After Annie, Tiger Saw and Kelly Jean Caldwell played. I have played with Kelly a few timed before. Her songs are drunken country torch songs, and she is a good performer. Lots of emotion. The show was nice and comfortable. Small room, nice people. Chris made vegan oatmeal cookies, and they were a hit.
Kelly Jean Caldwell
On Thursday, we went to Chicago to play Corduroy’s Espresso Spot. Annie Higgins, who was recommended by a friend, was supposed to play with us, but she never showed up. So Chris and Annie ended up both playing short sets instead. We all played short sets, and they made us some good sandwiches. After we met up with some friends and went out to a restaurant where I had some tasty calamari. We all crashed with a poet named Dan Solomon, who has just published a new book.
Chris in Chicago
In the morning, Annie and I met up with my friend Ariele, who is living here and is a circus performer. After breakfast, we went to the space where she practices. We saw some people walking tightrope, and jumping on a giant pogo stick. There was a dog there, too, that does tricks on a bike. It was fun, watching them work on their acts.
Ariele on the tightrope
We tried to get passes to the Shedd Aquarium, because we love aquariums, and there’s a new seahorse exhibit, but we the library didn’t have any passes left, so we opted to head to Milwaukee instead. We got to Milwaukee early, so we decided to go to a movie. We saw Little Miss Sunshine. What a great film. Really strong cast, from the little girl right up to the grandfather. For a movie that followed a predictable story arc, it still managed to throw in some surprises, with smart writing and strong performances. They used music well within the film, too.
The show was in an attic space. There were a lot of acts. Tiger Saw played a really good set. We are starting to gel as a band, the four of us. Erin Day closed the night with a set of bedroom jams performed with only her voice and percussion. In each song, she taught the audience a simple part, whether it was clapping, or making our voices sound like violins, or stomping on the floor. She sang and danced and twirled around, and this was one of the most fun performances of the tour so far. Afterwards, we went to stay at Erin’s house. I got to sleep in a bunk bed! (Bottom, of course- I ain’t rollin’ out…) In the morning, Erin’s mom, Eileen gave me a copy of The Time Traveler’s Wife to read. That was really nice of her.
Erin Day in the Attic
Saturday, we got up early for the drive to Minneapolis. We still underestimated the time it would take, though, and arrived just before our 2:45pm set time. We’re playing a back-to-school festival called The Ruckus. We’re first of six bands, playing a huge outdoor stage in a parking lot next to a club.
I have only been to Minneapolis once before, when I was sixteen. My mom took me here because I was (and still am) a big Prince fan, and I wanted to see it. We went around to First Ave., the just-opened Glam Slam nightclub, the Uptown shopping district, record stores- anywhere remotely associated with Prince. We talked with people who knew him as a child. Everyone seemed to have stories about him. It was really fun for me, but my mom likes warm vacation spots, and it Minneapolis in February certainly wouldn’t have been her first choice.
So here we are, on this giant stage, bigger than most venues that we’ve played in so far on this tour. This really nice Rasta poet guy introduces us, and we played along set, of almost all the songs we learned for the tour. We played so loud. It was funny having all these little practice amps mic’d through the PA, and our drum set consists of just a snare and a ride cymbal. Annie and I both took to stomping on the wooden stage, and that let out a big boom. The set was pretty good, but it was hard to gauge the response, as the people who were there were pretty spread out, and we seemed so far a way from them.
After our set we snacked on vegetables backstage, and hung out for a while. Tony hasn’t been feeling good about the tour for the last couple days, and we all talked about it. Basically, we’re not getting along, and he decided to quit the tour. It was a really sad, stressful night for everyone. Tony is going to stay in Minneapolis tonight, and take a bus back to Texas tomorrow. He wandered back into the Ruckus, and the three of us drove an hour towards Iowa and stayed at a Super-8 hotel.
Oh, the Ruckus!
We made it to Davenport, IA. Our friends Bambi and Johnnie have a cool band called Quiet Bears, and they put on our show in their basement. We had a great time hanging out with all out Davenport friends. They have a video game hooked up to their TV, to play Dig-Dug, Pac-Man, or several other old games. Bambi made us pizza, and she gave me a Prince cassingle for Gett off / Horny Pony. Nice!
Dig-Dug!
Marc Hans played a duo set, then we went upstairs into this tiny room filled with amps to watch Johnnie’s stoner metal band Holy Smoke play. They were SO loud, you could feel your bones rattling. It was so fun. Half the audience listened from downstairs. I brought earplugs, though. Tiger Saw played in the basement, and I think we did a really nice set. Annie played a little more percussion / drums to make up for Tony’s absence. We played well, people sang along, and there was a nice feeling. Davenport is always one of my favorite places to play on tour. Chris and Annie both played tonight as well. Chris sounded very good, especially his song about going to California. Annie has a little bit of a cold, so she’s not feeling that well, but she still sounded lovely, as always.
Holy Smoke
In the morning, we watched Mean Girls (on VHS!). What a funny movie. Then Annie has to get back to Michigan to return to her job. So now we’re down to two for the next week.
Annie and Ella
Chris and I drove to Omaha, and the show was in the Magic Theater- an old hotel lobby that has been converted to a performance space and art gallery. It’s a really nice venue. Everyone here is friendly and great. I especially enjoyed listening to Justin from Midwest Dilemma. Chris and I played late- after midnight on a Monday. We did a short, really laid-back set. I think it sounded good. Afterwards we drove to our friend Braden’s apartment for the night.
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