I Want To Go Baaaaack!

Wow. I think LA was the culmination of coolness on the west coast. I reinforced new friendships with so many people, re-met others in a strange bought of coincidence (or is it?), and just generally had a kick ass time. Not to mention it was the best night for the guys so far. Now that is a market to return to!

I was in the lobby again, but did I mind this time? No. I had too much going on to even think about it. Talk about busy and cramped behind that tiny booth, but hey we had fun with it. There were plenty of fans there that had been at either one of the past two shows, or both. It was nice to see them again, and again, and in some cases again.

I hope that this night wasn’t the pinnacle of the tour. To talk about talking, I need to talk more. That’s why I’m here right?

MUSIC BOX (HENRY FONDA THEATRE)
November 2, 2007
Los Angeles, CA

I guess LA is just one of those places where something is always happening, and the people that are there to experience it are there for exactly that. The experience? I really don’t know where I was going with that…

From the front of the theatre I could see the Capitol Records building, a pretty cool piece of architecture, historical monument and a landmark for the entire industry. Not to mention The Redwalls old stomping ground. Fitting after seeing Dig!

I went and got Chinese food with the Rooney merch girls, instead of Rosco’s Chicken and Waffles, which I’m still curious whether I should be regretting or not? I feel like everybody else went and ate fried chicken. I’ll have to save it for next time.

I’m selling a lot more shirts than I thought I’d be. Well a lot more of everything in general. I wish my band could sell merch like this. It can literally support the entire tour. One thing that I’m seeing is that the business is less of an exact science that I had originally assumed. Much of it comes as it goes, or happens as it’s happening. There’s always a skeleton there, but the sheer array of details we’re dealing with can alone show you how much can alter between a booked date and the actual performance. Percentages, budgets and more can all change on the contracts. Getting that stuff down shouldn’t be a problem; I’m a bit of a perfectionist in strange ways. But most importantly, I’m in the business of meeting people. Can I deal with that?

According to Radiohead, meeting people is easy…


Capitol Records.


Outside the box.


#1.


#2.


A couple Redwalls fans wanted a picture with ME!


Me and the Rooney girls.

A Whale's...

You know the rest. San Diego is way up there in my favorite places to go. I have friends there, so I always feel welcome, the weather is gorgeous, surfing, beaches, what more can you ask for?

Last night was the first 21+ show of the tour so far, and the turnout was surprisingly good! I didn’t expect to see so many there because most of the people this tour is reaching out to are in the younger demographic. You got me again, San Diego.

BELLY UP
November 1, 2007
San Diego, CA

This venue was small, and looked more like a bar with a stage than a true to the music venue. But it ended up turning into a great show. My table was placed in a very convenient position, better than usual, so not only did I get to watch the show, but there were constantly people walking by eying up the merchandise. Is that really how you spell eying? Weird.

There was also a giant shark hovering above the bar. Now is it coincidence that I'm watching Jaws on TV right now?

The end of the night came quickly, and we had a bit of a drive back up North, so we were off!


Duuuuuun-dun, duuuuuun-dun, duuun-dun duun-dun dun-dun dun-dun!

>
I like this picture.

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Playing the 'struments.

Halloweenie!

I never thought I’d be in San Francisco for Halloween. Before hitting the venue we made a pit stop at a costume store to try and work out some quick suits for the evening. I think for the limited amount of time and resources, they did a pretty good job! Logan was a girl, Justin the pope, Rob some sort of wolf dog thing and Andrew a bow tied Viking. We got there fairly early and loaded the stuff up this rickety elevator to the second floor of The Fillmore.

THE FILLMORE
October 31, 2007
San Francisco, CA

Tonight was the second occasion when the venue had designated someone for my job. There was a built in merch guy, which left me with what?! Well I occupied my time with taking pictures, and hopefully you enjoy them. After sound check, the boys had an interview with an Internet TV station for one of the first episodes. It seemed to go over pretty well; maybe we’ll get to see that in the near future.

A quick rundown of the costumes of the evening:

The Redwalls – Various characters.
Rooney – The Beach Boys, complete with a cover of “California Girls”.
The Polyphonic Spree – For the first time ever wore street clothes to the stage.
Rono – ???
Me – I bought a knight helmet, but decided it was tacky and chose not to wear it.
Audience – Ranged from furries (if you know what those are) in the middle to David Bowie on the outskirts. I think I saw a Wonder Woman in there too. What is with all these wonderful women lately?

Overall the show was a hit! It was one of the largest ones to date, and everyone was there for a good time. The fact it was Halloween definitely riled everyone up. I’ll keep this short and let the pictures do the talking!


Bay Bridge picturesque.


SF in all it's beauty.


The fog just... floated.


One of the many walls saturated with old tour posters. I want them all.


Sound check.


Gesundheit. I mean bless you.


Tip o' the cup.


Andrew disappeared before the show started, so while we were looking for him we found this norseman frozen in a block of ice. Luckily he knew how to play the guitar.


Logan.


Go Pope!


It was a full moon that night... surprised to see what a werewolf ACTUALLY looks like?


Andrew holding conversation with Bowie.


Freshening up.


What is he supposed to be?


Ahhhhh... brothers.


Aerial.


Rob perched above the crowd recovering from that stint of werewolfiness.

Burgers and Boppers

In ‘N Out Burger is so good! I’m slowly narrowing down to the perfect meal, but I haven’t even begun to test the secret menu yet…

Last night was Anaheim, our first California date spent in perfectly cool weather, except we were inside. There was a delicious catered meal, something we haven’t had in a while, and sat out back with maybe a fifth of the Polyphonic Spree enjoying it. Yes it included a brownie. Ricky the harpist brought over this Tetris box with a bunch of strange pieces that somehow fit together into a cube. Apparently there are 9,000 something solutions, and everyone out of all the bands has yet to find one. It was decided that if you spend more than an hour on it you’ve earned yourself a PhD in Stupid.

THE GROVE
October 30, 2007
Anaheim, CA

There were lots of kids there for The Redwalls! Plenty of them came up to me and told me they were here solely for them, and several had even driven a few hours to get there. Two in particular, Kari and Kendra, hung out and talked to me while they waited for the show to begin. I was stuck in the lobby again, so I would have been lonely otherwise. The only other person there was Jackie the stand in merch girl, she was cool too, but the Rooney fans kept her busy.

It was a typical night as far as signatures go until… one little girl asked them to sign her leather jacket! They said it was too nice a nice jacket, but she insisted, and the guys obliged. Now she’ll have a pretty awesome keepsake, and it’s even more rad cause it’s on leather.

After the show the place cleared out quickly, and we packed up and headed home. I think we’re all excited for Halloween in San Francisco!


Burgers! And well done fries.


Loading in.


The outside...


The inside.


"We can't sign that for you little girl!"


Rob finally gives in...


The final product.


A job well done!