Hole the Phone!

I suppose it's been long enough... we have a new album.

Eric (brick mower, sun puddles, real good) plays drums for us and Phil (slaw, ex-ex-wife) plays the bass...except for one song where he plays a lot of lead guitar stuff. Rob and I manage the rest. I can say, without hyperbole, that this is our best output yet (6th release, for those of you playing along at home).

Oh, I wouldn't know what to say if I hadn't already...

You can listen to/ buy to it here, on bandcamp, if you're so inclined.

I think we'll do an album release show sometime in August, probably on the 22nd with ifihadahifi and other bands. More details about that forthcoming. ALSO, I'm not sure if we'll get this album pressed to vinyl, if we do and you've already bought a download/cd copy, we'll knock the price down by however much you paid for it--like some sort of punk rock coupon. Really, though, there is nothing in the works to press FORM to vinyl so you gain nothing by waiting this one out.

Rob and I are again writing songs as we have at least one release coming in 2012. More news and show updates coming soon, hopefully.

--marty

Lowercase News

We haven't played many shows lately and have instead focused on writing and rehearsing the new LP which we plan to record next month. Two of the demo'ed songs have been up on Silent Way's bandcamp.com site and I guess that's worth mentioning. I think I'll hold off putting the other 9 songs up as they will be sold as part of our eventual retrospective/box set release.

Next show is for the PRF.BBQ.

25th of March at Don Pedro's, 90 Manhattan Ave, in Brooklyn, NY. We go on at 8pm sharp.

Silent Way

Risk/Reward

Airport Seven

Old Man Lady Luck

Maple Stave

RSO

$5

Come out and see how the new album is shaping up as we're going to be playing a lot of it. That's all I've got for now.

-- Marty

Catching Up

So it's been a while since this has been updated. Our summer tour ended a few days prematurely with Marty on the lam from John Law. After getting home, we decided to recharge our batteries, as we spent pretty much 95% of the first half of 2010 writing, recording, and releasing music, not to mention being on tour for a full month and a half.

Since the summer our relationship with Sis has soured, and like all good break-ups, this one seems to be taking a good few months to finally coalesce. Not to fear, though, because standing in the shadows of previous Silent Way full band lineups comes...(drumroll please), the new rhythm section. Featuring New Brunswick all stars like:
Phil. Phil is famous for his work with New Brunswick's own Slaw and his groundbreaking work in the Rutgers Computer Labs. Phil is a dude who plays bass who would, in continuing Silent Way tradition, never consider himself a bassist. Welcome aboard Phil!

We also have Eric from Brick Mower fame joining us behind the kit for a notable conflict of interest. Eric already spends the majority of his free time in the Silent Way basement as he uses it as a meth-lab disguised as a practice space for some of his Halloween cover bands. We've told Eric that we will take his drumming in lieu of rent money, and he has agreed to sit in.

Since getting back from tour in May, we've played one New Brunswick show, and we have two lined up in November:

November 11:
Silent Way
Neon Blud (Tampa)
Pollution (NYC)
Kicking Spit

November 19:
Radio Exiles (Record Release)
Libyans (Boston)
Silent Way
Big Eyes

With Eric and Phil, we will be writing and recording a new set of about a dozen and a half songs. Some will be on an LP, and the rest will probably find their way on to a split or two we are hopefully going to be able to put out in the first half of next year.

We are excited to be working on new stuff. Hope you enjoy!

-Drucker

End of the Line...

Tuesday June 8, Houston. Sticky Little Flowers.

A few days rest seems to pay off as Rob and I are able to work out some material and recharge our batteries (literally). Make our way to Walther's on Washington and meet up with a rather friendly sound guy. I guess we're going on first so we get to load in, set up, and sound check before we split for dinner.

The current plan of staying well fed and not miserably hungry for most of the day seems to be working wonders. Back at the club we meet up with Dave and Frank of PLF and the SFN crew. Rob's friend Megs, who we are staying with that night, also shows up shortly thereafter.

Rob and I also learn a lesson from a new local that you should never have a benefit show thrown for you if you only have an inoperable spinal-tumor. Apparently, his friends in DC weren't too pleased to find out that this wasn't killing him. And I always thought that DC was an anti-tumor town. Live and learn.

We played pretty well and traded some tapes and records. I unexpectedly got my foot stomped on by the only person in the circle pit during the second band's set. PLF played a great set as well as SFN. The show ends and we say goodbye to PLF and SFN. Back at Megs' home, we fall asleep to the Bill Pullman/ Madonna classic, A League of Their Own.
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Wednesday June 9th, Houston. Last Day off, hopefully.

Get up early because Megs couldn't get time off to hang out. Shortly after leaving, the van is pulled over for "someone calling in a suspicious vehicle." In all fairness to the police and concerned citizens, the van was wearing a black and white striped shirt and a little robbers mask.

Rob and I hop around a few record shops as well as an instrument shop to see if we can get one of the drum-machine amps fixed/replaced--turns out we can't. We pick up some groceries for dinner at a few local stores before heading back to Cypress Creek. Go swimming. Eat dinner. Watch the Blackhawks win the Stanley cup. Go to sleep.
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Thursday June 10th, Little Rock. Good Cat to Train-Hopper Ratios.

Wake up. Send off from the Ciriglianos. Lots of driving.

Arrive in Little Rock and are greeted by Baby Huey and Tara. I make time to play with the house cat while we do the awkward how long were you in prison/ what did you study in college introductions. Wait around a little bit before load in. Bit of a small room but we play pretty well and a few people take notice.

Odd thing about the turnout, a lot of train hoppers. I really wasn't aware that Little Rock was a hotbed of hobo-culture . Also, we were in attendance for Baby Huey's wedding to (should have taken better notes). No champagne but there was Mountain Dew. Sadly, I tied the tin cans to the wrong train--how embarrassing.

Outstanding local, Dan, was kind enough to feed and house us for the evening. I'm still kicking myself for not taking home one of his adorable kittens--but I wasn't sure how or if a kitten would be able to survive a week on tour with us. I'm starting to wonder how I've made it this far.
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Friday 6/11 Birmingham. It's a lot like the last town except there's a lot bugs instead of cats.

Wake up refreshed. Start the day off with a stack of pancakes and hash-browns followed by some more wholesome kitty attention. Dan takes me on a scenic tour of downtown Lil Rock before Rob and I head off.

Long drive to Birmingham. After finding the venue Rob and I head off in search of dinner. We end up settling on a hamburger joint named the Purple Onion. My order is screwed up but I take a "roll with it" approach and enjoy my meal the same. I think I overhear someone order a burger with no onion--I, too, let this slide.

Show gets off to a slow start but we eventually go on followed by us not playing. Kind of a diverse bill--metal, us, instrumental indie, and pop-punk. Whatever. The venue we played in used to be a fire-station. I feel there was a missed opportunity by not having a fire-pole for bands to use to get to the stage--it would have been a nice chance to rekindle my past dreams of the career I wanted before settling on this rock and roll lifestyle--being a Ghostbuster.

Post show we take off for Tampa. Long drive ahead. Sleep eventually found near Florida border.

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Saturday June 12th. Tampa. BIRTHDAY! Wrong Tour.

We want to get to Tampa at a decent hour so we get up early and drive quickly. Roll up to Carson's house where we're met with a hot meal and large grasshoppers. Feels like home. We mix with the good folks of Slavescene/Neon Blud/ and MLU before heading over to the show.

Storage space show where we headline. Tomorrow also happens to be Carson's birthday so a nice party atmosphere seeps into the crowd. Rob capitalizes on this by busting out the pinata he bought in Chicago--he ends on breaking it and his guitar during Feel the Same. Also, injures Carson's foot in the process. We end the night with Exhibition and head back to the house to continue celebrating.

I fall asleep after the late night to the sound of Rob watching classic Simpsons episodes too loudly.

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Sunday June 13th. Orlando. Don't stand so close to me or play that song.

Wake up to Carson's birthday breakfast plans: Cuban Cafeteria. Been a while since I had fried plantains and yucca. We're able to spend time having fun at the ocean until the beach-cops show up. Time to go. Thanks Zack.

Say goodbye to everyone and take off for Orlando. Told to be there around 7. Get there around 7 and wait for three hours until things get going. To pass time Rob and I grab dinner and do some shopping. I pick up a new pair of sunglasses as the ones I had were accidentally left behind at the beach after having to make a hasty exit. Thanks Zack.

Local cool guy, Mark, from the Teenaged Softies, helped us get on the show and it was nice of him to come out in spite of having the flu. We are informed that we're playing first so we set up in front of the band that was supposed to play first--putting us very close to being in the middle of a small bar-room. We sound check and play all the while getting hassled by a rather drunk local. Don't know why the bar let his stay around since he'd been bothering a lot of people there. Whatever. He eventually gets (literally) thrown out. Thanks Zack.

SFN shows up to play and we're later informed that their band fund had been robbed a few days ago. Sucks to hear how a good tour can turn into a liability at a certain point. The show ends and we say our good-byes to Mark and the SFN crew who we were grateful to see again. Best wishes to all of them.

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Monday June 14th. Atlanta. East meets West.

Getting a bit of a late start on the way to Atlanta due to me accidentally locking us out of the bathroom with some of Rob's stuff still in there. Lots of driving but we make our way there with time to kill.

Stop off at a record store where some kid tried to convince us to come to the show we were playing. Joke's on him. Next stop was another record store where the two clerks were discussing how annoying it is to have Fred Schneider as a customer--I cannot imagine the nerve of that guy to think he can go to the same shop twice in the same year! The other inane conversation the folks behind the counter had was about how great Alton Brown is and how great it would be to work for him. No arguments there.

Show up to the WonderRoot and find out that the show had been double booked! I guess there were going to be two competing ska shows in town that night and that shouldn't happen so they were combined. Luckily Dave was there to keep us company while we waited for the madness to stop. We go on and play our two songs, take our cut of the door, and leave to finally eat.

Shop the local Kroeger and cook dinner and chocolate chip cookies back at Dave's place. I fall asleep, upright, while watching the Monks documentary, Transatlantic Feedback.
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Tuesday June 15th. Nashville. or as I call it: the Love-nasium.

I get up unreasonably early, possibly due to falling asleep in a chair, and mill about waiting for Rob and Dave to get up. Rob and I hit up a Trader Joe's before making the drive to Nashville.

We arrive mid-day and start looking for and through record stores. I'm not as keen on shopping in music stores as Rob is so I spend a good time analyzing the lyrics of a song overheard on the house PA. "If women ruled the Earth, there would be no more wars..." Still doesn't explain Bride Wars.

After lunch we make our way to Jesse's house. I play with the house cat while Rob makes phone calls. We then mill about a bit before heading out in search of dinner. Before dinner we hit up another record store that had just been flooded. There was a lot of damage to the vinyl selection; luckily, the pornography section survived. A used media superstore was next where I picked up a couple books and old Nintendo cartridges. I can't remember if NHL'95 was one of the good ones or not but I figured it was worth the $.25 to find out--also, could make a good coaster if it isn't.

Dinner at Cinco de Mayo just because we could and then back to Jesse's house. Two stage set up with us in the basement and another band upstairs--not playing at the same time--just to save time between sets. Load in and play second with Jesse joining us on second guitar for our cover of Big Black's Passing Complexion to close the set. Haven't done that one since winter tour but it seemed to go over pretty well with the crowd.

I duck out to the van for a few minutes and end up falling asleep. Rob wakes me up around 1am and I attempt to fall asleep on the couch. Not enough wine to sleep comfortably in a sticky, hot noisy living room.

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Wednesday June 16. North Carolina and the states that come after.

Wake up and drive. I get a phone call detailing some bad news. Rob and I decide to cancel the last two shows and make our way to New Brunswick that night. Ending on a high-note in Nashville seems like the right thing to do as the next two shows weren't going to be attended by our friends and our very last show ended up not having a venue. Can't win 'em all. Gotta catch 'em all.

Thanks to everyone that was able to make this happen and made it worthwhile. It was exhausting but still very rewarding. I think we're going to hold off touring until next summer as we have a lot of songs to work on and want to focus more on that now.

Final Countdowns

Cats played with - 11

Toilets clogged - 1

Sunglasses - 5

Nosebleeds - 0

Tornado Alley in June.

Wednesday. June 2nd. Iowa City. Mo merch. Mo problems.

Get a jump on the day by leaving De Kalb with Burritoville in our bellies. Lots of driving. Lots of toll booths. Arrive in Iowa City and take up a table at a local coffee house.

Rob informs me that our shows in Austin and New Orleans aren't happening. Bummer. Was looking to get some good BBQ on our way to Austin--and isn't that really what all this is about?

Get to PS1 around 8. Cool basement venue formerly owned by the university then donated to locals. We wait around after load in and pass the time playing E.R.S. One band we were on the bill with seemed to have a lot of merch--variety of tee shirts, shorts, hooded sweaters, patches, etc--they even brought their own merch guy. Only thing I didn't see for sale was music. I guess they know what they're doing.

We go on second and play to a few folks. Most of whom ended up being on the bill as the rather talented These Needles--whom we end up spending the night hanging out with and crashing at their house. One of the members of Animal Mothers eats a can of olives instead of the food Rob cooked. I try to keep a good mood by playing with the house cat before turning in for the night.
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Thursday. June 3rd. Liberty MO. How old am I? old enough to have to ask.

Geddupngo. Lots of driving to do. We end up passing a sign for a "modern" rest area and decide that we'll stop there to stretch our legs/ internet fingers. I hope the sign is "not twenty years old." Modern ends up meaning spotty WiFi and vending machines so we waste an hour or so off the highway.

Our host informs us that some local highways are closed due to construction. Luckily, this doesn't affect us too much and we make it to Liberty with time to spend (at a Panera Bread Co.).

Well fed, we arrive at the Venus Flytrap and are greeted by our host, Deto. Things get started by high-school aged band Trainbow. It's always fun seeing young bands because they're usually made up of kids of different tastes and musical ability and reasons for playing music. There always seems to be at least one member that looks like they'd rather not be in a band at all. They played their fun songs that don't drag out forever, not that I'm complaining.

We follow and play alright as people seem enthused to give us money, and in one instance, a guitar cable, for tapes and records. Jabber Josh played after us and the show was closed out by an acoustic set by a local song-smith (should've taken better notes). After a dinner of hot dogs, we take a bunch of the locals down to the store for cup-cakes as none of them are old enough to drink with us--or vote.

Rob and I don't want to get in trouble with any of their parents so we get to bed at 11PM sharp.
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Friday. June 4th. Norman OK. Thanks to all the (box) fan that came out to see us.

Traditional Silent Way breakfast of pasta and peppers to start off the day before heading to Oklahoma. We get to town and are let into the house we're staying at and shown our bed. The house smells of spices--possibly Worcestershire.

House show at the Avery House where we show up and meet Avery. We find out we're the only band on bill before the promoter leaves for work. I don't remember the name of the other band that was supposed to play with us but it was some type of dinosaur thus I will boycott all future dinosaur-named bands until I remember the specific name of the band or forget the boycott. (Drucker Edit: Steogsaur, from Austin)

We play to no fanfare and leave. Spirits are lowered when we get news of another canceled show. Poorly run shows as well as low turnout have us talking of turning around and heading back to NJ. We could make it back to see The Wankys in New Brunswick if we left in the morning.
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Saturday. June 5th. Fort Worth TX. Chicken fried unemployment form.

We decide to soldier on for no apparent reason--which is pretty rock and roll if you ask me. We make it to Fort Worth and meet up with local awesome guy, Rick, at his place of employment where we enjoy some local vegan foods (citation given) and beer. Rick gives us a key to his place and we spend the rest of the afternoon watching Simpsons tapes and napping.

Head over to 1919 and load in. Rob and I run to the local convenience store for nourishment--candy and "throwback" Pepsi. We go on second. Third billing was all around great one man act, Smile Full of Ale, who we were supposed to play with last year--but due to his good nature, helped us onto another bill and gave us a drum-kit instead.

The show ends and Rob and I head out to a local diner for some chicken fried whatever. Our waitress was, sadly, a northerner who seemed none too interested in faking southern hospitality--or getting us silverware--or the Texas toast we ordered.

We retire back to Rick's house and watch classic episodes of Futurama. I fall asleep in the jet stream of the air conditioner.
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Sun/Monday June 6/7rd. Houston. Days off still get no fancy title.

Woken up by Rick's cat's meow. I think we watched more Matt Groening cartoons before leaving for Cypress. Good byes said, on the road. Thanks again to Rick for keeping our spirits up.

We almost make it to our destination before our trusted van has troubles. We had already scheduled an oil change at a local auto-chain and they're more than happy to fix whatever was wrong with the van--because that's how they make money.

Rob and I spend two days resting up, writing new songs at the Cirigliano homestead. Van is fixed and well fed. Not too much else to tell now but, hopefully, the worst is behind us. Stay tuned to see how wrong that last sentence is.

Something like that...

Saturday, May 29. Chicago. Don't call it that.
Wake up with plenty of time to waste today as our base of operations is only forty-five minutes away from the venue. Rob needs new shoes so we head into the city for some shopping. Dre, our liaison, accompanies us.

If you've never shopped with Rob before, you really aught to give it a shot as it's rather entertaining. I find myself saying very motherly things like "how do they feel? Is there enough room at the toe? Walk around and see how you like them. We'll get ice-cream later if you behave."

Shoe shopping ends and I can't find the van, mostly because I was looking on the wrong street. The right street is eventually found and the van is right where I didn't remember leaving it. We head back to the venue and play the waiting game by Parker Bros (or was it Milton Bradley?).

Not a great turn-out at the venue (possibly due to the first game of the Stanley Cup play-offs happening in town that night) but people seemed to be having a nice time. Friendly folk Mike, Abby, and Simone also made for pleasant conversation throughout the night.

We go on late-ish and admirably perform Feel the Same followed by Exhibition. Those there seemed to enjoy it. I think we might have even gotten rid of some pre-recorded material that's all the rage.. with the youth... and what not. I was later fed a free Vegan Tuna-Fish sandwich. I'm not vegan nor into tuna-fish sandwiches (i do enjoy tuna, just not mayo) but since neither of those things would come into play, I gave it a shot. Ugh. Maybe what it's made of doesn't matter and I just don't like anything called tuna-fish sandwich.

We retire after after the last band plays and rest up for our show in Milwaukee.
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Sunday. May 30th. Milwaukee. 2 Grape 2 Drank.

Spend the early part of the day watching cable TV, Adult Swim "ON DEMAND" to be more specific, before heading north to Wisconsin. I hadn't been to Milwaukee in a few years. Looks/ smells pretty much the same.

Jason and Eric welcome us to the city with a hot grill and cold Hamm's. Sometime during the meal, fellow bill mates and all around swell New Brunswickians, Big Eyes showed up. Rob, John, and I head out in search of more beer shortly, thereafter.

Along with another case of Hamm's, I snag a bag of Kruncher's potato chips. Bummed that there was a lot of shelf space dedicated to Jay's Pork Skins and not Jay's BBQ chips. I guess I'll have to get some of those before leaving the mid-west. We return to the house and meet up with the good folks of Milwaukee's own Ifihadahifi.

Rob, in his recent travels to the Canadian continent, heard that the Ifihadahifi were "uptight" and "act like they're better than everyone else." I really cannot express how silly that seems after meeting them. They even took my accidentally left-handed sounding compliment of "adult punk-rock" as the genuine compliment that I intended it to be.

We play third. I mistakenly thought it was a good idea to change my strings right before the set. Opened with Communique and then finished off with Feel the Same, the extended, continuous-tuning version. I ended up breaking the sunglasses Rob found in Canada that I'd been wearing. 0% UV protection awaits my eyes. I drink a bit too much and duck out of the house after Big Eyes plays to collect my spinning head.

I can't stress how fun this show was; all great people, music, and times--Thanks Milwaukee.
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Monday May 31st. Does a day off get a clever title? no.

Woke up in Milwaukee at 6AM due to rather loud thunder (not the English hard rock band) but was able to fall back asleep for a few hours more. I got to play with the cats of the house before heading back to Chicago. We then lost another beer from Grand Rapids to Jason for being an all-around nice guy.

We get back to Chicago at a decent time and are able to get some supplies for the next stretch of tour--including a surprise that Rob picked up that will go unmentioned as to not ruin it for anyone reading this (ha) that will be at the future show the surprise makes its appearance (ha).

We visit my high-school friend Jon and his wife and baby before packing it in for the evening. Good night.
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Tuesday June 1st. DeKalb. 7th Street Space is the Place.

Good-byes are said and we make our way out to DeKalb, IL. First stop off in DeKalb is Burritoville followed by a trip to the liquor store where Rob picks up Canadian beer and three packages of expired candy--two things that I really wish to have no part off tonight.

We waste a bit time shopping, hoping we can pick up a cheap copy of the Metalica documentary, Some Kind of Monster. No such luck. We end up getting a headphone adaptor, a sociology book, and The Usual Suspects on DVD. Rob also snagged the latest issue of MaximumRocknRoll for their interview with Lotus Fucker's Kamikazi Dan. I can't say enough great things about Dan, who has helped us out tremendously as well as been just about the best friend any person could ask for. Best wishes for him, always.

We load into the Space and things start around 9:30. Mike and Sam were a great duo to watch followed by (names escape me) a one man drone act. Rob and I go decidedly short set in the interest of time and play for only 10 minutes. I thought it went over exceptionally well but once the show ended, people said they wished we had played longer. I like our short set. I'm a fan of quitting whilst ahead--and other kinds of quitting too. Also this gives us the opportunity to awkwardly push merch--which we failed at. Rob gets us on a bill tomorrow in Iowa City so that takes the pressure of trying to figure out where we're going tomorrow off our shoulders.

Overall fun show where we got to see friendly faces and meet new and interesting people. Thanks to Ryan, Mike, Mike, Sam, Lindsey for all the fun had.

Are you sure it's cool?

As predicted, no daily update to the tour diary. I have been taking notes but internet access has been a bit more limited than I anticipated so I'm making use when I can. On with the anecdotes.
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Wednesday, May 26. Buffalo. Another drive, another sound-person.

Left late due to a misplaced iPod. Couldn't find it so CJ lent us his, thus earning a thank-you in our next batch of those liner-notes the kids can't seem to get enough of. I try not to stay in a bad mood for too long.

We get to the venue in time and are informed by Cam that he and his friends have already been booted from the club for not being born soon enough. Doesn't bother me--I only want to play to people who are there for drinking. Another highlight of this bar was that the night was triple booked! Hardcore, funk, and cover-band enthusiasts rejoice, you have found your home.

While other acts were performing, Rob and I ducked outside to mingle with the fine people of Buffalo. While names escape me at the moment (should have taken better notes), we met a lovely (and smart) lesbian couple who had just moved in together. My inching towards the U-Haul joke was quickly spotted when I asked how long they had been together--a year and a half. Astrology became the topic de jour so I kept my words to a minimum.

After a quick jaunt down to the liquor store to buy candy (seriously), we were approached by a gentleman in a straw cowboy hat attempting to distribute anti-immigration literature. Things took a turn when the esteemed salesman threatened to fight me after I disagreed with him about what color most rapists and murders are. Things settled quickly when the clubs security staff figured out that the inebriated cowboy distributing racist literature and claiming to have gotten in 3 gun fights might be the one causing trouble and NOT the guy talking about Zodiac signs and eating English toffee. My calm behavior was rewarded with a hug from a girl that didn't like Rob's sign.

The School Jerks played well and we then took the floor to perform. We only played one song --the sound guy seemed to enjoy it, though. We loaded out and hung out with Brandon and a few locals before hitting up a Wegman's--who won't sell beer past 3Am. Rob and I are attempting to sample local beers so a day one setback hurt a bit. We retire to Brandon's home, formally a funeral home, and get some rest. My transformation to Danzig is really taking shape.

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Thursday May 27, Cincinnati. More drive, more smell.

Woke up and found my iPod in my toiletries bag. Talk about starting the day off on high note--clean teeth and classic episodes of Car Talk await. Brandon sees us off and we make our way to Ohio.

A trip to a rest area for a quick break provides us Silent Waiers another opportunity to get some snacks from a vending machine. Rob goes with an ice-cream bar while I choose what I thought were M&M Crispies. Much to my surprise, they turned out to be some sort of pretzel M&M's. I'm try not to make a big deal out of the fact that these pretzel M&M's packaging is the exact same color as the M&M Crispies packaging. I was also surprised a day later when the familiar yellow package of what I thought were M&M Peanut turned out to be M&M Rye.

I wasn't going to bring it up now but I also bought M&M's from a vending machine on the way to Buffalo. After making my selection they got caught in the machine forcing me to purchase another package of them. I'm writing a strongly worded email to the M&M family once I'm back in New Brunswick.

After finding the Macabee we wait for other bands/ promoters/ patrons to show up/ let us in. Waiting proves to be too much for us so we end up driving around the neighborhood looking for anyone that knows anything about the venue. Luckily, the first person we ask for help points us 20 feet south to an ex-New Yorker, Jerome, the owner of the Macabee and the man running tonight's show.

I don't remember what time we wend on but it seemed pretty late. As a touring act, Jerome was able to provided us with two Milwaukee's Best. I'm not going to argue with a free beer but I don't know how Milwaukee feels about the situation. We opened with Feel the Same and transitioned into the second half of Everyone's a Photographer. I thought it worked but Rob disagrees. Pistols at dawn will settle the matter tomorrow.
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Friday May 29, Grand Rapids. (long drives are)Rapidly(becoming not so)Grand.

I don't sleep in. Load up the van and head out.

We stop for lunch after a few hours on the road at a local coffee shop. Leaving Cincinnati at a reasonable time allowed us to waste a good amount of time on the road and not worry so much about driving non-stop. We pulled up to Ryan's home around 5 where we were greeted with a case of beer.

Rob and I have avoided fast food thus far and opt to make dinner for ourselves in Ryan's kitchen. His band is playing tonight and various band mates show up to load gear into their station wagon. Rob plays video games while I make calls. We head over to the venue afterward.

One thing I've noticed the last few days was how light it is late in the evening. I guess it's not that surprising since NJ is on one side of a time-zone and MI is on the other. I like it since it gives me a good excuse to wear my sunglasses far past when I need them.

Kind of a small crowd tonight. Culo shows up during our set. We played kind of poorly but I guess that's expected. Rob called an audible half-way through the set and we never recovered from it. Part of me wants to play the exact same set every night since we only have four songs and we could lock into a set more quickly, but I also enjoy the process of putting together a setlist--and I fear sinking into a routine out of convenience.

We lose a beer due Stephanie's bicycle. This prompts two locals to try and get all tough guy at me. I don't understand how some people are so thick. Who goes around wearing suspenders and a shirt that says "Skin Head" and expects anyone to try and explain anything to them? I'm pretty sure that kind of behavior/ garb pretty much clearly identifies someone that just ain't into logic. Prove me wrong, folks... I shouldn't let a few insignificant, lame people bum me out but it gets to me sometimes.

We eat some Burger King and then leave for Chicago. Much tiredness ensues but we make it there somehow.