West Indian Girl

arena rock finally arrives 4.8.06

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

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

Mariqueen’s Mind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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