Well I seem to have fallen off the blogosphere for a few days. Haven't had any innernet since NYC. I just found out about the earthquake yesterday and it makes this stuff seem pretty dumb to write about. I don't really know what to say about that, except that our hearts go out to everyone who's struggling to stay alive and have lost so much.
Shows that have happened: played Manhattan at the firehouse from Ghostbusters (no joke). It was a big concrete space inside. The show doubled as a celebration for the 100th issue of showpaper, so there were like 10 Todd P interns running around dolling the place up like a birthday party for a 3 year old... balloons, streamers, etc. Gary War played a cool set of alien power pop. Total Slacker was a co ed rock band. We got up and had to set up all super rushed but still seemed to take forever. I left the room for a second and when I came back Matt Hartman's PA was smoking and blown and we had to switch everything to the house system. Amidst all of the uptightness we layed into a straight and heavy set that was just 3 songs. The Alps played a great set that night. Maybe my favorite one. It was also rad to have my wife Julie at the show cause she never goes out. So we got to dance plenty. Also rad to hang with Meehan and Ibold who got reprieved from Daddy duties for the night.
In our two days in NYC I made 144 pieces of jewelry, ate homemade rigatoni with marinara and sausage, some pizza, a grilled cheese, hung out with my baby and my mother, and played 2 gigs. The 2nd one was at a kind of secret spot on Kent street next to Glasslands. It was pouring rain all night. The first band was Hubble, solo electric guitar dude that slayed really loudly. Pretty impressive sound. Next was PC Worship, this brooklyn band that I really like. They were also super loud. Their band had a dude playing slide guitar and saxophone and they were super sludgy and awesome. We played probably our best set of the tour. We kind of layed waste to the room. There was a lot of ungrounded action and Elisa was getting zapped the whole time. Sic Alps played good but their equipment was wet and not staying tuned so they were kind of bumming.
The next gig was up at Bard College in Red Hook new york. We played out in a barn on campus. It was very cold but as people finally came it warmed up. 2 opening bands were cool. I can't remember the name of the second band but it had our host Eve in it. They were really great instrumental and kind of Bluesy. The show kind of erupted into a dance party as we played songs like Don't Talk in Your Sleep that it turns out are pretty good to dance too. Super, Super, Fun show. Sic Alps played a cool set that was loose and fun.
We stayed at the house of Brian from Gang Gang Dance with him and Dan Hougland from Excepter. Really fun night. Brian had a fire place and it was really nice to finally have a night hanging with the Alps and telling jokes and stuff. Brian was working on a solo art exhibition, so his house was filled up with all these rad sculptures and paintings.
Next day was a long drive down to Pittsburgh. Drive jokes included, a facebook dating status of "It's Complicated" meaning "I'm in love with a horse". The gig was really nice! Cool space filled up with people. We got to eat really good Vietnamese noodle soup around the corner at a place called Tram and hang with Mike Donovan. Scarcity of Tanks played a solid set. Alps played 3rd tonight and they got their sound just right so it was a really precise one. Very good, but shorter than usual. We played our most accurate set and I was very proud of our music, but maybe accuracy doesn't always translate to exciting and I think I'd say we did better in that regard at the dance party gig. Stayed with some nice kids. This morning as John got up he said "I have to take shower to cover tears." We might be playing last minute gig at Feeding Tube Records in Northampton tonight if we can get up there in time. Elisa has recently been featured in the guardian UK as one of J Mascis favorite guitar players. Check it out here>
