6/5/09 @ Union Hall: It was a great show and a lot of people came out. Thanks so much, everyone, for making it such a packed room. Saw some old friends and family. What a great night. It was an added bonus to be playing with Detachment Kit again.

Looking back: It was a tiring tour. Hardly any nights off. And the ones we did have, well, I was sick for them. Also, the other one---the one I wasn't sick for---our van had just died. So while we weren't sick, we were a little stressed and tired, having to carry all our gear through tick-infested brush to a motel. But tiring is not bad. In fact, it's rather satisfying. I don't know that it would feel right to go on tour and come back well-rested. You're supposed to come back tired, hungry, homesick. That's what I think, at least.

We met a lot of new fans. It was exciting to meet people who said "I bought your record last night, and I've been really looking forward to seeing you since." We saw people from the last couple tours. It's not only great to see familiar faces, but we're lucky enough that those people are huge supporters: promoting the show, putting us up, etc.

And lastly, Matt Tyson. We asked a lot of him. He learned 14 songs in about a month, and he dropped everything to go on the road with us. When his wife was going through a difficult time (due to a death in the family), he honored his commitment to the tour when it would have been perfectly understandable if he had bailed out. And finally, his performances were wonderful. He's a natural musician, and a talented one. There will never be another Matt Frey---his style of playing is confounding, distinct, and really cool---but Matt Tyson has his own style and techniques, which add another, and good, dynamic to our band. Now that's he put in over 5,000 miles with Goes Cube (not counting the 5 weeks he did with us in 2007 as a documentarian), he's no longer the new guy. And from the way he played, whether it was the first night or any other night, no one would have ever been able to guess he was anyways.