Tour Blog #2
Dear Collin,
July 6-7, 2009 : Chicago, IL
Next up, a drive across corn filled Illinois. We passed a sign on the highway that read “Young thugs will not attack if a teacher can shoot back.” I really liked how they directly implied African Americans by the use of the word “thug,” and I also enjoyed how they went directly for an example that almost no one would get behind, let’s arm our teachers in the classrooms. Pulling into town, right on schedule, we headed straight for the venue to settle in. The bartender remembered us from last year and welcomed us with free dinners and beers. I’d say we easily enjoyed 100 dollars worth of free food and drink. The dinners were Chicago deep dish pizzas that were out of this world. I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed Chicago style pizza so much. The owner and sound guy eventually arrived and remembered us as well, welcoming us back and making sure we were taken care of at the bar. The sound guy still even had a Morningbell carabiner/bottle opener on his keys! Yet another night of the royal treatment! We met up with old friends, Dave Finch and Jimmy Kolstadt, who we hadn’t seen since last year and just enjoyed the hell out of the night. The set went well and we had a good crowd to listen. The sound guy amusingly noted that we “definitely didn’t get worse, in fact we got the opposite of worse.” To make things even better, we got paid 100 bucks for a Monday night show. This tour has definitely taken a large step up from the last one in terms of crowds, compensation, and camaraderie.
For lodging, we were treated to Jimmy’s 28th floor downtown digs, complete with a balcony that overlooked all of downtown and the lake. The Matrix couldn’t fit in the garage with the cargo topper, so Jimmy sweet talked the door man into letting us park in this construction alley next to the building. We had to leave our keys with the guy, just in case he needed to move the car for the workers in the morning. All night long, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Fortunately, everything worked out and the door man didn’t take the car on a joyride or steal our gear (I slipped him a finsky as we left in the morning).
We felt gypped on our last trip to town for not being able to explore the city too much, so we made sure to get up early and hit the streets. As I mentioned, Jimmy lives right by the lake in the really fancy part of downtown. Chris’ friend David was surreptitiously staying in the building next door to Jimmy’s and graciously led us on a tour of the area. We walked down to Millennium Park, crossing the Chicago river and taking in all of the sights along the way. The final destination of interest was the Hancock building, which was right next to Jimmy’s place. We took the elevators up to the 96th floor observatory and were treated with a 360 degree view of the city. It was pretty damn stunning. We could have paid 16 bucks each to go to the 97th floor observatory, but instead we went to the free lounge on the 96th floor thanks to a tip from David.
July 7, 2009 : Columbus, OH
I specifically planned the day so we’d arrive in Columbus right on time, maximizing our Chicago experience. As we left town, we realized that Columbus was in Eastern time, ruining my plan by one hour. The GPS took us through corn fields and small towns instead of the terrible highway that cuts across Indiana and Ohio. The drive was quite beautiful and we pulled into Columbus only 25 minutes late. Late is a relative term here on the road and we find that load in times are typically only a suggestion.
The venue looked like a converted warehouse district building with a huge oak tree growing right through the middle of the room. We could tell the crowd was going to be small, but we decided to put extra stank on the show, using the full light show, playing at 100% energy level, and having Travis stand on and jump off furniture in the room. It ended up being a really fun show and the small crowd was very receptive. In search of late night food, we ended up in this little donut shop that made falafel. The food was great and the little diner was a true local experience. Brian Bello, a friend from Gainesville, graciously put us up in his tiny duplex. The best place I found for my air mattress was in the front door foyer area with one end right up against the front door. Since he and his roommate didn’t use the front door ever, it seemed like a perfect place to crash. Around 10:30 AM, however, I heard a squeaking sound and then got nailed in the face with a magazine and 4 letters. As Chris said, I got mailed.
I’ve been trying to get the band to do rock and roll calisthenics when we stop at rest stops and wake up every morning. Chris has taken them to a new level, inventing his own stretches and exercises, much to the delight of the band (video to follow).
July 8-9, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA
The 8th was our only night off on the entire tour, so we planned a few visits in western PA. First, we stopped to visit our friend Gwendy who just moved up there from FLA last year. She treated us to some mind-blowingly delicious Thai pumpkin curry from a nearby restaurant. She also had plenty of back healthy exercise implements from yoga balls to foam rollers, so I thoroughly enjoyed this rare opportunity to stretch properly. Being in a car all day every day is getting old!
Next, we were headed to Irwin to see our cousin Brandon and other members of the family. Visiting with Brandon is always a great time, as we slip into our childhood ingrained close friendship roles. For some reason, we’re not able to stay in touch well when we’re apart, but whenever we do visit, it’s like we’re all 13 years old again. His mom, Val, treated us all to some great Italian food where we ate with a dozen family members that we haven’t seen in a while.
Waking up feeling refreshed and relieved that we didn’t have to travel to another city, we visited our great aunt and uncle who lived on the same road as Brandon. We hadn’t seen our Great Uncle George (the family cut up) in 16 years and were not sure what to expect considering he has dealt with numerous serious health issues over the past decade and a half. As we walked up to the house, he was out on the front lawn and greeted us from a distance with a big “I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” He was surprisingly his old self, cracking jokes and telling crazy stories. We were treated to stories of our great grandparents and other family members and he told us how to preserve grape leaves and make Syrian cheese. It was a wonderful visit. When we went into his house, it hadn’t changed a bit since the last time we were there in 1993 and even smelled the same. The visit was a very special treat.
Pittsburgh gets quite a bit of favorable press as far as being one of the cleanest cities and most desirable places to live in the USA, so we wanted to check it out. We arrived downtown with time to spare before the show and walked around a bit and ended up at “the point,” where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers converge to form the Ohio river. On the way to the venue, we stopped on Mt. Washington, which overlooks the whole city and has a great view of all the bridges (fun fact, there are 446 bridges in Pittsburgh).
The venue was in the South Side, which is the restaurant/bar/nightlife part of town. We ate some great Lebanese food across from the venue and loaded in. The show was the first of the tour where we had a proper sound system and we enjoyed being able to hear everything the way it should be. The two best parts of the night were when some drunk guy tried to steal Stacie’s amp, but she and Brandon’s girlfriend, Barb, regulated and told him to piss off. As a result, we all decided to stay by the cars for a few minutes after packing up, which turned out to be fortuitous when the curtains in a 3rd floor apartment right across from us flew open to reveal a totally topless girl standing there.
Before leaving, we ate a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, Chancliche (the aforementioned Syrian cheese), and Syrian bread. Que bueno.
July 6-7, 2009 : Chicago, IL
Next up, a drive across corn filled Illinois. We passed a sign on the highway that read “Young thugs will not attack if a teacher can shoot back.” I really liked how they directly implied African Americans by the use of the word “thug,” and I also enjoyed how they went directly for an example that almost no one would get behind, let’s arm our teachers in the classrooms. Pulling into town, right on schedule, we headed straight for the venue to settle in. The bartender remembered us from last year and welcomed us with free dinners and beers. I’d say we easily enjoyed 100 dollars worth of free food and drink. The dinners were Chicago deep dish pizzas that were out of this world. I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed Chicago style pizza so much. The owner and sound guy eventually arrived and remembered us as well, welcoming us back and making sure we were taken care of at the bar. The sound guy still even had a Morningbell carabiner/bottle opener on his keys! Yet another night of the royal treatment! We met up with old friends, Dave Finch and Jimmy Kolstadt, who we hadn’t seen since last year and just enjoyed the hell out of the night. The set went well and we had a good crowd to listen. The sound guy amusingly noted that we “definitely didn’t get worse, in fact we got the opposite of worse.” To make things even better, we got paid 100 bucks for a Monday night show. This tour has definitely taken a large step up from the last one in terms of crowds, compensation, and camaraderie.
For lodging, we were treated to Jimmy’s 28th floor downtown digs, complete with a balcony that overlooked all of downtown and the lake. The Matrix couldn’t fit in the garage with the cargo topper, so Jimmy sweet talked the door man into letting us park in this construction alley next to the building. We had to leave our keys with the guy, just in case he needed to move the car for the workers in the morning. All night long, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Fortunately, everything worked out and the door man didn’t take the car on a joyride or steal our gear (I slipped him a finsky as we left in the morning).
We felt gypped on our last trip to town for not being able to explore the city too much, so we made sure to get up early and hit the streets. As I mentioned, Jimmy lives right by the lake in the really fancy part of downtown. Chris’ friend David was surreptitiously staying in the building next door to Jimmy’s and graciously led us on a tour of the area. We walked down to Millennium Park, crossing the Chicago river and taking in all of the sights along the way. The final destination of interest was the Hancock building, which was right next to Jimmy’s place. We took the elevators up to the 96th floor observatory and were treated with a 360 degree view of the city. It was pretty damn stunning. We could have paid 16 bucks each to go to the 97th floor observatory, but instead we went to the free lounge on the 96th floor thanks to a tip from David.
July 7, 2009 : Columbus, OH
I specifically planned the day so we’d arrive in Columbus right on time, maximizing our Chicago experience. As we left town, we realized that Columbus was in Eastern time, ruining my plan by one hour. The GPS took us through corn fields and small towns instead of the terrible highway that cuts across Indiana and Ohio. The drive was quite beautiful and we pulled into Columbus only 25 minutes late. Late is a relative term here on the road and we find that load in times are typically only a suggestion.
The venue looked like a converted warehouse district building with a huge oak tree growing right through the middle of the room. We could tell the crowd was going to be small, but we decided to put extra stank on the show, using the full light show, playing at 100% energy level, and having Travis stand on and jump off furniture in the room. It ended up being a really fun show and the small crowd was very receptive. In search of late night food, we ended up in this little donut shop that made falafel. The food was great and the little diner was a true local experience. Brian Bello, a friend from Gainesville, graciously put us up in his tiny duplex. The best place I found for my air mattress was in the front door foyer area with one end right up against the front door. Since he and his roommate didn’t use the front door ever, it seemed like a perfect place to crash. Around 10:30 AM, however, I heard a squeaking sound and then got nailed in the face with a magazine and 4 letters. As Chris said, I got mailed.
I’ve been trying to get the band to do rock and roll calisthenics when we stop at rest stops and wake up every morning. Chris has taken them to a new level, inventing his own stretches and exercises, much to the delight of the band (video to follow).
July 8-9, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA
The 8th was our only night off on the entire tour, so we planned a few visits in western PA. First, we stopped to visit our friend Gwendy who just moved up there from FLA last year. She treated us to some mind-blowingly delicious Thai pumpkin curry from a nearby restaurant. She also had plenty of back healthy exercise implements from yoga balls to foam rollers, so I thoroughly enjoyed this rare opportunity to stretch properly. Being in a car all day every day is getting old!
Next, we were headed to Irwin to see our cousin Brandon and other members of the family. Visiting with Brandon is always a great time, as we slip into our childhood ingrained close friendship roles. For some reason, we’re not able to stay in touch well when we’re apart, but whenever we do visit, it’s like we’re all 13 years old again. His mom, Val, treated us all to some great Italian food where we ate with a dozen family members that we haven’t seen in a while.
Waking up feeling refreshed and relieved that we didn’t have to travel to another city, we visited our great aunt and uncle who lived on the same road as Brandon. We hadn’t seen our Great Uncle George (the family cut up) in 16 years and were not sure what to expect considering he has dealt with numerous serious health issues over the past decade and a half. As we walked up to the house, he was out on the front lawn and greeted us from a distance with a big “I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” He was surprisingly his old self, cracking jokes and telling crazy stories. We were treated to stories of our great grandparents and other family members and he told us how to preserve grape leaves and make Syrian cheese. It was a wonderful visit. When we went into his house, it hadn’t changed a bit since the last time we were there in 1993 and even smelled the same. The visit was a very special treat.
Pittsburgh gets quite a bit of favorable press as far as being one of the cleanest cities and most desirable places to live in the USA, so we wanted to check it out. We arrived downtown with time to spare before the show and walked around a bit and ended up at “the point,” where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers converge to form the Ohio river. On the way to the venue, we stopped on Mt. Washington, which overlooks the whole city and has a great view of all the bridges (fun fact, there are 446 bridges in Pittsburgh).
The venue was in the South Side, which is the restaurant/bar/nightlife part of town. We ate some great Lebanese food across from the venue and loaded in. The show was the first of the tour where we had a proper sound system and we enjoyed being able to hear everything the way it should be. The two best parts of the night were when some drunk guy tried to steal Stacie’s amp, but she and Brandon’s girlfriend, Barb, regulated and told him to piss off. As a result, we all decided to stay by the cars for a few minutes after packing up, which turned out to be fortuitous when the curtains in a 3rd floor apartment right across from us flew open to reveal a totally topless girl standing there.
Before leaving, we ate a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, Chancliche (the aforementioned Syrian cheese), and Syrian bread. Que bueno.