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Archive Sunday #79

Added 2024-12-29 17:00:17 +0000 UTC

After our show at the House of Blues San Diego, we made our way back up to Los Angeles. We were slated to play the Wiltern again in Koreatown and pretty pumped that it sold it. I remember this was probably the first time seeing vendors on the street selling bootleg versions of our merch. It was actually kinda rewarding that we had gotten to that point, but also a bit of a bummer knowing that their operation didn't pay any of the artists involved and ignored our efforts to print on sustainable clothing brands that support fair labor practices. Luckily most people weren't swayed by their slightly lower prices though.

The show was actually recorded for some video series thing, so I think it's still floating around online somewhere. The next day we headed out east towards Arizona. About six hours later we loaded in to the Van Buren in Phoenix. We had played there before, but it still holds the title of having my favorite green room. It has this wide open room with comfy couches and this giant bookshelf filled with tons of interesting reads. Plus on top of that they have cold brew coffee on tap. The show was pretty great, but the load out was definitely a sweaty one.

Once that was over, we had a bit of a break to make it to the other side of Texas. I'm always amazed with how long that drive is. Maybe it's the lack of variation with the scenery or something, but it kinda feels like you haven't made any progress even with a couple of full days of driving. Thankfully there's tons of good Mexican food spots along the way. We finally made it to Austin, and Degnan made up his mind to get a nice cowboy hat at a local shop there. Not gonna lie, the one he got ended up being pretty cool.

We continued hitting up familiar venues, but this time we came back to Stubbs as an actual headliner. All of us tend to reminisce about carrying all our gear down the streets between shows for our first SXSW when we're in the part of town. But luckily we had a van this time, though with the dozens of trips unpacking it down the ramp we probably ended up walking about the same haha. This one went a lot smoother than last time, and it ended up being a great night!

Up next we had the White Oak Music Hall in Houston. Still haven't had the chance to play the outside stage, but honestly I think the more controlled indoor venue probably sounds better. For some reason I remember playing Bananagrams in the green room before the show with Andrew and Will. No idea who ended up winning, but it probably wasn't me.

The following day we headed over to Dallas to play the Granada Theater. It was one of those older theaters with a pretty small green room, so Ben, Ethan, and I went to a vintage thrift store nearby after we set up. This might have been one of the tightest stages on the run, because I remember running into a bunch of the lighting fixtures in the dim light. It was a fun show though, and I really liked the vibes there.

After that we headed up to Oklahoma to play the Tower Theatre. This spot was similar to the previous venue because they both must have been converted movie theaters. This one had a couple green rooms next door though with the added bonus of a washing machine. After the show we celebrated a birthday in the Bartees' crew with some cake, then started the long process of pushing all our gear down to the end of the block.

The next day we headed back to the outdoor stage at Grinders in Kansas City. I was kinda bummed the coffee shop right next door had closed, but I found another one a few blocks away. We played a different game in the green room this time, must have been Drawful or something. The show was super fun and luckily we always catch great weather while we're there.

A couple days later we made it into Denver to play the Ogden. We continued our search for some local thrift finds at a store near the venue, but I think Ben was the only one who found anything. Though I remember buying a used sci-fi book across the street. Emily and I found a really good vegetarian spot a few blocks away and grabbed a late lunch before doors opened. The show was a great one especially considering it was a Tuesday night.

Probably one of the shortest drives of the tour later, we made it to the college town of Boulder. We were excited to be back at the Fox Theater where we played an awesome Halloween show a couple years before. I remember Degnan, Will, and Emily were having fun writing funny notes based on this book of affirmations to include in some online sticker orders. We also checked out a vintage store across the block, but the prices were a bit too steep to be worth it.

To cap off the tour we headed over to Salt Lake City to play this sweet festival put on by one of our favorite venues ever. Probably on one of our first tours in the area we played this shed-like venue called Kilby Court and had a wonderful time, so when we heard they had this festival right downtown we jumped at the opportunity. They hooked us up with this RV for a dressing room right behind the stage. Plus we were so close to the library that we ended chilling there when we needed some peace and quiet. We played on Friday so I didn't get to check out some of my faves, but I remember watching Clairo and Mac DeMarco after our set and having a great time.

So that about wraps it up for these archive posts for now, thanks for coming along for these recaps of our many past adventures. We've got a couple shows already announced for the summer including Kilby Block Party again which looks like another killer lineup. And definitely stay tuned because we have more shows to come in support of the new album!