West Indian Girl

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