Dear Diary,

Thursday, June 14th – The Uptown Bar - Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
So long ago- the poster art was tops. Thanks, Rev!

Friday, June 15th – The Nomad – Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
I'm pretty sure there was an entire town from up north in attendance at this show- all of whom hit the patio as soon as we took the stage. Our die hard friends stuck it out, though- thank you thank you to Ms. Kristina and Emily.

Saturday, June 16th – What's Up Lounge – Mankato, MN
COMMENTS:
Aside from being an hour and a half late and playing in semi-tornadic conditions, all went well with this show. Superdanger kicked ass. And our asses. At the rock. The hometown kids packed 'em in- it was a sweet beginning to the out-of-town portion of the tour.


Sunday, June 17th – Saddle Creek Bar – Omaha, Neb.
COMMENTS:
Some of the nicest people and best dart players I've met reside in Omaha. Anthony from Donnelly was the consummate host, Shiver Shiver played the best first show I've ever seen in my life, the family made it out, and Cecil's for breakfast the next morning (a cafe run and staffed by the owner and his granddaughter) made for a warm Nebraska welcome.

Tuesday, June 19th – The King Club – Madison, WI
COMMENTS:
Dominating at a pre-show game of pig was pretty sweet. I think the last time that happened I was maybe 12. Again, our hosts in Madison/ McFarland were awesome. Thank you Heftes! The bands in Madison were great too- it's a rare treat to get to play with an old friend's band, and Firefalls brought the noise. And the accordion.


Wednesday, June 20th – The Firewall – Stillwater, MN
COMMENTS:
Oops- we weren't able to get back to the cities to get most of our gear and rather than share equipment, the other band preferred to walk away from the show. First time for everything. Canceled.

Thursday, June 21st – The House of Rock – Eau Claire, WI
COMMENTS:
Nate did a fine job of advertising for the show when we were in town, to little practical avail though. Drag. Nate and I tried getting some Eau Claire Ouzo but were turned away at the bar as Nate was without his ID. Drag 2. The show went well, though- aside from a hole in Nate's kick drum that mysteriously appeared once we were done playing and the mics were taken away. A couple of folks were out just for us, a new phenomenon. And appreciated. Our home stay for the night was fantastic as well- everyone got a bed, a real honest-to-god bed. We all felt so good the next morning that we did some band running. And then- off to Milwaukee.

Friday, June 22nd – The Stonefly – Millwaukee, WI
COMMENTS:
We only had to stop a couple of times to re-velcro the truck's vinyl cover. And I mistakenly balked on the opportunity to buy a pretty sizeable dog-faced magnet at a gas station east of Madison. Nate noticed that our truck was leaking antifreeze, not-so-slowly but oh-so-surely. We resolved to fix it in the morning. Once we got to town a quick look at the upcoming bands at the Stonefly didn't exactly relieve apprehension. Really good bands were coming through, and we felt lucky to play the club. People we didn't know actually danced, everyone had a good time and invited us to stay, after we had secured a room at the local Econolodge. A latenight brat from Frank 'n Stein capped off the evening, and fortified us for what lay ahead the next day.

Saturday, June 23rd – US Beer Co. – Chicago, IL
COMMENTS: Much of the morning was spent in making one very big loop around Cudahy and South Milwaukee, looking for auto repair shops. After a while we found a local who gave us some fine directions and we made our first stop by the Auto Zone. Then we made an ill-informed decision to eat at a Chinese buffet. Very ill-informed. After dinner we tried to fix the truck. This took a couple of hours and a few trips back and forth to Autozone and the drug store for waters, pliers, and other supplies. Nate was working on the truck most all of this time, and I was using my very general mechanics knowledge to yank at hoses when directed. After a whole bunch of sweating, cursing, and Scott sleeping in the cab, the truck was fixed and we were on our way to Chicago. We found the club with little problem and were the first band to load in. Seven others would follow, many of them metal. Mirah and Michael Michael Motorcycle joined forces before we played for a bombastic double drummed psych rock assault. With short shorts. We were next, and after a mic switch and a sock covering to protect against shock we were off. We thought it best to load out and leave the club after our set, and in getting out in a hurry we left about 30 cds. The guys from Mirah were nice enough to mail them to us in a hurry. We stayed with friends from Iowa City, Lorelle, Chris, and their dog Sarge and were up kind of early the next day for the drive to Indiana.


Sunday, June 24th – Melody Inn – Indianapolis, IN
COMMENTS:
The day began with submitting ourselves to South Loop traffic. There was a soccer match between Mexico and Los Estados Unidos going on at Soldier Field and some crazy fans were out on the roads doing some crazy driving. Once out of the city we got going as fast as we were able and made it to Pendleton, Indiana just in time to record for My Old Kentucky Blog's Sirius Radio show. That was a great experience; I hadn't seen Dodge, the show's host, since meeting him in Texas a couple of years ago. All was really well- until we made the discovery that we had left the majority of our cds behind. We got to Indianapolis, about a half hour away, in time to see the last minutes of a benefit for a roller girl team that was going on. The staff at the Melody Inn was awesome; the show was attended by the other band, a comic that was opening, and Dodge. After the show David from Hip-o invited us to stay at his place after the show. We got lost finding it, but after about an hour of searching out trail mix, kettle corn, diet coke, and the proper route we made it for some late sunday night conversation. Thanks again David and Liz- I'm glad your patience in searching out the Kafka Rock Opera the next morning paid off.


Monday, June 25th – Earx-tacy In-Store – Louisville, KY
COMMENTS:
This was a quick drive down South- which was beneficial because it was effing hot that day. We made it to town and to Ear X-tacy hours before we were supposed to play. The neighborhood was so great, a block off the main drag were rows of well-maintained shotgun houses, trees exploding in green, narrow streets that may or may not have sidewalks. The guys at the store were a couple of the nicest guys we'd met on tour. And thanks to Cliff for making it out and singing along- that made the show. After dinner we hit the road for somewhere between Cincinnati and Bowling Green. We made it just past a glowing four story Jesus on I-75 and pulled over for the night.

Wednesday, June 27th – Howard's H – Bowling Green, OH
COMMENTS:
TUESDAY: After Waffle House and some photo snapping at the huge Jesus, we set off for Bowling Green/Toledo/Maumee. We had a day off and we took full advantage. Our host Stacy, Scott's friend and boss from his graduate school days, put us up in style. We were treated to air conditioning, a pool, and a refrigerator full of all the provisions that generally aren't available at Super 8s. After some running, some swimming, and some climate control we went to Bowling Green for dinner and Mystery Shot Bowling. "Shot", when used in thsi context, doesn't refer to the style of throwing, but rather to a series of multicolored cups from the bar, some of which contain pure evil. But we made it through. And we're stronger because of it.
WEDNESDAY: The day started at the Star Cafe. This is one of the more successful breakfast venues in Toledo, with 8 locations. It may be because of the food. Or, maybe just maybe, the high single businessman quotient coming in to what was basically Hooters for breakfast. It took us a couple of bleary-eyed minutes to realize the nature of everyone's uniform, but our hostess knew all along- picked the place to see what our reaction was. The rest of the day was spent either running, buying old man pants to make shorts, lounging poolside, or watching a big storm come our way just as we were needing to head to the club. The rain let up, we loaded in, and played in the coldest bar of tour. It was a later start, but folks stuck around for the pop rock after watching some hardcore math rock wrestling- and much of the promotion was done by our hostess for the two days- so thanks once again, Stacy.
Thursday, June 28th – The Velvet Lounge – Washington D.C.
COMMENTS:
We woke up as we had hoped, leaving Toledo at around nine. On the way we saw a high speed chase begin around Sandusky and saw the end of it just west of Cleveland. Every twenty minutes or so a fresh highway patrol car would come zooming down the left lane in pursuit. The rest of the drive was uneventful, just long. We made it to DC around five o'clock, made it to our accomodations for the night (thanks Kristin!) and met up with my sister Meghan. After Nate and Scott were cleaned up we headed for the club. We were almost earlier than anyone who worked there, and were able to load in. This was the first show with the Gay Blades, nee Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills, nee James and Quinn. They were, and remain, stand-up guys. The show was basically a private show for my sister and her ten closest friends- just us and the Gay Blades. We didn't have a set list but let the folks in attendace choose what they wanted to hear. The first half of this experiment went surprisingly well- and we had to do some choosing of our own toward the end. A string was broken, a transposition on the fly was attempted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbJpxjhc-4

Friday, June 29th – Pianos – New York City, NY
COMMENTS:
Nate made breakfast. It was delicious. Central New Jersey traffic sucks. Who knew? Once we were in New York Scott was in his element and let the horn fly. There was a lot of gawking from the folks in Soho- apparently big black monster trucks with three dudes across the bench aren't an everyday occurrence. We made it to the venue a little late, enough time to check on the venue we were playing the next night. There was a horrible nu-metal band on stage with dancing girls and video cameras all around. Back to Pianos to meet up with Brandon, a Mound expat who is one of the coolest guys in Brooklyn, despite his penchant for stealing hair product. Ty made it out as well, along with like 90 of his closest friends. It was a fun night- we had our first stranger dancer come up on stage. She stayed up for a song and a half and disappeared into the night. After we were done we stayed out until like 3:30. Then had pizza and made fun of the aforementioned metal band, realizing a bit late that they and their entourage were in the same pizza spot. After that, and assured of a quick ten minute ride back to Brooklyn Brandon, Nate, and Scott climbed into the cab and I hit the truck bed. Nothing quite like being all backwoods in the middle of NYC. It ended up being like an hour to cross the bridge as there was some power washing going on- and the sun was rising as we walked up stairs.

Saturday, June 30th – Arlene's Grocery – New York City, NY
COMMENTS:
We woke up late, had brunch, and set out for a walk-about around Brandon's neighborhood. It was beautiful- especially the views from the promenade and the surrounding neighborhoods- with carriage houses intact. Then off to Arlene's. Nate and I took the train, Scott and Brandon hopped in the truck. We got the gear into Arlene's (a half block walk from Pianos) and walked around some more- this time to the NYC dog parks, the East Village, and through part of Soho. It was enough time to cross paths with Tommy Chong and to have Nate get bit by a cat in a natural foods store. Twice.
Arlene's was a great show- one of the best of the tour- perhaps because the Gay Blades made an appearance. Again the late hanging out, the eating of pizza by the slice, the train back to Brooklyn, the walking up stairs as the sun was rising.

Sunday, July 1st – The Saint – Asbury Park, NJ
COMMENTS:
I had some of the best granola crusted french toast ever. Then, after a Minnesota goodbye to Brandon we picked up Nate's bass drum pedal from the last band that played at Arlene's- they had picked it up by mistake. Then we were off for New Jersey. The Gay Blades and Boy/Girl played host in their home turf- it was a four band bill, and none of the bands came close to sucking. This was a far cry from the 8 band monstrosities that were the norm at the clubs we played in New York. Even though we were at most an hour twenty outside of the city it felt like we were playing back in the midwest again- maybe because we saw a 12 Rods sticker prominently displayed- which happened to be the favorite band of our barkeep. After assisting in translation duties come closing time we were off up the shore- from Asbury Park, a town that's seen better days, to crazy ostentatious wealth, and back to more reasonable accomodations. We stayed the night with James' sister and fiancee and woke up nice and late for the drive to Boston the next day.

Monday, July 2nd – The Great Scott – Boston, Mass.
COMMENTS:
Summer camp had to come to an end some time, and this was the day- our last show with the Gay Blades, for a little bit. They are awesome. Their music is awesome. Their stage presence is not to be believed. Nate rode up in the van with them, doing some serious gaming and stretching of the legs. Once in Boston, they killed it. Then we were up. Scott and Nate got in a water fight. I looked at the floor of the stage. The sound guy was the best we had had while out of town. We said goodbye to James and Quinn for like an hour. Again, they are awesome. Scott drove to Southington, Connecticut. We arrived at 3:30, thereabouts. He swears that he saw high school kids fighting with absurd martial arts sty-lee in the McDonald's parking lot. The Motel 6 had Motel 6 themed sheets- I thought for a minute they were my old Dukes of Hazzard sheet set. We may have been tired.

Tuesday, July 3rd – Club Café – Pittsburgh, Penn.
COMMENTS:
On the road for like ten hours- but the views through New York state and eastern Pennsylvania made up for the stupid amount of time in the truck. We made it to Pittsburgh and to the venue on time. So did Hugh and another guy who comes to almost every show at the Club Cafe. It was a different story for Dios Malos, the band we were playing with. They were a little late- like they walked through the door as soon as we were finished playing. I talked to a guy who said that he didn't like our band because we didn't have a guitar. Dios Malos played well, they had some folks out to see them, and Nate got to see the inside of their van- powered by vegetable oil. We drove a bit outside the city and watched a Jackass marathon for a couple of hours. A little adolescent escapism was just the ticket.

Wednesday, July 4th – 4th of July Party!!! – TBA, Indiana
COMMENTS:
Ohio never fucking ended. I thought Toledo would pretty much be it but no- like 70 of the slowest miles I've EVER driven past that. But we made it to North Manchester, nee TBA, Indiana for what was certainly the warmest reception of the tour. It was an all ages venue, we were playing with our friends Jayber Crow, and Zach from Jayber Crow was getting married on the 7th- in North Manchester. So it was a family affair at the Firehouse, and it was so great. It stands out from all the other shows- being among Minneapolis friends, doing our best not to swear, making it out to Zach's family farm after the show to drink beer and see some new kittens- it was the best fourth in a while.
Thank you Zach and Pete!

Thursday, July 5th – The Kraftbrau Brewery – Kalamazoo, MI
COMMENTS:
A short drive, finally and thankfully. We made it to the hotel and after waking up from a nap I thought Nate and Scott had put quarters in my bed, which I was sure was a vibrating bed. But I was wrong on both counts- Nate and Scott didn't have any quarters to waste as a laundromat trip was planned for later, and the bed wasn't vibrating- it was just me that was shaking. That went away after like ten minutes and we made it down to the venue. We didn't know anyone in Kalamazoo and, once again, attempted some same-day marketing with similarly disappointing results. They treat strangers kind in Kalamazoo, though- and once again the bands we played with absolutely did not suck.

Friday, July 6th – The Yacht Club – Iowa City, IA
COMMENTS:
A longer drive, but the last miles flew after crossing over into (my) home state. We stopped by the world's biggest truck stop. We lost Nate for a little bit. We made it to Iowa City, met up with family, shared some drinks and some stories, made it to the Yacht Club and it was like coming home- thanks especially to the family, Becky, Jason, and Hema for coming out. After Lunatix on Pogosticks (a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band) was all finished we got on the road a bit, getting ready for Saturday.

Saturday, July 7th – FIRST AVENUE MAINROOM – Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
Late to bed, early to rise- but load-in was 2 o'clock. Generally Minneapolis at 2 on a Saturday is pretty dead, or at least a lull. But as Prince tickets for a First Avenue show went on sale at 3 PM, it was a circus when we pulled up. The concrete was throwing up the wavy heat lines and hundreds of people were waiting patiently. We made it inside, waited to do a little line check, and then we were up at 6:30. On the Mainroom stage, the stage I'd seen I don't know how many people on. It was a little bit of a geekfest, I'm not gonna lie. We played and monitors never sounded so good. Thanks Zibra Zibra for asking us. And thanks Zibra Zibra for putting on a kickass show- four part guitarmony sounds cool, but it takes a rare and talented breed to pull it off. Har Mar, of course, put on a sick show. It was an amazing night.

AND GENERAL TOUR COMMENTS:
We did it. We made it. And now that Nate picked up a van, we'll never tour in a pick-up truck, monster or otherwise, ever again. Thanks to everyone who provided hospitality along the way- and thanks to my folks who made it to two shows, in different cities. If we could get a never ending supply of Diet Coke we'd be totally hooked up for the west coast coming up in August.

Love,

Shawn

Dear Diary,

Thursday, June 14th – The Uptown Bar - Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
Scott- Rev K made an awesome poster for this show!

Friday, June 15th – The Nomad – Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
Scott - Thank goodness Miss Kristina and Co. showed up!

Saturday, June 16th – What's Up Lounge – Mankato, MN
COMMENTS:
Scott - My favorite show, as it was mere miles from my house. It was
fun kicking Nate awake the next morning.

Sunday, June 17th – Saddle Creek Bar – Omaha, Neb.
COMMENTS:
Scott - One of the best energy shows that we had on tour. Great
crowd, cool bar. It's always fun hanging out with Anthony from
Donnely. My car lost a headlight on the way down!


Tuesday, June 19th – The King Club – Madison, WI
COMMENTS:
Scott - Awesome show, the King Club is really cool. Thanks for all
the Heftes for coming out to the show! It was great to see Karl from
Fire Falls again.

Wednesday, June 20th – The Firewall – Stillwater, MN
COMMENTS:
I forget the name of the other band, but they walked away from the show because we wanted to use their instruments. Weird....Cancelled.

Thursday, June 21st – The House of Rock – Eau Claire, WI
COMMENTS:
Scott - It's always great to play The House of Rock. Thanks to the
guys from Laarks for coming out to the show as well as Angiebanana for
all the advertisement! Thanks to the Drams for not talking to us.
This was the first Monstertruck show (note: never ever tour in
a monstertruck!)

Friday, June 22nd – The Stonefly – Millwaukee, WI
COMMENTS:
Scott - The Stonefly is another great venue. We felt honored to play
there on a weekend once we saw all the other excellent bands who were
scheduled as well. The owner was great and she offered assistance
with our somewhat damaged monstertruck.

Saturday, June 23rd – US Beer Co. – Chicago, IL
COMMENTS:
Scott - Ate too much bad Chinese food. Nate and Shawn spent most of
the day fixing the monstertruck and Scott spent most of the day
sleeping in the cab. Show was fun despite many technical difficulties
(I ended up singing into a microphone with a sock wrapped around it so
I wouldn't get shocked.) We left most of our merch at the venue.
Thanks to the band Meah for shipping it to us! They were a great
psychadelic rock band.

Sunday, June 24th – Melody Inn – Indianapolis, IN
COMMENTS:
Scott - We recorded with Dodge from My Old Kentucky Blog for his
Sirius Satellite radio show. That was a blast. Dodge then came out
to see us play at the Melody Inn. They had food for us and Otto the
comedian was hilarious. I accidently took a walk into a very bad part
of town. We enjoyed some very kind hospitality from David from Hip-O.
He had a cool house out in the woods...

Monday, June 25th – Earx-tacy In-Store – Louisville, KY
COMMENTS:
Scott - Very hot day...very crabby. The In-Store was great due to the
fact that Cliff from Kentucky came out and was an awesome dude.

Wednesday, June 27th – Howard's H – Bowling Green, OH
COMMENTS:
Scott - We got a day off by the pool and tennis courts, which was much
needed. Thanks to Dr. Stacey for putting us up. Thanks to all the
Bowling Green people that came out to the show to see my homecoming.
Howard's had the smelliest stage of the tour by far. The band before
us got into a wrestling match during their set. Thanks to Dr. Jones
for coming out to the show and to mystery shot bowling.

Thursday, June 28th – The Velvet Lounge – Washington D.C.
COMMENTS:
Scott - One of the most fun shows of the tour. We met our new best
friends, James and Quinn of The Gay Blades. Shawn's sister and her
friends all came out to cheer us on. There is a Youtube video of this
show here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbJpxjhc-4

Friday, June 29th – Pianos – New York City, NY
COMMENTS:
Scott - Piano's pre-party was awesome thanks to Ty! We were all
pretty nervous for this night. Thanks to the huge crowd who came
out...I think we would have played better if we had been less nervous.
Thanks to the girl who jumped up on stage and sang with us during our
set... we never did figure out who she was. Thanks to Brandon for
putting us up for the weekend.

Saturday, June 30th – Arlene's Grocery – New York City, NY
COMMENTS:
Scott - The best show of the tour by far! Huge crowd, awesome venue!
I actually thought we played well...people laughed at my banter. We
stayed out way too late, but the pizza was sooo good....

Sunday, July 1st – The Saint – Asbury Park, NJ
COMMENTS:
Scott - Show 2 with The Gay Blades. Boy/Girl and Terminal Reynaldo
were 2 other great bands on the bill. I made fun of Bruce Springsteen
on stage and got booed. I got laundry done right across the street
from the venue. Nate spent most of the day with his shirt off.

Monday, July 2nd – The Great Scott – Boston, Mass.
COMMENTS:
Scott - Great venue! The Gay Blades rocked it! They had people out,
we didn't....we felt bad. It was sad to say good by to James and
Quinn. Nate and I got into one of many verbal and physical
altercations on stage. Shawn seemed uncomfortable with this.

Tuesday, July 3rd – Club Café – Pittsburgh, Penn.
COMMENTS:
Scott - Long drive day....wheewww. Never fun in the Monstertruck.
Pittsburgh was alright. Club Cafe was pretty cool, Dios Malos was ok.
Not a memorable show.

Wednesday, July 4th – 4th of July Party!!! @ The Firehouse– N. Manchester, Indiana
COMMENTS:
Scott - Jayber Crow was great as usual. This was our best merch night
by far! The Firehouse was awesome, we had no idea that Mates of State
and other huge bands had played there as well... We got a free hotel
stay in the deal. It rained a lot.

Thursday, July 5th – The Kraftbrau Brewery – Kalamazoo, MI
COMMENTS:
Scott - The Kraftbrau was really cool, and the other bands were all
really good. Nate spent most of the night sleeping on the couch in
the green room.

Friday, July 6th – The Yacht Club – Iowa City, IA
COMMENTS:
Scott - We opened for a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, which
brought out a HUGE crowd of drunk frat dudes and sorority girls.
However, we also had a lot of friends and family at the show. This
was another really fun night... The Venom Electric was a cool band and were great guys.

Saturday, July 7th – FIRST AVENUE MAINROOM – Minneapolis, MN
COMMENTS:
Scott - An incredible experience... Zibra Zibra and Har Mar were
incredible! I didn't think anyone would show up for us...but just a
couple songs in, the place was starting to look packed, which was very
exciting. The feedback was great! An excellent homecoming show.


GENERAL TOUR COMMENTS:
Scott - Next tour: We will not take a monstertruck. We will hire a
personal trainer and a nutritionist. No one will look at me or talk
to me before I've had my second 20 oz of Diet Coke and bag of trail
mix.

Love, Scott