Thanks to all of our dear friends who braved the cold and travled some questionable miles to support us this weekend. Here's a brief recap....
THURSDAY (12/1) - Elbo Room - Chicago, IL
5 carloads of fine Champaign folks plus our favorite Chi-town homies stopped by to make this an exceptional evening. Played well and got to meet up with Patrick Grueber (an A & R guy whom we've been in talks with for a few months). Patrick had good things to say and we'll definitely be working together in some capacity very soon. Representatives from Smoke Off Vinyl, Bruiser, Ripley Caine and Darling Disarm were in attendance. Great to see musicians supporting musicians.
FRIDAY (12/2) - House Of Rock - Eau Claire, WI
Our third time in Eau Claire - by far the best crowd to date, although overall it was considered a "dead" night. Played very well (got a bootleg recording of the night!). Shared the stage with a HOT band from Minneapolis, The Melsimatics - GREAT sound. Check them out if you get the chance. The headliners were a local outfit called The Drunk Drivers which received the following descriptions:
"What I would imagine Bruce Willis' band sounds like"
"Primus without the math"
"A slightly drunker Guided By Voices"
"Springstein with a punk band"
They drank and played for almost 2 1/2 hours. Their crowd consisted mostly of 30-something Wisconsin natives in stocking caps and flannels hoisting their Old Style bottles well above their heads. Good times.
SATURDAY (12/3) - Red Sea - Minneapolis, MN
Our third time in the twin cities as well. We stayed with our pal Ana Tharp (who is, the GREATEST host in the WORLD). She let us sleep in, fed us and took us shopping. It had been pre-determined that Jesse was to remain sober and drive us back home after the gig (8 hours plus) so that he could attend his drum students' recital on Sunday afternoon in Champaign. Knowing that the drive was no one elses responsiblilty AND that the night-time wintery trek was going to be painful - Eric, Josh and I decided to apply massive amounts of alcohol to our bodies. Played a FEROCIOUS set and shared the stage with two locals (Somatic Fuzz (great guys) and The Backdrop (who not only saved the day by coming on the bill late, but also ROCKED!!!). We met some great folks and got to see some of our old pals from previous trips. Got a recording of this night too, but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. Jesse made it about 7 hours before tapping out. Josh had been behind the wheel a grand total of 40 seconds before having a CLOSE call with a semi somewhere south of Rockford. Made it back in one piece.
Didn't keep a consistant playlist this time, but here's what I remember about the drive back before I passed out.
Johnny Cash - The Essential Collection
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91
DangerMouse - The Mouse and The Mask
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
James Brown - 20th Century Collection
Damien Jr. Gong Marley - Welcome to Jamrock