, and crowded freeways of la. sometimes pittsburgh reminds you of seattle, sometimes san francisco, sometimes detroit, sometimes ny and sometimes gotham city. its a beautiful mix of gothic victorian architecture with wonderful houses, churches, and best of all, bridges. tons of them all over the place connecting the city over the 3 rivers that slice through the landscape.

our stay in pittsburgh was made possible by 2 people. the first is kirk from mandrake project. kirk was the guy who sent me an email message one day a few months ago about hooking our bands up together. we became friends and this led to my putting pittsburgh on our tour schedule. the second person who made the show a reality was charles benefiel who promoted and booked us at the brillo box. google charles right now so you can see his artwork. he is a stipal genius. i’m not kidding, this guy is famous for his intense wonderful work. so check this out. we arrive in pittsburgh on the afternoon of the 10th and charles meets us at a 7-11 and tells us to follow him over to his house. we had no idea where we’re going but we ended up in a neighborhood called manchester which at first look is kind of an intimidating hood. plenty of abandoned houses but almost all of them historic. i think all of us where like…um, where the fuck are we and who is this guy charles benefiel? anyway, it turns out that downtown pittsburgh is somewhat of a psuedo ghost town as most people have moved to the burbs and left the beautiful city to decay. like many others downtown charles bought a beautiful home for close to nothing and refurbished it into a classic with great wood floors and fireplaces all over the place. awesome stuff. six of us all slept upstairs – q, rob, ian and i were all in one room….sort of reminded me of charlie’s family from the movie willy wonka and the chocolate factory movie.

ok, on to the show – great show at the brillo box that night – the only drag about this place was the stairway that you had to hump all your gear up. this sucked my ass big time and it now has the honor of being the worst club i have ever had to load in to. sorry brillo box but you have overtaken cafe du nord in san fran as the “club with that fucking staircase”. the club itself (like cafe du nord) and the pittsburgh reception was excellent though. mandrake was awesome and their last song was especially the kind of sonic onslaught that i get into. i was way into it. oh yeah, i forgot the other dramatic moment for me. my trusty ashdown amp broke…again. this makes 2 times now. high priced shit like this shouldnt break…especially when you’re on tour. i’m pissed. ironically there was a guy named dan in first band that also had an ashdown and he was nice enough to let me borrow it. the next morning charles went out of his way to wake up early and drive my ass to a guitar center where i bought an ampeg to get me through the rest of the tour. for those of you who dont understand – when your amp breaks on tour its like someone breaking your legs… incapacitating to say the least.

special steel town wighead thanx: special steel town wighead thanx: to kirk for being the spark to get us there, to charles and jacque for opening up their home to us and really taking the term “hospitality” to the next level. ben from mandrake for helping me carry all the heavy stuff down the stairs after the show. last but not least to all the peeps in pittsburgh like kevin and becky (pictured)…yinz great.

rider and dressing room wrap up: the brillo box gets a big nod of approval for being the first club to get us the 9volt battery and pack of parliment lights that we have been asking for on our rider. good deli tray too. this green room was located behind the bar – kinda bummed the bartender wouldnt serve me a drink after i got done loading the van – it was a particularly stressful night for me and one of those evenings when i just wanted to sit down at the bar with a drink and relax since i spent almost all the time before the show trying to sort out my amp problems and all the time after the show loading equipment. kinda of a drag that he didnt bend the rules for me even though people somehow were still drinking after close.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i have fallen in deep love with pittsburgh. it’s just so beautiful. the architecture of the buildings downtown, the bridges, the churches, the townhouses, the inexpensive prices, the fact that there’s never any traffic… i’m going to make it my mission to try and convince everyone i know and love to slowly migrate to pittsburgh. no joke.

The Venue: the brillo box was really fabulous. not only are the owners stellar, but we had tons of apples, a pack of parliament lights and lozenges [they had no idea what throat coat was… god bless them]… the only bummer for me was that the sound system wasn’t quite fit for our band. i didn’t have any vocal monitors and i ended up having to share a microphone with fran. i hate sharing. renee, the owner, along with her husband whose name escapes me… have done a fantastic job with the venue. it’s only been open for seven months but it’s already proven a tremendous success. the whole layout of the restaurant/bar is awesome… if i lived in the burgh [soon enough, my pretties] the brillo box would be my home away from home.

The Show: meh… since the sound system wasn’t right the show didn’t really seem to be right either. it was like playing a loft party. i had fun… mark and i had a magical moment. i gave the show a six out of ten.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: ugh… fuck it… im gonna dance.

Interesting Things After The Show: i hung out with the fabulously charming duo [thommy & brian]… most of the night was spent laughing and laughing and laughing and more laughing. i swear next time i come to town we’re having a slumber party.

since there really isn’t a section for me to talk about anything else i’m just going to take this opportunity to share with you the coolest part of pittsburgh. their names are charles and jacque. if it weren’t for them opening up their home and their hearts to us i don’t think i would’ve fallen so hard for the city. these two are the kind of people that give you hope that there are truly wonderful, smart and creative souls in the world. i love you two from the bottom of my heart and feel blessed to have crossed paths. until we meet again…

THE JAMES REPORT
Wow! Pittsburg is my new home. Charles and Jacque grace this planet with there imperial wisdom and beauty. They are the sparkling clear diamonds in a confused, often backwards world. Everywhere they are, good will follow. Thank you. And to all our fans who showed up at the Brillobox, you are the reason music exists. Can’t wait to see you all again…future days will reveal all. Thank you.

we love charles and jacque

F10

stripped down for wyep 4.11.06

the afternoon of the brillo box show we did an on air performance at a great npr radio station 91.3 wyep. wyep is yet another cool thing about pittsburgh. the whole station is made of recycled material or at least bunch of it was made from it… like the carpet was made from recycled cups and the sound boards were made from recycled jeans. pretty crazy huh…i still dont understand the recycled jeans thing. anyway, kyle is the morning host at yep and he was the one to interview us live on the air. not only were interviewed but rob and q performed 4 songs in front of a studio audience. the songs they played were monterey, hollywood, still lost and visions which has never ever been performed before. it was a historic moment and im glad it all got recorded. those tapes will be available on the net pretty soon i hope. personally, i thought it was rob and q’s best acoustic performance EVER. both of their voices sounded great. mark, nathan, and i were equally mesmerized by their talents. after the show we did some group station id’s which were pretty amusing. i also want to thank mike the music director, brian the production director and chris one of the dj’s for all being so cool to us. thanx for the support wyep…we appreciate it!

Mariqueen’s Mind

The Venue: WYEP is beautiful. apparently the whole place is made of recycled paper cups and jeans. i enjoyed the whole feng shui of the place. it is something you must see for yourself… ooooh! check out pictures from the station right HERE

The Show: though there were minor glitches i think it was a success. i am starting to get more comfortable playing intimate shows. just as long as i don’t have to talk. =)

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was calm and cool, not thinking about anything at all…

Interesting Things After The Show: charles and jacque [best people in the world] took us around the town for a bit before we were due at the brillo box.

rob getting grilled by kyle

THE JAMES REPORT
Why can’t there be more stations like WYEP? Thanks for the love. It will come back to you tenfold as the ancients rise up from beyond to tune in from lost astral-planes.

group photo with kyle in the middle
great crowd for an afternoon show

F10

lewscious and q after the show 4.9.06

baltimore maryland…hmmm, another sunday show – you never know what to expect on a sunday but so far the tour gods have been kind to us. we played the 8 x 10 with a baltimore based band called rain the shining. rain the shining is great and it was real cool of them to jump on this bill with us. ryan who happens to be part of the baltimore west indian girl family is in this band. they did an awesome job of promoting the show and making the whole evening a great success. ryan, by the way, is also jen koster’s boyfriend. now jen, if you remember, has the dubious place in west indian girl history as being the first person to ever buy something from our online store. for this she will always be able to find her name online when she googles it. as far as the show went, well, this show was awesome, there was a great crowd that really dug into our songs. the 8×10’s stage was small but worked perfectly in that nice room. basically this whole evening was a pure joy because it was so easy – from load in to load out the club and staff and promoter was excellent. i cant wait to come back and play there again because the crowd really did rule.

special crabcake wighead thanx to: robert tucker for being one of the coolest promoters we have ever dealt with. this guy is rad and hooked us up big time. also big thanx to mike and bill walsh again. bill was taking some pics and mike brought the band some of our favorite champagne and cookies. such nice gestures like this when you’re on the road cant be appreciated enough. we munched on those cookies for the next few days and the champagne was superior. ps. happy birthday becky!

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: baltimore… yet another city i really wish we had had a chance to explore. mark was telling us about taking water taxis and all these fun little activities to participate in. sometimes i get really bummed out that we never have time to just relax and soak in a city.

The Venue: god… the 8 x 10 was so outstanding. great sound, beautiful venue… amazing people. robert… you are the best. we love you, thanks for making our stay so enjoyable. i cannot wait to come back.

The Show: when we were done with our set ian said, “tonight you guys reminded me why i quit my job and came on this tour.”

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i wish becky [fran’s sister] was here so i could lead the whole venue in singing happy birthday to her… oh yeah, well fran told me once at the end of the set, “remember when you turn around everyone can see your nipples”… so after that all i kept thinking was, “i hate fran”…

Interesting Things After The Show: well… nathan had tons of nonsensical fun… why don’t you ask him?

THE JAMES REPORT
The 8×10 is the best venue on the tour so far. Our fans in Baltimore are beautiful, beautiful people…real day trippers with eyeball projectors casting dreams of true inner space travel. The fuse has been lit. Thanks Robert, you treated us like royalty. You are King.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE
what an amazing city! really wish i could have seen more of it. the venue and promoter really came through and took care of us, like we were royalty… or calves being fattened for the slaughter. which ever. an old high school chum, jeremy, came out to the show along with his crew. hadn’t seen him since forever ago, and it was nice to catch up. congrats on the engagement, buddy! the show itself was the best performance we’d pulled off yet, and will probably stand as one of the highlights of the tour, especially since none of us really expected much from this city. of course we owe it all to the amazing crowd that night. i can’t tell you how much easier it is to deliver a top notch performance when i look out and see people actually moving around during the songs, dancing away and erupting in unrestrained applause. then again, maybe it had something to do with these wacked out white bugman shades i busted out with.
i had been hunting for some new sunglasses since demolishing my old beloved cop glasses, and scored a 2 for $15 deal at some random roadside rest area in connecticut. so i picked up this pair as more of a joke, but the band had other ideas when they saw me wearing them… thus a new stage accessory was born. shit, i hope they don’t start making me wear the cowboy hat i picked up….. after the show, we were able to blow off some steam with a makeshift dance party up in the green room. big thanks to the lovely cara and her friends who really helped spice things up. we’ll definitely have to do that again sometime soon. very soon. we love you, baltimore

jen and ryan, our best friends in baltimore!
master of the rhodes
just like i promised sara – here we are 😉
great pic ian took from the balcony
q with david roth, one rad friend

F10

arena rock finally arrives 4.8.06

the night before the george washington university show we arrived at a travelodge in aberdeen maryland. may i take a moment to discuss the lower rung of hotels that we end up staying at due to budget restraints? well, out of all of them – motel 6, super 8, econo lodge etc etc, the travelodge chain has to be the best bet for the price. for about 60 bucks you get a decent room with little teddy bears on the bed covers AND a mother fucking high speed wireless internet connection. folks, can you ask for anything more? as a blogger this hotel chain has a special place in my heart. i guess the next level of decent hotels with wi fi would be best western but you are talking about 80 bucks at least. anyway, we decided to stay at this t-lodge for 3 nights since we had a show in baltimore on sunday too. it was nice having a home base for a bit. we played the gw show with grace potter and talib kweli. it was a surreal experience as most college shows are in their own unique way. they are different from the average club show because one, many students that come to the event are literally hearing your music for the very first time and two, they never have booze there . so on one hand you do get to play for your true fans but you also get to play for many random passer-bys….this is actually a great opportunity to shove your band in the face of future hard core music fans that are just beginning to find their own musical way. that being said, the show was pretty cool. it was scheduled to be an outside show but due to rain it was moved inside their gymnasium. that was another first for west indian girl. playing a bigger show in an arena of sorts. as far as the show went we played a shorter set because of time constraints. its always strange for me to play indoor shows during the day with no alcohol being served. not having a beer while playing a show is like not having a hot dog at a baseball game. it’s just wrong.

special patriotic colonial wighead thanx to: josh for making this great college show possible, liz for taking some great pics, grace potter’s band for being so cool and great to share a green room with not to mention a stage. rider notes – the towels the gwu event staff got us were indeed of the “fluffy bath towel” variety we asked for on our rider. these will come in handy when im trying to wipe my ass off with the see through dishrag sand paper towel that motel 6 gives you.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: never been to washington DC. i was excited to walk around… but then it started to rain so that dream died. fast.

The Venue: george washington university was fantastic. they did a balls out job on their spring fling. the gymnasium was decked out with a great stage, great lights… the works. two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

The Show: i dunno. college shows are weird. students don’t really know who you are and they’re apprehensive to clap for you until the very end. being all cranked on cotton candy and watching a concert is not the same as sipping on a dirty martini. yuh know?

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was overwhelmed by the sweat dripping from each pore. those lights were killing me.

Interesting Things After The Show: i got to run and give grace potter a hug and a kiss [coolest chick ever] because i like the cut of her jib. then as we dilly dallied in the gymnasium [note that it was a dreary and rainy day] nathan and i really felt the need to open up the bottle of red wine he got me for my birthday. so much so, that after an unsuccesful attempt to find a cork screw we took the spare key to the van and ended up breaking it trying to pry that bitch open. sigh. what a day. after we left the college nathan took us around and we did the shortest tour of the city. then we got lost. really… sigh. what a day.

THE JAMES REPORT
Yes, there is love in DC. Thank you Josh. We found like spirits in Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Very cool band and great people. We will meet again someday.

one of only a few live shots from this day
late entry band shot courtesy of the lovely liz

F10

professor lewscious 4.7.06

easton mass – needless to say i woke up this morning not feeling so hot. i felt like ass and barely remember going to bed. i think by noon we were all in the van on our way back to massachusettes for a show at stonehill college in easton. stone hill is a catholic college…i sort of felt at home…not really. as i mentioned in the bu show report playing colleges always have their own special unique charm. we played in their cafeteria/lounge. it was cool because the kids that were there were really into it. i felt kind of naked and exposed up on the stage there….maybe it was because i was a bit tired from the night before. i didnt get to see any of the college or town because immediately after the show we were on the road to dc for another college show at gwu.

big educated catholic wighead thanks to:: ryan and 93.1 for their support, the event staff for stocking our dressing room with fiji water and a bunch of great organic food as well as an overhead projector. no one has gotten us the socks i have asked for on our rider until now and i will forever remember you for that. stone hill was also the first place with the best towels…way more larger and fluffier than most. good pineapple juice too. you grade out high in the rider department. right now i would say you are right up there with philly.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i don’t even know what city we played… please note that this show was the day after my new york outing. i spent most of the day passed out

The Venue: we played stonehill college and the venue we played at was called the roach hall. um… hmmm… i was waiting to pass a hall called bong water but never did.

The Show: the audience was great and i had fun… i played in my long johns, booty shorts and my friends huge tshirt. i was the comfyyyy.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i wonder if anyone notices that my fly is down?

Interesting Things After The Show: mark, nathan and i got to chat with some charming little kids that went to the school. one of them looked like a stoner version of ian somerhalder and was offering us pot and a record deal and calling out and embarassing all of his friends about crushes on me and whatever. it was flatteringly adorable. we drove for what seemed like eight hours to aberdeen and i started and finished marilyn manson’s autobiography. i highly suggest you all pick up your copy and soak in the man’s genius.

q and rob during sound check

THE JAMES REPORT
Stonehill College came through with flying colors. I enjoyed the fan’s enthusiasm and warm hearted energy. Hey, I just played Roche(roach) Hall at Stone Hill..the founding fathers had a vision. Excuse me while I float up through the sky…thank you.

ian’s brother, colin and his friends make the blog
ian’s mom and stepdad make the blog too
stonehill will never be the same
“see me after class…” professor lewscious

F10

live at coda 4.6.06

thursday night in new york city we played a club called coda in midtown. coda is on the same block as the empire state building. i didnt get to see too much of the city at all though because once we got into town it was all work until 2 in the morning. i would be lying if i didnt say this particular show of the tour was the most stressful one. reason being was the sheer amount of industry people at the show. that’s the one thing about new york – i think we all put more pressure on our selves than need be just because we feel like we have to impress the suits rather than just going up there and being free and easy like we are in places like asbury park or northampton for example. overall, the show was pretty good but we were plagued by a nasty stage sound. hey man, no excuses, the show must go on and it did and we rocked. in my opinion we still need to get over new york’s distractions and kick it’s fucking ass in the next time we’re there.

after the show i finally got to head out and take advantage of the best thing ny has to offer…that would be the 4am bar closing time. mariqueen and i met up with 3 of her friends at a bar called the pink elephant. it reminded me of an la bar filled with a bunch of chris carter’s friends (models/actors) in it. the best thing about the pink elephant was somehow ending up at the owner’s table drinking vodka and champagne with him. cheers and thanks mate. i ended up eating a chicken cutlet sandwhich and passing out around 6 in the morning. hope to see you again very soon nyc.

big apple wighead thanks to: teddy for bringing his style to the club, reena for letting all of harlem know about us, brad nelson and the great jim rinaldi from philly for taking more fine picutres of us (all the live ones you see here), anne reeves, ian for basically setting this whole show up, ian’s girlfriend liz for letting us stay at her place and selling our merch, ian’s friend andy for making the posters as well as taking pics (see above crowd shot), kavi ohri our little golden child, and the whole entire staff of cherry lane (brigitte pictured). what a great company and group of people they are. talk about being there for your band. cherry lane came out in full force and i really love the fact that the company stands behind us – good genuine people (this seems like an oxymoron when talking about a company in this industry).

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: it was funny to see how everyone’s stress levels (particularly mine, fran and ian’s) rose the minute we got into the city.

The Venue: we played midtown at coda, a dope and classy joint. though the stage and dressing room were mediocre i thought it was a sleek and fantastic place to hang out at. i only wished they had given me my throat coat and apple requests… they didn’t even make hot water. so for that, i’ll have to give them a six out of ten.

The Show: what a fucking nightmare. seriously. i was already stressed out enough because this was our most important show, as far as i was concerned, on the tour. we had a lot of industry people come out to see us, so i wanted everything to be perfect (ie. i didn’t get wasted on my birthday so i would be well rested for this show). the nightmare began on stage. great. i was so upset with the sound (or lack there of) through out the entire set. first of all i couldn’t hear anything out of my monitor. it was like philadelphia times ten million. i was dying. after three songs i just said to myself, “fuck it”… i asked the crowd if they could hear me and explained to them that i couldn’t hear anything but the response i got put me at ease so i was able to coast my way through the rest of the set.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i don’t think it would be too proper if i shared that with you. just think about how mad i was…

Interesting Things After The Show: i made plans to hang out with the boys but i didn’t know that they had to make a pit stop at ian’s apartment. i promised my friends that i would meet up with them at this bar so i told fran to jump in a cab with me and that we would meet up with the others whenever they were ready. we got dropped off at what used to be the VIP section of some place called the cro[w?]bar and was now being called the pink elephant. it was so strange. fran and i just stood there as these guys were begging their way inside. my friend edward told me it was a speak easy kind of thing and i was fully prepared to say what i needed to, to get us in. the doorman looked at the both of us and said, “you two can come in”… blahblahblah… tons of bad house music and pretty people that danced bad. models and tools with agendas for days. i didn’t care. i was hanging out with the greatest people from NYC anyway, i could’ve been at FAO schwarz at christmas and would have fun as long as i was with michael, jarah and edward (i love you guys). so we all sat at the owner’s table and got served endless amounts of vodka and champagne. i doubt he reads this, but hey rocco, thanks. we left at five and somehow made our way to a deli where i made fran buy me the most randomly amazing chicken cutlet sandwich. too bad the mac and cheese side i ordered was more like soup. i didn’t care though, waste not want not. you bet your ass i finished every last drop of that crap. i think in my inebriated state, i thought the chicken cutlet represented our show and the mac and cheese represented our sound on stage… sometimes you just gotta eat some shit and get it over with and hope for the best. i heart NYC.

THE JAMES REPORT

Coda. I believe! I believe! There is love in New York City. I sing to you from the lost abyss of dancing souls waiting to reunite. Let’s do it again soon!!!

our cherry lane family
live shot
late night crew: michael, jarrah and edward
teddy, q and our girl reena
dan from cherry lane and ian

F10

happy birthday Q!

april 5th was quite a day just because it was mariqueen’s birthday. unfortunately for her she had to spend most of it in a van on the way to the iron horse where we had a show. not only did we get to take her out for a nice sushi dinner that night but we also had some ice cream cake with my nieces the night before. so…northampton….why is there only one h in your name? i liked what i saw of this city. it reminded me a little bit of ann arbor michigan but with more of an early american witchy vibe to it. keep in mind we were only in the city for about 9 hours so i didnt really get to see too much. the show itself was pretty cool. once again it was a tight small stage but one with plenty of history. it seems like everyone has played this club. the sound was great and the staff was cool and the dressing room in the basement was pretty cozy. i liked the whole “wood” feel of this place. once again, i wish more people had known about this show because it was good one. after we played we ended up at some funny dance club for another band bonding experience. it was fun hanging at the bar watching everyone dance. weird thing about this place was that i saw the same bunch of people that were just at the iron horse. after this hip hop extravaganza we crept out of hampton towards crappy new haven ct where we were getting a hotel room for a few hours before heading into ny city.

big new age hippie northampton wighead thanks to:
peter and his random encounter with us. ( i will post his story when he emails it to me). the sushi place for serving me black marlon aka white tuna which is now my official favorite sushi.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: beautiful. just lovely, really… i want to come back soooon. while we were waiting for the club to open, i got a chance to walk around with mark and rob and bought some cute pins and a japanese stationary set that will make all my girlfriends jelly. it was my birthday that day, so fran and rob and ian [i can’t breathe without you] took me to moshi moshi – a korean owned japanese sushi spot. thanks, kristen beam [you are a sweetheartface & we’ll have to go have dinner when i come back to town], for recommending it. it was delicious. northampton is delicious. i almost forgot to mention that kristen writes for masslive.com and wrote an article with pictures on our show and interviewed us before we left for tour.

The Venue: the iron horse was really dope. the layout, everything was fantastic. except… for the bathrooms. i don’t know… they were just really small, booth-like rooms and they smelled horrible. other than that i dug the whole spot.

The Show: the show was our best yet. kevin our sound man stepped it up and started working the lights. it was a lot of fun. a sweet man came up and presented me with a tequila shot in the middle of our set, i’m sorry i forgot your name but i appreciate it and i thank you…

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i don’t really remember… that’s how much fun i was having…

Interesting Things After The Show: ha! well we met some guy who bought the west indian girl record in the dollar bin and there’s a whole elaborate story that he promised to email fran and soon after he got kicked out of the club because it was closing. after everything was loaded and locked up we went across the street to a nameless bar. it was so weird because i saw a bunch of scenester kids dancing to hip hop music — badly. it was like being in LA on a tuesday night. i felt right at home. we drank, i had some serious dancefloor time with both nathan and rob but the most intense was with mark lewis. jesus, can that boy dance. god bless idaho.

another interesting thing happened before the show not after. the marvelous mccabe family surprised me with a birthday cake [vanilla and chocolate gelato and chocolate cake] and hat. it was so much fun… becky, thank you for the earrings… they are beautiful, but not as beautiful as your family.

THE JAMES REPORT

The Iron Horse in Northampton was oozing positive vibes. It was a veritable love fest. I loved the city, the people, the star lit crispy aired delights hovering over all our heads like guardian angels…making us happy to be human beings. What a wonderful night to have a birthday!! Here’s to you, Q. Thank you Northampton.

kevin happy to not be behind the boardrob and qbelow stage in the dressing roomnathan, kevin, ian, q, and lewsciouslewscious at becky’s house the night before

F10

jersey boy comes home 4.3.06

we played at the saint in asbury park new jersey on a monday night. i must admit i wasnt expecting much because i have heard so many bad things about this city. i heard it was pretty run down and i have to admit it looked a bit like the city wasnt being taken care of that well. the saint was the smallest venue we played at thus far but it was by far the one with the most heart. i wish this show hadnt been booked so late in the tour so we could have gotten more people out. for me this show will go down in my own history books as one of the most fun nights i have had. it was the longest set we have ever played and one of the few times we played “dream”…and the ONLY night to play a very distorted version of it. we also opened the show with “hollywood” for the first time and i really loved it. that song is going to stay in that top spot for a while now. the crowd that was at the saint was awesome and took their music seriously.
it was also the first time we have ever done band introductions on stage. after the show scott (the owner) served us some special home made drinks and we had one of those band bonding evenings in the bar after closing time. i had a great time…maybe it’s because of my jersey roots, i dont know, i just loved the saint and cant wait to come back to asbury park and play to sold out crowd there.

big jersey wighead thanks to: leo zachary from 90.5 the night for being a fan from the beginning, bruce brand, mike and bill walsh for making the trip down and taking all the live pictures i posted from this show, and scott stamper for being one of the coolest bar owners we’ve ever met.

MARIQUEEN’S MIND

the city: asbury park… hmmm… well, i can’t say that it’s the most amazing city i’ve ever been in. all i have to say is that it sure has one of my favorite bars in america holding it down.

the venue: thank god for the saint. what a dope ass bar with some of the coolest people i’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. scott, you and your soundman [please forgive me for forgetting your name… i’ll never forget you for undoing my mic chord and i love you] were the best. i can’t wait to come back.

the show: i was really full and didn’t participate in any of my pre show rituals. i was scared that i wouldn’t deliver it full force but it turned out to be a success because we just turned our minds off and had tons of fun.

what were you thinking while playing: “jesus, this is a tight set up…” “shit i just hit fran’s bass again“… “oh this is good times… good times indeed”

interesting things after the show: it was really cool after… we all had a chance to hang out as a team and drink and had a great time. we all sat around and tried to think of early 90’s american bands that made it… [of course there are the obvious ones – whatever you’ll come up with, trust me, we’ve already came up with them] it still haunts me to this day…

THE JAMES REPORT

Asbury Park. What a surprise! Great people there. Scott, the owner at the Saint, is a true gem amongst the grim peril of a lost avenue of dreams. Keep your voodoo candle lit, buddy! We’ll come back when all the sage and magical wax is used up…to replenish your huge open heart. Thank you.

scott’s after party
great candid moment between songs
my favorite nathan shot to date
saint lewscious
set list

F10

the city of sultry love 4.2.06

philly philly philly – this was our second time at the world cafe. world cafe is probably the best sounding venue for its size in the country and probably the best venue we will have played on this tour. the show was sponsored by wxpn who we have an ongoing love affair with. this is one of the few sit down venues we have played. the only other one is the ram’s head in annapolis. i like these venues just because people can hang out in comfort, eat great food, drink, and watch a band. it was quite the intimate evening with west indian girl.

as far as the show went we changed the set list up for this show and opened with 3 new songs. i love playing on that stage – the sound is perfect. my sister becky and her husband tom showed up along with one of my best friends in the world scott. during the show i had to make sure not to look at scott because i knew that if i did i would laugh. sure enough i look at him in the front and start cracking up when i’m supposed to be singing. hahah that’s how it goes with old friends… they can just make you laugh by looking at them.

big philly wighead thanks to: derek (on left) for showing up and recording the show as well as helping get the word out. derek’s girl liz for taking pics. jim rinaldi for taking pics and sending the great photos he took so i could post them in this blog. bill walsh for also taking pics. last but not least my sister and her husband for letting us stay at their house for a few nights thus saving us tons of money. their place is our official philly “safehouse”.

MARIQUEEN’S MIND

the city: i have always been bummed about playing shows in town and never being able to see the city. that all changed when we drove to world cafe from becky’s house. ian, our tour manager drove while mark lewis sat shotgun and they got us lost. philly is a beautiful city with a lot of culture. i would love to come back and not play a show and just walk around and sight see.

the venue: what a treat it was to be back. we had some world class appetizers waiting for us in our dressing room. you should’ve seen all the boys freak out over it. i, of course, was not happy about the lack of apples and throat coat… i know i know, what an ungrateful brat, right? whatever. i was very grateful for the beautiful food [especially the asparagus… mmm] buttt, i am very specific about apples and throat coat on the rider. they are essential. so far the only people that have gotten that right are the colleges [god bless their educated souls]… but i have nothing but the utmost respect and love for the world cafe… i just hope when we come back they remember the apples and throat coat ♥

the show: ugh, talk about stressed out. i walked out and there was a spotlight directly on me the WHOLE ENTIRE SET. i thought everyone was able to see the lint on my dress – i kept thinking my classy black dress now looked like the milky way galaxy and made me irrate. you know what else made me mad? how about walking out to my mic and seeing someone’s used towel and bottled water with a cap off right infront of me. really lame. thennn rob and i were having monitor problems all night long. i couldn’t hear myself at all. i thought i was screwing up left and right. most of the set was spent turning around trying to regain my composure. i really love world cafe live and the philly fans and was really bummed out that i couldn’t perform my best for them.

what were you thinking while playing: please see above.

interesting things after the show: hahahahahahah: becky, you are the shit… that’s all i have to say about that. nathan and i had an impromptu dance recital on stage after everything was packed up. other than that it wasn’t anything that wasn’t already expected. business as usual: lots of talking and greeting and toasting and hugging and loving. i love my job.

Hey blog readers – below is the first official post in this blog by robert james. i asked him if he wanted to contribute his thoughts and this is what i got. short but sweet…i guess that’s his style, thus the The James Report is born.

THE JAMES REPORT

I love the World Cafe so much I can’t put it down in words. Just imagine my spirit rising out of my body dancing on my head like an ancient leprechaun…oooyaaachacha. Thank you. The spirit is alive and kicking. Our fans in this great city of brotherly love are beautiful.

as you can see this stage is great
more greatness
lewscious live
nathan live
q live
q, rob and ian backstage
scott nicol and angela the birthday girl
the great jim rinaldi and karen
van packed – until we meet again philly

F10