You would think the last three days happened over like the period of a few weeks or years or something else. In a Chrysler Town and Country (that Stow & Go seating is the best thing ever) we drove and smoked from destination to destination. I can say we are really good at sharing, hanging out, and laughing.
Our first stop was in Bowling Green at
Howard's Club H playing with
the Sanderlings and
the Dashburns. The sound at Howard's is probably the best with these huge monitors that let you hear everything and a stage that could be on the deck of the Jolly Roger.
The Sanderlings and
the Dashburns are wicked. My favorite songs being the Sanderlings "I Heart Monogamy" and the Dashburns "Means to an End". Sara's cousin Katie came out and so did a lot of other people. They came with cool little fireworks, too. Eric (from
the Dashburns) and myself did a great job of drinking whiskey and lots of other things. We provided some stellar backing vocals to the
The Sanderlings "Killing Monsters" and with Josh (from
the Sanderlings)'s gal Sara did some bitching backin vocals on the Proclaimers "I Would Walk 500 Miles" I danced a lot. Two important notes:
The Sanderlings do a great rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" and you can't smoke indoors in Ohio. Also, cops consider putting a cigarette on the ground littering and apparently write tickets for that. O Ohio!
Back to the van and back to the
Red Roof Inn we went for sleep (Ken always smiles in his sleep. Always.) and then more van riding to Chicago. I should mention that on the way down to Ohio I beat Sara in a game of War in like a half hour, which must be a world record. However, I should also note she beat me in just about everything else (especially Hangman, 'xerox'...tough Hangman word).
Chicago est rad with many of our family members and friends now living there. We got to see the spot where Grenny got shot at and we got to play for a bunch of people in
Ronny's, which has an excellent selection of Latin-Jazz in the jukebox and a kick-ass backroom for live music. We played with
Coupleskate, who are our favorite Chicago band ("Firemen" is the best song ever), and
the Makai and
(lone) Wolf & Cub. Again, all incredibly cool bands with incredibly cool members. I didn't realize that people got that cool...the Detroit music scene does kind of have a ways to go...some might say a long ways...
If you're a fan of corn I highly reccomend the drive between Chicago and St. Louis. There's a lot of it. You won't see
jackals though, even though you think you did...St. Louis is also home to
The High 5's who are the best and nicest band ever. Ben (the keyboard/guitarist in
The High 5's) has the most bad-ass house that is like three stories tall (we got the third story!). We ate barbecue and smoked and drank (we did a lot of that at each city and in the van in between, also intermittenly creating nicknames for Greg and Ken and dancing at some gas station, but i digress...) and then went to
the Way Out Club, run by Bob & Sherri. The place is similar to
the Old Miami, but with a 50s theme of B movie posters, decorated TVs, giant statues, and a naked Pocohantos dancing on screen.
Laite played too but then couldn't hang out for very long, but they're a good band with fun sounds. We got to hang with
Beatle Bob who stopped by to wish us good times and bring good vibes (he's in
wikipedia). We all shaked along to the sounds of
The High 5's, dancing and prancing and waving bear shaped maracas. There was a cat there too! Then we went back to Ben's house of bad-assery and played on acoustic guitars and melodicas.
Thus ended our tour adventure. We slept and woke up again. We drove home, hitting some lovely thunderstorms and construction, but when you're in a van with the three coolest people you know and you've just had the best three days and you're going home none of that matters.
I heart touring.