Day 14 : and in the end, the farts you make are equal to the food you ate

Fort Wayne came calling for the end of this tour. It was a blast. Loads of friends and plenty of Halloween hijinx. I've got a cold/tb or something, and we're in the van headed home, so I'm gonna jump right into the photos.


Bryant felt right at home among the table cloths at the pint and slice. Let me tell you something...don't try to order a pint of pizza there. They get really upset and don't know what to do. #falseadvertising


The Dash-in was a small space for Milagres to set up all their gear. Here's a picture of Chris really fretting over it. It didn't matter though, they sounded good. Actually, I think that room has a way of making drums sound great, even though it seems like it wouldn't!


Milagres went as Bert, Ernie, Bert, Bert, and Ernie for Halloween. 


Husband&wife went as three flashers and a gay cop.


One of the best surprises from the Fort  Fun show was that Nate (mtvri's tech wizard) piped in Bro. Stephen live via satellite from Savannah, GA for a few songs. Welcome to the year 2000!


Castles held it down and represented Fort Wayne. They were great. Loud, aggressive, sloppy, funny. Good combos!


And so our story ends, for now, with our heroes, a little worse for the wear, climbing back aboard the Exo-1 and headed home to rest their weary heads knowing that, for the time being, the Midwest is a safer place. We'll see you in November...brace yourself for a lickin', Texas!

Day 13 : Oreo bubbies

It's a little bit wierd to update the tour blog about a day mostly spent in Bloomington. For the most part we slept in again and went to work for a few hours before we hit the road for Cincinnati/Newport. We were hoping to leave early enough to make it to Shake It records before the show, but unfortunately time didn't allow. We got to the southgate house (which is an awesome spot, and birthplace of the inventor of the Thompson sub-machine gun) a little bit before the show, so we loaded in (which was a real feat) and drove to Skyline for some chilidogs. The show was fairly subdued and moved pretty quick, but we got to hang for a little bit with some old friends before we, once again, pushed it through the night to get back in time for work. We really need to start making money at this job...


Unlike most decent, normal, human beings, Zac and Tim REALLY love Skyline Chili. It's ok, I guess, but the best part about it to me is the passion that these two display while they're eating it. Unbridled passion.


This is Justin White (formerly of The Atriums). It was nice to see a few of the Atriums guys again and catch up a bit. Justin survived the technical difficulties to get through his set, and he had some great tunes. His demo is great too, look him up.

And while I don't have a photo, it was nice to see and play with Alone At 3am again. Solid band with some nice hooks. Check them out if you can. 

Day 12 : this blogpost is brought to you by Jansport

We got back home really late/early depending on which side of the day you're used to seeing. It was all ok though, because our show the next night was actually in Bloomington. We all slept late, Bryant had band practice all day with ATG and Substitute Teacher, and Zac and I went to work for a few hours. After that we reconvened at the Bishop with the Milagres, the Broderick, and the Calumet Reel dudes. It was the show of the century! Free show at the Bish, sponsored by Jansport (our favorite backpack company), with all these sweet bands...AND free pizza...couldn't go wrong. It was a great pick-me-up to play in Bloomington again and to be surrounded by 200+ of our closest friends. What a great night!

 
This picture of tim I got during the Milagres soundcheck was the only picture I snapped before my camera died that night. But, as you can see from the photo, this was just about to be the funnest night of our lives!

Oh! And one more thing...
 
The only way I was able to stay awake for (over half of) the drive home from Columbus was by chugging bottle after bottle of delicious, ice cold, old red cap #5 Blenheim Ginger ale. The immediate sweetness gave me the boost I needed, and the prolonged burn in my throat kept me from crashing too soon or falling asleep. Blenheim Ginger ale, the best thing to drink. Period.    

Day 11 : crab rangoons in a burger king bathroom

The house show in Marion was a really nice refresher, especially since we got to hang around the next day and see a few friends. We woke up a little late after all that partying with frank and luke (me with a slight fever) and headed for lunch at Penguin Point with Burke. After that we hung out at Ashley's new knitting/yarn shop for a few hours using the Internet and sitting real big on her leather couches. Ty actually showed up to hang for a little bit and played some new Metavari jams for us. After all that chinchillin' we hopped in the car and made our way to columboose.


I really wanted to go to Penguin Point (the people pleasing place) to get myself pleased by a Big Wally for lunch. But then I saw this sign and it threw a wrench into my plans. I hemmed and hawed for a few minutes before I decided to stick to my original plan, but believe me, it was not an easy choice to make. If you haven't had a breaded cheeseburger, you haven't lived. You also probably haven't gone to Warsaw high school.

 
Here we are hanging out at Gallerie. That's Ashley's great little knitting shop. It's in a gynecologist's office, so it's a little unusual for four rough-necks like us to be hanging around in there, but I don't think anyone felt threatened.

 
In Columbus, we played at Carabar, which is a great little place we'd been to before so we kind of knew what to expect. All that to say, we were excited about this show. This is Bicentennial Bear, who as it turns out, were friends of friends of ours. They were great, and super nice folks. We're definitely glad to know them now!


Another great thing about this show was that this is where we were meeting up with our old pals Milagres! It's been s few years since we'd seen these guys, and we were really looking forward to the reunion. As always, they sounded great and were fun to hang with. This was the first of three dates we're doing with these bros on this tour.


And last but not least were our hosts and old buddies the Kyle Sowashes. I couldn't tell you how many shows we've played with these guys, both in Columbus and Bloomington, and they're always a good time. We have a real soft spot for kyle's down to earth personality and approach to independent music making. He's a one-of-a-kind, and just a super nice dood. Same goes for all the fellas in this band, it's just that they aren't named Kyle Sowash.

After the show we immediately jumped in the Exo-1 and pointed her toward Bloomington...

Day 10 : party in the USA (the song by Miley Cyrus)

After the Evansville show we were headed for Marion, so we decided to drive through the night and sleep in our own beds in Bloomington. We slept most of the day away at home before we met up again for the 2 hour trek. We were excited to reach Marion because we have so many friends there and this was going to be an intimate living room show situation, which was a fun change of pace.


Stephen's old house was just about the perfect spot for a show like this. It was roomy and comfortable. There were people in the living room for the show, people smoking on the porch, people sipping wine in the kitchen and everyone was just there to have a laid-back, good time. Couldn't have been better.


Now that Burke is no longer drumming for us he's been making a real push and trying to inch his way in as our keyboard player. Problem is, he pretty much only knows Chromeo songs, and that won't do.


This is Ellie, and she's probably just about the cutest little girl there ever was. Her dad is Bob Paul, a good old friend of ours. She kept trying to incite a "circle pit" during the show, but I'm afraid this just wasn't the venue for it. She and Bryant did have a nice dance together during the husband&wife set, though.

   
I don't think we've ever had a better friend or bigger supporter than Frank Schweikhardt. We had the rare treat of seeing him perform with Tim last night and it was great. His music is really unique and can get me to think about and feel things that no one else's can. It's also nice and encouraging to see frank doing something other than filling his car with farts once in a while.

  
Here is a rare husband&wife performance photo for the tour blog. Since Bryant didn't get to play this show, we put him on camera duty. He's got to earn his per diem somehow. Tim and I kissed right after this photo was taken.


There ain't no doubt, I love this land!


After the show we headed back to Burke and ashley's house to watch frank eat. It was totally gross.

Day 9 : yesterday (the song by the beatles)

We didn't really have a place to stay after the Champaign show, so we decided to drive through the night to Evansville and crash at Tim's folks' place. Driving through the night can be a real bummer, but it's always nice to get there knowing you can just sleep all day in a comfortable place. And that's just what we did. We slept in til we felt right, then we got up and had some pancakes before we watched the Steelers game with Tim's dad. After that we took a drive down to the mighty Ohio river to skip stones and watch the sunset.


husband&wife endorses the following excellent American products: Blenheim Ginger Ale, Grippo's BBQ flavored potato chips, and Jansport backpacks. There's nothing better for what ailes you than a Jansport backpack stuffed full of Grippo's and a couple of ice cold Blenheims in the front pouch. 


There's no better time for the Blenheim/Grippo's/Jansport hat trick than on a trip to the river. Unfortunately, as you can see by Bryno's dejected presence, he did not have any of the three on this trip...


Zac has never seen the ocean. So...we told him this was the ocean to keep his spirits up. He was shocked, and loved it. Please don't spoil the party.


In order to keep up the ruse we had to pretend to teach Zac to hunt for sand dollars. Obviously we didn't find any, but we just told him they were Snipes' favorite food and had probably all been eaten. he didn't ask any more questions.


Tim's folks prepared some dank vittles to nourish us before the show. It was all delicious and exactly what we needed. Bryant let out a huge burp in the middle of dinner and said "my compliments to the chef!" real loud, it was super embarassing, but we just changed the subject and started talking about home birth so no one noticed.


This is our best impression of the kids in the hall. That is, bryant, Zac and I. Tim's not in this picture, but he's got a fantastic cabbage head impersonation. You should really ask him to do it next time you see him. 


This is L'Shem, and they were great. It was a real pleasure seeing them and playing this show with them. White Knight from owensboro also played, and they were great, too. Check out both those bands when you get a chance.

Day 8 : ...day ate!

After our recoup in Peoria, and some delicious breakfast thanks to our hosts Kim and Jared, it was back to work on the streets and roads that God built. we headed for Champaign. The drive wasn't far, so we  had a little time to relax and check out what Champaign had to offer. Two facts to note: yesterday was homecoming for the Illini, and they had just thouroughly defeated the IU Hoosiers (our Alma mater) at the big game before we arrived. No big deal though, because we were about to unleash a pandora's box of rock n roll energy on this place the likes of which they'd never seen, courtesy of Bloomington, Indiana. The only thing standing in our way was that I had loaned my guitar to one of the bands the night before, who had tuned the thing up half a step. When we launched into "They should give you medicine" at the start of the show you'd have thought the angry earth had just busted it's gut and a million angry demons were coming to drag our souls to hell...once we realized what was happening we put the brakes on and got our act together. All systems go after that, and it was a fine night. Oh! And one thing I forgot to mention ...the show was actually opened by a stand-up comic named Andrew. It was a nice change of pace.

  
Thank God for old friends, and new ones. We took our time waking up at Kim's house, listening to "life but no more" and the self-titled velvet underground record. Then we ate this homemade breakfast and watched movies until it was time to go. Thanks again to Kim and Jared, big time.

  
Chipotle and Qdoba killed La Bamba in Bloomington, so we always try to grab a burrito whenever we come to Champaign. Pretty much all we do on tour is drive, rock n roll, and eat. 


...I guess that's not entirely true. We also have LOADS of fun! Here's Bryant and Zac chasing each other in circles next to the Exo-1. Tim is officiating.


New Ruins are a great band from Champaign on Parasol Records. We've had the pleasure of getting to know these guys over the last couple years and doing shows with them in Champaign and Bloomington. They're new stuff is great! Check them out when you get a chance.  

Day 7 : traffic jam

Well...we got caught in a major traffic jam on our way from Chicago to Peoria. We were about 2 hours late for load in, which ended up being no big deal, but is bad form regardless. It's also stressful to be that far behind schedule.  Anyhow, we rolled up to the Peoria theater to find a few old friends there to meet us. It was a good looking scene, art house movie theater, and a few kids hanging around. Unfortunately though, the PA had blown and the show ended up being kind of a disaster for us. We had a hard time keeping our energy up with the lopsided room and the aweful sound, so we tried to rework the set, but it just wasn't working. We cut our losses and tried to make nice with the crowd by not belaboring the show. After that we went back home with our hosts and watched "That Thing You Do" til we fell asleep. Onward and upward...

 
We had a magical breakfast in the afternoon before we left Chicago. We probably shoulda just had a mcdouble on the way, though because that traffic jam was the pits. Live and learn...

 
We keep pressing on in spite of the countless bad omens we've recieved on this tour. This ulcer in the sky presented itself to us while we were at a gas station in Nowheresville, IL. 


Jeff and Jared are both in bands we've played with in the past, and it was great to see them. Here's tim catching up with the both of then outside the theater.


The theater was definitely a cool spot for a show, it was just unfortunate to experience the equipment malfunction. I think another try there could be a little more fruitful for everyone in the future. Here's hoping!!

Day 6 : Milwaukee, I hardly know he

Milwaukee...by some accounts a buster. Though we definitely met some nice folks. We had kind of a hard time booking Milwaukee (our first time there) and we don't really know anybody there yet, so we were shooting in the dark a little bit. Things got thrown together at the last minute, but sincere and huge thanks to Wendy and the folks at the Powerplant, 1956, and Kings Horses for hosting us and being kind to us on our first trip.


Bryant and I had to hit a bank and an AT&T store before we could get going for the day. Things were relaxed, so we did some window shopping along the way. Here's Bryant checking out some expensive artworks.

 
We also made a quick stop for some curry and crab Rangoon. We both agreed that these were probably the best rangoons we'd ever had. We also agreed that they made us long for some of that Rangoon pizza we had in Des Moines with Metavari. 

A quick aside here...there's a chunk of our day missing because for whatver reason I didn't get any photos at Logan Hardware. Probably because we were caught up in the excitement of the place! What a fantastic little record/video/stereo/game/novelty shop! Our buddy Jim Zespy showed us around and we spent about an hour in there with him checking out his new arcade, buying records, and talking shop. Great dude, great shop. Check it out if you can. Logan Hardware on Fullerton.

 
One unexpected consequence of this fall tour is that I have really grown to HATE fake cobweb Halloween decorations. They look stupid and they stick to everything, especially my head. Here's Zac enjoying some, though.


Most of the money we got from the door tonight went to Bryant's Galaga addiction. If it's not that, it's Tim's horse race gambling, or Zac trying to get his Nerds fix. We really can't win for losing.


Bryant felt the colors of his beer at Honeypie needed to be documented. Good dinner! After this we got in the van and munched on a few handfuls of fish jerky. I'll try to have a picture of that tomorrow. It's just cat scraps.

Day 5 : drive drive drive and the princess bride

There isn't too much to say about yesterday because we literally spent most of it in the car. We had to pull some tricky maneuvers in order to make the switch from Burke to Zac, and we also had to swing by the Strutt one more time because we forgot some important gear there two nights ago. In all, we spent about 7 hours of solid driving time in the van. Not fun.


Burke's drums, like Burke, are tight and cute. Zac's drums are HUGE. We're talking floor Tom in a kick drum bag huge. Tagging Zac in for Burke was a real brain buster. We pulled everything out of the van and into a parking lot in Ft Fun before Tim finally figured out a system that worked. Everything fits now, though, so we're on our way.


Van-cram detail.


One of the simple pleasures for me on the road is trying out food from all variety of interesting and unusual places. Here's a picture of Zac trying a veggie burger at the Muskie Tusk Diner in Chicago. 


Thankfully, Corey made it to the show. Corey has been in a lot of the towns we've played in over the years and it's always a real nice time to see and hang out with him. He is presently in the midst of a sleep study which requires him to wear two spy cams at all times and watch 12 hours of movies in a row. It's a living...


Jen is another dear old friend and welcome presence on tour. She graciously offered us some comfortable space to lay our heads and a VCR to watch the Princess Bride with (my first time). That movie is good!

Day 4: hands are busy working overtime

After our recharge in Kalamazoo we headed for Ypsilanti to meet up with some more dear old friends. Namely, Quillen and Joel from Lone Wolf and Cub and Julien from Javelins. As usual, we had a great time seeing them, telling jokes, eating food and listening to records. 


The Crow's Nest is your best bet for unique delicious breakfast in Kzoo. We've sorta made a tradition of it.


We finally made it to Jackass 3D! It was pretty funny, but also a little depressing. Why go late? The movies are cheaper during the day.


The show in Ypsi was at this strange/great little puppet theater downtown full of old church pews. Backstage was also full of mysterious little living marionette creatures. We were threatened at first, but Bryant wasted no time befriending their leader and getting on his good side.


I had a knack for making these little creeps laugh, so I was dubbed hilarious human comedy ambassador to the puppets. Believe it or not, they were mostly into bathroom humor so my job was easy. 


We played with the super nice and talented Ghost Lady. Check them out, especially if you're into Tammar, YLT, or Low.


The night of Burke's last stand also happened to be the night that Tim heard "Happiness is a warm gun" for the first time. I'm glad we all got to be a part of it.