Archive Sunday #74

AK: The infamous 1 Trait Danger tour; the one, the only (literally). We had always wanted to do some sort of tour with 1TD but of course it had always been on the backburner. This was until Will got us a headlining spot at ANE (Anthro New England) which we gladly accepted and built a tour around.

It was fun building out this set, going through old tracks and remixing them then adding them to be functional on the Ableton Push as triggered samples. We also recorded special intro tracks specific to each venue that would play before we got on stage. I had my roommate at the time, Aaron, do the voiceovers saying things like, "Welcome to Trans Pecos, please find a seat on the floor". It was a great way to get people laughing before we even hit the stage. There was also some new material that we threw in (some stuff that was never even released, like Double Barrel Boys). Both of us were really excited to be on such a low-stakes tour after having been on the road with CSH for so many years. I don't think we practiced our set that much, maybe a handful of times? There really was no "messing up" at these shows and that takes such an immense weight off of the performance and allows you to really just have fun.

We started the tour in D.C. at Songbyrd where we surely hadn't gotten the set quite down. I remember playing Alien Boy and it not fitting at all so I think we cut that song from the set shortly after that. Then we made our way to Philly where we played at Kung Fu Neck Tie. We did a funny little interview at a bar nearby with Ear of the Dragon podcast. They only had one mic so Will and I had to share it and it led to a funny interview. I think I was eating nachos or something too.

After Philly we were on our way to Brooklyn at Trans Pecos which was the best show of the tour by far. The crowd was insane and the sound system was amazing. Matador also showed up as well as a Rolling Stone journalist who was hanging out with us for the MADLO interview. It was a lot of fun to have all of these music industry elites watching a 1TD show. They were probably so confused, but I think the Rolling Stone guy liked it.

Then finally we made our way to ANE to headline. I had never been to furry con before so I was really soaking it all in, asking a million questions, looking at everything. I was even invited upstairs to what they called a Milk Party. I was having a great time. I'm a big fan of new cultural experiences and this did not fall short.

So then we played our set to a room full of people in fursuits which was really funny because I had been doing this bit where I get the crowd to do squats and other workouts with me. I was making them SWEAT. Unfortunately the sound system was terribly quiet, but we made the best of it and people really enjoyed the show.

WT: The ANE gig came courtesy of my friend Declan, who also designed the poster for this tour. This was the ideal type of tour for me - two guys in a rental car, one backpack of gear, very low expectations for shows. The Rolling Stone guy was David Fricke, a very nice dude to spend an afternoon with.

After years of touring and performing as a rock band, I was looking forward to the perks of an electronic set, especially playing at a furry con, where DJ stages ruled over all other types of performance. When we got there, however, I discovered the show we were playing was the one show geared towards rock bands - whoops. It actually took quite a while for us to set up after the last band loaded off, and the show was not without technical difficulties. However, I also encountered "I've Made Too Much Pasta" for the first time, who were to become good friends and a project I collaborated in.

Overall, Andrew may have had a better time at the con than I did. I think cons have got plenty of good stuff going on in them, but there's also just a lot of social action going on, good and bad, and it can wear you down if you're not prepared for it.