Summer Tour 2008: We love you

We didn't give this tour a name, but, looking back on it, maybe we should have. It certainly took on a life of its own. If I had to chose a name now, it would probably be a tie between "Super Fun" and "Totally Rad." I can't wait to go out again. Huge thanks to all the people along the way who made the tour what it was.

John put up Kevin's photos in the post below this one, and you know what they say about a picture and 1,000 words. But, if you're interested, I also kept a short tour diary, so here's some of that with Kevin's photos mixed in:

The people in the van

Kevin

My brother and traveling companion extrodinaire. Maker of kick-ass sandwiches, late night driver, and champion of Wu-Tang on the van stereo. Tour wouldn't have been half as fun without him.

John

Scourge of keyboards, destroyer of tambourines, kicker of drums. We filled a van with instruments, but I only played two of them for the entire tour. John played all the rest.

Me

Me

Day 1: New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick=Always fun. We got to play live on Jared and Geoff's show "Overnight Sensations" on WRSU. I used to DJ on that station, so it's always a kick for me to play there. We got to go on the air after and take prank calls from my brother, Greg, and his roommate, Dave, who were also nice enough to let us crash at their house that night.

Day 2: The Brunze again: Junkyard Palace

During the day, Kevin and I went to the Route 18 flea market to get Greg some Nunchucks as a thank-you gift for letting us sleep over. If you've never been to the Route 18 flea market, it is totally worth your while. They have basically any sword you could want.

That night, we played at Junkyard Palace with Communipaw and Half Brother. The show was a great time, and I was totally flattered that people at the show knew some of the words and sung along to "Hub City."

Unfortunately, that was one of the last shows they'll be having there, since their landlord is getting foreclosed on. Thanks, Countrywide and Co. Also, real, non-sarcastic thanks to John, Cass, Mal, and everybody else at the Palace for all their work to help make New Brunswick what it is. Best of luck in your new homes.

Day 3: Trenton, New Jersey

Last time we played there was a few months ago, and Samara from Vibe Cafe was just getting started booking Sunday night shows. Since then, it seems like they've built up quite an audience because we played to a full house. Both times were crazy nights and a lot of fun. Samara is totally awesome, very supportive, and working hard to build up a scene in Trenton. Look up Vibe Cafe on MySpace to find out more.

Speaking of Trenton, before the show we had a few hours of daylight to walk the Philipsburg levees. It was cool. I also learned about a special restaurant in Trenton called the Mates Inn. It's sponsored by the NJ Department of Corrections to give incarcerated youth a chance to learn job skills by running their own restaurant. The directions to the place include the phrase, "Don't be deterred by the guardhouse, just tell them you're going to the Mates Inn, and they will wave you through." We didn't get a chance to go there this time, but next time for sure.

Day 4: Providence

We played at a place called Jesus Camp, which is definitely in my top ten of show house names. This was our first long drive. Gas is expensive, but I think the picture above alone proves Providence was totally worth it.

Jesus Camp was real cool. They'd had an art show a few days before, and a lot of the work was still hanging. It was amazing and you can see pictures of a lot of it in the online photo album in the post below this one. One in particular stands out in my mind, though. It was an 11x17 crayon drawing of a family standing in front of a house, but the sky was all huge clumps of red glitter. The tag next to it read, "I found this in the garbage on my street. This was obviously made in some kind of institution, because no one has this much red glitter in their home."

Before the show, Kevin and Kyle from Jesus camp went to the liquor store to stock up for the evening. As they were walking in, Kyle says to Kevin, "Look, this place can be kind of rough. If anybody asks you anything, no matter what, your answer is 'No!'"

At that point, there were only about 5 people at the house, including us. Kyle asked Kevin if he thought 40 beers would be enough, and Kevin said, "For the 5 people at the house, yeah, I think 40 will be enough." To which Kyle said, "Oh, you've never been to Providence before."

Sure enough, people started showing up, and the show was awesome. For the first part we sat outside in a circle on cinder blocks and milk crates, while Kyle and Derek played in their yard. For our set we moved inside and played in one of their bedrooms with everybody who could fit and everybody else in the kitchen. The show was a ton of fun, everybody was really close, and people listening started grabbed John's tambourine and hitting the drums to play along. For our last song, they shot fireworks out the window behind us while we were playing. It was rad.

Day 5: Brooklyn

This show meant a lot to me because so many of my friends and family came out. This was also the first time I've played for my parents. I really can't say how much it meant to me that so many people came out to the show. I hope you all had a good time.

We played at Goodbye Blue Monday, which was great. It was really nice mixed bill, and we played after Suzy Almond from the UK and a free jazz band.

I don't know, but I had heard getting a show in New York City can be sort of a pain, but everybody at GBM was great. Very supportive and helpful. Thanks a ton to Drew for the drinks, Matt for the sound, and everybody else at GBM for everything else.

Day 6: Wilmington, Delaware

We played at Stoney's Pub in Wilmington. We had a good time, and everybody there was very nice. I actually got to meet Stoney after our set, too.

After we played, a keyboardist got up and played, among other things, this hilarious song called, "She Made a Monkey Out of Me," the chorus of which was, "Ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh (or however you'd spell the noise monkeys make)."

We also shared the stage with a comedian, and I always like it when shows mix it up a bit like that. As Jim Munroe at No Media Kings said something like, "People need more than music in their indie diet."

Day 7: Frederick, Maryland

This was another show I booked strictly through MySpace that turned out awesome. On the way there, we drove into a thunderstorm, then out the other side, and for whatever reason, that always says, "Road trip" to me.

David Krasner hosted us in his awesome basement and cooked delicious pasta for us. We got to hear a bunch of very talented singer songwriters from Fredrick. A very cool scene. Also, they all rolled their own cigarettes. I know it's bad to romanticize smoking, but I have to admit I find that just a little bad-ass.

Day 8: Philly

Ryan vs. Ryan in Philly. Ryan McShane hosted us on her show "Tarantella Ora" on WKDU. It was great, and they have a super cool studio, complete with old school Nintendo and a huge army man battle scene glued to the ceiling. They even have the Power Pad, although we didn't bust it out this time around.

Ryan was very gracious and let us play a full set on air. Also, a very talented folk band from Indiana called Wilson's Reservoir played on air that day, too. We got to chat with those guys a bit, and they are super cool.

Kevin had to leave us here to catch a plane to San Francisco. He was much missed, but John's girlfriend Sharon joined us here, as did my girlfriend, Alex, so the party continued apace.

Day 9: Wilmington (again)

The original plan was for us to play in Newark, DE this day, but when our hosts' landlord caught word of that plan, he apparently threatened to evict them if they had live music in the house. I had no idea we were such a threat to property owners, but so it goes, I suppose.

At fist I was very bummed, but all ended well. Almost everybody who was going to play the show ended up playing live on my front porch for a few close friends. We got to enjoy the music of Mason Barto and Kyle Swartzwelder; no evictions necessary.

Not the end

We will be out on the road again as soon as we can. I feel like I can't adequately describe how great tour was, nor can I adequately thank the people who made it so great. Still, one more try:

Huge thank yous to:

My bandmates, for rocking, Kevin for coming along with us, my Dad for loaning us his van, all our parents, families, and friends for supporting us, everybody who let us play in their place or sleep on their floor, everyone we played with, everyone who came to see us, all the people we met along the way, and you for reading this.

xoxo,
Ryan