Archive Sunday #60

    So we got back from Australia in March and met back up with Mark and Paul from Dos Rios to finish up part 1 of the Tidal doc they were filming for us. They had recently finished the Nervous Young Inhumans music video and previously gotten some practice space footage of us going over some songs, but they needed the interview portion in a less noisy environment. Andrew's garage was hard to pass up cause it was free, so we all took the bus into Madison Valley to do the shoot. I remember it being a bigger production than I thought going in. I kinda just assumed it would be low key with Mark and Paul filming with a single camera, but they had this whole team come in with lighting and audio guys. A couple days later they told me the lavalier mic I was wearing messed up during my speaking part, so I had to meet back up and dub it.

Once April came, we set off to hit a bunch of smaller cities in the Northwest we often skipped during previous tours. We started the run down in Andrew's old stomping grounds of Eugene, OR. It was kinda special coming back here with the NGs as part of the band because this was the venue where the idea of them joining us for our set originated. It was a great night, and I remember being pretty slammed at merch afterwards.

From there, we went east to Boise. We played at this cool venue called the Knitting Factory which was special to me cause I used to work at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn for a little bit. Plus a couple days later, we played at the only other Knitting Factory in Spokane. I gotta say these ones were a whole lot nicer than the one I was used to haha.

We also hit up Missoula to play at this restaurant/bar called the Top Hat Lounge. It definitely had some rich Montana vibes, but it brought me back to the days when we'd have to set everything up before dinner service and try not to annoy the patrons with our soundcheck. Once the tables cleared out and the after-dinner crowd filed in, it was an awesome night.

Next up, I think we finally played our own twin city of Tacoma. It was especially cool cause we played at the venue our sound engineer John worked at. It's called Real Art and serves as a nonprofit geared towards all-ages events in the city. They had a neat screen printing shop in the front, which put our DIY setup to shame. We were using a digital Mackie audio mixer at the time, and I remember their product team asking us to come by and do a short interview about how we use it. We figured why not, so Andrew and John met their crew after soundcheck. Andrew sat down and answered their questions thoughtfully for about 30min until they realized they had forgot to hit record haha. He went over it a second time but it didn't turn out as well haha.

The following day we drove up to the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham. It was a lot more filled out this time, but maybe that was because Ethan was living up there at the time. I remember feeling sorry for the NGs because they had to get into town early for a promotional radio thing beforehand. That along with two full sets later on pretty much wiped them out.

After that we drove down the way we came to play at the Capitol Theater in Olympia. As we were parking the rental van in the alley, Andrew backed into an electrical box that was too high up to show on the backup camera. Luckily we got the insurance haha. The show went well though, and I'm glad we got the opportunity to play these places nearby we previously wouldn't have sold many tickets.

The next day we hopped on a flight to Iowa City planning to grab a connection in Minneapolis. Once we landed in Minnesota though, we realized our plans were thrown out the window. A blizzard had just hit the city with several feet of snow and our next flight was canceled. We walked to baggage claim but it was in utter chaos with hundreds of unclaimed bags scattered on the floor and a strong fish odor from the quickly thawing frozen fish in someone's luggage. We waited for an hour or two before giving up on our bags for the night, not even sure if they made it.

So we grabbed a couple rental cars to get to a hotel for the night. But given the circumstances they didn't have many left. So they stuck me with a rear-wheel drive which was a nightmare to drive in the snowy conditions. Pretty sure I made the NGs pee their pants when I couldn't get any traction going 30mph on the highway, but we eventually made it safely to the hotel.

We regrouped the next morning, and with no luck getting our luggage with most of our gear we had to call an audible. Luckily I gate-checked my bass and had my pedalboard as a carry-on, and Ethan and Grant did the same with their guitars. So we apologized to the NGs and John, but we had them stay in Minnesota and wait for the gear to eventually show up while the four of us braved the roads down to Iowa with the gear we did have.

It took us longer in the snow but we eventually made it down to Gabe's in Iowa City to get a short souncheck before doors. I gave Will half my pedals and along with Grant's guitar he had a little setup going. It definitely brought us back to earlier tours when we used to share wedges and use the venue's drum kit. But once a bunch of college kids packed the room it turned into a super fun little show.

We met back up with John and the NGs the next day in Minneapolis where they told us all about their adventures in the Mall of America. Our luggage arrived just in time for us to check it all again for the return flight. It was a bit of a bummer Iowa City couldn't get the full experience, but sometimes you have to make the best of what you're given.