By Nayana JoyI joined the tour on Friday in San Diego. It was a beautiful day to fly.
Aaron picked me up from the airport, blasting 'Rise Up' from the rental car. We arrived in Escondido at about the same time as the bus. It was a burner oasis (our hosts assured us that bathing suits *are* allowed) complete with swimming pool, massage tent, homemade feast, and rainbow! The San Diego burning man crew hosted us well!
The warehouse show later that night was utter chaos in the drum section, yet they've never sounded better! It was about an hour before playing that Jenny noticed her drum was missing. After some phone calls, and checking in with the band, determined that her drum had been stolen the previous night in Pioneertown near Joshua Tree. She managed to hodge-podge a drum to play for the show, but Aspen broke a mallet, Dan's handle to his cymbal broke and Jenny broke a stick. Things were falling apart, but also falling into place. Turns out Jenny needed a louder drum and a lighter harness anyway and the band had a few days in LA to make it happen!
After playing the first ever Tour de Fat in San Diego (it was a great one!) we headed back to LA for the Eagle Rock Music Festival where the crowd was hoppin' and shoppin'! We crashed at Theory Labs and awoke to a Sunday off in LA. We ate a smoked meat feast courtesy of Arturo and Tonya, and headed to Venice Beach for a few days at the same house -- what a treat on tour!
This week started in Venice Beach at Bunny's house -- a fabulous chef with a cute house, a big yard, and a bigger heart. With a show on Monday night at the Knitting Factory, there wasn't a lot of time to explore the area (though Nathan and I saw dolphins on Venice Beach). Most folks scattered, did laundry, slept, emailed, and prepared for the show. Bunny produced a feast of leftover Indian food for the band and we hit the road for Hollywood around 5 pm. The LA freeway gods were smiling on us -- the 10 east was moving! We got to the Knitting Factory around 6, sound-checked, and discovered the liquor store across the street -- uh oh!
The Handsome Little Devils opened the show to a very small crowd, but rocked it nonetheless. Even without a lot of people, M4 still managed to move some folks, rock the house, and have a great time. There was a bit of a party on the street afterward, but eventually had to move it into the bus so the cops didn't show up. Party at Bunny's! The bus had to be the party room since Bunny's neighbor had already complained. The only major damage was a broken table -- the thing went down like stage furniture! (We still love you, Joseph!)
Tuesday was a day off in Venice Beach. However, a lot of work got done too.
Richard and Aspen were making Jenny's new drum harness with a borrowed welder and scavenged bike parts. Richard brought out his spray cans and stencils and folks decked out their gear throughout the day. Aspen's new bass drum head looks awesome and jenny loves her new drum! The evening wrapped up with a Beatles singalong until the wee hours.
Wednesday we packed up the bus, said goodbye to Amy and LaTisha and headed south to Huntington Beach. The first campground we tried didn't allow tents so we ended up at the Newport Dunes Resort, which had chainlink fencing between the campsites.
After a swim in the saline pool and a soak in the spa we made our way to the Surf City Saloon. When we arrived it became clear that the show was not quite what we expected. The owner found out at 5:30 that evening that there was even a show, we were sandwiched between two punk rock bands and the promoter couldn't come to the show because he isn't 21! Things didn't look good. But once the band got going the show turned fun and the staff (and about 10 fans) loved it! The bartender brought red-headed sluts (Jaeger, peach schnapps, and cranberry) for the entire band in the middle of the show ...Good times!
It's now Thursday and we're finally leaving California. Tonight we stay in Scottsdale, then off to Tucson for the 90th birthday of Hotel Congress, a parade, a film festival and more! It's great to be on the road again....