"Let's Get it Started!"

1 September 2006

"This is how we do it."

It feels like summer is over. The cat is rolling around in the driveway. I will miss him. I grab a bunch of magazines and a Fela Kuti biography, and we set out for tour. It will be some time before I am home again. Each tour is different. Different Tigers, and a somewhat different sound. This trip will feature a lineup that has never played together before, and people playing instruments that aren’t their main instruments. Chris has been practicing bass parts he learned from our records, but I’ve asked him to play a synthesizer instead. We’ll be picking up Tony in Philadelphia. He’s going to play drums (just a snare and a ride cymbal, actually). He says he doesn’t really play drums. Somehow, I think this is the right configuration. I will play electric guitar. Everyone sings. You never know what you’re gonna get at a Tiger Saw show.

Matt, Chris, and I at the Lucky Cat

Our first show is at the Lucky Cat Café in Brooklyn. The place is really nice. A woman named Amelia plays first. I like the way she plays guitar, and her voice is interesting. The Homophones are next. Very New York. Handsome. My friend Matt Bauer shows up. He has come to our last few shows in New York, so last time I told him he should bring his banjo when he comes to a Tiger Saw show. He tells me that he’s learned three songs, so Matt joins us on those at the end of the set. It’s a nice crowd, but a little noisy. It’s a decent first show. We often start our tours in New York, and sometimes I wish we would end them there instead, so our New York friends would see a more polished performance. But everyone had fun. I met a nice man who told me that when he takes his family on vacation, they record cover albums of songs they like, and that they had recorded our song ‘Postcards & Letters’. I am flattered, and happy that we closed with that song tonight. After the show, we went to Barcade with our friends Jason and Nikole. Jason gets 170,000 points on Ms. Pac-Man- his personal best. I played some Dig-Dug, but didn’t get too far. I saw a man fall down drunk, and helped him up. Then he immediately fell down again. His friend would ask me later if I thought his friend had style while he was falling. That, apparently, is important in Williamsburg.

The next day we have off, and MTV is hosting their Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall. We naively think that we can go down there and charm our way into the show somehow. Several thousand other people have the same idea, and we spend a few hours trying to get behind barricades and eight-foot tall security guards. I managed to get past a barrier at one point, following a group of people with laminates . I just walked in right behind them, like I was supposed to be there. But when I realized my friends hadn’t made it in, I went back . Jason got in at one point, too, but couldn’t get any where good. We saw Fergie and some other Black Eyed Peas, walking from their hotel to the show, entourage in tow. They’re cool as cucumbers, but I also saw some ‘London Bridge’ Fergie backup dancers running through their routine, and looking very nervous. I wanted to see JT, but that wasn’t meant to be. Not tonight, at least. We went back to Nikole’s, and played a few rounds of Taboo before bed.

Scary Rapper Attack!

There are two Black Eyed Peas in this picture.

My guys.

Sexyback, etc...

Today we drove to Philadelphia, and played an in-store at Marvelous Records. Only a few people there, but it ended up being a good practice. We spent much of the day at my friend Dominic’s new house, which he is renovating. Very Scary Mansion. Tony flew in from Seattle, and we picked him up at the train. He told a few good jokes, then disappeared into the night. We’ll meet him for breakfast. I have only met Tony once before. He was a good host to Casey and I in Austin this summer. He took us swimming, and told me that if I ever wanted someone to play in the band, he’d be interested. So here he is now. His band (just him) Real Live Tigers is playing many of the dates with us as well. There will be other Tigers who will come and go on this tour, but this is our basic lineup for most of the shows. Tomorrow: Dillsburg and its awesome vegan folk punks!