This ain't no party -- this ain't no disco
10/17/07 - 2 PM - LA
This morning we ate some tasty burritos while taking in a telenovela and drinking coca-cola at Tony's on S. Los Angeles St. Now we're heading to Sam Ash on Sunset so I can use my employee discount to buy yet another capo (and bring my Sam Ash store visitation total to 3). DW and Dawn suggested some sights to see, and Beth wants some pastries from Canter's, and Joe has to meet his friend big D, and then we have to head to San Luis Obispo for a late show, where we'll hopefully be playing for humans.
10/18/07 - 12:15 AM - San Luis Obispo
There's a sort of fascinating dynamic at work when we play in random bars. If you ask me, it's a litmus test for coolness. Everyone in the bar who isn't cool will be gone by four songs in. If you ever have a bar full of lame people that you want emptied, just get us in there to play. There were a few cool people tonight in SLO though, and we had a good time together. The coolest one by far was our new friend PJ, who is most graciously hosting us for the night.
We had a bit of a scare when we turned up at the venue (which had two whiteboards out front that both read: “Tonight: Steve Bulberg and the Arch Enemy”) and found out that they didn't have any microphones, which they somehow forgot to tell us. It's ok, they said, because the opening act is going to bring some. But the opening act never showed up. Fortunately, I convinced the sound guy at a venue down the street to loan us an SM58 and a stand and an XLR cable (the latter of which didn't work, but we had another one in the van.) Whew.
In other bummer news, my guitar seems to have some sort of uncanny sense of when would be the worst time to have a string break, and that's always when it happens. So tonight saw my third broken high E of the tour. They were new strings, too, and heavy ones (.11-.50).
But it's not all bad out here. One of the funny things about being in a position like ours is that you drive hundreds of miles for the ostensible purpose of playing a show, but sometimes the show ends up being the worst part of the day, and the fun part is what you do before or after. Last night we drove to PJ's place in Pismo beach. We took our instruments on a trek through the dark underbrush and emerged on the dunes, where we sat down and had a lovely singalong. It reminded me of how nice it is to sing and play when you're right next to your fellow musicians and you're not kissing a microphone and pushing too hard on everything but still unable hear yourself, and when the only sound you're competing with is the faint rushing of the ocean and not the noisy din of indifferent bargoers.
Ah well. Another day, another show. No one can tell me that I never tried. So now it's time to sleep on another couch and tomorrow it's San Francisco.
10/18/07 – 11:45 AM - California 1
“And the road a-winding goes
from Golden Gate to roaring cliffside
and the light is softly low
as our hearts become sweetly untied
'neath the sun
California one”
On the plus side, the view is as nice as Colin Meloy would have you believe. On the not-so-plus side, gas is $3.85 a gallon. Sigh. It sure is pretty, though. We made a stop in Monterey for a bite to eat. It's nice here. We walked along the beach and looked at kelp and listened to the distant squawking of seals. We scrawled “S G A E” in the sand and watched the waves rush in and wash it away.
Now we're out on the road again (on the road again) and we're driving by vast fields of artichokes. Bless their little hearts.
This morning we ate some tasty burritos while taking in a telenovela and drinking coca-cola at Tony's on S. Los Angeles St. Now we're heading to Sam Ash on Sunset so I can use my employee discount to buy yet another capo (and bring my Sam Ash store visitation total to 3). DW and Dawn suggested some sights to see, and Beth wants some pastries from Canter's, and Joe has to meet his friend big D, and then we have to head to San Luis Obispo for a late show, where we'll hopefully be playing for humans.
10/18/07 - 12:15 AM - San Luis Obispo
There's a sort of fascinating dynamic at work when we play in random bars. If you ask me, it's a litmus test for coolness. Everyone in the bar who isn't cool will be gone by four songs in. If you ever have a bar full of lame people that you want emptied, just get us in there to play. There were a few cool people tonight in SLO though, and we had a good time together. The coolest one by far was our new friend PJ, who is most graciously hosting us for the night.
We had a bit of a scare when we turned up at the venue (which had two whiteboards out front that both read: “Tonight: Steve Bulberg and the Arch Enemy”) and found out that they didn't have any microphones, which they somehow forgot to tell us. It's ok, they said, because the opening act is going to bring some. But the opening act never showed up. Fortunately, I convinced the sound guy at a venue down the street to loan us an SM58 and a stand and an XLR cable (the latter of which didn't work, but we had another one in the van.) Whew.
In other bummer news, my guitar seems to have some sort of uncanny sense of when would be the worst time to have a string break, and that's always when it happens. So tonight saw my third broken high E of the tour. They were new strings, too, and heavy ones (.11-.50).
But it's not all bad out here. One of the funny things about being in a position like ours is that you drive hundreds of miles for the ostensible purpose of playing a show, but sometimes the show ends up being the worst part of the day, and the fun part is what you do before or after. Last night we drove to PJ's place in Pismo beach. We took our instruments on a trek through the dark underbrush and emerged on the dunes, where we sat down and had a lovely singalong. It reminded me of how nice it is to sing and play when you're right next to your fellow musicians and you're not kissing a microphone and pushing too hard on everything but still unable hear yourself, and when the only sound you're competing with is the faint rushing of the ocean and not the noisy din of indifferent bargoers.
Ah well. Another day, another show. No one can tell me that I never tried. So now it's time to sleep on another couch and tomorrow it's San Francisco.
10/18/07 – 11:45 AM - California 1
“And the road a-winding goes
from Golden Gate to roaring cliffside
and the light is softly low
as our hearts become sweetly untied
'neath the sun
California one”
On the plus side, the view is as nice as Colin Meloy would have you believe. On the not-so-plus side, gas is $3.85 a gallon. Sigh. It sure is pretty, though. We made a stop in Monterey for a bite to eat. It's nice here. We walked along the beach and looked at kelp and listened to the distant squawking of seals. We scrawled “S G A E” in the sand and watched the waves rush in and wash it away.
Now we're out on the road again (on the road again) and we're driving by vast fields of artichokes. Bless their little hearts.
