Tour Diaries:
1998 tour
Fri. 8 (La.): Thatcher and I are in John's car in back of Roscoe's chicken and Waffles waiting for everyone. We played at the Chorus Club last night with Blackheart procession without a drummer. They were still pretty good and I got 3 or so songs on DAT. There was a horrible grounding problem when we played. The radio was coming through my amp and all the guitars were coming through the keyboard amps. everything sounded like shit. Jason started feeling sick and had to lay down immediately after we were done. He spent the entire night afterwards running to the bathroom. Joshie Friefelder, Lance, Dave Sheridan, and Rich Jacobs came. Rich and Dave disappeared mid set, I believe. Jason Treager also played a short set. He went to school with John, Will, and Jeff, and they were happy to see each other. We stayed at Joshie's warehouse/studio. it is in a bad part of town and he has an elaborate system of electrical fences and alarms. I got up early to get Jason some Pepto Bismo, but I was trapped inside until Joshie woke up. it was an interesting walk to the liquor store. We are traveling in John's Volvo and Will's Volvo with a trailer attached. I only have $7.00 to last me the whole tour. Scott, the guy that runs the Chorus Club, seems a little shaky. I heard that he might be a little coked out. it wouldn't suprise me in this shitty town. I have been waiting in the back of this fucking Chicken and Waffles place for at least an hour now! I don't think I've even SEEN a place with a grade C before. Sat. 9 (S.F.): Thatcher and I are on the B.A.R.T. going to visit that Corey guy whose gonna put out the new Thingy record. Last night we played really well, considering Jason could barely move. Good response. We sold some stuff. P.e.e. was great as usual. Saw John from A Minor Forest. That's always a good thing. While we were reloading, we realized that we had accidentally stolen a cabinet from Scott at the Chorus Club. Sorry Scott. He was with us while we were loading. I wonder why he didn't notice either. This B.A.R.T. thing is great. Very cush. I wish the batteries hadn't run out in my DAT player, cause this thing makes cool sounds. Too bad cost half of my funds. I just realized I left my DAT player in the U-Haul. Fuck. I saw Floyd last night. He works for Fat Wreck Chords now. Gross. Sun. 10 (S.F.): in the car on the way to U.C. Santa Cruz. Hung out with Corey last night. Had a dope sandwich at some coffee shop. We went to an "iron Chef" party. iron Chef is this amazing Japanese T.V. show. it's like a sports show, but instead these two guys have cook-off. They come out like professional wrestlers, complete with individual fanfare. The host presents them and and announces what main ingredient they must use, then they freak out and have to make as many dishes as they can, the most amazing they can. There is continuous running commentary, close-ups, slow motion replays, and everything. They have an hour to finish, then they are judged by a celebrity panel. Last week was a tie, so this week was a special 30-minute tie-breaker. This weeks main ingredient was shrimp. After the show we went to this amazing ice cream place, where I got a double scoop of Halo Halo (which was a mix of a bunch of different kinds of beans) and Avocado. I wanted to try the Cheese and Corn flavor, but they where out. Last night John said that once he farted so loud that he woke himself up. Jeff said that that should be the title of his autobiography. I cant help but laugh uncontrollably every time I think about that. Even right now as I'm typing this its cracking me up. John Goff :"Once I Farted So Loud I Woke Myself Up". On the way back I got lost and didn't know which B.A.R.T. station to get off at. Then, I had to walk about a mile to Jeff's house through a really shitty part of town at 11:30 or so. When I finally made it, I was locked out and some guy asked me if I "saw that rottweiler walking around with the foam on its mouth". I bought a lot of really shitty food for really cheap. I may get sick, but at least I wont starve to death. Jason finally feels better, but now Thatcher is sick. We are going to be late. Corey was a pretty cool guy, kind of an industry type, but that's probably for the best. Tues. 12 (Portland): We are staying at Leanne and Sharisa'a house. They are Will and John Goff's ex-girlfriends and work at strip clubs and live here with a bunch of hippies who smoke pot and play bongos all fucking day. I'm wearing headphones right now just so I don't go insane. Nothing like getting woken up after a 12 hour drive by bongos. I had to listen to jungle the whole way up here and I don't see the big difference. There was a slight confrontation between John and I yesterday, but that is to be expected. Watched Star Wars today while everyone was at some coffee shop or something. I started watching Empire, but the room got taken over by talky stoners, so now everyone but me is watching it while I'm upstairs writing this and listening to loud punk rock in my headphones. The show at U.C.S.C. was o.k. and the bands we played with were pleasant. I broke a string while playing and ran around like a headless chicken fixing it. I taped the show, but we weren't that exiting. Saw Nathan last night. Fought off two illnesses so far. Doing laundry. Talked to Willow on the phone today. She said Carrie got bored and shaved her head again. We lost two U-Haul locks so far and John locked his keys in the car last night. The normal I bandmate conversations have disintegrated into usually involving the words "poo-tatoe", "ass-phalt", "butt-turd", and phrases of a like nature, such as "you dress your mammy", and asking each other if we have "Julius for puppies". We are playing with Trumans Water tonight, but half their band is away or something. They said that they'd probably just make something up and asked if I wanted to play, but I should probably conserve my energy. Thurs. 14 (Seattle): I'm sitting in Gabe's house. The show in Portland went really well. Trumans didn't play though. Christine Coleman's band came from Seattle and played. They were o.k. She used to live in my room and my roommates hate her. When it came time for I to play, all the other members had disappeared but Cameron, so I loaded all the stuff onstage myself. They showed up just in time. We kicked ass, even though I had accidentally tuned my new strings completely wrong and had to re-tune during the first "movement". I stayed at the Truman house watched Bukowski videos. The next day Kevin got hash in the mail from France, so I smoked a bunch using the "pin under glass" method and watched Japanese noise videos and Strange Brew. Got here last night. its great to see Gabe. its really nice here. Gabe made a ton of food for us and we could smell it when we walked in. Hooray! Sat. 16 (on the road): John, Thatcher, Cameron, and I just started driving back from Seattle after playing a show and its still only 5:20p.m. Yesterday we drove to Bellingham and played in a basement for 3 people. we were cut off after 15-20 minutes. Would have been a complete waste of time if not for the free chili. Nice people though. Got back in time to go to a pizza place. Played today at the Velvet Elvis. Nice place. Nice people. Made $40. bucks. Sold $95. worth of stuff. This car is going straight to San Diego. No stops. if all goes well, we should be back before the Simpsons tomorrow. Might be a bit tense though. The show today was pretty good, I wish I had something to put me to sleep for 24 hours. Sun. 12 (home): its 1:27p.m. We made it!