I Left My Capo in Las Vegas
10/12/07 - 4:45 PM - On the road to Phoenix
Earlier this afternoon we left Las Vegas (and said goodbye for now to J. Bo, our most gracious host and truffle purveyor extraordinaire) and officially hit the road. The combination of our new large vehicle and my new small laptop now affords me the freedom to transcribe my thoughts while we travel. What a difference a van makes! We are travelling in comfort and style.
We drove over the Hoover dam earlier. When we stopped at the security checkpoint, The Duke waved his hand and said "This is not the van you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along." And with that we were on our way.
The scenery here is very different from that of our last journey. Lots of wide, rust-colored expanses like I've mostly seen in movies. The west! There are stretches of highway out here where our GPS doesn't get reception because we're outside of satellite coverage. We're a long way from Pittsburgh.
The kickoff show in Vegas was an inauspicious beginning. It's never a good sign when you show up thinking you're ten minutes late for load in only to find that the show organizer and sound guy have yet to arrive. And I don't understand the aversion to draught beer in Las Vegas bars. All the same, it was a good feeling to be back onstage together, whether we could hear each other or not. We debuted a new song, Things I Used to Know, that we're all excited about. It's quite rhythmic and punchy and exciting. I want you all to hear it.
We've added some more shows - 10/28 in Arcata, 10/30 in Sacramento, and 11/1 in San Diego, CA. That brings us to a total of 18 shows, a nice healthy number. And best of all, there's no zigzagging involved. Three months of planning and preparations paid off.
Unfortunately we are currently without a still camera, an oversight which we'll remedy soon, with any luck. Mink, however, has his fancy video camera in tow and has It busy documenting each step of our journey in all of its moving, noisy glory. Keep an eye out for the Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies touring documentary in early 2008.
Mink shed his moustache sometime last week. I saved mine for the fine people of Phoenix, but its future is uncertain.
10/13/07 - 1:27 AM - Driving to Willy's house
Sometimes when you're playing in a bar, especially a sparsely populated one, it can be hard to tell if the hoots and hollers you hear from the back are sincere or sarcastic. Tonight was one of those nights where I wasn't certain if the people in the room were making fun of us or not until they came over and bought CDs at the end. All told, things went very well, despite the fact that I Left My Capo in Las Vegas. Thanks to everyone who bought stuff, and thanks to everyone who said nice things to us, especially the gents in Numbers on Napkins. Money puts gas in our van, but good vibes are what make us want to keep going.
10/13/07 - 11:00 AM - On the road to Tucson
We're very fortunate when people are nice enough to invite us into their homes for the night. In a situation like ours, the kindness of strangers counts for a lot. Still, being a nomad such as we are presently is a very unpredictable affair. If you're lucky, you might score a futon. If you're not, you end up on the floor with your head on a lumpy couch cushion and a cat circling you and meowing all night as you nurse a hangover headache and listen to the rhythmic snoring of the dude across the room.
But that's how it goes out here. Pretty soon it's light out again and time for another city. So long, Phoenix, and thanks for all the fish.
Earlier this afternoon we left Las Vegas (and said goodbye for now to J. Bo, our most gracious host and truffle purveyor extraordinaire) and officially hit the road. The combination of our new large vehicle and my new small laptop now affords me the freedom to transcribe my thoughts while we travel. What a difference a van makes! We are travelling in comfort and style.
We drove over the Hoover dam earlier. When we stopped at the security checkpoint, The Duke waved his hand and said "This is not the van you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along." And with that we were on our way.
The scenery here is very different from that of our last journey. Lots of wide, rust-colored expanses like I've mostly seen in movies. The west! There are stretches of highway out here where our GPS doesn't get reception because we're outside of satellite coverage. We're a long way from Pittsburgh.
The kickoff show in Vegas was an inauspicious beginning. It's never a good sign when you show up thinking you're ten minutes late for load in only to find that the show organizer and sound guy have yet to arrive. And I don't understand the aversion to draught beer in Las Vegas bars. All the same, it was a good feeling to be back onstage together, whether we could hear each other or not. We debuted a new song, Things I Used to Know, that we're all excited about. It's quite rhythmic and punchy and exciting. I want you all to hear it.
We've added some more shows - 10/28 in Arcata, 10/30 in Sacramento, and 11/1 in San Diego, CA. That brings us to a total of 18 shows, a nice healthy number. And best of all, there's no zigzagging involved. Three months of planning and preparations paid off.
Unfortunately we are currently without a still camera, an oversight which we'll remedy soon, with any luck. Mink, however, has his fancy video camera in tow and has It busy documenting each step of our journey in all of its moving, noisy glory. Keep an eye out for the Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies touring documentary in early 2008.
Mink shed his moustache sometime last week. I saved mine for the fine people of Phoenix, but its future is uncertain.
10/13/07 - 1:27 AM - Driving to Willy's house
Sometimes when you're playing in a bar, especially a sparsely populated one, it can be hard to tell if the hoots and hollers you hear from the back are sincere or sarcastic. Tonight was one of those nights where I wasn't certain if the people in the room were making fun of us or not until they came over and bought CDs at the end. All told, things went very well, despite the fact that I Left My Capo in Las Vegas. Thanks to everyone who bought stuff, and thanks to everyone who said nice things to us, especially the gents in Numbers on Napkins. Money puts gas in our van, but good vibes are what make us want to keep going.
10/13/07 - 11:00 AM - On the road to Tucson
We're very fortunate when people are nice enough to invite us into their homes for the night. In a situation like ours, the kindness of strangers counts for a lot. Still, being a nomad such as we are presently is a very unpredictable affair. If you're lucky, you might score a futon. If you're not, you end up on the floor with your head on a lumpy couch cushion and a cat circling you and meowing all night as you nurse a hangover headache and listen to the rhythmic snoring of the dude across the room.
But that's how it goes out here. Pretty soon it's light out again and time for another city. So long, Phoenix, and thanks for all the fish.
