Red Smear Tour Diary - October 2006&---------------------------------------
Photo: Red Smear Rehearsal, Hoboken NJ - October 27 2006
mh, foreground - Matthew Grimm, background.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
NY, NY
Woke up on the couch at the nice lower-Manhattan condo of the Tallon's, long-time friends of Banger, and by extension, The Hangdogs and the Red Smear... and they are utterly gracious and hospitable. Unending thank-you's from over here. A couple of cups of coffee got me up and out just in time to make a LIRR train home to Southampton for real. Last night's show at the Rodeo Bar was packed and went until 3:30 am. The Red Smear turned in great sets, and the Hangdogs were, well, The Hangdogs. Hilarious, moving, inspiring, and beer-drinkin/tequila slamming. Some fans came from quite far away to attend, and just about the whole catalogue of songs was addressed. Just as fun to be an audience member as it was to play bass with the Smear. Even heard some new (to me) songs! Finished up the night with an egg sandwich at 5am near the Tallon's. Beautiful.
Friday, October 27, 2006
NY, NY
A one-time Red Smear rehearsal today at the Think Tank, Hoboken, where Sonic Youth have taken up residence this year in rehearsal/recording partnership capacity. They're obviously on a day off today. I'm interested to see the completed, fully installed facility... Neve console, 2-inch tape machines, etc. Matt Azzarto on guitar and Dave Stengel (in from Denver on drums) for the big
Red Smear show at the Rodeo Bar tonight (with Hangdogs reunion sets), Kevin Tillman's open letter (posted at
Truth Dig Dot Com, among other places), is unendingly ringing in my ears. The interesting thing about it is the comments people leave. Call me crazy, but the proTillman folks seem to be a bit more articulate, logical, and progressive thinking, while the anti-Tillman camp looks like a bunch of redneck knuckleheads who still seem to think the whole world is still cleanly divided into either a White- or Black-Hat-wearing posse. Don't get me wrong, the further into the country I am, whether it be the mountains or the beach, the happier I am, and I love hanging out with rural folks, and identify with them, BUT, like our sitting president never really did before holding office, you need to get out of your element and expose yourself to other people, cultures, and places. The degree to which America is hated worldwide... is embarrassing, and demoralizing. We all have to ask ourselves why, but the answer isn't apparent unless you're willing to go back and study history. Unfortunately, reality shows and video games are sucking up everyone's free time.
A 700-mile fence on our southern border (instead of making a real effort at helping cure the real problem: rampant poverty in Mexico), eradication of the phrase "stay the course" from the administration's lexicon (wow, how profound), 24 years for Enron's Skillman while the minutes of their "secret energy policy meeting" with the White House enablers STILL go unpublished, the whole meaningless-in-and-of-itself "Gay Marriage" issue again being used to get Fundamentalist Christians out for the vote, suspension of the writ of Habius Corpus with our "president" deciding who is and isn't and enemy combatant, the seemingly complete and total inept/unwilling attitude of this administration to engage in any meaningful diplomacy with regards to just about every hot spot on the globe, their ignorance of any and all environmental data, the fact that the Republican leadership tried to cover their asses instead of protecting Congressional pages.... THIS IS WHAT WE GET WHEN WE ELECT THE OILMEN TO THE WHITE HOUSE. And I dare say, this is worse than Nixon. There, I said it. Makes a cum-stained dress seem like a wee small potato, doesn't it?
What you're basically gonna get tonight at the Rodeo Bar is a bunch of great musicians playing great music (thanks for writing these songs, Banger. I love 'em all) in a public, musical, political, social, and entertaining discussion. With tons of beer and Tequila. You've been warned. As the poster says: "Come on out and toast the imminent return of Congressional supeona power to the opposition party". And if you're from Texas, you'd better be voting for the Independent candidate, Kinky Friedman.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Long Island, NY
Banger and I are drove back to NYC from Savannah, GA all day and night Monday. Piece of cake. With the driving from the trip completed, (except for Banger's jag back to Iowa after Friday's imminent NYC Rodeo Bar gig), it's safe to say that the cheapest gas was in Eastern Missouri a week and a half back, at $1.91 a gallon.
Sunday night's acoustic duo gig at the very cool
Sentient Bean in Savannah, GA went well. It's a progressive coffee house in the historic (with Spanish Moss) dsitrict of town. Great architecture, very cool vibe.
Or first time there, the club testing out the band etc., and vice versa, but the set went down quite well, the room sounded nice, Kelli Rose Pearson (one of the owners) is a gracious, smart, affable host, and the tip jar was quite filled. Kelli, Banger and I went out for dinner later at the 6 Pence, which evolved in to a long, interesting political discussion (surprise!). Kelli picked up the tab, and she put us up for the night in the living room, so as far as hospitality goes, she's got it in spades. I couldn't sleep, because my brain is a bit revved up and stimulated from the dinner discussion. Plus Banger snored. More than usual.
I dropped him off in NYC to stay at Tallon's, then drove the van out to Southampton, getting there at 2am Tuesday. We left Savannah at 10:30 am, fueled up by Sentient Bean coffee. I still couldn't sleep until 4am, so I took most of Tuesday to regroup and get my body clock straightented out. Only went to get the mail at the PO box. Checks in the mail are good. Wednesday was Blaggards rehearsal, then today I'm in NYC for a day of freelance work.
There's a Friday dayside Red Smear rehearsal in Hoboken with the old "Road Smear" lineup that will play at the Rodeo Bar: Matt Azzarto on guitar, Dave Stengel on drums, Banger 'n' me. Huge snowstorm dumping on Denver today, so we'll see how Dave's flight from DVR to NWK goes. See some of ya at the Rodeo Bar!
Sunday Morning, October 22 2006
Tampa FL
Leaving shortly after lunchtime today for our gig at the Sentient Bean (Savannah, GA). Our stay here (at the house of Banger's sister "Goose" and her husband Dan) has been a great one. They are gracious, funny, and full of hospitality. Their condo is in a complex right on the bay, and I make extensive use of the pool. Saturday (College Football day, featuring Iowa's Hawkeyes vs. Michigan State) saw us eating stone crabs and oysters on their canalside deck, then heading over to "Buffalo Wings" sports bar for the actual game.)
We had arrived late in the day Thursday, and headed over to the Rock Hard Cafe, the nearby location of our Friday night gig. Not only did we witness the Mets losing game 7, but we also were told that the "acoustic duo" configuration we've be operating under simply would not do for Friday night, as far as the club was concerned. This "minor" surprise necessitated an immediate scramble to find a local drummer who could pickup this material and perform it 24 hours later. No small task. Many phone calls later (both on my part, Banger's, the club manager Terry, and Goose friends) a drummer was located. Drummer Rob showed up at the club an hour later, we had some beers, he was given two CD's ("Dawn's Early Apocalypse" Red Smear release, and another of various material that I burned right on my laptop as we sat at the bar), and we chatted extensively. He went home to study up, and I didn't envy him - definitely a pressure gig!
At the club, we also found out that some things were lacking, sound system-wise. There were no microphones or mic stands, for starters. Luckily, we travel with a couple of mics and stands, and Rob said he had mics for the drum kit. There were also speaker cable issues with regards to the monitors... as in... they were missing. Also, there would be no soundman - we would be doing our own sound from the stage. And, there was the matter of us not having a bass rig. (For the acoustic duo setup, we were plugging the bass directly into the sound system, or borrowing a bass amp).
So, Friday morning the first order of business was getting over to the club at 10 am to set up as much as we could. Getting the sound system up and running was a bit of a Sherlock Holmes deal, but we got it happening by noon, compiled a list of what we still needed to rent, and went over to Aardvark Sound in Tampa. We left there with a long speaker cable, a microphone and cable, and a bass rig combo, and were back at the club at 2 pm. We set everything else up as best we could, then went back to Goose's house to go over some material (we needed to do three sets). At 4pm we were back at the club, to set up the drums with Rob, and do a full sound check. The club cut us off after two songs, because there were actually quite a few customers drinking at the bar. A two-song soundcheck would have to do! Then, we went back over to Goose's house to rehearse all the material with Rob in a vacant condo next door, me and Banger on acoustic guitars, and Rob drumming on phone book and chair. That brought us up to about 8pm. We chilled out for an hour, then it was time to be at the club, with an expected 10pm stage-hit.
So, as you can see, this day had little or no moments to spare.
We hit the stage at 10pm to a good (and drunk) crowd that lasted all night long... and drummer Rob hit the ball outta the park all night long, earning the musical gold star award of the tour! ! ! !
More details on the night's proceedings in the next post.
Thursday morning, October 19
Florida/Georgia border
After driving a good distance out of Honea Path, SC last night, we crash out in the van at the rest stop on Route 75, very near the Georgia/Florida border.
Yesterday's stop in Honea path will be etched in my memory for a long time. Some really nice folks took the time out of their afternoon to give us a tour of the town, and specifically, the textile mill where a 1934 labor strike turned tragic, as company goons gunned down mill workers in the street, blood flowed, and seven died. The subsequent funeral in town attracted 10 thousand people. Since then, no one has really talked about the tragedy. It's been swept under the rug, and is still only vaguely referred to on the town's official website.
Elaine Ellison-Rider, the editor of the
local weekly paper has arranged for the town veterinarian to be our tour guide. Joining us was the digital-Nikon camera wielding Jose (a local photographer and former NYC cop from the Delancy street 7th precinct 1961 through the seventies), and a few of their friends and family members. I can tell you it was very eerie standing on the street in front of the mill and listening to the detailed spoken account of what happened that day, having played Banger's "Honea Path" song for the better part of this year, having the musical version story already burned into my mind. Emotional, and moving, to say the least. Details on the event are available from author Doug Marlette
here.
The paper will run a story on our visit next week. We also toured the local horse shoe pit (largest east of the Mississippi), the vast company town, the old railroad right of way, the memorial tucked away on the other side of town, and finished up by having some very good burgers at the local grill.
The mill, adjacent to the now kudzu-covered "Shit Creek" is due to be torn down later this year.
Wednesday morning, October 18
Andersonville, TN
What a day, and it's just started. Where to begin... oh yes, last night's engagement at the Pleasureville Pub in Knoxville, TN. Banger got this gig through a very nice and funny gal named Mary Lou, who has the 10 pm - 4 am overnight shift at WDKX FM in Knoxville, a highly recommended radio show, available on the internet. She's played the Hangdogs records for years, and is currently spinning the Red Smear disc. We drove from Nashville in fog and a small bit of rain - quite an easy drive, though. The gas prices in TN are low (just under 2 bucks. So far, the lowest on this trip have been in eastern Missouri, with a $1.91 sighting.)
We had heard that someone named "Scott" involved with the bar had gotten in trouble with the law, and there was some sort of letter writing campaign being waged in an effort to gain leniency. The bar itself is well-appointed, a long room with high ceilings, very nice decorations, free Wi-Fi access and nice free bar pizza for happy hour. We got there at around 6pm and dug in to the free eats, checking emails etc. on the laptop. Pulling into Knoxville, we found it to be a "city on the hill", literally looking over the river that runs past the town. The high ground of this city made it quite a strategic location during the War Between The States, as they call the Civil War down here.
Street parking was almost non-existant, mostly because there is very little street parking. So the van went in the parking garage, and we walked over to the adjacent pedestrian mall known as the Market Square, where the pub is. It&..39;s obviously an "urban revitalization" district, meaning it LOOKS nice, but no one lives there anymore, and the place clears out after 5pm, everyone fleeing for the outlying sprawl of the surburbs. But, there's a decent crowd in the bar for 6pm, so we take this to be a good sign. The wait service is attentive and nice and the ballgame is on, but...
The Mets lose game five. Both their pitching and their bats fall short. I also turns out it's open mic night - a booking foul-up of sorts. Fine - this was a fill-in date anyway. We can still make this work - we are travelling as "Matthew Grimm on acoustic guitar with Mick on bass" anyway, so this is our element, arguably. After enduring some really bad acts, ("This song made me cry, and here's my version", follwed by the WORST rendition of "Over the Rainbow" I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing), we do our bit and totally win the audience over - the soundman loves it (always a great sign), and says we could definitely come back with full band, etc. next time through...
IF THE BAR IS STILL OPEN. We go back to stay at Mary Lou's house (in the lush green Tennessee farmland country outside of town), and as we serenade her with her favorite Hangdogs songs by request, we also get into the back story...
Unbeknownst to EVERYONE concerned in town, the Preservation Pub was apparently/allegedly being employed in (or was a front for) a VERY large marijuana smuggling / money laundering operation. Offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, the whole shootin' match. No one had an inkling. A month previous to our arrival today, "Scott" got popped and went down hard, another chick from the bar wound up (and is still) in jail, and the entire bar (along with other bars in town of the same owner) is now in jeopordy of being taken over lock, stock, and barrel and sold at auction by the Feds, I'm guessing through the invocation of the RICO organized crime statutes.
Web Link To the StoryThe immediate fallout... is that competing establishments are furious that the Preservation Pub is still open at all, some musicians and bands are refusing to play there, while other artists are playing there and hanging out there as much as possible, in a show of support. But if this place does get shuttered, the long-term fallout will be a big blow to the Market Square entertainment district. It could turn into a cultural Pompeii for a while.
So with this story whizzing around my head, I went to sleep in the band van parked outside NNNN's house, just yards away from large black beef cattle laying in the dew covered Tennessee grass, with her Australian Shepherd dog "Angus" cruising around, emitting the occasional yelp at some varmint, imagined or real, while Banger is inside on the Aerobed. Don't get me wrong - I like sleeping in the van. Crickets, fog, baying cattle, yelping hounds. Very cool. There's coyotes around here, too. They occasionally take down a whole cow.
We head to Honea Path, SC in the morning to meet with some newspaper folks and tour the town.
Tuesday, October 17
Nashville TN
Sunday night was a night off from playing. The
Liberadio appearance yesterday (Monday) morning here in Nashville TN turns out to be great fun, Mary and Fred being great hosts - they and Banger engage in some good political conversation and we play a song acoustically, me on the Guild acoustic this time. An award-winning show on a great station,
WRVU-FM 91.1 FM (Vanderbilt University). I will definitely listen to this station back home over the internet. [
Note: an archived version of this show SHOULD be posted at the Liberadio site soon.]
Once the radio show is over, Mary, Banger and I have breakfast at the famous
Loveless Cafe (sausage gravy and biscuits to die for), then we get some rest back at her house. In the early evening, we finally head out to meet Mary and some friends at a wine bar, then Banger ducks out to catch the beginning of the Bears game next door at a beer bar. He comes back with the news that it doesn't look good for the Bears. The Cards are ahead in the first half, and moving the ball.
We head over to the
Basement, which is a cool little room with a really nice sound system, a good soundman, and a bar tender who seems to know half the personalities we know on the scene back in Iowa City. We turn in a great set, captive audience, cold Pabst tall boys, and the music is quite well received.
Dave Isaacs even shows up, and informs Banger that his band back in NYC used to cover many a Hangdogs song. It was ASCAP songwriters showcase night, and a lot of the folks stuck around for our, the last, set. Mission accomplished.
We head back to Mary's getting some Crystal Burgers for late night muchies while we watch Stewart / Colbert. And.... the Bears WIN by a point! Off to Knoxville TN today, with a stop in
Honea Path, SC planned for Wednesday - we're scheduled to meet with a local newspaper editor there and discuss the Matthew Grimm song "Honea Path" which addresses the tragic events (massacre of organized mill workers) of the labor unrest there in the 1930's... details of which no one seems to want to talk about anymore. Should be VERY interesting.
Sunday, October 15 2006
Nashville, TN
What a week! There was a freak two-foot early season snowstorm in Buffalo Thursday, an earthquake in Hawaii today, Kelly Slater just won his 8th world title, and now the news has come across the wire: A teenaged male suspect in the murders early Saturday of an entire family in Bonaparte, Iowa... has been arrested.... (drumroll, please)... in QUINCY, ILLINOIS, the location of our gig this past Friday night.
In his flight from the crime scene (Bonaparte is located in the Southeastern corner of Iowa), this kid basically took the same route the Red Smear took - down route 218, which turns into Highway 61 (yup, THAT highway 61), then east over the river into Quincy... less than a day later. No info regarding whether or not he was pinched at the Diamond Motel.
Last night's gig at the Courtyard Cafe in Cincinatti went quite well. I (on bass) played my parts and sang harmonies while Banger sang lead and played acoustic guitar... and each and every song worked - they held up. So this experiment looks to be a successful one, and we're looking forward to some fine tuning of the "sans drums and lead guitar" configuration. Some fans and friends came from Chicago and Indianapolis, and we stayed at the Hyatt around the corner, which made for an easy getaway this morning. The club had an outdoor fire pit in the back. We counted seven radio stations carrying the Bengals game this afternoon.
A night off tonight, game 4 Mets v. Cards is on television. Radio appearance 7-9 am tomorrow morning on
Liberadio , a show on WRVU-FM 91.1 here in Nashville (simulcast on the web, and archived later), and a gig at night at The Basement. We're staying at the home of gracious Liberadio host Mary Mancini. Thanks, Mare!
Saturday, October 14 2006
Leaving Quincy, IL
On a surf trip, you're bound to have a day (or more) where it's flat - no waves. For the Red Smear, last night was the musical equivalent. After taking care of some errands in Iowa City (including stopping by Berge's music store West Music to try out Fender's new Jaguar Bass - VERY nice) Banger, Berge and I leave at 5:30pm in the van to Quincy IL, a river town that was no doubt bustling in it's day, but that day has long passed. Drummer Bill Neff is driving seperately. Two other bands on the bill at the cavernous Blue Onion Blues Bar cancelled, the sound man didn't show up, and there was no television in the bar, ensuring that no local baseball fans (this is Cards counttry) would be there for game two of the NLCS, which was over by the time we played. (Fittingly, the Mets lost). The band paid full price for beers. After a local acoustic duo, the Smear does one quick set (we did our own sound, and we didn't suck at it, thankfully) and we were done. Drummer Bill Neff and guitarist Jason Berge headed back to Iowa after the show, and Banger and I will do the remainder of the shows as an acoustic duo (as planned) until another full band show at the Rodeo Bar NYC 10/27 (with Dave Stengel on drums and Matt Azzarto on guitar). We'll miss those guys, but it will be fun doing the songs all stripped down. We get some food at the all night market, bunk down at the Diamond Hotel (very Bates Motel-ish and way off the beaten path). It's one of those places where the towels are too small. Good tail wind for our drive to Cincinnatti today. And what trees there actually are in this part of farmland USA have leaves that are changing, so the scenery is nice. Many a harvester machine out there hard at work plowing corn fields under for the winter.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Matthew Grimm's Couch, Iowa City IA
Great. A full moon last week and now Friday the 13th. We'll see how that works out. There's a busy train yard near Banger's house, and the noises overnight keep make me thinking of Warren Zevon and his song "Nighttime in the Sweitching Yard". A great set by yet another Red Smear lineup last night at the Mill in Iowa City, the event being a political party for local U.S. congressional candidate
Dave Loebsack. This time, regular guitarist Jason Berge is joined by myself on bass, and new drummer Bill Neff, who plays a genuine 1966 Ludwig kit, complete with the original naugahide cases/covers. "Two words, Mick: Ringo Fucking Starr". Smear bassist Straw lends me his Fender Bassman head and Ampeg cabinet, and I'm very grateful - love the sound - fat and round. Mets win game one (locals really do not care, and why should they? This is Cubs country, not Cards country), and lots of great feedback from the audience / staff / soundcrew at the club. All are happy. Cool guy
Patrick Bloom has already filed a
blog-review of the show. I'm listening to his tunes as I type - he plays the Mill tonight, while we move on to play at the Blue Onion Blues Bar in Quincy IL, a Mississippi river town above Hannibal, MO, but on the other side of Big Muddy, of course.
Thursday, October 12 2006
Islip Macarthur Airport, Long Island NY USA
Full Harvest Moon weirdness definitely affected the period immediately preceding my departure from home on Long Island. A Saturday night private party gig that could actually turn out to be a swan song for that particular band... suffered from one member not showing up at all for the gig plus a missing microphone and a missing shirt. That's on top of having no rehearsals, no setlist, and basically, no plan. Enough already. Rock and roll itself supplies enough uncertainty (in a good way) that the bad (band-generated) kind is generally unwelcome.
On the way to Sunday's giant outdoor Huntington Fall Festival gig with
The Blaggards, I got pulled over for speeding by a NY State Trooper (I invoked Country Dick Montanta's road rules by telling the cop I was in a country band and only got a "no inspection" summons) - the gig itself featured my bass head going down in the middle of the day. It's in the repair shop.
Local gigs out of the way, I moved the sailboat over to another harbor for the winter, after which my truck wouldn't start for the first time in 11 years. It's in the repair shop. One AAA tow, a cab ride and a borrowed-from-dad-for-a-day custom conversion van later, I was back home in the last bits of practicing for the
Red Smear tour. On the way to Blaggards rehearsal Weds night (Heidi, we forgot to post the night's menu, and I'm not sure what the dish was called, exactly), the sad news of the Cory Lidle flight's unscheduled Manhatttan hi-rise stop came over the radio, followed by the news of the rainout of Cards v. Mets game one. Now, here at the airport security check-in x-ray machine, I'm tagged "Code Orange"! "Orange on the belt!" exclaims the TSA guy in line. Why? After sunday's aforementioned traffic stop, my government-issued ID (NYS Drivers license), along with the insurance card and truck registration, got absentmindedly tucked away in the visor of my truck, which is all the way out east on Long Island. It's in the repair shop.
By the way, it was 70 degrees and balmy on Long Island when I left this morning. The weather at Chicago Midway upon landing at lunchtime? Thirty-four degrees with snow flurries. Yow. First show tonight at the Mill in Iowa City. Banger's making chili with the year's tomato/pepper harvest. Yum.
Did Kerouac call it in 1955?
You be the judge:
From On the Road:
"When daybreak came, we were zooming through New Jersey with the great cloud of Metropolitan New York rising before us in the snowy distance. Dean had a sweater wrapped around his ears to keep warm. He said we were a band of Arabs coming in to blow up New York."
Red Smear Tour Diary - May 2006Matthew Grimm (Lead vocals, Fender Tele Deluxe, Songwriter, Angry Dad); Dave Stengel (Hard Hitting Drums, Brand New Aero-Bed to replace the leaky one); Mick Hargreaves (Fender P-Bass, Vocals, Things on Strings); Matt Azzarto (Fender Tele Deluxe and Gibson Hollow Body Guitars, Vocals, Cilantro);Jason Berge(Fender Tele Deluxe, Vocals, Imitation of "Carl")
May 30 Tuesday
Stephen Talkhouse (Amagansett, NY)
May 29 Monday
Denver Colorado
Woke up in Ogden Utah... to snow on the ground, on Memorial Day weekend. Long drive to Denver through a lot of Indian massacre country (and a decent amout of mixed precip at the beginning of the drive). Final date of the Red Smear spring tour. A pretty good night, with a lot of friends showing up, good club, really cool staff. Berge's brother flew in for the show and brought crew, my high school buddy Kurt Anderson now lives in Denver, he made it down with a neighbor, and I'm staying at his house after the show, then flying back Monday night to NYC on the red eye, because I have a gig with The Blaggards Tuesday night at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett LI. This was the third or perhaps fourth show in a row that Dave's done sick as a dog - what a soldier.
Ogden, Utah, Saturday May 27
Brewski's. Muffin-Tops on parade in a big club, a live music room flanked by two big barrooms. Good crowd, much drinking Banger loves (and befriends), (and Dave hates), the warmup act... Crack Whore. We stay across the parking lot from the club at a nice hotel.
Friday, May 26
Boise, ID, Very cool drive from Reno to Boise. We cut across the southeastern corner of Oregon, which is arid, eroded hills interruped by lush, green river valleys. We're due to pick up Berge (lead guitar) at the Boise airport, but we're a little late because we all forgot about the hour time difference we picked up along the way. No matter, the pickup goes fine, with a bit of comedy when Berge waits for us in the "Departures" area. This is good fodder to have in hand. Neurolux is the bar, cavernous, big stage, nice sound system. It stays light until about 9:30-10pm this time of year in Boise, due to their being so far west in the (daylight savings?) time zone, we guess. Good to have Berge aboard after performing as a three piece for two nights.
May 25 Thursday
Nice drive to up over the Sierras to Reno, where we play at the Fritz Bar and Grill, a small bar near the University. Some more Hangdogs fans come out of the woodword. A lot of young snowboarders around too, who just happen to go to school as well. Squaw is still open apparently. Good little bar, the three-piece Red Smear turns in a nice set. Funny how some of these kids love rap "music" and do their best to talk the associated talk, YET, they blantanly put down the entire black race in conversation. I really wanted to slap one kid, but what's the point? Bergie flies into Boise Airport tomorrow - we'll pick him up and go directly to that night's show.
May 24 Wednesday
A last-minute added show at Johnny V's in San Jose, CA. Quite a clean town, at least the part we've seen. Lots of Silicon Valley businesses here, of course. We're a three piece tonight, not as easy of course. Berge's arrival still quite in doubt. Nice little rock lounge/room. Friends Erin and Brent show up. We're hosted by Roy Batchelor of Boot Liquor internet radio. A great internet music station, listener supported... send in 25 bucks and you'll also get a set of "Drunk Chick Trading Cards". Good music, good deal. We're staying at his house after the show, and it's way cool to see how an internet radio station can be operated out of a private home. Cool... Off to Reno later today for tonight's show.
May 23 Tuesday
Tommy Rocker's, Las Vegas. The Red Smear is slated to be the house band for Doug Stanhope's performance (along with Andy Andrist). We wind up going on afterwards (as a three-piece; Jason B. isn't scheduled to join the band as lead guitarist until Thursday, flying in from Iowa/Chicago, but now his arrival is somewhat in doubt - not good), but tonight, it's all good - both Andy (still feeling the effects of Death Valley) and Doug are great, and it's a damn good show. Tommy Rocker is a cool guy who cares, by the way.
May 22 Monday
Day off in Venice Beach. We needed it. No surf, AND it rained last night - not good for the local water quality - took a bike ride over to the Santa Monica Pier.
May 21 Sunday
A wild night in Death Valley last night. Doug Stanhope and his crew of about 100 take over this small "town" once a year for four days of hilarity, music, and more. You'll see when the DVD comes out. :) This far out into the desert, the law don't care what you do... Lots of costumes, comedians, and.... "Naked Guy", who was naked the whole time, and never really said a thing. Stanhope initiated a great segment titled "MC Against Your Will", a tag-you're-it daisy chain of standup performances. Henry Phillips and his hilarious songs was a standout. Then, a good, fun set by the Red Smear followed by some impromtu musical performances by various characters. This was Matt Azzarto's last gig before he heads home - he wound up leaving in his rental car at around 4:30 am Sunday, and got to see the sun rise over Death Valley on his way west to LAX. Banger and I stayed up almost all night having beer and going from fire to fire. We experienced the RARE treat of feeling a few drips of rain on our faces just before the sun came up. Strange...
Sunday morning (and Sat night for that matter) wound up being WAY more mild than normal for Death Valley. We've actually been avoiding the true desert heat this whole trip so far. Everyone slowly came to life, food was had on the pavillion of the main building, and then we got out of there around 4pm and headed back to the house of our gracious hosts Donna and Will in Venice Beach, CA.
May 20 Saturday
We leave early in the afternoon to head to Death Valley, where we'll perform at Doug Stanhope's private party for about 100 drunkards, travellers, comedians and crazies in the middle of the California desert. It will be Matt Azzarto's last gig with us before he heads back to Hoboken (he's driving back a rented car and leaving at about 4am Sunday morning from Death Valley California).
May 19 Friday Night
LA Friday night was a tough night. Encountered massive traffic jams getting into LA from Vegas in the afternoon, then went to where we're staying (Venice Beach), turned and burned over to the club (in Mid-City it turns out) just in time (7pm), but we still didn't get a sound check. A solo singer had shown up, and was a friend of the staff, so she played for them for a while. We went on right at 8pm. It was Sin City night there, and we recorded our set. Definitely some keepers. Met Ritchie Hayward, drummer of Little Feat... story details to be added later. Hung out after the show, then over to O'briens in Santa Monica for a super-late set. Crowded, young, entitled audience.
May 19 - Heading to LA. Gig at the Mint tonight in (West?) Hollywood.
Last night's Las Vegas gig at the Double Down Saloon in Vegas was grrrrreat. A real rock room that can best be described as the CBGB's of Las Vegas.An oasis of originality in a sea of bullshit. Doorman Steve is from Carnarsie, Brooklyn. Came to Vegas in the 7T's for a weekend, and never left. He's one of the no-B.S. guys we've encountered. It's unbelievable just how many people have gotten suckered into moving into this inhospitable oven of a town. There are veryfew true born-and-raised locals, and their B.S. detectors are probably some of the best around.The Red Smear turned it up accordingly and turned in the best set of the tour so far, and some wonderful fans and friends showed up, including our hosts here in town, and our hosts for the coming days in Venice Beach CA. Lots of rocker chicks and dudesin attendance, including some roller derby queens, some of whom were passionately making out behind the club after our set. Sorry, gang... no Quicktime Video Clips. SETLIST: Nothing to Say - Memo From The Head Office - One to Grow On - Kill the Poor - Slut - My Girlfriend's Way to Hot for Me - She's Leaving You - Hey, Hitler - Jet Plane - Do Re Mi - Fuck Fuck Fuck.
Great sidebar story - back in Springfield MO, we met another band (Bangtel, from Denver) on the street who where loading out of the club next to the Outland (where we played that night), and we quickly found out that we were playing together at the Double Down in Vegas! They asked if we had any apples, we gave them two, and when we needed an extra mic clip last night, they came through for us. "Always treat other bands nicely on the road" never rang truer. HERE'S the kicker though: Their merch guy's name is MICHAEL HARGEAVE. My given name: MICHAEL HARGREAVES. Creepy, eh? They say they'll be coming to our Denver gig at Bender's on May 28, which should be quite a party, given it's the last date of the tour.
Oh yeah - Specialty Drinks at the Double Down: "Ass Juice" (made with grain alchohol).. and the "Bacon Martini". We only tried the former. Mmmmmm....
May 18 - Las Vegas NV
It's 120 degrees in the sun right now. This place is so weird I don't know where to begin. Firstly, everything here is an imitation of something else. Fake pyramid, fake NYC skyline, fake Eiffel Tower (and I thought these yayhoos HATED France?) fake volcano, fake NY tugboats, fake hip-hop concert, fake country band, fake lagoon with fake pirate ship battle, fake steam coming out of the fake manholes in the fake NY, NY casino, fake birdsounds coming out of speaker in the palm trees... karaoke everywhere you look, fake racks. And push-button fireplaces. But real panhandlers, with not-very-good raps. Does it say "Bank" across my forehead? We saw some place under construction on the strip, and I first thought it was a replica of a construction site. I can honestly say that I only come here when I have gigs here, and I think I'll keep it that way. During the day, residential areas are ghost towns. Too hot to go outside.Nothing will grow, and if it would, they won't let you use enough water to irrigate properly. Last night Dave's cousin took us over to her fiance's whisky bar (where we sampled some nice sipping stuff and watched "The Kids Are Alright" - he's an interesting articulate fellow with a bent for fine whiskey, chess, and conversation... so we all hit it off quite well) and then found cheap beers on the strip strolled around, and played a game we call "Hot Girlfriend... or WHORE... try to guess!". Remember, to paraphrase Stanhope, "Everything that happens in Vegas... gets recorded on thousands of surveillance cameras and is given to the N.S.A... they're watching you!" Stoked to play the Double Down Saloon tonight. Two days off have let everyone catch up, energy-wise, andI have a feeling we'll really let loose tonight. Tomorrow we drive to LA for a gig at the Mint at around 8pm, then a secret gig later, and possible surf sessions for me. We're staying in Venice Beach. Dave's other cousin and her husband have joined the pantheon of great souls who open their houses to the band, raising morale, lowering overhead costs, and filling our bellies with BBQ and Tex Mex. We pulled the acoustics out last night and jammed a bit, even letting some local kids take some "lessons". Thanks everyone!
The drive yesterday from Flagstaff to LV was way cool. Bizarro open sky desert landscape. Lighting bolts seemingly out of the blue, striking the desert floor, and starting small fires that eventually smolder out. Not much to burn, really. At the Hoover Dam parking lot overlook (after the van was stopped and given a cursory search at the Wackenhut-administered checkpoint), a certain bass player was quoted: "Wow, this is awesome. Let's go over to the Canadian side now!". Ha!
May 17 - Flagstaff AZ
Tues and today are days off. Enroute from Albuquerque NM to Vegas, we've overnighted at this classic Route 66 town. BNSF Railroad goes thu here, and the lonely freight whistles periodically moan all night long, with a few hours break in the wee hours. Staying at the Motel Dubois, the oldest hotel in AZ, actually a hostel. I wonder if my parents stayed in this town back in the late 50's, either enroute from or to Fort Huachuca (extreme southern AZ), where my dad served in the Army Signal Corp. Everyone's done laundry, and we caught the Phoenix Suns victory at the bar across the street. Today we head up to Vegas for the show at the Double Down Saloon.
Mon May 15
Atomic Cantina - Albuquerque NM. Cool show after a long-ass drive from Austin TX thru Lubbock and Amarillo, then over to the Albuquerque. Decent crowd, one rock and roll set. Chilly at night here, and about 80 during the day. Got a swim in at the hotel Tues morning before continuing west.
Sun May 14
Austin TX - Ego's. Mother's day. Nice little gig at Ego's, with Macon Greyson, who are a great bunch of nice guys who make some really great music. Hilite of the night was Banger singing "Monopoly on the Blues" backed by Macon Greyson. Highly recommended: http://www.macongreyson.com/Also, we stopped by Waterloo Records - great store.
Sat May 13
San Antonio TX - Limelight Club. Good gig, one rockandroll set. Shared bill with the Ugly Beats, who are on Get Hip! records. Good 6T's garage punk rock. Soundman was tipsy, to put it mildly. Stayed at the Gunther Sheraton downtown (haunted), courtesy of Banger's freind Rich. Thanks Rich! Strolled over to the Alamo at 3am to take some time-lapse photography (I'm shooting for slides and prints). That district is a great example of how to screw up a beautiful, mystical, historical place by surrounding it with places like Hooters, The Gap, Madam Tussaud's, etc. Criminal. We've added Matt Azzarto's "Bubble Gum" to the set, to give Banger a ciggy break. Great song!
Friday, May 12
Dallas TX - All Good Cafe. Busy day. Gig at Allgood Cafe. A trip down Hangdogs memory lane. Lots of older Hangdog's fans showing up. An in store performance at Bill's Records just after noon (complete with long-haired baseball cap weird guy with beer and quite swollen hand, who asked us to take a look at the knife wound in his back - it needed stitches or a butterfly bandage at the very least. He was hearing none of that. He gets in a bar fight, and his solution is to go to a Red Smear in store appearance the next day and drink beer at one in the after noon.) KNON radio performance in the studio during drive time fundraiser show. Automatic Slim called in from NYC and contributed. All Good show was good. Any Hangdogs requests that the Smear didn't know, Banger performed solo. Lots of funny moments, including a few Banger bits that bordered on standup comedy. Hilarious. Afterwards, beers and shots over at the Sons of Herman Hall. Great folks and a lot of drunkenness. I should mention that Brad (huge Slobberbone fan)and Martha opened their house (Keene, TX) to the band for a couple of days, making our lives a LOT easier. Brad has an Austin Healy Sprite (1968) just like my dad had, and we took a ride over to the Saturday morning flea market, where you can actually buy guns, no questions asked. The difference in TX is that most folks practice proper gun safety, and they're not taking handguns into "the hood" for murdering puposes. They're hunting, or target shooting. The way it should be...
Thursday, May 11
Denton, TX. Dan's Silverleaf Cafe. Nice rock room. Brad and Martha took us out to a great Tex Mex place for dinner. He's a hot sauce and tequila connesseur, so he always brings some stuff to the table. Wooden rack in the trunk to hold several bottles of tequila and shot glasses. That's my kind of class. One guy from Slobberbone was at the show, and he liked us. Door gal told me that Texas police have been going into bars and arresting people they think have been drinking too much. That's screwed up on many levels. Police State!
Wed May 10
The Outland, Springfield MO. Real fun gig with the boys in Gruen County, and another solo guy whose name escapes... Gruen County performed as a duo with the Hangdogs on the very last tour. Now, they've picked up a rhythm section and they're even better. Great guys, they put together some BBQ for us when we pulled into town. Fun(ny) set - after which we drove to the Snorty Horse Saloon, a gigantic roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. Chris (Gruen County) is the soundman there, and we all stayed in the bunkhouse to get some sleep and showers. The club had an off night (closed) so the timing was great. Junior Brown is appearing there the following night, so Chris will have is hands full as a soundman. Several Junior (NEVER to be billed as "JR", as it is stipulated his contract rider, or he WON'T play) Brown stories were parlayed, none of which can be related here. Use your imagination.
Tues May 9
The Mill, Iowa City IA. Our opening gig of the tour, after two days of rehearsal at the very same bar, and two nights of beer and Family Guy viewing at Banger's apartment nearby. It was there that Dave realized his Aero Bed was quite leaky, and he'll need to buy a new one at Target later on. It was April 15 that a tornado came through downtown here and damaged a lot of buildings and roofs. The Mill escaped with damage only to their marquee sign, but alot of places immediately surrounding the club got smacked, some still outta business. Starbucks sustained damage too, but not enough in our collective opinion. The gig is good, and serves to begin ID-ing some things that will need tuning up in the set.
Sun May 7
Dave, Matt, Mick drive from Hoboken to Iowa City, IA. We arrive some ungodly hour Monday morning. Elapsed time: 14 hours give or take. Yeah, you read that right.
Sat May 6
I take Hampton Jitney from Southampton to Manhattan, get dinner, and head over to Hoboken, crash there in preparation for Sunday departure.
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