JP's entry
04/25/04
I-85 outside Spartanburg, SC
Well, it's over. The tour I mean, not the band. Yet.
Just kidding. We're headed back to Birmingham and to
our own beds, which will be nice. However, we all wish
we could keep going for another three weeks, we've had
so much fun.
Has anyone seen our bass player?
After leaving our booking agent's place in Pennsylvania
on Thursday, we headed back down below the Mason-Dixon
to the second capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA.
I gotta tell ya, we love New York and Boston and the other
places we played up north, but it was GREAT to be back
in the south. Greg and I had not had sweet tea in three
weeks and were starting to go into convulsions.
The club in Richmond is called Mojo's and the stage is
TINY. I've seen drum risers bigger than that stage. But
if we can tour in a 4 door Tacoma, we can play on a drum
riser. No problem.
The opening band were locals called The Gaskets; their
lineup consists of a singer and a guy playing a sequencer.
They were HILARIOUS. Teddy the singer put on a great show,
writhing around on the floor, running through the club,
getting up on tables, dancing, etc etc. Pulled out all
the stops. The were really great. Check 'em out if you
get a chance.
Our set went well. I'm trying to remember if anything
noteworthy happened...oh well, guess not.
God, we're tough.
The next night we played in Raleigh, NC at a place called
King's Barcade. Also on the bill were a couple of really
good locals, The Chrome Plated Apostles and The Bleeding
Hearts. I have a lot of friends and some family in North
Carolina, so I always feel right at home in Raleigh. Our
good friends Stymie, Heather, Anna, and Bryan came down
to the show and were persuaded to model t-shirts for us.
It was great hanging out with them before the show. Our
set went really well and there was a really good turnout.
I kept stepping on my cord and accidentally unplugging
it, and Nikolaus broke a string, but other than that it
was a killer show. Raleigh is such a great rock n roll
town.
Stymie and Heather finally find
our bass player.
At some point in the night someone opened a bathroom door
and knocked me right in the forehead. I've got a big ol'
knot to show for it. I would have thought it was hilarious
had it happened to, say, Thomas or Greg or Nikolaus.
Last night was the tour closer in Winston-Salem, NC. We
played an unusual gig; it was part of the River Run Film
Festival and took place outside in the courtyard area
of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company building downtown (which
is one of the last office buildings in America where smoking
is permitted throughout). At soundcheck you could hear
the snare drum reverberating off the buildings like we
were playing in the Grand Canyon or something. However,
the guys from The Garage who were running sound did a
great job and I could hear better than in most clubs.
Thanks guys!
I was glad to see my uncle Mark and his daughter Mary
at the show; they live in Winston-Salem and it was their
first time seeing us play. Also, Bryan from Raleigh drove
down too, which is very flattering. Thanks you guys! Sorry
we didn't get any pictures; as you can tell, we've gotten
lazy about that here towards the end of the tour. Sorry
all these pictures stink. We'll do better next time, promise.
The set in Winston-Salem was a long one, and it was very
unusual playing outside. The weather was beautiful but
very windy and at one point Tommy's cymbal stands started
to blow over. Nikolaus couldn't get in tune (way to go,
Niki). Then I broke a string on the next to last song.
Only time on the whole tour that I broke a string.
After the set we went to a bar that was showing a movie
on the side of a building, outside in the parking lot.
We met some of the people who'd been at the show, and
told a lot of really crass jokes, congratulated ourselves
on being so dang great, and wandered back to the hotel.
We're now a couple hundred miles from Atlanta and almost
home.
Thanks to everybody who came out to one of the shows,
thanks to Laurel for doing such a great job on the tour
and working so hard, thanks to Greg for letting us stink
up his truck (and for letting us put 6,700 miles on it).
For those of you who didn't show up, I feel sorry for
you. Just kidding. Please come out next time. And to that
girl who hit me in the head with a bathroom door in Raleigh,
don't let the sun set on you in Alabama.
Til next time,
JP
SET LIST, MOJO'S, RICHMOND, VA, 04/22/04
Fool on a Wire
Time Time Time
Baby Goodbye
We Will Find a Way
One Woman Man
Helpless
Bringing You Back Alive
Still the Same
Song in D
Belle of the Ball
Rocks Off
Phonograph
Light Years Away
SET LIST, KING'S BARCADE, RALEIGH, NC, 04/23/04
Fool on a Wire
Time Time Time
Baby Goodbye
We Will Find a Way
One Woman Man
Bringing You Back Alive
Song in D
Belle of the Ball
Phonograph
Light Years Away
SET LIST, RJ REYNOLDS BUILDING, WINSTON-SALEM, NC, 04/24/04
Fool on a Wire
Time Time Time
Baby Goodbye
We Will Find a Way
One Woman Man
Song in D
Bringing You Back Alive
Gone For Good
Rocks Off
Phonograph
Light Years Away
Sway
Let It Rock