We left for Dallas early in the afternoon to meet a friend living in town. We we’re scheduled to play at the New Amsterdam later on that evening. We did not really play that well, but the sound was a little weird since we were playing outside.
We played Kirby’s next in Wichita. A friend of ours met us there, Ben Webster. He was living in an art commune near the city; an abandoned elementary school that was bought on Ebay for cheap. We had a great time even though there was no one there. A teacher gave a place to stay afterwards; we were met with lots of generosity on this tour actually.
Next stop destination was Oleavers Bar with the Terminals. Some kids dance throughout our set which was peculiar- No one in Austin get that excited when we play. We stayed with some people from Brimstone Howl and they even had a party for us and brought us beer. The next morning, I had the worst food I had on tour. Somebody recommended the place but maybe we came on the wrong day. I'd recommend it to people with no taste buds.
We drove to Minneapolis next where we had the famous Juicy Lucy- hamburger with cheese inside the meat- I was not a fan but tried it anyhow. It was a Monday night show so hardly anyone was there except for the other band, the Shocker, and a few regulars. We stayed at a hotel just outside the city and that’s where I left my charger for my camera. I only had enough juice till the next town which was Milwaukee. We stopped by Madison, where Alyse went to college, for lunch. It’s a neat little college town.
We played someones basement in Milwaukee called Valhalla with Pink Reason. It was a party on a Tuesday night. We finished early and our host took us to some cool bars near by. Needless to say, we got pretty wasted and got pretty stupid which was standard.
I practically woke up in Chicago. We got there early in the afternoon and we’re all in a mission to get a Chicago style pizza before the show. The funniest thing was it took us around two hours of walking to finally find a restaurant that offered one but we were also sight seeing and stopped at this awesome bookstore called Quimby’s. The pizza took another hour and a half to cook- our waiter warned us. We were waiting forever it seems like and we were in desperate need of sustenance when it arrived but it was well worth the wait- it was the best pizza I had in years.
We played with the Busy Signals and Angelic Bombs at Big Horse Lounge. It started pretty slow but picked up later on specially when the Signals played- they played last. I've never been to Chicago and I was a little bit nervous. We had trouble with the PA a little bit but it was fixed pretty quickly. We stayed with the guys from Cococoma, Bill and Lisa. They had a flat/studio near and played ping pong and drunk beer after the show. It was a long night as you you'd expect from being in Chicago.
We went down south to St. Louis next. We were scheduled to play at Lemons with the Vultures check them out. They gave free beer and pizza. It was fun but hardly anyone showed up- the night actually started after the show at the vultures retreat, Ashley and Ryans home. They live in this three story Victorian house with lots of space to crash. We drank cheap beer and told our tall tales which got taller and taller as the night went on. I had a blast in St. Louis. Those kids had so much energy and so smart. I think they actually had to wake up early for class or work but still stayed with us till after four in the morning- crazy rock and roll kids.
Throughout the trip we always had this expedition for the worst food you can eat at each city and Saint Louis was no exception. Our host, Ashley, invited us to join her for lunch at Gus's. They had a pretzel with sausage inside. It's really good actually. St. Louis rocks- it was one of my favorite city we've visited the whole trip.
Memphis was only a couple of hours away. Alex and the gang who's been there before were adamant to get to Gus's fried chicken before the show. We made it to Gus's for dinner and it did not disappoint. It was the best fried chicken I had in a long while. We visited Goner Records afterwards and just fucked around Memphis till later in the afternoon when our friend April Novak got off work. She guided us to the Buccaneer where we we're schedule to play with Dutch Masters. It was a fun show - we had an awesome adventure with Jay after which I am not able to disclose.
The Overnight Lows is one of the best bands we were scheduled to play during the whole tour but for some reason they could not make it. I think Marsh hurt his hand or something like that. We reached Marsh and Daphne's late in the afternoon. Marsh was already passed out and Daphne was just getting off work. They already prepared food for all of us. It was the best home cooked food I had in a while- seriously. I wanted to eat more but it seemed impolite to eat so much. Anyway, we played with a rap band at WC Dons. It's the weirdest place- the crowd was a mix, someone got their purse snatched and maced everyone inside. They probably did not care for the kind of songs we played. We went back to Marsh's house after the show and arm wrestled each other. I wrestled with Dave for a long period of time- which I lost in the end. I was pretty sore the next day on our way home to Texas.
