West Indian Girl

our last show at sundance 1.26

Fran’s Flashback
we were back at the star bar for a quadruple header. this show was interesting an many levels, the biggest of which was playing through rob’s mystery illness which rendered him voiceless for a few songs. it was indeed a testament to the good team we have because we held it together and stepped up when the chips were down. quite the fitting end to a great week of shows. again, zrike was there – in the snow, camera in hand. click here to view his slide show. zrike took most of the pics you see here.

dressing room and rider wrap up:
the facilities 12 points. as mentioned a few show reports ago the star bar’s lay out is great. the bar never feels too big or too small as there were plenty of different places to go to within the venue. great vip areas, big green room, nice bar. the only negs are the parking, bitch of a load-in, lack of a private bathroom, and did i mention the bitch of a load in?

rider/amenities 18 points. excellent backstage area with a full spread. 4 bottles of champagne and plenty of booze for the 4 bands that were there. all the bands we shared the area with were real nice too. that’s always a huge plus. playing shows with bands that act like douche bags can easily sour a good time.

stage, sound, lights 14 points. again, as described earlier i thought the stage was great. it wasnt big but it worked. the system was adequate. the lighting was better this time around. i thought the stage sound was fantastic…my bass likes that room. rob and greg the soundmen were just as awesome as before. even though we didnt get a sound check they were still able to dial us in. they also worked well with k-rud who was there tweaking our knobs. these guys are all great to work with.

promoter 20 points. morrill media was on the prowl again. maxwell (pic) knows how to throw a party. the posters he made for the show were fucking awesome. he enlisted design aid from our man in san diego the one and only mark sgarbossa. flycell and mark reynolds also deserve big thanks for helping promote and sponsor the evening. it was indeed fly.

staff 20 points. i said it before and i will say it again, the star bar staff is top notch.

intangibles 6 points. the first bottle of heidsieck and co has to get points. plus its always nice to have a dude from getty images there taking pics.

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 90. yet another A…par for the course at sundance. i hope other promoters dont think im getting soft in my grading, maybe it’s a mormon thing, but utah knows how to treat their bands. (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories). the A was brought to you by bill keaggy at keaggy.com

Nathan’s Nonsense
dear band blog, i can’t believe winter vacation is almost over. woke up earlier than usual this morning after miraculously surviving the previous night and went for a little run. then i took in a ride on the gondolas and basked in the surrounding beauty of the landscape. then i came back to the condo and pooped again. metabolism has really been in overdrive the past week! still no sign of my beloved sustain pedal which went missing in action after vegas, but i’m sure it will turn up somehow. meanwhile, i can only cry about it for so long. time to move on. tonight was our last show back at the ol’ star bar. rob got sick and was reportedly puking on stage thereby providing that extra theatrical kick we so needed. calico, calhoun, and the good listeners shared the bill with us, none of which i had ever heard of before. amazingly, i loved all three of them. their mellow sounds were the perfect backdrop for our closing night after such a frantic, frenzied week. wrote a happy little diddy in my head while hanging out backstage. might try to unleash it on the band if i get the chance. good crowd tonight, but what was up with that entourage guy slagging our merch? and the drummer from the cult? was that really him or was i hallucinating? and did i really swap out the ipod at the after-party with my own, pissing off the host dude in the process? well slap my nuts and call me jimmy. what a fucking blast.

Tony’s Take
seriously, how fucking long does it take an normal band to drive home from park city….well, usually about 10 1/2 hours. 18 hours later when i was home safe n sound in my bed i could only look back at laugh at those schmucks. outside of provo utah those bitches got suckered into getting both front tires changed along with buying new shocks. yeah sure the belts were gone on one tire but they got hoodwinked into buying shocks with the pro mechanic upsell. for what it’s worth, nathan claimed it drove nicer after they had it done. the real kicker came about 130 miles outside vegas when a spark plug literally blew out of the engine. im not kidding – seriously the thing shot out of the engine. we ended up limping into to vegas one cylinder down. the van sounded like an old vw bus ready to die. in vegas we were able to find possibly the funniest mobile auto mechanic in the world. his name was raff (pic below) but fran called him aziz. this guy was the man. service with a smile. dont ask me how but he did it but he did fix the van. it was a bizarre ride home. salvation can in the form of finally sharing a bench (with fran of course) thus putting an end to my banishment on the floor.

footnote to story about raff the mobile mechanic. raff ended up double billing our amex card after he claimed it wouldnt go through and that we pay him cash as well. funny, how that works…in the end raff rafed us. hmmm, at least he didnt rafe us in the end.

star at star bar (besides us)= adriene grenier

star at star bar (besides us)= matt sorum

star at star bar (besides us) = bob, roman numeral’s manager

check it out – we made the cover of the daily insider today….awesome stuff. the insider is the official sundance newspaper. its an honor. thank you guys. to see a bigger more readable version of the daily insider click here -it’s a big pdf file so it might take a minute to load. quick little update….our last show is tonight. it’s going to be brought to you by flycell and morrill media. what’s flycell you ask….that my friends will soon become clear. lets put it this way…flycell and west indian girl are about to launch into a partnership that is going to be the new model for bands in years to come. F.10

sundance – music on main st 1.25

Fran’s Flashback
this show was quite possibly my favorite show to date. i love playing outside festivals…nothing else like it. experiences like this make me feel very thankful that this band exists and that i get to live a dream with a bunch of great musicians and friends that i have in this band. once again, andrew (pictured lounging in our green room) was there documenting everything. the pics i post in my blog pale in comparison to those of mr zrikes’. click here to view his slide show….it’s awesome cos you can get a feel for the whole evening. thanx andy. our set was 45 minutes of power – vision, trip, hollywood, indian ocean, solar eyes, get up and what are you afraid of (long version).
dressing room and rider wrap up:
the facilities 15 points. for an outside show this was awesome. the stage was smack in the middle of main st with a view “to die for”. our green room was a block away but it was plush with white couches, there was also a little room behind the stage that we were able to hang out in before the show. it was warm and private. the load in was smooth – we got to drive our van right up to stage. overall the facilities were great – the only neg was the cold weather but that’s the nature of this beast.

rider/amenities 15 points. our green room was big, private and much better than expected. there was a nice spread with plenty of alcohol. it was a legit dinner…great food with a great staff. not everything was on the rider but it was still beyond respectable.

stage,sound,lights 20 points. stage, lighting and the system was fantastic. they even had heat blowing in from 3 different stage spots. the sound guys and stage managers were all pro. this was a real pleasure. they gave us a great sound check. top notch people. i love playing big stages with good crews.

promoter 20 points. maxwell morrill again was the man with the walki talki. all this dude does is get 20’s. he’s the reason why we’re here. the promotion for music on main was great….as far as shows at the festival go…it was the creme de la creme.

staff 20 points. all the people working the event were great. they ran a tight ship. everyone, i mean everyone working this show was cool…the catering staff, the loaders, the stage hands, and security were all great to work with. not a single problem or hassle.

intangibles 9 points. a big round table with 6 laptops and wifi in our green room deserves points.
TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 99. this is my second A+ at sundance. shit, other festivals are gonna hate these guys now.(click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories).

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: despite reports that park city was going to be the warmest it has been all month, my brown behind was fuh ree zing. why? because im gullible and i had a big show and decided to wear a dress with no tights and no gloves with no real scarf. despite my discomfort, there was electricity and excitement in the air… it was a good day to be at sundance. oh yes.
The Venue: i suppose i’ll have to count in three different compartments that made up the venue. 1) our holding area – tea / two computers to pass the time / couches / stuffed bears = fantastic. 2) our green room – fettucine alfredo / vodka [which shiny toy guns totally ganked while we were on stage] / wine / fruit / five laptops / comfy couches / art = bellisima 3) stage – huge / heated / beautiful monitor system / stellar lights / great staff / maxwell running everything = perfection.

The Show: i thought the set was tight and perfect. not necessarily our playing, but the sequence of the songs and the energy of the crowd. playing for such a big, beautiful and excited crowd made me feel so warm and at home, i actually took my jacket off towards the end of the set. this show is up there as one of my most favorites.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: why cant we play shows like this all the time?

Interesting Things After The Show: after our set i hung out at our green room with various band mates and various band members from of montreal. then we watched their set and at one point, kevin and i decided to trade coats and he let me borrow his bracelet, which i forgot to give back to him. sorry! im not sure how, but a bunch of us ended up at of montreal’s apartment and ate their popcorn and then moved on to a bar where they were so mormon, they wouldnt let mark lewis back in. that’s how amazing he is. after the bar we went to a party, where i stuffed my face with crepes and had nathan call the cavalry to come pick me up because i was falling asleep standing up. too much food + too much wine + cold weather = zzzzzzzzzz… zzz… zzzz

Nathan’s Nonsense
playing keyboards in below-freezing temperatures is never fun, not to mention damn near impossible. unless, of course, you happen to be doing it at the sundance film festival on main stage in front of several hundred screaming fans. then it’s ok. any other time though, forget it. this show was fucking amazing. the band never before felt so locked in together, or sounded so perfectly balanced. if we keep this up, we’re a shoe-in for the playoffs. shiny toy guns were great, and they dusted off all our vodka. of montreal was brilliant. it was a real honor to be sharing a stage with them. sometime afterward in the wee hours of the night i decided to attempt walking home from whatever after-hours party i was at. turned out to be about a 4 mile jaunt. at the time, it just felt like something i had to do, but it damn near killed me. half-way home, an approaching SUV pulled over and some guy rolled down his window to ask if i could direct him to the canyons, which happened to be exactly where i was heading myself. i informed him that he was heading in the opposite direction, to which he replied by inviting me in for a ride the rest of the way there. i was instantly relieved at the invitation, but before i could utter my grateful acceptance, a girls voiced screamed from the back seat “are you fucking crazy? go!!” the dude in front balked, shrugged, saying “sorry dude” as the vehicle peeled out and sped off. so much for my good samaritans.

big ups to rhett from slc for bringing the good vibes
q and i with the best fans in town

our time at sundance has been pretty incredible. we have a great condo in the canyons which has served well as a home base. the shows and publicity surrounding this trip has far exceeded my expectations…3 gigs with a tv and radio appearance. when you’re a band at a film festival you tend to stick out in a different way more so than when you’re at a music festival. as far as the band goes – amy was sick for a day, i thought i was gonna get sick but didnt, and rob is puking his guts out. im proud of everyone hanging in there. its tough sharing a living space for a week with a bunch of other people but everyone has been mellow about it. ian and josh (while he was here) have been kicking ass. great to have them here as well. ya know, its too bad im not a skier cos nows the time to go, the slopes are empty. if i lived here im sure i would become a cross country skier. it kind of reminds me of jogging.

at night everyone has been going out to parties. sometimes the big parties remind me too much of all the lame stuff that i try to get away from in hollywood but thats when you find other cool stuff to do…like going to house parties. our friends from kc (roman numerals) shawn and bob threw one the other night. it was great…bbq at 2am cant be beat. seems like everywhere i go, the minute im about to drink my first beer, bob and shawn magically appear. we’ve had a few random house guests at the condo – k-rud from sd also joined us the other day, its been good to see him. he cooked a great salmon dinner the other night. andy also stayed a few nights, even a cab driver named ryan that we met one night stayed over.

how’s tony you ask, the kid’s been doing well, he likes the cold and snow much more than i expected. i brought along a coat for him but he hates it. aside from his couple walks a day in the cold tony has been chillin on everyone’s bed continuing his reign as coolest tour dog on the planet. F.10

j rock at the stella tent
with shawn from roman numerals
ooon the bus…thats’ where we ride

Fran’s Flashback
we had the privilege of doing a little acoustic set/interview on kpcw today. as far as radio shows go, it was smooth. rob and q kicked off the show with a nice version of monterey then followed it up with a new song that im not sure has a title yet. amy joined them on that song. then everyone sang along to our new song called get up. i think rob and q are getting more and more comfortable doing these acoustic gigs. from my perspective it seems like these little shows sometimes put you on the spot a bit more than oh, say, playing in front of a thousand people. weird how that is….i actually become more relaxed the larger the crowd is. on the other hand im also equally relaxed during any small interview. the only times i find myself not being as relaxed as i would like to be are the smaller packed intermediate size club gigs…mostly in la and ny though. maybe its cos there are too many people i know at these shows. or maybe its just me…its probably just me. i need to get over myself. anyway, the host at kpcw (randy) was very personable and had a friendly interviewing style. he did make me realize that we need a new bio or at least a new press blurb though. im not happy with the run-on thousand adjective one that we now have. i also realized that its becoming increasingly difficult to describe our music. nothing seems to fit and thats a good thing actually. one of ian’s friends, andrew zrike, was at this show documenting it in pictures. he did a great job. they are posted on his site here.

uhhh, can you repeat the question again?

Fran’s Flashback
our first of 3 shows at sundance was the private party for the launch of film.com. this site is really cool…and it’s not just because of the live video they have of us on their sundance page. the party took place at the star bar which is probably the best bar in town for live music. we played with apples in stereo and they were all great people to hang out with.

dressing room and rider wrap up:
the facilities 12 points. star bar’s lay out is great. the bar never felt like it was oppressively crowded as there were plenty of different places to go to within the venue. great vip areas, big green room, nice bar. the only negs are the parking, bitch of a load-in, lack of a private bathroom, and lack of extra space for our road cases.

rider/amenities 20 points. im talkin socks, towels, tons of food (great food – not just a deli tray but full on vip food), drinks, you name it…even the batteries. this spread was fantastic. top notch. i wish every promoter would take a lesson from geoff who was responsible for this. rarely will you ever see a score of 20 in this category

stage,sound,lights 14 points. i thought the stage was great considering there was other gear on it. it wasnt big but it worked. the system was adequate. the lighting was bright but that was due to filming. i thought the stage sound was fantastic…my bass worked well up there. rob and greg the soundmen were awesome and hooked us up with a check even though they were pressed for time. these guys were good.

promoter 20 points. geoff walker (pictured below with q) is no stranger to this game. the guy knows how to take care of his talent. he was fantastic. everyone at film.com rules. they all treated us incredibly well. special thanks to ted kartzman for making it happen. the promotion for this gig and all the press surrounding it was awesome. bookmark film.com now.

staff 20 points. maxwell morrill wasnt actually running the show tonight but he was somehow involved. maxwell is clutch and the staff at the star bar was right on. the catering staff that was working the event were amazing. everyone there, even security, was a pleasure to deal with.

intangibles 12 points. a free 3 camera video shoot with fully edited fotage available online the next day isnt something to scoff at.

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 98. this is my first A+ and has really set the bar high. i wish geoff was in charge of taking care of us from now on (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories).

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: park city at night is a shock to my tropical blood stream. when we did park city tv it was around 2 in the afternoon and the sun was shining which made the cold weather bearable. tonight was a different story. i stepped out of the van and instantly felt like my nose was going to fall off my face. i should’ve bought that face mask at sport chalet.

The Venue: the star bar lives up to it’s name. the backstage dressing area was wonderul and fully catered with everything we wanted. the staff let me change in their office and their sound man was a total sweetheart. i even met a girl who i later dubbed, my favorite bartender in park city. anyway, out of a possible ten, the star bar gets a nine only because we didnt have our own bathrooms to use. big deal though — after the endless wine, shrimp cocktail and heavenly hors d’ouvres i was put in a magical place and couldnt complain about anything.

The Show: we played a tight and relaxed set. well, that’s what josh and ian said, anyway. i spent most of the show worrying over how i picked fashion over function. before i knew it, our set was over and i didnt have a single britney shot or a janet jackson superbowl mishap. good times.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: please stay inside this dress, please stay inside this dress. repeat in time with mark’s drum beat.

Interesting Things After The Show: well, before the show fran, rob and i got double interviewed by sasha and laremy from film.com. sasha and i seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to the comfort levels we felt through out the whole process. laremy took over the second half and i basically kept my yapper shut except for when the microphone got put in front of my face and i mustered out, “ditto”. i wish i had gotten to talk to sasha after the interview to apologize about how bad i am at talking with the cameras on. i spoke with laremy about it and he reassured me it was cool, because interviews arent natural conversations. i guess that means im no good at bs’ing. unless i have a drink. or five. after the show i was hanging out at the merch booth and did a very impromptu interview but was actually more relaxed and eloquent. maybe the dewars, grand marnier and vodka tonic helped with the relaxation part, but the eloquence is all me baby.

Nathan’s Nonsense
later that night we were whisked away from our swanky little condo on over to the star bar on main street for the film.com/real networks party. i remember having no idea as to my whereabouts as i had yet to get my bearings. this was an exclusive, private party mostly for industry schmoozers and execs. not a bad show at all on our part, though one thing i didn’t care for was the way the sound was mixed to conversation level in the back of the venue so as to accommodate all the hobnobbers. nothing wrong with a little networking, mind you. we all do it, but when there are clusters of bodies with their backs to the performers, rubbing as many elbows as possible and chatting away, it does not bode very well in my book. apples in stereo suffered from the same pervasive indifference, but you wouldn’t have known it from their performance. they just barreled along with their lilting, sugary pop gems, keeping the portion of the audience that actually gave a damn in motion. it was a special treat to hang out with these guys, especially the venerable mr. snyder. never met such a lovable guy in my life. he’s like this big fluffy-wuffy chipmunk with glasses. and he probably doesn’t appreciate being likened to a skimpering woodland critter, so i’ll stop there. lastly, i was very happy my good friends jeremy and asia from LA could make it down. it just so happened they were both in park city doing hair and makeup, respectively, for the celebs and well-to-do. you’d probably pee yourself if i told you who they had their hands on during the festival. i know i sure did.

playing “get up” for the first time

Fran’s Flashback
well i guess letterman wont be our first live tv appearance. instead, mid-day with ori on pctv was the first to pop our tv cherry. i couldnt have asked for a kinder, gentler man. we played 3 songs (trip, indian ocean and get up) followed by a sit down interview that made me feel like i was on the bob newhart show. it was awesome.dressing room and rider wrap up: this is one of those tweeners cos its not really a proper club which makes it a bit difficult to rate.the facilities 16 points. the tv station was pretty dope. there was a nice lounge with a big screen in it. the place was clean and really comfy. the only neg i can think of is the load in which included a small elevator. elevators always hurt your score.

rider/amenities 10 points. decent spread of food – pizzas, drinks etc etc. no alcohol but we arent really mid day drinkers anyway. bottom line is that we were fed well and it was there waiting for us.

stage,sound,lights 17 points. the stage was great. it wasnt big but looked great. it was well lit and had everything we needed. good gear. it was a bit tiny but then again we are a big band.

promoter 20 points. ori was a pretty awesome dude. he was all over the place…he did our sound, interviewed us, and even worked a camera. the guy really was a one man show. plus he read the blog and knew i would be watching him like a hawk. ori did his homework.

staff 20 points. again, cant say a bad thing about anyone at the station. no one gave us a hard time. everyone was nice. a guy named tony was there taking pictures of us. even the parking lot guy was friendly.

intangibles 10 points. they turned on the playoff game for us to watch, let tony run around unchecked and even took group photos on the roof. these are all worth extra credit.

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 93. congrats you get a solid A. great score park city tv, you’re a class act. i hope you invite us back (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories).

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas, everywhere i go. that and i can see my breath. this is going to be difficult to get used to.

The Venue: the tv station was awesome. the stage was small, but im assuming that most tv stations have smaller stages — the three huge plasma tv’s with our picture on it more than made up for it. as we waited for everything to get set up they put the football game on so all the guys could get their neanderthal on. rad. the best part of the building was their rooftop patio — it overlooked the uh, parking lot, but a parking lot covered in snow with sundance tents and a mountainous back drop is a pretty epic sight to behold.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: oh god, i hope i dont look fat.

Interesting Things After The Show: after our three song set, rob, fran, tony and i got interviewed by ori, who is a fantastic host. it was kind of weird how at home i felt sitting on the couch knowing i was being taped to be on tv. ugh. that is such a lie. i was nervous and insecure about my pre-menstrual sized features and how they would show up ten lbs heavier on camera. freaking. cool. i love singing, not talking… but being around ori made me feel comfortable. ori and the couches. and of course, tony sitting next to me licking himself.

Nathan’s Nonsense
look mom, i’m on television! though our brief, three-song set was over before you could say “tele-mundo, odelay!” it was executed with precision and professionalism. now, if i can only land myself a spot on the celebrity hollywood squares panel, i will finally be able to die a happy man. one dream at a time, folks. ok, so a little about park city. this time of year, it’s pretty damn cold. and there’s snow everywhere. that’s it. there’s really nothing else about this place that i found to be unusual or of interest. oh, well, there was this little film festival going on, hoards of celebrity entourages everywhere, swag being peddled at every opportunity, and people taking pictures of anything and anyone. but besides that, it was just your average winter wonderland haven, like aspen. or saskatchewan.

group photo #1
group photo #2
group photo #3
yet another gratouitous live shot

strippin it down in vegas 1.19

Fran’s Flashback
There was a big sign on the side of the art bar letting the good people of vegas know that it was voted the best “place to have a conversation”. i guess it would have been a bit more encouraging to see a sign that read “best place to see live music”. as far as little bars go, the art bar is great – its not a place made for bands with more than 4 people though. this show was essentially a dress rehearsal for our gigs at sundance. it was also the first time we played with amy white on moog satellite. this show couldnt have been a better one for her “first time”. in fact it was eerily reminiscent of q’s first show. it was a rushed, hurry up show with no soundcheck, poor sound, no monitors etc etc etc. one of those shows where you just have to go for it. amy did well. after the show i went out with a bunch of drunk people – i should have known better and instead taken a cab to a casino and rolled dice and played some cards but alas i didnt do so.

dressing room and rider wrap up:
the facilities 6 points. the art bar had a cool vibe to it. there was no dressing room or anything just for the bands. just regular bathrooms (men’s had puke in it when i went in there), there was an outside area which is probably cool in the summer. the bar did have wi-fi though!!! as far as ambiance goes it wouldnt have been vegas without the video slot machines lining the bar. points for a secure parking lot and relative ease of load in.

rider/amenities 1 point. the extent of the hospitality was 6 bottled waters and 6 beers.

stage,sound,lights 2 points. this stage had some problems. mirrored walls on 2 sides of it made it seem ideal for naked chicks but not for sound. the lights were fucking horrible. come to think of it there werent any real stage lights it was just the lights coming off the dance floor. they didnt have enough vocal mics or stands or inputs to fully mic us. it was so bad it was funny… after doing this long enough you pretty much know what kind of night its gonna be like the minute you see a stage set up like this. we didnt bitch (although this may seem like it — remember im just reporting the facts people) but made the best of it. no sound check at all. the sound man looked lost to me. i think he was overwhelmed by our set up as well as limited by the stage and gear he was in charge of.

promoter 10 points. brandy brandy brandy. she hooked us up with a show on short notice and made it happen. she bought me a shot and a high life after the show. no probs with brandy. i have no idea how well it was promoted though. i dont think we sent over posters so i really cant bltch about not seeing any in the club.

staff 10 points. the bartenders and door people were all cool to me when i had to deal with them.

intangibles 2 points. the fact that the bars stay open past 2 am deserves points. we ended up finishing our set at 3 which is officially the latest we have ever played. not having a curfew is the best thing about vegas clubs

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 31. Obviously with a score of 31 the art bar grades out with an F as it failed miserably in most areas. (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories). i think the art bar should move the pole back to the center of the room, bring in the strippers and get more slots.

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: it’s not really my cup of tea. if i had to do vegas, i’d need tons of money so i could see every cirque du soleil show. twice.

The Venue: as far as bars go, the art bar is a great place to hang out and booze with your friends. if i felt like spending all my cash on cirque du soleil shows i’d start the evening at “the best conversation bar” for sure. as far as playing a show there ever again, i dont see that happening. the stage wasnt ready for a band that has as much equipment as we do. they didnt even have enough cables for us. their soundman seemed stressed out at our very existence and i couldnt even hear myself the whole entire show. they had mirrors everywhere which seemed more appropriate for the pole that was hanging out in the middle of the room and they had more lights on the dance floor than they did on stage which makes me think that this venue is more suited for really cool sleazy rock and roll dance nights than a show from west indian girl.

The Show: aha. well let’s see… we didnt even go on until two in the morning, we didnt have enough mics or cables set up, i couldnt hear myself, our sound man was a tool bag, we played to about 25 people, we didn’t get a sound check… how do you think the show went?

What Were You Thinking While Playing: why god why?

Interesting Things After The Show: amy and i did that whole girly band bonding thing over shots of patron. my insane friend mary kept telling random people who would never think twice to come up and talk to me to mozy over and introduce themselves. we brought together a crew to search for some much needed fun. our band of misfits consisted of me, mark, nathan, mary, fabby and kevin with fran, slightly intrigued, asking us to come along. he was pretty sorry he did — after about a billion drinks at the art bar we spent twenty agonizing minutes sitting in fabby’s bmw trying to figure out why the locals we were with, didnt know where to go at 4:30 in the morning. mark wanted to go to the golden nugget but was too drunk and tired to say anything, fabiola mentioned some club named pure which pretty much had all of us booing and hissing, and i think mary, in a drunken slut moment, might’ve suggested spearmint rhinos but we’re not sure if she was talking to us or flirting with kevin [or if it was a figment of my incredible imagination]. we couldnt take listening to the heinous vegas radio stations so we stopped at caesars palace [i think] and walked around wondering what the hell we were doing there in the first place. i exclaimed starvation so we went to a liquor store and i argued with the attendant on duty that they had no organic food for me to buy and preached about the cons of having fried chicken with cheese dip as a midnight snack. mark bought more heinekens to shut up everyone’s bitching and we decided to go back to the humongous house my mom hooked us up with to have a cartwheel party. i made a bee line for the sketchy leftover mediterranean fries from dinner. after inhaling them i was overwhelmed by euphoria and fatigue or maybe it was food poisoning — im not sure but whatever it was, i became impassioned over the lack of ketchup in the house. i verbalized the importance of condiments at times like this as mary rallied behind me demanding that people find me ketchup. yyyyyyyeah.
the next morning i woke up in the fetal position with mary to my left mirroring me. great minds — they drink, think and sleep alike. wohorrd.

Nathan’s Nonsense
as a general rule i tend to avoid spending any significant amount of time in sin city. it’s all kinda snoozy to me. that, and it happens to be where i once got impetuously hitched years ago in what turned out to be an arduous and lengthy entanglement. that was a blast, i tells ya. but i’m afraid that’s another story. as far as the show goes, i thought it went quite well, considering the sound guy was completely disinterested, didn’t really do his job, and not that many people showed up. oh, and we didn’t end up going on until almost 2 am. it was the first official show for our newest member, amy white, who has stepped in to play moog satellite and backing vocals. welcome to the family, amy. it’s nice not having to be the new guy anymore. this show may also go down in history as the last time i was able to get away with using the sustain pedal on my rhodes piano. you see, fran and i have this thing where he doesn’t really approve of my use of sustain while playing. while, in my humble opinion, it flies in the face of all musical reason, i have reluctantly agreed to give it a go and adjust my playing style somewhat. but on this night, it was the sustain pedal’s last hoorah. the pedal has since mysteriously disappeared. there was an unconfirmed sighting of the pedal rod sticking out of a snowdrift somewhere outside salt lake city, but so far nothing else to go on. if anyone has any information as to it’s whereabouts, please contact me right away. i’ll be sure to update everyone on the situation as details become available. so that’s my vegas blurb. the rest is just a flurry of darting about the city in the back of fabiola’s fab mercedes and finishing up the night at the makeshift, unfurnished band house. after not nearly enough sleep, it was off to utah and the high country.

Tony’s Take
i am so fucking happy that fran didnt leave me in that kennel he took me to the other day. it was cool in the fact i would have been next to a bunch of other boxers but sleeping outside in this cold would not have been kosh. instead he packed me a goose down puffy jacket and i was on the A team. first time in vegas…not much to report…never even went in the bar. before the show they took me to a safe-house that Q’s mom had set up for us. it was rad – all shag carpet and an enclosed yard. i took 3 shits there and got to run around til my heart’s content. at night i slept next to fran in his sleeping bag. it was a fantastic stay for me. so far the only bad thing about the trip is my spot in the van – on the floor between the 2 front seats. lewscious is in my usual bench and he doesnt really like to share. i love the guy anyway.