new york hospitality

Wednesday oct 19 montreal la sala rosa
Needless to say the morning is a rough one for all Australians and ½ the nyc contingent. I bagel and coffee up and we hit the dvp and head north then east. Illegally advancing shows along the way(no comment thus far, just read on, i/ll probly get sued/shot/banned/deported/blacklisted as of this moment). I make very good time through the turning color countryside of eastern Ontario. We hit a hortons along the way and fill er up full serve and hammer down to montreal. Good directions get us right there in precious time for the 2 flight load. No loaders and no grip on the stairs, I sense a lawsuit. Soundcheck is a non event, ceptin the lurvely ms rosenbaum brings us the best bagels from real bagel around the corner. Fresh and delicious 24-7. and the schemer. Forget about it. Across the road for some bad food and hipster attitude, but it is a refreshing change from the dust and paint and cleaning fluids from la sala….. (yr adj here). But the irish coffee rocks for taking the edge off the cold, and gee whiz I do not look forward to the drive after show to Plattsburgh and points south. And its local band hell, and remember that yr not so humble narrator equates local bands with trips to the hygienist, roommate situations, sobriety check points, republican governments, ad nauseum. And we have been completely invaded by locals. Crikey. And the local openers are the two worst bands of all time, but the cutters rip it up to the sparse crowd, we pass through the border magically considering the big bust that happened earlier that day, I nearly hit a couple of deer who are standing in the fast lane, before stopping off at the Plattsburgh days inn.
Oct 20 drive day
Awake to get a jiffy lube(on the car ya perverts) and leadfoot it down to nyc to do the fearless music program, and aint it great to be in nyc in the fall. The program is a success , we fight our way downtown and to Brooklyn through rush hour traffic, head over to lobo on court for some tex mex and good times, drive the lads back to b longs, and pass out on the couch during Seinfeld.
Oct 21 nyc bowery w/ mahi mahi and rapture SOLD OUT
A great dinner with mod phil, b long, the wax and the lads (and crazy dave) and of course mi esposa at la mela on mulberry. Family style Italian. Brilliant. Last day of the tour, and as the cliché goes, don/t say nothing unless it/s nice, so I will say this. Nice to see a lot of friendly faces at the bowery, nice to watch the cutters knock em dead, nice to see the 500 plus dancing away, nice to see mel mac, nice to be done, nice to be out in the fresh air, nice to have a makers bitters and soda at barramundi, nice hanging out with the mayor and the rummy, nice to see the lipez, nice to see lil kym and spouse, nice to see franz and tvotr and a whole lot of other bandy types, nice to be home. The rest, is just details.

leadfoot express

Monday oct 11 los angeles, the echo
We head over to current tv to do some on air hosting for al gore/s new network. What a cool scene. Davis, who used to book jimmy kimmel, is in charge so I know that the lads are in good hands. I go blow my pds at arons reckids next door on various los lobos discs readying meself for the x country drive tomorrow. After several hours of television, the cutters disappear with the veejit to find some place kind of seedy. Er, hate to break it to ya sweet heart, but you have been in the belly of the beast for that scheisse for a few days now. Live and learn, eh? We leg it to the east side, echo parque for our own show at the echo. Good to see liz from spaceland and she sorts us right out. I eat some tacos whilst the wax and the boys go off for thai. I wait for my posse to roll in- and roll they do. Hangin with yozell and his gal Jamie, and old skool spunkin Duncan sporting pix of his sprog. Who/d a thunk. The guys stuff the joint and play a rippin set to the likes of junior senior, har mar in the house, and a good bit of the franz Ferdinand band and crew who have a bus call right there on sunset en route to vegas. A brilliant gig. Everyone scatters to various bars and i/m off to the power house with tony bev,dirty preston, lucky Jeremy, har mar, et al. even the Australians show up for some shenanigans and after several makers marks some gobshite who has no business with the bar tells me to finish my drink and fuck off, at which point I offer to carve him up like a Christmas ham. After after parties abound at the standard and the beach and what not, but I do the right thing and fuck off back to the shack.
Oct 11 las vegas the joint
I think that I am still scoobied as we traverse the Mojave desert en route to sin city. Easy load and back to the pool where whitford and I soak up some rays and chlorine whilst everyone else sleeps it off. Readying themselves for another big night. me personally, i/m thinking about my pillow. But no, the miller is in vegas, as well as dg, exiled from the big easy. We suffer through some prison style catering replete with bologna sarnie in the hard rock cafeteria,and then dig the cutters bringing the early house down. I miss tvotr and franz to hit the hay, but the miller talks me into 1(there is no such thing, dammit!) at the double down which takes little twisting of any limbs. Am bummed that I miss sir Elton john, but hey, I have seen him walk down Melrose BITD. i/ll leave the sin city to the next generation.
Oct 12 sur la route
31 insect bites, sunrise over the hoover dam, sunset over the new mexico prairie 1000 miles of driving with the wax heading in the right direction with the ipod shuffle.
Oct 13 still driving
31 festering insect bites, sunrise over ok city and tea with tim mcveigh,sunset over east st louis and was it not ironic that my piece of shite nokia tried to find a pot of piss to drown itself in causing me to panic as a tour manager sans telephone is like a new Orleans peeler without a brutality jacket. It just don/t add up. The wax does a big drive today as the antihistamines have hit me for 6, and the chestnut sized welts erupted all over my shoulder makes one think of the young bukowskis boils lanced in his knit wool sweater in ham on rye. Sick.
Miraculously, we are 300 miles to upper darby.
Oct 14 upper darby pa tower theatre w/franz and sons and daughters
The wax and I make it for lunch as planned and I am cream crackered to say the least. Heavy rains and I am excited to see dorian driving the sons and daughters. A wee gee love in ensues. So the cutters are ages late in noahs ark(or b long/s ride ) through the torrential rain of biblical proportions and pretty much have to get on stage and play to the doors opening and a smattering of folks spread throughout the cavernous old theatre. The response is decent though i/d say the show was a bit lackluster.even so, we wind up with a banner merch night, the boys get scoobied, I watch a wee bit of sons and daughters and dig the l.a. ’85 style and sultry gyrations of adele on the mike, say a quick hey to jon Hampton, a full on disco load out in the pouring rain(pneumonia anyone), say hey to the scheid on the sms as he is in town with the warlocks, see more of the hottest band on tour as we speak who opened up in the states at number bloody 8(think yogi, yaz, I think david beckham is number 8, kobe the rapist). That is huge, and the crowd reacts like they are numero uno. New or old, s/all the same, they are eating it up. Pretty hard to get back in the van for what should be an easy 200 mile drive to new haven. No such luck. We somehow get lost in downtown philly, snake our way back to the turnpike, stop for the full service gas at Sunoco(and the roy rogers veggie burgers!) wind our way around nyc, and can/t I smell the clean sheets and fresh lilies in my apartment(and the rest-ed.), and begin the video games on acid approach to driving on I 95. amazing, drunk ‘tards in foreign cars are trying to pass on the right in the emergency lane, a car is flipped over in the fast lane with a lone statey munching on Duncan donuts at the scene, tail gaters, suburban drug addicts recently returned from their latest five borough score. Every form of bereft driving detritus imaginable. Not what ya need after 40 hours of smooth sailing through the heartland. An Effingham nightmare. And of course the piece de resistance is yet to come, at exit 35 the traffic has completely halted as we crawl past one of the worst accidents not involving a semi that I have ever seen, replete with a body lying in the middle of the highway, the cutters first stiff. God bless America! Finally we make it to our destination, shattered and 6 hours later. I can summon no sleep til it is daylight.
What next?
Sat oct 15 boston the Orpheum
Well we only pass 5 accidents on the way to bean town, each and everyone as frightening as the next. But hey we make it, and the gig is sold out kid. I know it/ll be good, boston loves to rock. Sons and daughters are really late again, so no soup for us, I get tickled pink for backing the beast into a spot tighter than a nun, the cutters play a ripping show and the crowd lets em know it, sons and daughters are rock solid in the middle, and the weegees are simply on fire. They literally bring the Orpheum down. It is impossible to leave and we are headed back to new haven for the night. I finally drag everyone away after saying a quick hey to mark cates and we begin our journey south, but not before a spot of drama right on Tremont street. A crowd of kids in bubble jackets are having a big verbal right on the edge of the common til one of the dipshits does what dipshits do the world over whence they are done talking shite, they open fire. Right in the heart of boston at 1030pm Saturday night. Fuckin eejits, fortunately their command of a handgun is about as proficient as their command of the English language and they hit absolutely nothing to speak of. the aussies first American gun experience. Sign that lil thug up and send em to Baghdad and watch em shit their pants when someone pulls a gun on them. Absolutely disgraceful.
The drive to new haven passes without incident, with me boring the cutters with my multitudes of gun experiences around the world over the years, hitting the crack shack with ample time to kill 12 harpoons amd dig some law and order, this geezers idea of an aftershow.
Sun oct 16 off
Smooth sailing in beautiful weather into the big apple. I drop all the kids off at their respective abodes and hit for 6 chez moi, on lock down with my beautiful wife for the duration of the day.
Mon oct 17 nyc msg
Up early and at the computer, no rest for the wicked. I pick up the kids for the stealth load in sans union, and pack em off to their nme photo shoot and go out for some pressies for the franz crew.the theatre at msg is a great venue, a combination of game show studio and nasa control room. We get thrown to the wolves early, the pav dog is in the house as is the thin white duke. Our dressing room is overrun with Australians and friends thereof, nice for the boys to see some friends, me thinks. Apparently Mitchell bends the ear of herr bowie for a while, and of course everyone is terribly excited(check dave sitek/Karen o and the duke himself on www.lastnightsparty.com). I spend most of tv on the radios set trying to get paid and eat a little something. Watch most of franz/s set, and they are on fire playing everything at double speed and don/t the before it is time to drive to Syracuse as he halfway point to Toronto in the rain and fog and dead deerness of the dark new york night. Somewhere else there is an afterparty in the sky(or the tribeca grand at least) and as everyone sleeps it off, I just thank Christ that I am not in connecticutt.
Tuesday oct 18 toronto ricoh centre
So today is the last day with franz(and possibly the last date where people know how to do a show for awhile-ed.) and we get up and leadfoot it to the border. The sun ra arkestra is at the border whence we arrive so the process is a bit lengthy but we get the thumbs pretty quick thereafter and make our way to east Toronto. Check in to the crack shack and ditty bop our way to the ricoh where ms hersenhoren is doing her first arena show, which is great to see after years of climbing up the ladder in t – town. I am feeling a bit misty eyed about the end of the tour, primarily cos I did not get to sink a few scoops with glen, Darren, brett, cormac, Justin , Trevor, cerne, bernarr, the two rebeccas, andy d, et al.(not to mention the band, but bending elbows with such a consummate group of professionals is/was/will be an honor and a privilege). Onwards and upwards and the de costa family are in the house tonight, supporting their constituency, me thinks. The cutters have picked up some pressies for the ferdinands and after a brilliant set, followed by a rollicking 45 minutes from tv on the radio, the presentation is in order. A magnum of veuve and the rest, and I tell ya that there is not a dry eye in the house. This is what a package tour should be like-good clean fun. Yeah so, the ferdinands go out and show the 5700 people what it/s all about. I get stuck settling merch and steal a few moments here and there. Blistering, man.
Show over, I saw au revoir to the pm and his wife and am dying for a pint of frothy black Guinness for some quare reason. But to no avail. The guys head off to their dj gig after party, and I roll the van and gear up Jarvis to the crack shack of the night for some accounting and Catherine zeta jones feigning both Scottish and Australian, and none too well either, I may add, but the milf factor was very high, and all I could think of was the action man somewhere in Detroit on milf hunter dot com. Too right. The cutters on the other hand hit every last drop of after party imaginable from hotel to hotel, cab to cab, get their moneys worth out of our 18 hours in t town.

the west is the best?

Oct 4 vancouver Orpheum w/ ff and tvotr
Well it is a tough driver for me after the previous nights good times, but nothing a few breathmints and some ham and eggs can/t fix. We trundle northbound on I5 and it is likely yogi said, déjà vu all over again. The border is a breeze, unlike any crossing prior in how many years of doing this. Qui sait. Straight to the venue. I see death cabs tour busses parked up on Seymour and try to get dustons attention but to no avail. I go to the hotel to check us in and suss the parking after load in. the venue is beautiful, home of the Vancouver symphony. We enjoy the very delicious catering upstairs, soundcheck, and all that jazz before hitting the stage. The cutters enjoy a very warm response from the capacity crowd, with the teeny boppers up and jack palancin from the get go. A great show indeed. I miss all of tv on the radio in my quest for the perfect parking so as not to get robbed Vancouver(or Anaheim or Brooklyn) style. That done, its back to the venue to catch a bit of franz and say hey to teish reilly,, from way back in the day , who is good mates with franz/s l.d. and there she was with her fella and didn/t they look happy and well I said good bye cos it was past my bedtime and we had serious ground to cover.what little I saw of franz looked and sounded amazing. Tight as a pair of hiphuggers on a window dressed mannequin. The aussies did a bit of late night djing which brought out the scots and some of their folks.
Oct 5 sur la route
Judging by the state of the lads a good night was had by all. We spend about 2 hours going 25 miles and a quick entrance to the usa, stopping off at denny/s for various grand slams, then we hammer down I5. sound familiar? Well so it is, miles and miles burn away, even a coffee at the doug fir where we briefly pulled over to retrieve some lost luggage in pdx. Onwards downwards and further to the tune of bill hicks, can, the fall, googol bordello AND the rest we finally touched down at the phoenix hotel in san Francisco some 18 hours later.
Oct 6 san Francisco bill graham civic auditorium with ff and tvotr
A nice bahn mi from the Saigon sandwich shop and a jump in the pool, I pack the boys off with herr schoenwetter, mercury rev/s guitar tech, for an afternoon video shoot(which will turn into an ongoing video shoot and will there are certain things in the muziek business that you just do not want to hear(local opener, videographer, no buyout, no elevator, disco load out, know what i/m sayin). And I try to get some work done at the decidedly analog phoenix. My dream of 5 hours of sleep is kyboshed by the birdmen trying to escape from Alcatraz or something like that. And it is over to the cavernous venue to deal with bgp/s old school of…….(insert derogatory term here). The food is great, the cutters play a geat set, I load it out and we leg it over to popscene(see disco load out) for a midnite set to the white belt, cultivated facial hair, and specia accessory set. But it/s a good vibe early,lil nako is the dj and is playing the great hostess. The boys play well, the sound is scheisse, quell surpris! We disco load out and pass out at the phoenix to the smell of of a skunk being run over by a holden.
Oct 7 los angeles greek theatre
Early get out with the videographer and modular phil in tow. We hammer down in the heat of the central valley. We are making record time for a daylight drive on a Friday. I am getting excited to go back to hometown number 1 and have seemingly lined up the weekend accordingly.(hah! ). Check it in, over to the greek, dig the killer cater, cutters play to no one, but do so well. Hang out with the howe and ms singer and watch tv on the radio and watch most of franz set(which is fanfucking tastic and leg it out of there to get my drink on but no one will join me. Nice. all the east siders won/t go to Hollywood, so I go drink for us all. My friend jd is taking care of busniness out boardners which gets me fully loaded to which point things get a bit hazy and involve some type of uniformed authority,someone clled gentleman jack, me being locked out of my hotel room(don/t ask!), a very understanding night clerk named chamique, no sleep(til broojklyn, natch!) and a very angry old man.
Oct 8 los angeles greek theatre
I cruise around all day and get a lube job on Melrose and eat the best $3 bowl of tom yum(why is planet Thailand even still in business?) and a thai iced tea before cruising around los feliz with the hanks family. The band had gone to some after party in search of famous peeps to no avail. We slowly make it back to the greek up the back way(haha) and do our business which entails enjoying easily the best catering of a well catered tour. The boys are thrown early to the wolves again and it is the first time of the tour which I can honestly say is not too good(ya gotta have a band one to have a good one). I get to catch up with someone I worked with 20 years ago who is the roomie of franz/s stage manager, which is a very pleasant surprise. Then load out with the help of the local union, a quick hello to combat lenny and the hanks family and then actually settle down to watch all of tv on the radio AND franz Ferdinand from d sardy/s seat, as he was not even near the free meatballs. Tv and ff are fucking brillo, the b/w video on he screen and nick mccarthy/s suit hearkens back to the days of yore. They play a blinder. Everyone is looking for the afterparty and aoki has hooked it up nut I drive the hanks family back to their ride(after getting a good look at fran drescher who in turn looks good) and say our good byes before rolling out of the park, stopping for a family of coyotes which makes my day, hopefully they got themselves some of that greek theatre catering or at least some b listers’ Pomeranian. I hit the hotel after a lengthy delay due to traffic and fall asleep to l.a. confidential.
Oct 9 san diego o.a.t
I star buck it for breakfast, feeling very fluish and in need for an odwalla. I am pleased as punch that the idiots aka red sox of boston will not be playing anymore baseball, and we languidly roll down to sd. The rest of my cargo went off in search of the afterparty in the sky that went nowhere and we fight through a bit of downtown traffic before hammering down to san diego. We stop off at trestles for some ‘video’ footage. Jaysus, enough said, before rolling in to sd just in time for load in, catering, a soundcheck, some accounting, a killer cut copy show, a killer tv on the radio show, more ‘video’ footage involving franz Ferdinand and I load the van with all sorts of drunky pants and lead foot it back to lalaland to the tune of franz live on 94.9, which sounded amazing. Skeptical, cynical, curious or naysayer-GO SEE THIS BAND! They do it right.
So we make record time back to the city of angels, including a fuel stop in the city of commerce and a cargo drop off at union station where everyone goes to peaches and jd from le tigre/s party and I come back and pass out to a combination of yankee highlights, about Schmidt, and ian rankin. One more week til my own bed, baby

beer and clothing

Oct 1 seattle paramount w/ff and tvotr
Day 1 with the new Yorkers and it is big ups all round. We get to load in and the paramount is a beautiful old theatre with some of the best staff I have come across in this country. Tremendously helpful, easy load, great cater and a maza like back stage. The cutters hit the stage bright and early and knock em dead(we sell 24 cd/s!). tv on the radio deliver the goods to follow, but it is all franz and the capacity crowd lets em know it. Christ I see people out on the dance floor who are o.a.p./s cutting the rug. The mack tells me it is the best bunch of non old school scheisse he has seen in yonks and I must concur. They slay em big time. So not to be outdone, it is up to us scrubs to deliver the after party which begins promptly at the comet tavern with much of the tour party from Glasgow and Melbourne in attendance though dw and ms decline the invite. s/alright, hoey/ll drink for Australia, and with tvotr splitting before starting, the wax and I will do so for nyc. Seattle, needless to say, is well represented. And so it’s the comet, then the shell station for tinnies, newmeyer and I earn our shekels tonight. Then its cabs and a dance party and lajeunesse and his chica take over the hosting duties with pretty girls make graves and al;l forms of hipster detritus. I hit the pavement at 3am with enough second hand smoke to keep Virginia slims in bidness.
Oct 2 seattle paramount same bill
A wee it thinner tonight but raucous all the same. I spend the day at Safeco watching the mariners get their hat handed to em. Attn m/s mgmt- mike Hargrove is a loser, you will continue to lose with him. But hey Safeco is brilliant, the mack and I nurse the heads and arctic temperatures with some mochas and banter and te poor sod had his car nicked for the third time last night. I begin to get paranoid about the condition of my ride. Anyhoo, we hike it up hill after the game back to the paramount and some catering, then the show and load out and back to the hotel and bed, but everyonbe is calling me to tell me about the chacha after party which I would have liked to hit but I was ensconced in acctg and hbo Sundays(is larry david really funny? I can/t tell, and I can/t understand why someone does not put the head in-ed). Like I said, everyone is at the chacha, including Carlucci of murder city devils fame,looking good off the road. I beg off, too much secretarial scheisse and some driving coming up. Besides, tomorrow is pdx.
Oct 3 pdx roseland theatre w/ff. tvotr
Well what was sposed to be an easy day turns to scheisse reall early. It is my 1 year anniversary of not smoking and every test is taken today to get me to celebrate by starting again.
The car does not start and takes three different attempts and 3 hours to start. The hire company is being far from helpful, but we make it to pdx where it refuses to start again and I somehow manage to get it to a ford dealership(landmark ford in Tigard Oregon, ask for dave koon!) to fix what everyone says is the catalytic converter. Well 4 hours later it is not, it is a rancid battery that nearly bursts and is fixed and I am back for load out and to the hotel. At which time it is duly noted that dungen is across the street at the doug fir, or 14 naked girls dancing to the blues explosion at union jacks with $4 pints of fat tire. Swedish indie rock loses out to a Portland tradition(every time!). properly scoobied, I am cigarette free for 1 year.

on the road pt 1

On the road with cut copy

Monday sep 19
Sst is late for the drop off of the van. A beautiful day in nyc. I run over to Clinton hill to pick up the band and swag then ditty bop over to caffeinate and pick up the wax. Fully loaded, we lead foot it 600plus miles to western ohio.
Tuesday sep 20 chicago aragon ballroom with franz Ferdinand and pretty girls make graves
Easy drive in to the windy city and a quick check in at the city suites. A busy night in Chicago. Beck, seu jorge, paul weller, black rebel, yadayadayada. It is our first day of the tour proper and the aragon is looking pretty big for a 630pm show. A lot of familiar faces abound and it is definitely exciting to be in a big room that I so abuzz with activity. The cutters take the stage with nary a soundcheck and play to an easy 2000 people by the end of their set. A great start to a good tour. We load out, watch a bit of both bands who are brilliant, then I drop the boys off at the smart bar for their late night dj set which turns out quite boozy, me thinks.
Sep 21 minneapolis target center w/ff and pgmg
Early departure to har mar/s hood. Getting out of Chicago is a major pain in the arse. 10 miles in an hour seriously fucks with my program, but hey. We hammer down to a taco john somewhere in the wisconsin wilds and before ya know it, we hit the twin cities. All is good on day 2. our hotel is a block away and we are buried in the bowels of Kevin garnettville. Cutters hit the stage at 7pm and the rather light crowd get into hit real quick. Outside rain and wind of biblical proportions are hitting downtown Minneapolis. I am getting frantic text messages from b long about ‘tornadoes hitting downtown Minneapolis right now’, but all is good. The boys get the crowd well warmed up and I load and leave to swim some laps(it has come to this, I swim in a pool after the show instead of a bourbon bottle. Crikey!)
Sep 22 lawrence liberty hall w/ff and pgmg
500 odd miles and another 7am departure. Smooth sailing til we hit des moines and the first cracker barrel of the tour. The boys are scared, and you knw that it is aptly named as every cracker in there is the size of a bleeding big barrel of beer. More hammerin down, with the wax behind the wheel and we are in Lawrence. Into the hotel for more laps before the gig. We have a rough one at first. You can hear a pin drop when the guys hit the stage, it is ff/s stage manager and I making the applauding noises until the crowd gets warmed up with a good boogie. I miss the pretty girls as I am loading the van at that stage and dumping it off back at the shack. A quick dip and it is back to liberty hall for some drinks and franz Ferdinand. The Scotsmen are fantastic, tight as nick/s pants, me thinks. They completely rock the house. I take leave immediately thereafter to a bar nearby called the taproom, securing my stool to the tune of x/s los angeles and $3.50 makers and sodas. Night swimming, right. Next thing ya know, the entire tour entourage is in the bar. And drink is taken all over. I am huddled at the bar with glen, franz/s tm, whilst various degrees of scots, aussies, seattlites, and new Yorkers tear it up. I hear rumors of an afterparty til franz/s bus call replete with fireworks, warm beer, and cold sake. The mere thought of an after party makes me think of crif dawg and the licking sideburns. I beg off and pour myself to sleep.
Sep 23 st louis pageant theatre
The first day with a drive under 450 miles and of course all of us are cream crackered. I remember driving from Chicago to st louis one where it took 6 drivers. Well that option is not there and I hammer down through the deluge which fortunately washes the road kill from the windshield. We get to our murder motel , eat an angus burger and high tail it over to the venue. And what a venue. Absolutely fantastic. The owner has taken pictures with every headliner at least. A lot of familiar faces on the wall. The catering is brilliant, the crowd is sold out early on and really into the cutters. Pretty girls then rock the house whilst the aussies do a little sign and greet at the Euclid records table. We stay for half of franz which is awesome. On the way back to the hotel we get lost and find ourselves at the zoo. How ironic. We have had the guardian from the uk with us all day and a photog which has been great. We all retire early. St louis, who knew.
Sep 24 chicago subterranean
Well the drive to chitown is uneventful. We stop at a surly diner which offers ‘crappie dinners’, which of course is pronounced a bit differently but reads the same. The vegetarians are not having an easy time of it, but the blt is damn good. We hammer down back to the windy city, into the belly of the beast at the corner of Milwaukee and north. Subterranean is definitely not. It is up 3 flights of stairs. Brutal. s/ceck and all that lark and my kids head off to dinner with tom and carter from our booking agency. I stick close to the club with bruce and erik from the bottle for a couple of bourbons before the show and some damn fine middle eastern food from the market up the road. I am merchie bunker for the day, thus I am stuck with the local openers. Two of my least favorite words in the English language when strung together,’local opener’. Christ, it is almost as fearful as ‘military intelligence’ or ‘pro life’, and today proves to be no exception. Thus, I sonambulate through the first two, until the aussies hit the stage and completely bring down the house with the 270 people. Wicked. I let em hang about for a bit, then we hit the road towards lawrece ,ks on our flying spaceship tour. Somewhere on the ron dog raygun memorial highway(portions toll, of course, the old nazi is dead and we are still paying!)
Sep 25 off
Off being the operative term as we have a 500 mile drive ahead of us. Thus we hammer down and stop for a bit of nosh in davenport iowa. Several hours later we are back at the summerhill watching larry david, eating papa kenos and taing it real handy.
Sep 26 lawrence gas light
More swimming in a pool, a jiffy lube(this is a AUTOMOBILE SERVICE CENTER, for our foreign readers). The boys go off to do a kjhk interview, I hit the Vermont street bbq for some smoked chicken. We are off to play the gas light, jeff fortiers club on the Kansas river. A sweet little spot sequestered away in north Lawrence. The crowd is a bit light but appreciative all the same. Wind up meeting a bunch of guys that used to be in shiner and season to risk. Old school. We take it real handy as we have 571 miles to Denver at 7am.
Sep 27 denver fillmore w/ff and pgmg
A very long effin drive that is punctuated by a dust storm in downtown Denver. We hit the venue and some good catering(I ate the salmon) and it is to the wolves at 730pm. But the crowd is into it and we actually sell 17 cds. I completely miss the whole show as it is load and leave and a 7am to slc. The guys dj the afterparty and everyone shows up a la Lawrence and the lads are a real mess in the morning.
Sep 28 magna ut great saltair w/ff and pgmg
Well after 10 hours of I80 we get there. There are no more go karts, just the smell of the lake. The last time I was here with unsane and slayer people got stabbed. Lets hope for no encore. Well it is the same slc punks as the last time I was in the city with har mar. so I know that the catering is going to be a bit challenged. Fortunately I loaded up on my carbs at the buffet removing the mystery meal from the days equation.
The cutters hit the stage early on and bring the house down. There is a lot of love in the room, to be sure. The pretty girls continue the trend, getting a very warm reception. By the time franz hit the stage, the crowd is very excited, a whole lot of shakin goin on, and they completely rock the house. We hit the highway to get a head start on our 855 mile drive to seattle, stopping at the Outsider Inn, in the sleepy hamlet of snowville, utah. A murder motel incarnate.
Sep 29 off
We wake up to a fine breakfast at mollies diner before hit the road. A lot of ground to cover today, but a good tune up for next weeks drive to philly. Rockin all sorts of tunes and managing an espresso stop in baker city, or, where I pay $3.25 a gallon for diesel.
Explain this to me . is it war tax? Hurricane tax? We are occupying an oil producing country and the oil companies have posted record profits in the last two quarters and the price of gas is still going. And don/t try to justify it by saying that it is cheaper than the Europeans are paying. That/s horseshit, they get free health care and education. For our troubles we get war and lies and a slew of immoral gobshite crackers breaking the laws that they are supposed to be enforcing. Instead of casting votes, perhaps we should be casting stones.
Where was I , yes indeed west bound on the 84 to the 82 to the 90 and a very beautiful drive through wine country with a stupendous sunset followed by an over due monsoon to clean the roadkill from the windshield. 12 hours later we are at our hotel in sea, wa where they have completely effed up the reservation. I immediately jump into a cab and hit the bars with the mack and some of franz/s crew, getting well scoobied and drinking single malt unitl the wee hours. Nice.
Sep 30 seattle
A good head on me, we hit the 5 points for monstrous portions of comfort food to absorb some of that liquor. I catch up on some accounting and advancing the Canadian dates coming up. Then we are off to west seattle to do an instore at easy street records. I overindulge as usual , taking advantage of the healthy discount to get all sorts of bill hicks,Dylan,Mayfield,wainwright,springsteen,Costello,Jorge,arcade fire,kaito,ike reilly,antony and the jonsons, and that is just the used scheisse. What a shop. And what a crowd, 50 people show up and dance away. A resounding success. We load and leave, I drop the guys at the 5 points and the wax and I hit the late night talk show circuit, asleep by 1230.