MASS SHIVERS

March 20

First stop, Pittsburgh. Not in three tries have we had a good experience in Pittsburgh. Second time through was probably the best by default, but i say this mostly because the gross spectacles some of the locals made of themselves, that contributed to thinking poorly of the gig, are in fact the same that make me think it was fun. Darkly. Pittsburgh loves to drink. That’s what I’ve noticed. Their women are loud, some appear slutty in a scary kind of way, their men the type who will take advantage, if the women allow it! The room energy for this show at Smiling Moose was tepid at best. Don’t play at this venue. People that saw it seemed pleased, but were pretty content to smoke and drink at a table 25 feet away. Hoping to get something dope happening in PGH next time.

March 21

Excellent hang, albeit brief, with local and out of town friends alike when we got to Manhattan; we really have some superb people in the area, from New Haven and Princeton and Baltimore, even, who manage to come out consistently, which totally rules. We were on a bill with a bunch of noise mongers, something I can dig if they’ve got the right vibe. Trigal, from Barcelona, was one such dude with the good vibes, totally clearing out the room with his calculated build-up, momentarily pausing every few minutes of increased intensity to daintily sip on some fruit-red drink with an orange slice on the rim, like it was totally casual. It was great. The dude who curated the show projected odd videos during sets to nice effect most of the time.

That night we went for the heavily caffeinated show in pre-games, a new trick that proved to be a keeper. Lots of coffee however called for lots of whiskey to balance out the attack, a la Darby Crash’s warm-ups but legal/pussified. We were the only rock band on the bill and we laid it out and hit it hard, just like you should with a good crowd in New York, and people were feeling it. Sweaty as hell, pounds shed.

After us was MV Carbon, who was so nervous to play she spent the entire night before her set hiding in this damp little closet-sized area, where you stash your gear, actually talking about being nervous. Anyway, she was ok, so was the dude from Awesome Color, who headlined the thing. It’s balls playing solo like he did, whatever you’re doing.

March 22

We arrived at the Czar in Richmond late, during what we thought was going to be the first or second band’s set; instead, we found some of the dudes on the bill working on homework backstage, and no one had played! These local cats are super positive and super friendly. Openers Caves, Caverns were pretty sweet; stylish guitar playing. Dudes were talking about how they put together these improvised jams under an overpass by the river, using a generator, rocking out all day on the banks. When we come back, we want in. Vibe was friendly all around and we’re two for two since leaving Pittsburgh. Thanks, Hail Hydras, for the hospitality.

March 23

Woke up in the afternoon feeling finally like we’d shaken the regimental vibe brought upon by routine (over)work-life. Drove to Greenville, hoping to catch a few hours at the beach along the way. Unfortunately, GPS took us off the beaten path to some place called the Rainbow Gun Club, some relic of a confederate headquarters that we were definitely not prepared to see, marked only by a rotting sign with scrawled lettering preceding a “road” up through a dirt field and into the woods. Thanks, but no thanks. With the horror factor increased and free time decreased, we realized we had killed any chance we had of making it to the ocean that day. So, we rerouted for the BBQ place. NC BBQ is different, it’s all about the vinegar, everything is vinegar-based. They roast the pigs whole, cut them open, remove the skeleton and dice up all that’s left before marinating it in this vinegary bbq sauce. Awesome.

Greenville shows are cool and hazy, there tends to be a crowd of 30 people at every show just wanting to hang and freak out to bands, and sniff poppers and drink and smoke. This one was no different. Best one liner from some girl after just having made out with her girlfriend, to some dude actually sniffing poppers: “Have you ever been tickled on poppers? It’s AMAZING!” The Geenville scene is totally free, totally out there. Rewarding trip, especially for a Monday night!

March 24

On towards DC the next day. At this point, “Stanky Leg” is the lead song to our tour soundtrack. Grabbed a bit of Ethiopian food in our nation’s capital, as we’re nothing if not hard for the best food each town has to offer when on tour, and then crossed over the Potomac River into Arlington, VA, which is just over the DC line, to jam at the Kansas House. This ended up being perhaps the best show for a variety of reasons. Super friendly locals, genuine good vibes, tons of kids dancing– and a totally shared experience. Kansas House seems like a DC punk community relic in the middle of a commercialized neighborhood. It’s literally the only house standing on this block full of condos and a 7-11. We had to wait to start playing until these cops that were suspiciously stationed in front of the house had bailed. It was funny, peering out the window from behind mattresses and blinds, assuming they were staking the place out. Once they left and the tubes were hot, we ripped into the set.

March 25

New Haven is one of those towns where you wonder if there is any real scene or not, and if there is, what the fuck are they into? Met up with buddy Ian who has always been so good to us on the road, letting us crash and taking us around for pizza and playing street ball at 3AM. Nothing too memorable about this gig, other than the house drunk lady being generally amusing (falling off her chair while trying to tell us about real rock n roll) and the fact that people came up and talked to us while buying merch, saying they came to the show because people from Chicago recommended they check us out and that we delivered. Awesome. The drunk lady, however, didn’t seem to dig; she left during our first or second song with her hands over her ears.

March 26

Brooklyn the next day was the total bum scene, headlining band canceled the day before the show and the venue was more interested in giving away pizza than putting on shows. Plus, the guy doing sound cut us short (raw deal considering our set’s only 30 minutes long) because he was admittedly terribly afraid of the metal band playing after us and didn’t want to upset them…

March 27

Played Danger Danger Gallery in Philly again; pretty much biz as usual, and here’s how it went down (thanks Jess and Scott):

March 28

Baltimore.. another crap out headliner. Got to chill with BLDNGS (Kansas House) kids again though, which was sweet, plus some more old friends, and a couple new ones. 

Weird way to end, what with a forgettable show, but it was time to head home.

Can’t give enough thanks to those that came to hang and helped us with crash pads and good times while we were out on the road. We’ve got a 7” in production, coming out on Licking River Records in July. More shows immanent!