West Indian Girl

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