For those of you steaming over the last few posts that I’ve neglected to put up yet, I will appease you with an update!
I landed in Chicago at 6:02 last night.
That’s right folks, I’ll be joining The Redwalls on their ten day headlining tour with The Whigs and Jonathan Rice! I’ll be hoping to see a handful of familiar faces and a plethora of new ones. Don’t be frightened to come say hello, I’m a friendly guy, and I’ll sell you merch too.
We woke up around 7:00 this morning to get moving, so as I battled the holy-crap-it’s-cold-18-degree-weather while loading some stuff into the trailer, I began to get excited…
We finally left and picked up a frail and bundled Justin who is just getting over sickness before reaching the practice space and grabbing the rest of the equipment and guys. First to arrive was Andrew, then Rob and Logan with Mitch. One thing I was glad to see is Logan now has the smallest suitcase. His last one had to be around 100 pounds… and bright red.
Oh and the new posters are really cool, too. Peter Mars, the artist who designed and screen printed the cover of the most recent Redwalls release, did a series of screened poster specifically for this tour, hand numbered and all, making each one one-of-a-kind. I’m going to pick one up, and I suggest you do too.
Maybe the guys will even sign it for you.
So now we’re on the road towards Pontiac, MI. It’s weird, almost like I never even left, went back to Philly for a week, crashed some classes, worked a few days, played SNES, pet a cat, closed a bank account, ate at Wawa (if you don’t know what it is… well, I just feel sorry for you), slept in my own bed with new flannel sheets applied, and wrote a new song. I said almost.
You’ll be hearing from me frequently, I promise, so keep up with it! And comment this stuff with questions and thoughts, I will do another answer post in the next week or two. If you want to see something, don’t hesitate to tell me either. You’re just as big a part of this as me, why would I write this is no one is reading it? And why not read what you want to read? That one’s hypothetical, but I look forward to hearing from you kids!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Apologies...
For not having the remainder of the blogs up sooner, they really should be. I'm honestly taking a day or two to relax here at home before I get the rest of the stuff up here.
Some updates:
The absinthe is awesome.
Jalepeno chips are awesome.
A Redwalls fan named Lisa and I hung out in Philly.
I am going on the headlining tour with the boys... tentatively. I haven't acquired a plane ticket yet, but once that happens I'm on my way.
My favorite ninja turtle is Raphael.
I just realized how unfriendly Philadelphians are upon my return. It's extremely disappointing.
Unfortunately, I won't be present at the gallery thing. Please come to the Metro so I can meet all of you anyway?
Some updates:
The absinthe is awesome.
Jalepeno chips are awesome.
A Redwalls fan named Lisa and I hung out in Philly.
I am going on the headlining tour with the boys... tentatively. I haven't acquired a plane ticket yet, but once that happens I'm on my way.
My favorite ninja turtle is Raphael.
I just realized how unfriendly Philadelphians are upon my return. It's extremely disappointing.
Unfortunately, I won't be present at the gallery thing. Please come to the Metro so I can meet all of you anyway?
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Little Black Box
You guys want a picture of my little black box? Well it’s going to be another day or two before I can put it up, but maybe I’ll make some sort of contest out of it or something. Keep your eyes open.
Green Gahd-Damn-Delicious
New York. New. York. What a wonderful way to close out the tour for everyone. Actually we have one more show before it’s completely over with, but having this towards the end was a good idea. There were almost 2000 people at this show, and that’s quite a good amount.
When we first got there we encountered an angered BMW owner who came and broke into our van to yell at me. Actually he just opened the door without knocking. The band was yelling to lock it, but seriously, who opens a door without knocking on the window? We were parked in front of the exit to this tiny parking lot. The nut was trying to enter the exit. Durrrrr man it’s an exit! Instead of buying BMW’s maybe he should look into anger management… I just told him it wasn’t a big deal and smiled. So essentially we were having some parking trouble, and the venue was having difficulty providing us with adequate space for the van and trailer. Unfortunately none of the surrounding lots would accept our outfit for less than a ridiculous amount of money and it seemed we were going to get a little screwed by that city. Luckily Rono pulled out his little bag of tour manager dust (don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal) and sprinkled some on the sitch. Oh wait, maybe he used his Jedi mind tricks… I can’t remember. We ended up with this pretty cool film license that allowed us directly outside of the place. Score!
TERMINAL 5
November 16, 2007
New York City, NY
As I said earlier, the show was large! The merch was rushed several times, and I used my merchandising expertise to help out the Rooney kids as much as possible while still regulating my universe. There were a good bunch of Redwalls fans there, you can tell because you’re always smiling! And you’re older than twelve!
So after the show The Polyphonic Spree was having an after party at the Beauty Bar and it was an open bar… cabbed it and we were there in a jiffy. Which is an actual measurement of time.
I hung out with Genevieve and her roommate and friends. She brought me some tasty Thai. Mmmmm. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the guys though; they ended up disappearing to some other bar or something. I stayed at the place and enjoyed freedom until it was time to go back to New Jersey and sleep. Ah what a good night!
Like a small worm, we burrowed our way into the big apple.
Andrew backstage. Cool picture by me.
Dressing room... mirror standing on floor?
The view from right outside the dressing room. Like a hawk!
Stage shot.
When we first got there we encountered an angered BMW owner who came and broke into our van to yell at me. Actually he just opened the door without knocking. The band was yelling to lock it, but seriously, who opens a door without knocking on the window? We were parked in front of the exit to this tiny parking lot. The nut was trying to enter the exit. Durrrrr man it’s an exit! Instead of buying BMW’s maybe he should look into anger management… I just told him it wasn’t a big deal and smiled. So essentially we were having some parking trouble, and the venue was having difficulty providing us with adequate space for the van and trailer. Unfortunately none of the surrounding lots would accept our outfit for less than a ridiculous amount of money and it seemed we were going to get a little screwed by that city. Luckily Rono pulled out his little bag of tour manager dust (don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal) and sprinkled some on the sitch. Oh wait, maybe he used his Jedi mind tricks… I can’t remember. We ended up with this pretty cool film license that allowed us directly outside of the place. Score!
TERMINAL 5
November 16, 2007
New York City, NY
As I said earlier, the show was large! The merch was rushed several times, and I used my merchandising expertise to help out the Rooney kids as much as possible while still regulating my universe. There were a good bunch of Redwalls fans there, you can tell because you’re always smiling! And you’re older than twelve!
So after the show The Polyphonic Spree was having an after party at the Beauty Bar and it was an open bar… cabbed it and we were there in a jiffy. Which is an actual measurement of time.
I hung out with Genevieve and her roommate and friends. She brought me some tasty Thai. Mmmmm. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the guys though; they ended up disappearing to some other bar or something. I stayed at the place and enjoyed freedom until it was time to go back to New Jersey and sleep. Ah what a good night!
Like a small worm, we burrowed our way into the big apple.
Andrew backstage. Cool picture by me.
Dressing room... mirror standing on floor?
The view from right outside the dressing room. Like a hawk!
Stage shot.
Friday, November 16, 2007
It Was The Pitts…
Eh, not really. I love Pittsburgh. It’s another gorgeous city that fits up there with Portland for me, but why do they both have to be so cold?! It actually snowed while we were there. We had to get there pretty early to claim our reserved parking space, and when we finally arrived a white car was pulling up into our spot. Rono leaned his head out the window and said, “Hey brother, you can’t park there.” If you ever meet Rono, he will call you brother at least once. The guy was kind of wild eyed and looked like he was thinking a lot, but he yelled back, “No! I’m the guy that pays you! I park here!” to which we were all like whoa! We weren’t expecting that response to say the least. Later we got a good laugh with the guy out of it though. Ah, sweet misunderstandings!
I also met a girl named Lauren who wanted to go to Drexel for music industry, she was very cool, and shadowing venue people already. I wish I had gotten started that early… Marcy and Terry you may remember her, she was in the summer program.
The street that the venue was on was called Carson, and it was full of things to do. A pizza shop that was amazing, a magic shop (where the hell do you find those now a days!), tattoo parlors everywhere, a costume shop, a culture shop with silver and handmade clothing and some cool trinket type stores with those silly t-shirts that say you have voices in your head.
REX THEATRE
November 15, 2007
Pittsburgh, PA
The show was great. There was a crowd of Redwalls fans that showed up, one with a sweater that he made with iron on letters sporting the band’s name. The whole time the guys were on they would chant between songs and scream “Redwalls!”
My favorite part of the show was when Tim from the Polyphonic Spree did an impression of Scotty, Rooney’s tour manager.
“Right Scotty? Seriously, hey. Seriously. Hey. Seriously… hey.”
When we got back to the hotel Justin asked if Rono and I had created our own language of gibberish to which I replied, “Waaaaaaah.”
Yo Ron-O!
View from the hotel.
I liked this building.
Rob and Andrew.
Close up.
Look at the smiles on their faces!
Snowy Pittsburgh.
I also met a girl named Lauren who wanted to go to Drexel for music industry, she was very cool, and shadowing venue people already. I wish I had gotten started that early… Marcy and Terry you may remember her, she was in the summer program.
The street that the venue was on was called Carson, and it was full of things to do. A pizza shop that was amazing, a magic shop (where the hell do you find those now a days!), tattoo parlors everywhere, a costume shop, a culture shop with silver and handmade clothing and some cool trinket type stores with those silly t-shirts that say you have voices in your head.
REX THEATRE
November 15, 2007
Pittsburgh, PA
The show was great. There was a crowd of Redwalls fans that showed up, one with a sweater that he made with iron on letters sporting the band’s name. The whole time the guys were on they would chant between songs and scream “Redwalls!”
My favorite part of the show was when Tim from the Polyphonic Spree did an impression of Scotty, Rooney’s tour manager.
“Right Scotty? Seriously, hey. Seriously. Hey. Seriously… hey.”
When we got back to the hotel Justin asked if Rono and I had created our own language of gibberish to which I replied, “Waaaaaaah.”
Yo Ron-O!
View from the hotel.
I liked this building.
Rob and Andrew.
Close up.
Look at the smiles on their faces!
Snowy Pittsburgh.
Home, SWEEEEEEEET Home!
This was a quick tease for me. I got to come home for a few hours, sleep in my own bed, see the people closest to me, and then leave at seven the next morning again. It was so nice to see familiar faces though, and I even met a few new ones! Hey Lisa!
Me and this weird kid named Steve (Hey Steve!) went over to McD’s to grab some food and catch up proper. It was nice to see him, I’ve known him since the 6th dang grade! We even got the same meal. Cute.
It was really cool being at the Troc on the other side of things. I’ve always been there to see shows, wondering what was backstage, how they ran things, etc. Now I know. I was a part of it.
THE TROCADERO
November 14, 2007
Philadelphia, PA
Once again, I was left out in the lobby to handle the merch. But I was amongst friends, colleagues, maybe some enemies. In which case I destroyed them accordingly.
From what I heard the show went well, maybe the bass was a little low. Or the vocals could have been louder in the mix. But honestly, The Redwalls never disappoint.
My best of friends kept me company for the extent of the evening until it was time to go home, and then we did just that. I stopped at a hotel to fax some sound scans out and after that I was bound for torn leather couches, dust and cinnamon incense! Oh boy, oh boy! We spent a good while hanging out in the living room before I realized I still had to get up at 7 the next day and I went to sleep.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Since I didn't get to experience Autumn in the traditional sense, I got an accelerated version driving up the coast. It was really gorgeous to watch the leaves change hour by hour.
The view from our hotel room.
Merchin' it.
Logan with Lisa and Erica.
Rob is always doing something like this.
Me and this weird kid named Steve (Hey Steve!) went over to McD’s to grab some food and catch up proper. It was nice to see him, I’ve known him since the 6th dang grade! We even got the same meal. Cute.
It was really cool being at the Troc on the other side of things. I’ve always been there to see shows, wondering what was backstage, how they ran things, etc. Now I know. I was a part of it.
THE TROCADERO
November 14, 2007
Philadelphia, PA
Once again, I was left out in the lobby to handle the merch. But I was amongst friends, colleagues, maybe some enemies. In which case I destroyed them accordingly.
From what I heard the show went well, maybe the bass was a little low. Or the vocals could have been louder in the mix. But honestly, The Redwalls never disappoint.
My best of friends kept me company for the extent of the evening until it was time to go home, and then we did just that. I stopped at a hotel to fax some sound scans out and after that I was bound for torn leather couches, dust and cinnamon incense! Oh boy, oh boy! We spent a good while hanging out in the living room before I realized I still had to get up at 7 the next day and I went to sleep.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Since I didn't get to experience Autumn in the traditional sense, I got an accelerated version driving up the coast. It was really gorgeous to watch the leaves change hour by hour.
The view from our hotel room.
Merchin' it.
Logan with Lisa and Erica.
Rob is always doing something like this.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Oh, Oh, Oh!
I didn't know what to name this post.
We’re nearing the end here, folks. What are you ever going to do without me? Well, I may be back in some time, for the future holds many uncertainties! On this home stretch of home stretches we’re beginning our deceleration at the cradle of cats in North Carolina. Not to say we’re slacking at all, definitely not, but I miss my cat for one, and my friends too sometimes, I guess. I miss cheese steaks, I miss the skyline, I miss not having anything else to do all day but lay around on couches, I miss Sopranos with Kemp, books with Cris, Lost with Cort, Taco Bell with EJ, Brandon’s incessant noisemaking… I even miss class and work. Now, I’m not THAT homesick, but I think we’re all going to be extremely happy to get back to home base. Philadelphia, how I feel for thee.
THE CAT’S CRADLE
November 13, 2007
Carrboro, NC
This venue was a little different than most of the places we’ve been. It wasn’t a theatre; it wasn’t a large-scale place. It was one of those cool clubs that’s made a name for itself in a location where there isn’t much going on other than what they’re putting together and can somehow snag all the cool acts that come through. Hoots and Hellmouth are playing there in a couple weeks. Hey Biff!
I was located on a kind of pedestal, where I damn well should be. Seriously I was raised off of the ground, I guess it was more of a platform, but I didn’t have a chair. Enough of this!
The show went wonderfully, and the guys grabbed plenty of new fans this time around. Two girls came to interview them, and a bartender that was playing their CD in his bar earlier in the day showed up too thanks to Rooney letting him know they were coming through. The Spree ended late, even after they had shut the water off, and we left to go to this bar built between two rail cars. I think it was called the Southern Rail. It was a nice little location for an after show drink, and then we transported a few Spreesters back to the buses and went to the hotel.
The end of a long day came with Justin asking why he had to sleep next to my creepy and dusty black box that I bought at the Texas Junk Co. Now that he mentioned it, it is kind of creepy. It smells a little funny too.
Mmmmm Canon color swap.
I spy a Christianna...
Ghoul!
Rob.
Zee stage.
My corduroid legs?
Hanging by the merch. Justin and Andrew with Carrie to the right.
Road trip.
We’re nearing the end here, folks. What are you ever going to do without me? Well, I may be back in some time, for the future holds many uncertainties! On this home stretch of home stretches we’re beginning our deceleration at the cradle of cats in North Carolina. Not to say we’re slacking at all, definitely not, but I miss my cat for one, and my friends too sometimes, I guess. I miss cheese steaks, I miss the skyline, I miss not having anything else to do all day but lay around on couches, I miss Sopranos with Kemp, books with Cris, Lost with Cort, Taco Bell with EJ, Brandon’s incessant noisemaking… I even miss class and work. Now, I’m not THAT homesick, but I think we’re all going to be extremely happy to get back to home base. Philadelphia, how I feel for thee.
THE CAT’S CRADLE
November 13, 2007
Carrboro, NC
This venue was a little different than most of the places we’ve been. It wasn’t a theatre; it wasn’t a large-scale place. It was one of those cool clubs that’s made a name for itself in a location where there isn’t much going on other than what they’re putting together and can somehow snag all the cool acts that come through. Hoots and Hellmouth are playing there in a couple weeks. Hey Biff!
I was located on a kind of pedestal, where I damn well should be. Seriously I was raised off of the ground, I guess it was more of a platform, but I didn’t have a chair. Enough of this!
The show went wonderfully, and the guys grabbed plenty of new fans this time around. Two girls came to interview them, and a bartender that was playing their CD in his bar earlier in the day showed up too thanks to Rooney letting him know they were coming through. The Spree ended late, even after they had shut the water off, and we left to go to this bar built between two rail cars. I think it was called the Southern Rail. It was a nice little location for an after show drink, and then we transported a few Spreesters back to the buses and went to the hotel.
The end of a long day came with Justin asking why he had to sleep next to my creepy and dusty black box that I bought at the Texas Junk Co. Now that he mentioned it, it is kind of creepy. It smells a little funny too.
Mmmmm Canon color swap.
I spy a Christianna...
Ghoul!
Rob.
Zee stage.
My corduroid legs?
Hanging by the merch. Justin and Andrew with Carrie to the right.
Road trip.
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