on the road - TLS spring tour

Saturday, May 5, 2007

album of the month

this will go down as the sound of the tour, our love, our theme.

headed north.
gas = expensive.
rolled into town.
checked into the haring hotel (thank you tim & karol & especially sweet mary moo.)
went out to eat.
ate an amazing fish sandwich.................
...tension... (trying to coordinate with family/friends/time/places for the first time in weeks proved to be trying)...
rode the el to see baby jackson.
he's GROWN, becoming a man, chubby, adorable, so so lovable.
erin & chad: beautiful, wonderful job. love to the three of you.
left to meet up with the rest of the crew.
ran to cassidy's in the POURING rain, thunder, lightening, screaming like i was in fifth grade. an amazing revival.
woke up.
ate.
shopped.
ate.
arrived at the note.
loaded in.
TONS OF FAMILY and about ten of the kids i used to babysit for.
***************story of everest****************
i would rather be label-mates with nobody else in the entire world (except she keeps bees.)
woke up.
cleaned.
ate.
hit the road.
...tension...
...emotional...
...full moon...
...ann arbor...

Friday, May 4, 2007

KDC, louisville - 4/28

we rolled into louisville and went directly to the venue to load in.
the keswick democratic club...
reminded me of my elementary cafeteria attached to a teeny, tiny, fluorescent lit bar. all canned beer, very cheaply priced.
an all ages show.
we were allotted 20 minutes for our sets. they basically pumped us through and spit us out.
there was a good crowd. we played a really LOUD set. no mellow songs in sight. i couldn't hear a damn thing over j's cymbals.
according to renn, she keeps bees played their first punk rock set ever.
we were allowed to hang out in the back parking lot, which butted up against the railroad tracks. it was a hot, sunny evening.
we could have made some good money, but apparently the headlining band had a "guarantee", so they took it all.
LAME.
but there was fruit and hummus and really good pizza for the bands. we gorged ourselves and i stuffed fruit in my bag.
we left, re-parked the van, and headed to listen to some chick dj play metal.
we ended the night doing jager shots with kim beadleson, who i hadn't seen in at least 12 years. she's funny as ever.
thanks for the floor space conner. hope you killed it in your chinese class.

Friday, April 27, 2007

sweet sweet chattanooga - 4/26 & 4/27

chattanooga was so rad it's going to be hard to write about it, cause you know, you just kinda/sorta had to be there.
i'll summarize as best as i can:
we left asheville in a light rain. the clouds were pregnant, looming and huge. it was pouring by the time we hit tennessee.
we arrived and went out for mexican food, where i stuffed my face to the point of a food coma.
the venue, jj's bohemia, is basically an old saloon, kegs for barstools, both bathrooms out of order, porta-john's in back, and a tiny little stage toward the front. we fell in love with it.
reeve hunter opened for us, a solo act, key-tar and all. he killed it. red, red hair and adorable. we stayed with him and his room-mate, beth, who andy went to school with.
aphids played next, a wall of sound which hung like a painting, as jess described it.
EVERYONE stuck around for she keeps bees and TLS. they all stood right at the stage, nodding their heads, totally into it, loving it, incredibly receptive.
i broke a string for the first time ever.
we made the most money we've made so far. almost two tanks of gas!!!!
once the show was over, everyone stuck around and chatted us up. we all decided to head back to beth and reeve's for an after party.
let the dancing begin.
we GOT DOWN until about 3am, when the neighbor showed and told us to shut up (in a really nice way.)
we all sat around and shot the shit for a bit longer. the floan record came up. turns out the kids from aphids had been listening to it for years.
crazy.
we spent our day off walking a footbridge in the sunshine, hanging out on the porch and eventually ended up at america's thrift. this place was massive. i got an amazing shirt for 59 cents and a dress for $1.48. andy found a brown dior sweater for $3. the prices were insane.
on the drive back to the house, j busted out the portable record player and we listened to some of the 45's he had just bought.
we chilled for the remainder of the evening.
it was a fantastic two days.
water everywhere, surrounded by hills, trees galore and big sky.
chattanooga is a beautiful place to be. at one point or another, we each talked about living there.
our favorite show yet, vibe-wise, people-wise, etc.
ps. we introduced everyone to red ribbons. oh yes, we most certainly did.

asheville, NC - 4/25

asheville, tucked sweetly into the north carolina mountains.
home of the hillbilly gutter-punks, hippies, pierced faces and tattoos too.
i couldn't quite grasp what exactly the scene was.
but we all loved it.
we ate vegetarian for dinner, which was EXCELLENT.
the best part? they had oberon in bottles. i couldn't believe it.
raith took care of us at joli rouge. he hooked up the show and tended bar and everything in between.
it's a goth bar, apparently. a huge space, painted black and red.
j's parents made the drive to see us, along with some other kings mountain kids. and renn's buddy chad and his wife virginia showed too. renn and chad hadn't seen each other in seven years.
it was a mixed crowd, though small... a good show overall.
we had nowhere to stay, so we ended up at a hostel. the owner showed us around, a can of pbr in his hand. he was half tied, at least.
we made waffles at 2am and ended the night in our bunks, laughing like 12 year olds at camp, trying to abide by the "quiet after 10pm" rule, making fart noises and being totally immature.
it was awesome.

sidenote: i bought a unicorn lamp for $1 at a goodwill on white horse road.
sweeeeeeeeeeet.