JUNE 8 2003

so this tour diary ended up being a wash. i apologize. i barely ever saw a computer and now i am home and i barely remember anything that happened. that's not to say that i was messed up or anything like that but that city to city turns into such a blur. anyway, i slept home last night after our show at the saint in asbury park, nj which was really phenomenal. the best show by far of the tour. the place was packed and our performance was teetering on disaster for the full 40 minutes. i kept thinking we would have to stop the show cuz i never thought we would finish each song. i guess you had to be there to know what i'm talking about. anyway, tonight is our last show in philadelphia.

so a brief recap. the main event of the tour unfortunately was us blowing out one of the back tires of the van while going 70 miles an hour down the interstate in North Carolina. the tire pieces hit the exhaust pipe and bent it up to the point where it was blowing directly at our gas line. we smelled burning. we opened the gas tank and the plastic of the gas cap had melted all the way down the gas pipe into the tank. that's when i remarked to my band "hey guys, i think i know what that burning smell was." it was scary. i feel like we could have blown if we kept driving. but we bent the exhaust pipe back and good old american Walmart replaced our tire. back on the road albeit driving much much slower.

JUNE 1 2003

let's see. where did i leave off? we were in atlanta. that show was well recieved. it's a real big place so it didn't look packed or anything but the people who were there were worm. i'd love to play there again.

after atlanta, we headed to jacksonville, florida to a place called jack rabbit's. longwave was scheduled to play here in a few days. it seemed as if we were taking a similar route only i'm sure their shows will be packed. anyway, jack rabbit's is kind of in the middle of nowhere. outside of everything. it's the main place to play but it must have been an off night cuz attendance was low.

off to st. augustine. the oldest city in the nation. only a short hour away from jacksonville. so we got to a hotel early and chilled by the pool all day. i was sitting by the pool and i reached for my hat which was on the ground to put it on and there was a wasp in it and it stung me in the side of the head. how does that happen? anyway, cafe eleven is a small place so i just played solo acoustic. it's a really cool little place along the beach. it was packed with cool people. a girl named bethany opened up for us. she played songs on the guitar and the piano. i really liked her piano songs. my voice was really acting up. sore and scratchy. so i welcomed the acoustic set hoping it would give my voice a break. after the show, anthony, eric and austin went separate ways and crashed at these people from San Diego's house. very cool people. wayne and i picked them up in the morning and we were off to miami.

the trip to miami was perhaps the most miserable moment of the tour. as we drove south it just got hotter and hotter and we of course have no AC in the van. so we just sat there and baked. when the van is moving it's not so bad cuz the wind blows through but when we reached traffic it became unbearable. the club churchills is right in the heart of the ghetto. good club in a bad neighborhood. before the show my friend Ian Whitlen from miami took some photographs of the band behind the club. outside in the back they've got these brightly painted walls with murals on them and so we found it to be a suitable place for pics. we played with the remedy session, a band from miami who we played with in nyc and was finally back from their tour. it was a good night. good set. high energy. the place was packed with people. we knew some people in the area plus it was friday night. the bartenders were really responsive as well asking us to come back immediately.

the next day was our first and only day off. we spent it in boca raton, florida with Anthony's friend Mike. Mike treated us really well. we hit the beach which was a block away. cooked on the grill. lounged. it was the perfect way to spend our time off. doing nothing. now off to clearwater in west florida.

MAY 27 2003

my labtop is screwed. it won't work. so these tour diary entries are going to be sporadic. whenever i find a computer, i'll try to write something.

it's 8:30pm. we're in atlanta. finished soundchecking at the Echo Lounge. doors open at 9pm. anthony and i found a coffee shop. i'm real excited for this show. on the window of this club are posters for all the upcoming shows: Longwave, Nada Surf, The Rocket Summer, Ash, Daniel Lanois. Then when you walk into the club there are posters from previous shows featuring Pavement, The Breeders, Jets To Brazil, Cibo Matto, Mike Watt. Just seeing the names makes me antsy. The sound system sounds huge. We're playing with Cory Branan. I'll let you know how it goes.

Last night we played in Marietta, GA which is about a half hour outside of Atlanta. Cory Branan played before us.then a bunch of hardcore bands. it was an all ages venue with plenty of kids. one of those clubs that's in a shopping mall. it was called Swayze's and had pictures in a display case of Patrick Swayze. the vocals kept going out and for most of the show i was singing and it wasn't even being heard by the crowd. it pissed me off cuz no one even told us. they must have been just staring at us like we were crazy. but i couldn't tell cuz my eyes were closed shut.

Earlier that day our van broke down somewhere in North Carolina. it wouldn't start. something with the ignition. luckily i had triple A and they towed us to a repair shop. it was memorial day but they were open. they inserted a switch that turned on the ignition and bypassed the key. weird. but it worked. the van was running better than ever after that.

The night before our breakdown was the first show of our tour. Wilmington, North Carolina at a club called Bessie's. the show was part of a local festival called the Wilmington Exchange Festival or WE Fest for short. i've personally been there 5 times so i knew what to expect. despite the rainy weather, the turnout was pretty good. eric, anthony and i backed up jim testa for his set. and then we went a few bands after that. not a bad set for our first night of the tour. we were pretty tight and energetic.

so i think i'm back to the present now. in atlanta. it's now almost showtime. we go on at 11pm but i should get back to the club. i'll try to include more funny details in the next entry. cuz it's all about the details. that's what makes being on the road fun. the little moments of insanity.