West Indian Girl

kicking ass at street scene 8.05

Fran’s Flashback
san diego st scene was awesome. when we played our set at 5pm and had a real nice crowd there to check us out. i was proud of how we did…for the most part we nailed it. rob’s friend julio sat in on percussion for a few songs as well. it was a power set and i thought we especially nailed songs like hollywood, indian ocean and what are you afraid of. there were a bunch of photographers in the front row taking pics and here are some links where you can check out some of their pics. 1. webmoment (great pro pics in here) 2. st scene community board (scroll down to see us) 3. wire image (you can search for anything on here) 4. VH1.com News (no pics but cool mention of Q in last sentence)

dressing room and rider wrap up: in honor of fellini im grading out st scene with my all time high score of 8 1/2. a large part of this score is due to the simple fact we had our own trailer (see picture). not only did the trailer have ac but it had a bathroom. it was kinda small for the whole crew to be in there at once but it was a godsend nonetheless. there was plenty of drink and food available for us too. none of the staff or stage hands or security were dicks at this festival…in fact they were all really nice. plus they even let tony in so i was down with their whole program from the jump. festivals are always hectic with getting bands on and off stage quickly but these guys were super cool – no attitudes and no probs. i even got drove around in one of those carts with josh. how can getting to cruise around in one of golf carts not make your day?

parking lot thanx to: every fan that came out to see us, the promoter for inviting us and all of our friends that found us backstage. extra special thanx goes to julio for sitting in with us for a few songs and taking some great pics. artist mark sgarbossa and kampy are pictured left while music journalist alexander laurence is seen below. alexander goes to see more shows than any one i know. talk about being current – check out his blog called the portable infinite which i have perma linked to our sidebar friends section. a san diego trip wouldnt have complete without doug, walt and tim showing up. once again it was great to see all you guys who are like family now. hmmmm im trying to think of who else i invited but i think i covered it. oh yeah, thanx to kevin for doing our sound that day. you did a great job bro!

Tony’s Take
some days are definitely better to be a dog than most. this was not one of them. it was HOT and since there was absolutely no fucking grass in this parking lot festival my paws had to rough it on the burning cement. thank god for that little trailer dressing room they had. i was mostly in there chilling with the likes of lewscious and q and nathan in the hours leading up to the show. after the show i got to walk around not only with fran but the other guys took me for a while too. it was pretty cool because i was literally the ONLY dog at the festival (just like it should be). i met tons of hot chicks cos that’s just what i seem to do when i go out. they never seem like they can get enough sometimes. i tried eating the food that was dropped but never really got a hold of anything under fran’s watchful eye. he fed me at night under the stars. it was groovy. around 11pm we all drove back to the double tree and i jumped in q’s car for a more comfy ride home. i like san diego and the fact that no one gave me a hassle there.

nothing like a great view
rob and julio before sound check
walt and doug helping us move equipment
q with brian on the indie 103 bus
lewscious et all
looking for a dropped kielbasa

Dear Midori, We Love You – West Indian Girl.

i should just end this post here but i wont. midori is probably the biggest reason why san diego is one of our best cities. she has played us regularly on her big sonic chill show and that has been invaluable to our growth and popularity in san diego. san diego radio is a microcosm of how the power of radio can change a band. they were the first commercial fm station to take a chance on us and it has really paid off. midori is the best. so anyway, we went down to sd a day early just to hang with midori on her show for 3 hours. what a total blast, i could have stayed there for her entire show. it was great cos we even got to take calls. i think i liked that the best. we (actually rob and q) played monterey live and we also got to play a bunch of our favorite chill out songs. i want to thank everyone that called in and listened that night, midori’s fanbase is real cool.

Tony’s Take
finally a decent hotel room…the double tree in san diego. these guys are finally starting to live it up for once. we went to a radio station and all the people there were nice to me…yeah i know, par for the fucking course. josh watched me for a bit but mostly i just chilled out in the studio with all of them. after the show i got to run around off leash in the parking lot. we were out in some office complex but it was grassy so it was good. i couldnt wait to get back to this hotel though….im not used to sleeping on such big comfy beds.

mic + chair + itunes = guest djthe good life at the double tree

really, it’s nothing personal tempe 8.2

Note From F10 – writing a blog is about being honest. with that simple fact stated , i dont believe in always having to, or trying to put a postive spin on our lives or what we do. read it and weep

Fran’s Flashback

we played in tempe at a bar called the sets last night. i had a hunch this gig was going to suck for a few reasons…the main one being that it was booked way too late. the odds are going to be against any band playing a midweek show in a market they’ve never played before with very little time to promote. sure it can be good for the money and the rehearsal but psychologically it exacts a somewhat bigger toll from a band that is not only struggling to make ends meet but at the same time trying to keep morale up. in an ideal world shows get booked with 6 weeks lead time in order to properly promote. i mean its not really the promoters fault because he was at least cool enough to get us in the market for the first time and pay us well but the club was just wrong. i wish our agent cared a bit more because this shouldnt be happening. our show and our effort and our collective life is too good to be taken for granted of like this. but hey, if you arent a big band you arent a big priority and thus you end up getting shitty gigs that sometimes dont make any sense. these are the times when i find myself questioning what im doing.

dressing room and rider wrap up: im giving the sets a score of 2. this now “sets” my all time low (since i have been scoring). unfortunately for this bar it reminded me of the bars i used to avoid when i was in college. the place was basically a sports bar with a big generic lifeless room attached to it for bands to play in. the dressing room was a closet…as far as the rider goes – the promoter bought us out which was cool. dont get me wrong, the people at the club were cordial but they were all very detached. the house sound guy steve was nice enough. the lights were stagnant…just the same few spots on the whole time thus adding the empty feeling i had in my stomach. the promoter’s employee was nice too but it was again it was all very business like and detached. it was just a fucking weird place for us to play. not a weird place to watch sports at though. it probably would have been better if the main room where the sports were on was actually the room we were playing in. that would have at least added to the life in the room and the feeling that we were actually engaging people. depressing depressing depressing.

100 degree thanx to: the 5 people that were actual fans in the crowd, 3 of whom saw us at the high sierra a little while ago. thanx for showing up guys.

Tony’s Take
i woke up in tucson, had breakfast and checked out of the room around noon. fran took me over to a parking lot where i took another shit and ran around off leash. i spent the next hour staring at a pigeon while the band was having lunch at the outside cafe. i really wanted to get at that fucking bird but fran kept pulling that cesar milan stuff on me. after lunch we went back into the club where i pissed on a pole just to mess with fran’s head. anyway, tempe….so damn hot it was killin me. i couldnt even put my paws on the pavement without them getting burned. i got to hang out in the club while the band sound checked. i mostly sat next to my girl q while she played this videogame thing she has been playing all tour. i also got to hang out on stage during the sound check. i liked the bar more than everyone else just cos the ac was crankin and i wasnt always on a leash. after fran ate dinner we went back to the van and he made me dinner and then we both took a nap. fran woke up right before his show and left me in the van with water and the windows rolled half way down but it was still hot as a mofo up in that bitch. i sat in the drivers seat and stared out the window for a while and finally decided to lay down and take a nap and wait for fran to come back. once he came back i took a piss and went back into the club and hung out with q while the band loaded up. when she wasnt looking i wondered off for a bit and got pet by some strangers. now its back in the van for a 6 hour drive and i have to share a seat with fran. im sick of sharing my seat with him.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: tempe reminds me of yorba linda, CA circa 1998. take it how you want.

The Venue: if you like going to big sports bars that let underage kids walk everywhere which in turn, restricts you from moving around with a drink in your hand, which in turn confines you to an area that is sectioned off with caution tape, then i guess the sets is right up your alley.

The Show: it was depressing. i was pretending i was having a nightmare the whole entire time…

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was counting down the end of our set by each song, hoping that mark would miraculously up the tempos to every one of them so we could get out of there.

Interesting Things After The Show: well at the end of our last song, the bartender, who was a really cool guy, stood on the back of the bar and blew fire. after wallowing our depression in drink, the boys packed up the van as i got lost in my nintendo ds.

seeing the best parts of the countryif only he could really drive

note: out of sheer boredom from being on the road tony, my dog, started writing his own section for the blog…im glad he did.

Tony’s Take
we left la at 4am the morning before. fran drove the whole way. the car ride was a bitch because when he drives no one else will share a bench with me so i have to sit on the cramped floor right next to him…it sucks. i had a pretty rad time in tucson which seemed to be pretty dog friendly. the band stayed at the hotel congress and i loved it cos their employees welcomed me with open arms. they didnt even make the band pay extra for me like most of the classless hotels we stay at do. during their soundcheck i stayed in the club and met a bartender named jessica who would play with me and bring me water every time i saw her. before west indian girl’s show i was feeling kinda sick -i ate my dinner but then threw it all up. fran, (whose no dumb shit) picked it up and left it out for me cos he knows i’ll eat it again….which i did and it was actually better the second time around. i didnt get to see the show cos fran left me in the room during their set. he came back to get me when they finished and seemed pretty happy about things. i hung out in the club while they packed up all the gear and then went for a walk around tucson with lewscious and q. i pissed on a ton of cacti, took a huge shit outside a train station and then walked home. needless to say i slept like a baby…wag wag

Fran’s Flashback

dressing room and rider wrap up: im giving the hotel congress an 8 for many reasons. everyone who worked there was super cool – no attitudes at all. the house sound man, ken (pictured) was the one of the best we’ve had period. he gave us plenty of time for a sound check and was really easy to deal with. i cant stress this enough….i love working with cool sound men. another plus was being able to leave our gear in the club over night and load it out the next day. this rarely happens. as far as rider stuff goes they gave us dinner tickets which were good for any meal at the cafe before 1pm the next day which came in very handy. there was a cooler of beer on the side of the stage but it was for both bands so i didnt really see much of it. there wasnt really a backstage just sort of a curtained off area to the side of the stage that opened out onto the st. this was actually kind of cool. as far as dressing rooms go your hotel room was a minute away from the club downstairs so that was your dressing room. congrats club congress you get an 8 and are now tied with dante’s in portland for my high this year. way to be.

mexican thanx to: mexico for letting us have tucson (which it was once a part of) and the year of acceleration – all those guys were all really great and i hope we get to play more shows with them in the future.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: tucson is my favorite city in arizona — quaint, kitschy and picture perfect.

The Venue: i fell in love with the hotel congress. i dont even remember what the actual venue looked like… all i can recall was how awesome the hotel was. the ambience, the great restaurant, wonderful staff [except for a tall, bald bartender in the small bar — he’s a prick] and rotary phones everywhere, i thought i was dreaming it seemed too good to be true.

The Show: i gave it a seven and a half… ken, who was our sound guy for the evening was outstanding and a really great guy to hang out with too… bonus.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: well, since we were in AZ, in the middle of the summer, with no air conditioning and bright lights were a shining, i was incredibly sweaty on stage so i kept worrying about my eye liner bleeding down my face… just because there are only 50 people in the crowd doesnt mean you have an excuse to look like a hot mess.

Interesting Things After The Show: hung out with the cutest band in AZ, the year of acceleration… then got caught up at the bar and got really bored watching my band minus rob pack up the gear. i watched everyone’s favorite boxer run around for awhile, then went on a 3am walk around town with fran, mark and tony. i watched ants crawl on the ground and witnessed tony taking a huge dump… to top off the evening i watched mark and fran eat hard boiled eggs. i know, right? wild night. try hard not to envy my life.

lewscious…post show bliss
q and nathan before the showq and tony after the club closedthe year of accelerationtony working on the blog

below are the next batch of shows we have. it will be the first time for us to play in arizona so thats cool. the night before st scene we are going to 94.9 and hanging out with midori on her big sonic chill show. its gonna be totally casual and unplanned. think we’re just gonna hang out, help her host a bit and maybe play a couple acoustic songs…chill and tons of fun. maybe we will give stuff away. then the next afternoon is st scene which should be great – we are playing on the same stage as modest mouse, yeah yeah yeahs, bloc party, and the editors.

8.2 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
8.3 Tempe, AZ – The Sets
8.4 San Diego, CA – FM94.9 Big Sonic Chill w/ Midori
8.05 San Diego, CA – Street Scene
8.26 Venice, CA (Acoustic Set)- S.U.R.F Benefit

qualcomm stadium parking lot…here we come

high sierra snake charmers 7.1

Fran’s Flashback

our second gig at high sierra was an afternoon show in the vaudeville tent. the vaudeville tent looked like what im assuming wavy gravy’s backyard would look like. i havent seen that much tie dye in one place in a very long time. our daytime set was orchestrated brilliantly as we structured it out as one long build. i think it paid off because as we played the tent steadily filled up until it was one jammed mass of sweaty people dancing around getting swept away by our sound. at one point i remember telling the crowd that it felt like a big ocean of love was washing up on stage…i know it sounds cheesy but i couldnt help myself. overall it was a perfect set where crowd and band were one. after the show we went over to the merch tent and signed cds and met some fans….good times man, we even sold out of cds. check out this review of the festival in jambase.

wheat grass thanx to: everyone in the vaudeville tent during our set, the 3 people that ran back to their tents to get me beer when i asked for some (that’s love), and all the folks at camp harry for having us over to their late night party.

dressing room and rider wrap up: a nice man called pooba (pictured) was in charge of the “vibe” for whole tent and was sort of the backstage “host” if you will. he was making mint juleps and they were tasty. as far as the backstage area for the band goes…there was a tent with food and drink and stuff and even a masseuse. there were no private bathrooms and there were tons of people back there. overall it was a cool vibe given that it was a hectic area to begin with. im grading this out as a 5 – not because of the lack of privacy, toilets, or space but purely on pooba’s hospitality, good vibrations and free rub downs. see you at the derby man.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: it was a good day to wake up in a city named quincy.

The Venue:today we played at the vaudeville tent. i think that’s high sierra’s secret code name for tie dye explosion.

The Show: i mean, it was what it was. i remember thinking i couldnt hear my voice out in the audience and heard later on from my manager that our sound man messed it up and used the excuse that i wasnt singing loud enough. um. despite incompetence from that side, i thought it was pretty decent. we rolled with the audience and by the end of the set we had them grooving. it was a lot of fun.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i can’t hear myself. my feet hurt. this beer tastes good…

Interesting Things After The Show: puba, the man behind the magic at the vaudeville tent made us delicious mint juleps. i got a massage. we walked around and soaked up the festival. i ate a lot. i drank a lot. i smoked a lot. i laughed a lot. it was great.

Nathan’s Nonsense

Our Saturday set at High Sierra was probably the closest thing to perfection we managed to achieve on the whole trip, which unfortunately still isn’t saying much. We really had no sound check to speak of, just threw our gear up on stage, plugged everything in, and lunged into our set. Once again, one of the Moogs wasn’t quite in tune, but at least it wasn’t as devastating as some of the aforementioned experiences. After a song or two… or three, our sound issues were completely sorted out and we were in full command of the late afternoon audience. For this show, we started with a healthy sized audience, but they were mostly just relaxing, sprawled out languorously on the grass. By midway through the set, they were all on their feet, dancing away and seriously grooving on the tunes. It really felt good to see that.

Afterwards, we met up with some of the wonderful fans at the merch tent, hung out backstage with our friends from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and My Morning Jacket, cashed in on some much needed free massages for the performers (thanks a million, Ali… that was heavenly), and marveled at the stars which seemed to hang so low and luminescent that you could practically touch them with your tongue. Jesse from the band Lotus joined up with us for a bit, the fire dancers were out in full force, everyone was smiling and seemed to be channeling some universal wellspring of goodness…. Andrew’s trailer was going off late into the night, craziness everywhere, positive energy being shared by everyone. I had a blast. I’ve never been a big fan of festivals, until now. You won’t have to ask me twice to come back again.

josh and ian – team perfectwig + grace potter +mmja rare Q smile caught on filmcosta mesa at the merch tentbo from my morning jacket – good guy
until me meet again high sierra

glad we could lend a hand 6.30

Fran’s Flashback

i had a blast at high sierra. it was our first major music festival. tonight was the first of 2 shows there. we played a late night set at the funkin jamhouse with with alo. alo has some pretty fantastic fans. the show began at 11:45pm and started out rather slowly as i think most people were outside watching the fire breathers. i felt so good at the end of our set in large part to the awesome crowd we had. it was an intense experience, after a few songs the place got jammed and by the end of the set people were going bazonkers. the crowd picked me up and brought me to a higher place. by the set’s end i was just happy to be alive. in retrospect i wish we had run our set differently but to be honest with you im not sure any one of us in the band knew what to expect.

peaceful organic thanx to: all the alo fans that embraced us, our man k-rud from sd who met us there to do our sound, kabir from sb for putting the good word out, andrew from jambase for gettin the word out, and of course the guy in the penguin suit (see below)…he was my favorite.

dressing room and rider wrap up: i had no idea what to expect for stuff like this as it was our first festival experience. i was indeed surprised. our backstage area at the funkin jamhouse was oh so much more than i expected. we shared an elaborately decorated tent with alo. inside the tent there was a couch, a keg, a shrine, and a table with all sorts of food and goodies on it. it was pretty cool. the area was kept secure by the staff and felt like a peaceful little area for the artists and guests. plus there were some port-a-potties in the backstage area that were pretty clean just cos they werent getting used by the masses. the staff that ran things at the f’n j-house were all pro. the monitor guy (i think dave) and the production manager gave us a great sound check and never rushed us. it was easy. im giving it a 7 in honor of the some of the cartoon dwarfs i think i saw there. i would give it a higher score but its our first festival so i have to leave some room at
the top.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i didn’t think much of quincy. i was at some gas station and the attendant seemed like he was amped enough to play the whole festival by himself. i bought cigarettes and he was shaking so much he couldnt even hand them to me. scurrrry. but not as scary as his home made tattoos.

The Venue: the festival itself was intense. five or more stages to check out artists. parades. camping tents everywhere. people walking on stilts. about a thousand hoola hoops. best food ever. we played our late night session at the art barn. it was the awesome. no really. it was. huge stage. the place was laced up with posters reminiscent of tarot cards gypsies use.
we didn’t have a green room, it was more like a huge tent filled with treats [candy, really tasty beer, fruit, couches, a heater, water… but no throat coat] and an altar. check out all the pictures i took as a reference. and yes, i took all of them except for the ones that i’m in. that credit belongs to fran.

The Show: it started off really slow since the fire dancers were right outside of the art barn. but, i’d say, after three songs people started pouring in. then rob’s cookies started kicking in. the show was so much fun. i mean, seriously, the feeling you get when you look out and there are over three hundred people, maybe even more, dancing and responding to you is indescribable. it felt like home. it was fantastic. so fantastic that i didn’t even notice nathan or his drama. that’s not really a good thing, i should be more in touch with the band but the crowd that night captured my spirit and i couldnt break away.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: not so much thinking… a lot of sighing…

Interesting Things After The Show: i went and watched my morning jacket’s late night set. then watched drunk fran. then sat in our tent with mark and watched all the chaos around us… ie-we saw a man dressed as a coach change into a bear, a girl with an octopus on her head, i got a proposal to join a show called girls gone tribal, drunk fran came back to the tent and brought super penguin to me and then this guy, in a rage from the quincy cops acting like dicks, threw something like he was pitching the world series, directly at the keg. thank god he missed it, i was getting thirsty. i’d divulge you with stories, but that would take a couple of pages so i’ll just stop here.

Nathan’s Nonsense

After setting sail from Portland aboard the West Indian pleasure cruise, I curled up on my beer-soaked bench for about 3 hours of much needed sleep. When I awoke just past dawn, Ian was about to pull off for gas about an hour from the Oregon/ CA border, and was ready to turn in himself. I decided to take over, anticipating the gorgeous drive ahead of me. I’m so glad I did, because I wasn’t wrong. As everyone was sleeping away, I commandeered our precious cargo over hill and dale, past lush verandas of green such as a city boy rarely sees, southward past the towering majesty of Mount Shasta. We then veered east along 200 miles of one-lane highway, through a sea of redwoods and limitless foliage. I felt like motherfucking John Muir.

By 2 in the afternoon, we had arrived at the festival and checked in with Jen, our lovely hospitality liaison. Then it was off to the dorms where I promptly crashed out on a couch for what felt like the deepest, most rewarding sleep I experienced for the whole trip. Sound check that evening went very smoothly due to the tight organization of the festival personnel. The sound on stage was amazing, the best I ever remember hearing us sound. It seriously gave me the chills. After sound check, we had the luxury of being able to leave everything in place as there were no bands to precede us that night. We were kicking off a special late night performance as the openers to ALO. Somehow, despite these favorable circumstances, things still ended up going all wrong for us. Me in particular. Once again, my keyboards were all out of whack at the start of the show. This time, however, it became quite clear to me that some yahoo had come up on stage between sound check and show time and had a ball playing around with my whole setup. The fucker even broke off a piece of the wood paneling on the Moog Prodigy. So, not only were two keyboards out of tune this time, but the filters and modulators and volume settings of almost everything that could be affected had been changed. It ended up taking me a good 5 or 6 songs into our set before I finally had things under control. I was fuming mad, especially since I had been so pumped for what could have been one of the best shows of my career. In a way, it sort of worked out though, being that there were only about 5 people in the audience at the start of the show, and by the end there were about 500, all dancing away happily. I still think the asshole who sabotaged my gear should be strung up and castrated though.

a lewis tourist momentsoundcheck – great view of the venuepost show and after five beersoctopus girl meets the familyQ thinks she is hallucinating right nowthe ALO bearmark lewis staring at the ALO bearnathan: pre sabotageattack of the bassistour favoritest ever – andrew

outside the inferno 6.29

dante’s was a breath of fresh air in my portland experience. previously we had only played at one other club in town so this was a welcome change. dante’s has a bit of everything…it had table seating, tvs (you can watch yourself play), food, pool, wi fi, 2 bars, nice big stage and even a brothel upstairs. the thing i liked best about our show was the stage position swap that rob and i made. i dont remember exactly why we switched but we did and it was liberating to be back on patrol of the far left side of the stage…home sweet home at last. portland remains an enigma to me. i still havent gotten a handle on it. i need more a good day to peel apart this city. unfortunately there was no extra sight seeing time for us. i did get to hang with my pal stephen (on right)…good times. i didnt do too much celebrating after the show because we had a long drive to the high sierra festival that we were embarking on THAT night. nuts huh?

dressing room and rider wrap up: i dont remember ever giving out this high of a score but i’m giving dante’s an 8 and here’s why. this score has more to do with the people and promoter than some of the other more tangible items i usually grade clubs out on. first off, mike thrasher is rad for hooking up this show on such short notice. trevor was a cool guy to work the show with and bill the soundman was fucking great…THE most friendly, nicest and easy going house soundman i have come across in quite a long time. after working with so many people at different clubs you really notice when you have nice people to work with. plenty of times i dont think these people expect you to call them out on being such raging tools if they indeed are but this is why this specific section in my blog exists, to call out the bad and to (on rare occassions) give credit where credit is due. as for the nitty gritty, backstage was actually in the basement – it wasnt special but it was away from the action and had a bathroom and shower which was a plus. as far as the food situation went they gave us so-so dinners and plenty of beer. plus they had wifi and plenty of tvs (i dont have cable at home im always a sucker for tv in a bar). once again, good job dante’s you get an 8 bitch.

clean, green and friendly metropolis thanx to: stephen weber for being an all around great guy, lars (pictured with q), stephanie, k and k from olympia and all the fans who came to see us…i appreciate it.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: portland boasts having the most strip clubs per capita—hey. that’s great. we played on the other side of the bridge. three words – not so much. downtown portland reminds me too much of downtown la for me to even hint at liking it. when it comes to portland just point me towards east burnside… please and thank you.

The Venue: dante’s was ideal. i loved playing there. great stage, wireless internet, you could smoke inside, free stiff drinks and awesome staff [yet another totally awesome sound man—everyone really, not just bill, you guys were a pleasure to be around]. we got lucky when we decided to play this venue. one of the little factoids i was constantly reminded of, before we got to portland, was, and i quote “dante’s – it’s got a strip club right above it [giggle giggle]”. woo. so a few of them were lame enough to go up there and check it out. anyway, they go upstairs to aja’s and discover that, what was supposed to be, a titty bar, is a full on brothel.

The Show: i had fun. at one point in the set bubbles were blown from a machine behind me onto the stage. there was a smoke machine, i talked, drank beer on stage and had fun. the best part of the set was watching a girl named stephanie, who danced so incredibly perfect to our songs. she mesmerized me and mark. solid dancers are hard to come by so when we see them we get really happy and they help boost our performance.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i, honestly, cant remember.

Interesting Things After The Show: met stephen and his awesome girlfriend angela, who reminded me a lot of my best friend, cara. we got drunk and hung out til the bar closed. then a homeless hustler recited poetry to me and then expected fran to pay him a dollar after. hilarious. i think fran just gave him the money to go away but not without taking the most awesome picture of me and mark with him. then we piled into the van of love and i ate some of mark’s 3 lb veggie burrito and passed out.

Nathan’s Nonsense

Dante’s Bar & Grill had a very swanky feel to it. Just the layout of the room made this instantly one of the most posh stages we’ve had the privilege of performing on. For one thing, we could actually watch ourselves being videotaped on one of the many large-screen TV’s as we played. That was pretty cool. The backstage area though consisted of this basement with a very low ceiling in which I had to practically walk on my knees in order to avoid slamming my noggin into one of the rafters. I can’t tell you how many times that has happened to me over the years, particularly in backstage areas of venues where I’ve played. It just isn’t easy being 6’4” I tell ya. For this show we decided to switch up the stage setup a bit. Rob switched places with Fran in order to be closer to me, the idea being that maybe it would be beneficial to have the two melodic instruments more locked in together. I’m not sure how well that worked, but it certainly didn’t hurt. Our performance to me seemed to go along fairly smoothly that night. No major problems that I was aware of. If anything, it was perhaps a tad lackluster in spots, partly because the crowd was mostly sitting comfortably at tables spread throughout the room instead of on their feet feeding energy into the performance. But that’s ok. I’m glad it was such a cozy experience all around.

After-show antics: Ok, so there was this, uh, establishment directly upstairs from the venue, right? According to the sound man at Dante’s, one could procure there, if one was so inclined, a relatively inexpensive form of sexual satisfaction. After having loaded up with still an hour or so to spare before having to hit the road, Josh, Mark, and I decided to venture on up to do some investigating. We climbed up three flights of stairs to a red door on which a sign read “Knock Loudly.” So, Josh knocked… we then giggled like schoolgirls in daft anticipation of what would happen. No answer. Josh knocks again, then a third time. Finally, the door creaks open, and out pops a negligee’d girl, tawny complexion and full of shifty smiles. I imagined she had needed time enough time to change out of her comfy sweats and Scooby Doo slippers before answering the door. She invites the three of us in to the living room area of what looks like any nondescript apartment dwelling. Out comes a second girl, taciturn and glazed in a cropped blonde wig. The first girl explains methodically that all services start at $40, but that the girls work on tips. Basically, the more you were willing to pay, the more you would receive. No holds barred. Sensing our befuddled air of indecision, the girls left us alone to decide which, if any, of us would take the plunge. After a moment, we decided unanimously to make a run for it. After that, Rob and Ian joined us for an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at finding an open strip club. Everything was closed up. There was nothing to do but trudge back to the van and begin our 500 mile journey to the High Sierras. No complaints from me though. It was all in all quite a fun night.

can i get more fog and bubbles please? ian and nathan share a tender momentlars and Qdo they look 10 lbs heavier?stephanie and f10 the brakessound with a smile = bill

calm before the storm… 6.28

the afternoon before the show i was finally able to see the fish market. being able to walk around such a beautiful city on a perfect day reminds me that there are some cool perks to being in a band. new sights, scenes and sounds have a way of keeping you in sort of a psuedo stress free vacation mode. who knows, maybe i was still riding the high from having a room at the holiday inn. at night we played at chop suey with trespassers william (from seattle) and the brakes (from philly). the show had a different vibe for me this time around. there was a mellow energy in the club, im not sure what it was but it definitely wasn’t as raucous as our previous 2 seattle shows. two people that did bring a ton of positive energy in with them were misti and my friend ellen. you guys really do rule. as far as the show goes—hmmm i dont know what to say except its par for the course at chop suey…on stage is sounds real bassy and boomy to me but everyone seemed to be into it.

supersonic thanx to: colin and shiho, misti, ellen, my old friend juan who left early…thanx a-hole, nic, blaine o and jacques (if i remember correctly) for telling me the story about hearing trip while he was in iraq. im glad we played it for him.

dressing room and rider wrap up: chop suey gets a four. the staff at chop suey was real cool though. the sound man and monitor guy were easy to work with and didnt have an attitude. way to be guys…i noticed and appreciated it. the back stage area at chop suey is pretty shitty. it’s just a communial band room that all 3 bands had to share along with their cases. for some reason it smelled like puke. i spent a total of about 30 seconds in that room. i remember seeing some some beers and a bag of chips in there. in any case i had no desire to hang out backstage cos it stank. thus a 4. hey, a four isnt too bad, it happens to be my lucky number. i need to start taking pics of these rooms but i always forget.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: after our radio show i fled to my hotel room and then went on a little tour of the city with ian, josh and fran. we walked to the market and then had sushi at a restaurant. owned by chinese people. um. ok no! i have never had a good sushi experience in seattle and it bums me out. dear citizens of the city, if you would like to take me to a spectacular sushi meal next time im in town you’ll be on my guestlist for life. no kidding.

The Venue: our good friend, colin, from mercir, is the main booker which automatically makes chop suey super rad in my book. i havent had the best shows there, but i’ve always left the venue really drunk. im still trying to decide if that’s a one or an eight on the awesome scale. chop suey never disappoints on aesthetics but god do their bathrooms stink. terrible. good job on the apples, boys… way to make a little girl giddy.

The Show: let’s just say i walked off the stage completely disappointed. i didnt understand what had just happened. i’d go into detail about how terrible the show was for me but it’s not that important. bottom line – it sucked for everyone except for fran – but he’s in denial or just wants to be argumentative. typical gemini. if nathan had written a show report he would’ve explained why his show was terrible too or maybe not since he likes to focus on the good parts. unfortunately, i didnt see any – i feel that focusing on the bad parts makes me a better performer. anyway, boo hoo, big deal – i’ve moved on. next time we’re in town we’re gonna kick ass. i promise. big thanks to our sound guys, they did a fantastic job taking care of us on the fly.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: are we done yet? these shoes make me look like i have cankles. gross. are we done yet?

Interesting Things After The Show: got to see shiho and colin, which was really great – i love you guys. hung out with my friend chad who i hadnt seen in like, two and a half years. got to see nic before the show too while i was in the bathroom talking to someone – im sorry it seemed like i was preoccupied, i would’ve loved to have hugged you hello, youre the raddest. had a deep discussion about music in seattle with blaine and then got drunk with our sound guys. im sure that isnt that interesting to you, but what’s interesting is i cant remember their names even though i remember exactly what they look like — i do know their signs though… monitor guy: virgo & house guy: sagittarius. you boys were rad. hope we work with you again.

Nathan’s Nonsense

By the time this show was over and in the books, I felt like a big mucky bowl of chop suey myself. But first, allow me to touch on some of the good points. I just listened back finally to our on air performance at KEXP earlier in the day. For the most part, the performance was pretty good, considering 3 of the 4 songs played were new, but the mix was a little bothersome. By song 4 it seemed like the mix was dialed in pretty good, but until then a lot of the instrumentation seemed a bit buried. Even so, it had a nice, soothing sound to it, and the new material really seems like it’s on its way to becoming something special. After KEXP, we all checked into our lavish (meaning non slum-like) hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn Express. Then it was off to get in a good meal and see the sights. I ended up wandering around by myself for a few hours, down to the waterfront, back up past the space needle, taking a few pics along the way on my crappy cell phone camera. Reminisced a bit about the only other time in my life when I had been to this great city: at the age of 15 I kicked off a 1500 mile journey on my 12 speed Peugeot bike all the way back to Moreno Valley (that’s in So. Cal, just east of Riverside).

It was an honor for me personally to be playing with Trespassers William that night. I’ve been a fan of their music for a while, and seeing them live and talking a bit with the members was a real treat for me. The Brakes also proved to be a swell bunch of Philly lads as well. Unfortunately, our own show didn’t go as smoothly as I, or any of us, would have liked. Most of that seemed to center around the fact that somewhere between sound check, moving my keyboards to the side of the stage to make room for the other bands, and moving them back again to start the show, somehow the tuner knob on the back of my moog satellite keyboard must have been inadvertently nudged causing it to go horribly out of tune. These moog keyboards, though they sound amazing when their sounds are properly dialed in, unfortunately go out of tune if you even look at them wrong. So, when we started into our first song, instead of a nice melodic melody, the band heard what must have sounded like a yeti’s discordant mating call. It wasn’t pretty, and worse, it wasn’t a problem that could easily be fixed on the fly. Aside from that train wreck, the show actually seemed to go along pretty good. The venue wasn’t as packed as I would have liked to have seen it, but at least I could see my friend Ian bouncing around, having the time of his life. I love the vibe of this city, and look forward to many warm returns.

sushi sucked but the photos were goodfishmarket – not exactly potpourristage timesstage right view of robstage left view of nathaneveryone’s view of lewsciousfront stage view of fran adjustingQ’s view, since she was photographer, of herselfseattle red light specialjosssh working lightsian-us! always happy working merchshow poster – when did nathan get so short?who can give you what you need? no bhatti!one big copacetic family

mark’s view of our in-studio show… 6.28

wednesday in seattle was a busy day for us. we had 2 shows, the first of which was an in studio at KEXP. cheryl waters (pictured) was the host and a real fun person to get interviewed by. i was starving when we got to the studio but ian got me a tuna sandwich which was pretty awesome of him. This was our second time doing an on air performance at the station. The first time was last july while we were on tour with turin brakes – rob and q did an acoustic set. this time around was much different as we were able to bring the full band in. we played 3 songs off the new record (all my friends…, inspirate, indian ocean) and one old one (trip). it was good playing the new ones live just because we are still working them out as we record them over the summer.KEXP is so rad – it’s in a pretty cool part of downtown too. it’s right near the space needle but more importantly right next to a holiday inn express and yes we were smart enough to get rooms there. those rooms by the way were the nicest ones we’ve stayed in this year. they made me feel more like a human being instead of a hunter and gatherer.

Mariqueen’s Mind

we arrived at the radio station at eleven am. yes… eleven. am. normally this means i’d still be in my bed working on my fifth hour of sleep, so you can imagine how groggy i was. i stood around confused and trying to find out why there were no apples or throat coat anywhere. the station had us set up to perform as a full band in the same exact room rob and i had performed an acoustic set just a year earlier. it was so cute watching the tight little quarters fran and mark had. i think fran might’ve accidently hit mark’s drums at one point. we played four songs i think, or five, i forget. three of them were brand new and im not sure how they sounded because as far as i could tell i was in no real shape to be singing. i mean, this was our first performance in over a month—at an ungodly hour for us to be alive and we had slept in some gross motel the night before. most of the time i was daydreaming about my bed at the holiday inn express. thank god there was a staff member who brought me lots of tea. after our set we took some pictures with cheryl [who looked good in every single one] and then cringed at ourselves when we viewed them on kexp’s digital camera. can anyone say, “gross, sleepy mess”? i gave the show a six out of ten but i had a good time which is all that matters in the end. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again… kexp, your women’s bathroom is so wonderful. thanks for everything. xo.

look how happy they are to get their picture taken at 10 am

-F10

summer lovin… 6.3.06Lewscious invited us all out to a pool party this past weekend. The pool party happened to be at the home office of orthodox clothing. orthodox clothing is an insanely wicked men’s clothing line. eric and mike were our hosts not to mention the heart and soul of orthodox. not only were ginger margaritas flowing but west indian girl and orthodox clothing cemented their bond for the future together. a cool band can never have too many great looking clothes to wear. these men know that and now we are for ever in their debt. eric and mike….we love you.

mike Q & ericgreat backyarddon’t worry more girls in bikinis sooni told you….Q and nathan – drunk? i dont doubt itmark – post party & pre taco bellyou cant see it but Q’s yelling im hungry at the top of her lungspost taco bell – on the way to the studio like good boys & girl-F10

Im thrilled to announce our “short ‘n sweet” northwest tour. why am i so excited? well, we get to play seattle which is one of our most favorite cities to play in not to mention home of the first gig we EVER played (chop suey). our first stop in seattle is at kexp (one of the coolest radio stations in the country) where we’re gonna play some new songs in the studio. in portland we get to play at a new venue for us (dante’s) and then drive all night to play our first major festival – the high sierra. hope to see you there! we wont be back in this area until late fall/early winter if that.

6.28 Seattle, WA – KEXP

6.28 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey

6.29 Portland, OR – Dante’s

6.30 Quincy, CA – High Sierra Festival

7.01 Quincy, CA – High Sierra Festival

our good friend from denver, tim d, is at it again with the poster you see above. we’re actually supposed to be selling the first tour poster he made for us on our last tour but my SLOW AS HELL graphics guy (aka todd calvert) is taking forever uploading it to our online store. hopefully one day soon it will be there along with this one.

-F10

a memoriable show… 5.27

our show at spaceland was possibly our best ever los angeles show.the vibe at spaceland was all west indian girl… it felt good and it felt right. it wasnt quite sold out but it was close…it was also memorial day weekend not to mention my birthday. what was a somewhat jerky set in SF the night before turned out to be (after a few slight adjustments) a smooth operator in LA. we improved the set by moving up monterey and inspirate to the 3rd and 4th position thus making a huge difference in flow. i remember that i liked playing on the stage at spaceland…it is one of those stages that i immediately felt comfortable on. i sort of felt like a a cheerleader. i also remember that q looked awesome in a new dress she “busted’ out for the show. im glad we have that feminine element in the band still despite carter leaving. after the show i took q on a strange drive though los angeles in search pf some greasy food that i never ended up eating.

birthday boy thanks to: everyone that bought me a drink for my birthday, sascha, todd, kampy, frank, raquel, izler, marcos, bernie, chad, yvonne, adam (in pic) and all my friends for paying to get in. john and phil from northern for opening the show, jennifer for booking us, sherry lee for taking all the live pics, carlos for doing our sound and all the veterans that died for us so i could be living the care free life of a broke musician in the united states of america.

dressing room and rider wrap up: basically there wasnt much of a green room at spaceland…just a room right behind the stage. as you know im a pretty honest blogger so its my duty to report the facts and even though there are a ton of positive things to say about spaceland there are a few negs. hey, for all good there is evil, for all light there is dark, well you get the picture. ok, so we got a total of 10 drink tickets and that was it. no water, food, beer, towels or nothing. in that regard it ranks in the bottom 3 of the 70+ shows we have played. besides jennifer and todd (who were super nice) that worked there the staff wasnt overly friendly to us. hey, maybe the bartenders were having a bad day, maybe they were mad they had to work on a holiday weekend, maybe they hated our music….regardless, this attitude was noted not just by me in my birthday haze but a few people in my band and that sucks because we are far from a bunch of assholes.

check out this video footage of the show that my friend T$$$ took. T$$$, yup that’s his name. he is pictured on the left with his friend tanika. T$$$ went way beyond the call of duty and made a cool page of random videos from the show. now that’s a bro for ya. thanx for filming the show T$$$. WATCH IT

for those of you who prefer the newspaper over tv check out a review of the show at the hollywood machine. this is a pretty funny blog. CHECK IT

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: despite it’s pretentious reputation, i think silverlake is one of the better cities in los angeles. great restaurants, the best bars and it’s completely against everything that is lame about la. look into that.

The Venue: once you step into spaceland the first thing you think to yourself is, “why is this not a bar inside tomorrowland?” then you think, “wouldnt it be cool if the door guy was dressed as jabba the hut”. it’s got these awful metallic blue and silver curtains and even it’s disco ball has a ring around it like saturn. tacky and kind of cute at the same time. the best feature was the smoking area. you could play pool, grab a drink sit down and chain smoke and never leave the building. dear space mountain, please look into this as a prospective add on for summer 2007. since they failed to give me throat coat, apples, money so i could eat, or any food at all, i dont really have anything pleasant to say about this place. no offense, but as a singer, i have needs and they were not met. i got two drink tickets for the whole evening… well… at least they were better than the union st. station.

The Show: god, what a difference a new set list makes. i’d like to take this opportunity to give F10 and myself a round of golf claps for rearranging our set. we did it as we drove from san francisco straight to soundcheck. the new set made everything flow beautifully. it seemed like we played a shorter set, though, in all actuality, it was about fifteen minutes longer than san francisco’s show. another round of golf claps goes to rob for making us cookies. mr. james makes the delicacies that get us baked and everyone in the band, except for fran, took one. even carlos, our fantastic sound man for the evening, partook in the magical deliciousness of the cookies. at midnight i announced that fran had turned forever 27 and lead the whole venue in a very enthusiastic rendition of happy birthday. it was a pleasant surprise to see so many of my friends that night. louie, lee, cara, elaine [sorry for hitting you with that maraca], marcos, amber, chris, richard, jason, ryanne, debbie, david, vivi, jeff, brooke and jess… it made my heart very happy that you were there. youre all assholes and i love you.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: is this really happening? am i having an effortlessly great show? fantastic. damn these cookies are the bomb, g!

Interesting Things After The Show: oh you know… the usual. everyone drank but the most interesting drunk of the evening was fran. dude got wasted. hey fran’s posse of “awesome” fans & friends, good job on making him completely retarded and then leaving me to take care of him.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

LOCAL CURMUDGEONS & SIREN MAKES GOOD AT SPACELAND….

On Saturday, May 27th, LA eastside denizens were treated to a rousing infusion of long vowel sounds and spastic pelvic gyrations. Silverlake’s own Spaceland was the scene for this unilateral swarming of hysteria brought on by local hooligans West Indian Girl. “I was all, like, expecting some kind of Navajo tribal shit or something, but this was like, all…holy fuck balls” said one audience member who declined to give out his name, then proceeded to spontaneously combust on the dance floor after taking a shot of 99 bananas. Luckily, after the show I was able to get in a few words with keyboardist Nathan Van Hullabaloo.

(Me)”So, how do you begin to explain what the hell just happened up there.”
(NV) Just looks back at me with crazy eyes, then exclaims “cookies!”
(ME) ”Ha ha… yes, very good. Wait… what?”
(NV) ”Cookies!”
(ME) “Uh… what kind of cookies, exactly?”
(NV) “Look pal, I don’t know who sent you, but I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa if that’s what you’re after. Nowhere in my job description does it say anything about probing or abductions. I’m a son of the soil, betrothed to the stars, melting away in the concave recesses of your cranial crags. I am a column of blood with a voice in it.”

He then attempted to set himself on fire without success, invoked the name of Thor with upheld fists, and quickly bolted away into the black of night. Such is the life of LA musicians i suppose, or at least the ones of this magnitude. Do yourself a favor and get into it.

thanks, sherry lee for the cool live shotssherry captured a moment that’s almost too cute“nathan and his crystal geyser”stonersbuying our vinyl makes your life bettermarcos + fran = bffcamera shy m & deliza & rob slangin merchbernie l’arsen & lewsciousteam mushroomteam heckmanlucky phil in an evil mermaid sandwichteam goldstein – upset they missed the showteam spread the birthday lovetodd doing a great job of molesting q’s faceteam mcmariqueen – is what nathan saw after too many cookies

-F10

good vibes in the yay area… 5.26

so, our day started out pretty mellow, we drove part way to sf the night before so we wouldnt have to make the whole drive that day. we were traveling light this time, no sound guy, no ian, just tony. if you have been keeping up with this blog then you know that i think cafe du nord is my 3rd LEAST favorite club in the US to load into. BUT, despite the painful load in i really do like this club. its got a cool vibe and the bar is fun to hang out in. its also got a pool table in the front that reminds me of the pool table at bovine sex club in toronto. dont ask me why but it does. before the show q and i went over to our friend andrew warren’s place. andrew is a star and his place rules. as far as the the show itself went, well i thought it was passable. i think im becoming a bad judge at how good or bad a show is these days just because im so wrapped up in playing rather than watching. i thought it was decent though but it just felt like it dragged a bit. im gonna see if the guys want to change the set up a bit for LA. we played 3 brand new songs (up the coast, inspirate, and get up) that are gonna be on the next record. its helpful to test drive these bitches before we put them to tape.

golden gay thanks to: andrew of course, my best friend scott nicol’s sister for showing up with her girls, kristi and doug for their overall positivity and muscles during load out, erin and drew for the sacto representation, john r for the post show wrap up, and ben for filming the show. i also want to thank our ever growing cool fanbase in san fran for making it a real fun city to play in. oh yeah, i also want to thank tim. tim walked up to me after the show and handed me $20 for “illegally downloading our cd”. he told me that he and his girlfriend listen to it all the time and that he wanted to pay us for it. now is that cool or what. i think that was the coolest thing. that’s only happened once before. again people…how cool is that. thanx tim, we appreciate it.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at du nord isnt that great. you know i’ve come to realize that my opinion on a dressing room stems from whether or not i like to hang out in it for more than a couple minutes. i cant put my finger on why i didnt like hanging out at du nord’s but it was probably because is was right next to the stage and wasnt really the “collect your thoughts before a show” green room. it wasnt comfy nor was it quiet cos it’s right next to the stage. the staff at du nord however, was excellent – the bar manager and house sound man were great. they made my life easy. we got some great food before the show and some beer backstage. red stripe no less so that was another little feather in du nord’s hat.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i really enjoyed san fran this time around. i went over to andrew’s [righteousness in all that is jambase.com form] incredible abode. andrew lives in a historic part of san fran where these intricate houses date back to the mid 1850’s. if i could afford to, i would buy a second home in san francisco to live there in the springtime.

The Venue: cafe du nord is always fun times. thanks james for doing our sound that night, you did great as our last minute stand in and you were great to work with.

The Show: was kind of bad, actually… we added three new, never before played songs and it made our set extra long. one of the mistakes of the evening was the order of our set list. it made the set seem longer than it actually was. by the time we did the last two songs of the evening [which i personally refer to as “vocal killers”] i felt like i was going to faint and actually choked up while i was singing. on my own spit, i mean seriously, fatigue is an understatement. it was terrible. maybe i should work out and build up my tolerance to sweat. to add salt on my wounds my monitor mix was screwed up due to effects being put in it. but you know, it was a brand new set and im glad we did it because we’d never know how wrong we could sound.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: oh. no. oh. no. oh… nooooooooooo…

Interesting Things After The Show: we all hung out with protection [yet another great band and awesome new friends] and laughed at the chaos around us. i met some really awesome new people and even squeezed in a shot of jd with my friend mike. by the end of the night mark was wasted with cracker crumbs on his lip and his feet dangling on the side of his own personal bench on the van. i’d say it was good times.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

first off, i have this little tale to tell. the starter on my car was kaput, so the night before the san fran show i took the metro gold line from my house to the downtown union station. from there i walked the rest of the way- about 10 blocks or so- to the studio. i had my bulging blue sport bag in tow, packed up for the two day jaunt, ipod running on random mode, and a cell phone in my pocket. after crossing 2nd street into the dismal dregs of skid row, i decided to put the ipod away just to be safe. i then pulled out my phone and gave my girl lisa a call. before i could spout my customary salutations, some crackhead came up from behind me and stuck a gun in my face. apparently he wanted me to hand over my phone. without thinking, i started yelling bloody murder, turned and ran full speed down the middle of los angeles street, arms flailing wildly, then north up 3rd. the fucker chased me for a good block or so, gun in hand and aimed in my general vicinity. i’d wager a hefty sum he never had any bullets in that thing, but it sure would’ve sucked if i’d been wrong. after catching my breath and assuring lisa i was out of danger, i walked down main street to pete’s bar and called mark who was quickly able to come to my rescue. what a way to kick off the weekend, eh?

it was great to come back to san francisco finally. cafe du nord is actually just a few short blocks away from where i once lived a very long time ago. i was a young lad then, living with my first real girlfriend… stardust. seriously. ok, ok, her real name was jenny, but she would give you the evil eye and a kick in the shin if you called her that. so anyway, back then all the girls in the beauty supply store where i worked diligently as a stock boy used to call me the saddest boy in the world. i suppose i did seem quite the little mopester, but beneath that stoic façade beat a heart that yearned for adventures far and wide. i think that same yearning serves as my compass even today, but i rarely have time to mope anymore. too busy having fun. and fun was certainly in abundance this fine night in the city by the bay. i took a stroll around the castro, singing journey songs to myself, a deft glide in my stride. it almost didn’t bother me that our set clunked along inharmoniously. fuck it. the crowd was diggin’ it anyway. i met some great people that night and enjoyed myself thoroughly. and of course, by the end of it, i was completely trashed. curtains for the keyboardist.

doompadeedo“trebor” and sunevthe ben jones experiencedont hate us cause we’re…kristi & doug – two of the best people on earthscott nicol’s sister with christine and coleen.mike & co.trouble cubedguess who isn’t the designated driver?

-F10

OUR LAST LA SHOW UNTIL THE FALL! Just in time for memorial day….2 shows in 2 of california’s best cities. get your tickets now or be s.o.l.

5.26 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
5.27 Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland

dear spaceland, it’s about time we played the east side. thanx for the front page ad. that’s why we love you!
-F10

getting carried away 5.06

we played at the hear gallery which is kinda close to downtown los angeles. as shows go this was of the underground variety but it felt really good because of the psuedo house party vibe to it. the scene that’s going down at the hear is cool—good art and good music. i busted out a new look for this show that i like to call the francis tennis look. yup, headband and all. people said i looked like bjorn borg but i thought it was a bit more john mcenroe meets guiillermo vilas. as a general rule of thumb if you have the balls to wear a headband people are gonna say you look like some tennis star no matter what. oh…the show…it was a party man. we jammed as best we could with a PA that had a blown speaker and mics that didnt work and i’m down to do it again. on the bittersweet side of things this was ian’s last show with us as he was leaving town back to new york. let’s book more shows ian. you’re the new glue man dontchyaknow.

la urban thanks to: my boys sascha, todd, joe, nik, doug, walt, and adam for bringin it.

dressing room and rider wrap up: no dressing room or food – this was basically a house party so you can’t expect much. frank and all his homies were cool and treated us well. the load in did suck however – circa brillo box in pittsburgh but not as bad. they let tony run around before the show so they get 2 thumbs up!

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: we played in the outskirts of echo park, near downtown los angeles, right next to silverlake, on the corner of beverly and something, next to a sidewalk, attached to a parking lot, attached to a gate, attached to a staircase, attached to your mom.

The Venue: the hear gallery is like two really spacious apartments smooshed together. they had a stage, tons of closed off rooms, two bathrooms with showers and a mini kitchen. really cute. a bit grimey, but that just gave it character. isn’t it ironic that we played at a place named after a sense that none of us were doing very well on stage that night? steh. raaange.

The Show: was a huge party, man. we had no monitors, crappy speakers and rob’s microphone stopped working for a little bit… but i still had a lot of fun. one of my best friends and former merch girl extraordinairre, brooke got dubbed captain ouija board that night. brooke, shawn, jess and debbie: you guys are the best. im glad you came out, i couldn’t have asked for a more perfect band of sluts to get shitty with. viva!

What Were You Thinking While Playing: dude, brooke is fucking drunk. weeeeeeee!

Interesting Things After The Show: so many! scandal, riots, dirty dancing, drag queens, booze everywhere, debauchery in the smoking patio, and calories galore… i can’t even type them because they’re that excellent. sorry. you should’ve been there. ian mcevily, we had to say see you later to our beloved tour manager. he left us in the morning to go back to new york. i still breathe in a paper bag when i realize he’s not next to me. you are missed. dear noah goldman, thanks for coming to your second west indian girl show and being a fucking awesome ass and finding the hear gallery and giving me a wonderful hug and then bailing right after and not hanging out with me. i love you.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

ya heard? ok, so i set this show up myself at the good ol’ hear gallery, a place run by some good friends of mine. frank is the man that makes it all happen, along with a revolving door of other collaborators. sure, it’s a bit small and cramped, and when it’s filled to the brim it can be a real clusterfuck in there, but whatever. at least it’s one of the few places in L.A. where you can still smoke inside. if you’re anywhere near the area, i suggest linking up to the hear gallery on myspace (http://www.myspace.com/theheargallery) in order to get the latest updates of all the various events that go on there. ain’t nothing like a cool, underground club scene that prominently features musicians and artists alike.

ok, so on to the show. ’twas a shame more people didn’t show up, but it was swarming with sweat glands as it was, so we can’t really complain. we knew there was gonna be sound trouble ahead of time due to the PA having a blown speaker. we tried not to worry about it and just rolled with it the best we could. not to boast or anything, but my keyboards were probably the best sounding thing that night due to the amazing stage sound i had going on. uh-huh, that’s right. add to that one of my finest, most together performances to date, and voila! i was on top o’ the world. big burly bear hugs go out to all my friends that showed up and stuck it out, and a special thanks is in order for my good friend dj jason timothy who was spinning all night in the back. unfortunately there are no photos of me from this night that i know of, but i swear to jehovah on high i was really there. or… perhaps this has all been some fantastical, fervid dream? either way, it’s enough to make me soil my skivvies with delight sometimes.

mic blow out 2006tony had just peed on mark’s handsbrooke doesnt remember taking this picturerichard & jason our new favoritesfranko 6000 squadthe most beautiful couple of the evening award goes to…

-F10

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