West Indian Girl

saturday may 21st sound check at the tower theatre

the tower theatre is the best place we’ve ever played…end of story. we played the NonComm festival sponsored by WXPN. the whole event was cool and chill. the stage was great and the sound was even better…it was incredible actually. west indian girl’s sound is tailor made for places like this. it felt like the tower soaked up our sound and draped it over the entire audience. big thanx to bernie for making the trip and really dialing it in. he’s our official 6th man and it’s always a drag when we don’t have him mixing our sound. he really works us like no other sound man. my sister becky and her husband tom showed up with a gang of their friends. it was great having a beer with them – my sister was freaking out so i guess the show must have been really good. the crowd at the tower was one of the best to date – i mean, we had fans that were like 15 years old and fans that were like 55 years old. it’s a great feeling being able to cut across genres with your music. man, i loved playing this show…it sounded so great i hope xpn invites us back to play longer next year. gotta love the merch guy there too. he did a great job and made the best display we have ever had. most merch guys that work at clubs that display your shit (ie the fillmore in sf) dont really display your merch with much care….mike did and i owe the guy one — F.TEN

Carter’s Conscience: All right, on to Philly. My first time in Philly, and we had a blast. The theatre itself was amazing, its just a completely different experience playing on a huge stage. Its definately something I think I could get used to! Anyway, while I was warming up my voice right before the show, there was a knock on the outside door of the room i was in. Low and behold, a few cute Philly females were waiting outside. Apparently they had been listening for a while, and they thought I was Jason Mraz getting ready for the show. (J. Mraz was on the bill later on in the night) Sorry to disapoint girls, but they turned out to be really cool, and came up afterward to say they loved the show. (I admit, the thought did cross my mind at first to just lie and say I was J. Mraz) J. Mraz that a great nickname for the guy– following in the footsteps of J Lo and J Z, and of course everyone’s favorite carpenter, J. C. You’re in good company, buddy!

Anyway, J Mraz was a cool cat, Rob and I shot the shit with him for about 15 minutes. He’s a funny guy, turns out he lives in Encinitas, which is about a half hour from where I grew up. I have to say, I never really got into his music before, and even if it isn’t your cup of tea, the guy is a badass performer. Great singer, great guitar player, his set was an unexpected treat. I saw a little bit of Sunvolt, who were really good, and most of My Morning Jacket’s set. MMJ put on a classic show. They had a guy conducting them like an orchestra through the entire set. Other highlights? How bout Bob Mould winning the award for the quickest soundcheck of all time! Normally soundchecks can take up to an hour or more, but Bob came up, plugged in his guitar, sang a half a verse, and that was that. All in all he took about three minutes. Pretty punk rock, my friend, hats off. . .

That’s basically it. Met some great radio people, had a cocktail or two, signed a few autographs, bought a ridulous set of sunglasses and a headband, and just basically pretended to be a rockstar for the night. We got such a warm welcome, got to play/hang out with some great bands, met a bunch of cool fans, and got a lot of really positive feedback from the radio heads. I left Philly with a smile, can’t wait to get back, thanx y’all for making it such a great night!
Much love
Carter

robert james and carter at a new jersey rest stop

mariqueen and bernie having their own rest stop moment

lewscious reinacting his moment in the rest stop bathroom

sound check at the tower – one of the best sound checks ever

lewscious in action

reg from cims and bo from my morning jacket

after the show at a diner in jersey…classic

lewscious

elevator…good night…west indian girl 2 – east coast 0