TOUR DIARY

April 27th, 2007
Mishawauka, IN
Another one bites the dust.  Last night we played the last show ever at Studio 315, which is (or I should say, was) this amazing teen center/ community center where they had all ages shows.  It also had tons of amazing art hanging everywhere that was obviously created on location.  There were shelves and shelves of art supplies everywhere for people to drop in and use. Brushes, paints,  pastels, canvas.. EVERYTHING.

What do you do when your community has a safe, drug and alcohol free place for kids to go and socialize and actively participate in the arts? SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN quickly before a local kid realizes he/she is gifted and can paint and draw in a way that makes their bleak town seem promising.  SHUT IT DOWN before some other young local punk finds his/her voice behind a microphone and a guitar and gets the idea into their snotty arrogant heads that they can fight their way to a better life through creativity and music rather than trudging through the local factory's assembly line. SHUT IT DOWN before someone else gets practical experience booking shows and promoting and organizing events.  These are NOT skills that we want the future leaders of our communities to have.  Plus, there is a great danger here that kids will be exposed to traveling artist from all over the country, and even potentially (God Forbid!) OTHER countries.  We can't have this happen.  But most of all, SHUT IT DOWN before the kids get a chance to interact with each other in a safe, healthy, supportive environment. The foundation of a healthy community is a community where teens are isolated and kept apart.  A healthy psyche and a firm base in reality are built by hours of sitting alone watching television and playing video games in your room.. not by going to some community center where you are forced to speak and interact with real human beings.
Anyway, those are just a few of my ideas for building a brighter future for our kids and our community. Good luck!
The show last night was really fun.  I wish I could come back there sometime and play again.
April 26th, 2007
It's been a few days since I've written anything because this tour is just flying by.  I can't believe there's just a few more shows. So many things have happened since my last post.. Let's see.. We stayed at a house that had an alligator.. Rick's car got totaled in Indianna..  I guess not that many interesting things have happened.  Tonight we're in Indiana.  I've got to say it feels good to be back in the mid-west, even though the weather has taken a turn for the worse again.  It's raining here in Grand Rapids and it's freakin cold too.  We had a stretch of unbelievably nice weather on the east coast.  It was absolutely beautiful in Long Island when we were there, and has been shorts weather for the last week or so.  Oh yeah!
April 20th, 2007
Forgot to mention, I played with "Math the Band" in Windsor the other night, and it was the best show I've seen in a LONG time.  So fun.  I hope I get to play more shows with him in the future.  I had Perma-grin for the whole night.
Had fun in Lowell tonight too. I'm a little too sleepy to keep typing though.  It's 2:15 AM and we have to get up at 8:30 for a radio show.  Good night, 'yall.
April 19th, 2007
The show last night in Windsor was a weird one.  It turned out really well.. but kind of strange.  I went PA-less, and it was going ok, for about a song, and then a bunch of people started talking over me along the wall, and it became impossible to introduce any songs and really distracting, so I got everyone that was paying attention to follow me downstairs and sit down on the floor.  That turned the show around for me, and it was really fun that a bunch of people followed me and sat around a parking cone and pretended that it was a campfire while I played Monster songs.  A few songs into the downstairs set, when the nice people who were talking over my upstairs set realized that the party had moved, they came downstairs and talked over me some more.  Thanks Guys!  Oh well.  The show was acually really fun, and it was Rick's Birthday and some really nice people made him a cake. Delicious!  We stayed at the promoter's house and played wii sports till we could barely stand up.   Thanks Chris!  Rick and I slept in the basement, and there was a beeping smoke detector, but luckily I had an extra 9 volt.
April 18th, 2007
Philly
Last night we played at the Trocodero in the heart of China Town in Philly. What a turnaround from the Wilkes-Barre show.  There was a great crowd, and the balcony club has an absolutely perfect setup for solo shows.  The stage is kind of tiny, and everyone is kind of packed into a small area.  It was super fun, and felt good to be playing at a well known club and be on the calendar flyer with big bands like Son Volt and Fountains of Wayne. Rick came up and played a couple songs with me for the first time this tour, and it went really well.
We're on our way to the first Connecticut show.  We drove past NYC today.  Wish we were playing in the city this tour.  At least we get to rock out on Long Island on Sat.  Looking forward to that one.  Go go go!  11 more shows.
April 17th, 2007
Wilkes-Barre, PA
I'm on the Penna Turnpike and there's snow on the ground.  It's April 17th!  Crazy.  When we were in New Jersey, it rained so hard there was flooding and lots of the roads were closed. The Rick Johnson Rock N' Roll Machine and I are playing in Philladelphia tonight at the Trocodero.  I've been looking forward to tonight's show for a while.
I've been on tour for a week now.  So far so good.  All the shows in New York were great.. Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Circleville.. then the Weather hit along with the Sunday/monday night combo in New Jersey and Wilkes-Barre.
So, last night in Wilkes-Barre we actually had ZERO people come to the show. Ouch.  It litterally was just Me, Rick, the sound guy, the door guy, and three out of the four guys that played in the opening band.  I don't think that's ever happened to me in almost 20 years of playing shows! Oh well.  Better deays ahead.
I should follow that story up with something positive.  We stayed off of Exit 8 in New Jersey at my friend Jerk-face's house.  Let me start out by saying that Jerk-face is a true genius. I think you need to be to have a name like Jerk-face.  So we go out for breakfast together, and he orders the most amazing combo of food that I've ever witnessed. First, he orders Chocolate Chip Pancakes.  Then, he gets the smoked salmon, and washes the whole thing down with an apple Martini!  Some people just really know how to LIVE!  Amazing.  That breakfast will be an inspiration for years to come.
Other highlights of the tour so far include walking across the bridge to the Canada side of Niagara falls at 1 AM in the freezing rain to try to get a glimpse of the falls through the fog.  It was my first time to the falls.  WOW!  Huge-o-mongus!  I can't wait to come back during the day.
Feb 26th, 2007
I'm sittting at gate 61 in Gatwick airport waiting for my flight back to the States.  I'm about an hour early, but there's only about four other people at this gate.  Could this flight possibly be this empty?  That would rock. Anyway, I've got a little bit of time, so I'll catch up on the rest of the tour diary.

Kingston- The Peel

So getting to Kingston on the train from Newcastle was a little tricky, but not too bad.  The train to Newcastle stops in King's Cross, then you have to take a couple tube trains and work your way over to another station, and then catch the train to Kingston.  When I fially got to Kingston station, I walked out, and really had no idea where I was going.  The map I had was really bad, and didn't have the station on it, so I just trusted my gut and started walking.  Somehow, I wound up walking right to the club.  A true miracle!  

I actually got there before anyone was there, so I sat on the front step of the club and read my book for a while.  I'm reading a book right now caleed "The Donkey Show"  that my friend Jerm gave me.  I'm about half way into it, and so far it's really great.  It takes place in New Orleans, and it paints a sometimes gritty, sometimes exciting picture of New Orleans that is pretty similar to the one I've experienced on my many trips through there with MU330.  Highly recommended!

The Kingston show was one of the best turnouts of the tour. The Peel was pretty well packed.  I played with King Blues who I'd met earlier this tour in Bristol, and the Darts. For my last song, King Blues joined me with a couple extra acoustic guitars, a uke, and lots of backing vocals for "Set Sail." We played it down on the floor surrounded by people.  It was a great way to end the set.  King Blues was really great.   I have a feeling that if they stick together, they're going to be huge the next time I come back to the UK.

The Darts were really great too.   They reminded me of my friend's band in St. Louis, "So Many Dynamos."  Sometimes catchy, kind of mathy, w/ some instrument switching and lots of cowbells and hand-clapping.  They're a really fun band live.

Got to hang out with Jon a bit from Gravity Dip, who released "Sweets, Meats, and Eyeballs", a double album UK release.  He's a super nice guy and always gets loads of food for the bands.  Bands eat well at the Peel!

After the show I went to the brightest convenience store I've ever been in.  If you live in Kingston, you know the one I'm talking about.  There's so many lights in the place that it's just absolutely blinding when you walk in from the outside.  I still don't really understand why that's necessary.  It's pretty funny though.

Jon and his friends Sarah and Skye and another friend (who I can't remember his name.. (let's call him "funny, obnoxious, drunk friend who dominated the poker table") went back to Sarah and Skye's house to play texas hold 'em.  It was really fun, actually, but I bet too aggressively, and drunk friend was not buying it.  It's too bad really, because I think had he been sober, he totally would have folded on at least one hand, and I was totally bluffing and wound up losing all of my chips.  Thankfully we were just playing with gravity dip flyers for chips, and we didn't really put any real money in.

Big Thank you's to Sarah and Skye for letting me sleep on their couch and for making me loads of toast.  They even helped me sort out my train times and walked me to the bus station!  Amazing.

OK, so I'm sitting on the floor at the airport in order to be close to an outlet, and this guy just drove one of those airport elecric carts right towards me.  He was backing up and not watching where he was going, and the hallway is narrow, so he was headed right for my feet, and as I readjusted how I was sitting at the last min. to avoid him rolling over my foot, my laptop slipped out of my lap and slid right under his tire. The screen was litteraly 3 inches from being smushed by the tire.  Yikes!

The Flying Marrow House- Battle

The 23rd was my one day off this tour, so I took the train to Battle (Near Hastings) where my good buddies the Flying Marrows live.  I've toured with them a number of times, and on top of being an amazing band they are amazing people w/ an equally amazing family.  Anytime I'm in England, I try to make it to the Marrow's house.  It was extra fun because Em came up from Brighton to hang out that afternoon too.

We spent the day mostly inside due to the rain and wind, but that just meant we got to play more music.  They played loads of their new songs, and I played them my new ones, and we talked about their visit to CA, and ate one delicious meal after another.  I think I had aproimately 30 cups of tea over a 24 hour period. At one point Gully presented me with a list of 14 different kinds of tea that they had in the cabinet!  Unbelievable. They have the best little black pup too, named Sheena.. and she definitely IS a punk-rocker. She's really sweet, and reminds me a lot of Elliott, my own little black pig in Santa Cruz.

I spent the night in the Marrow living room next to a slow burning coal fire, and had the best sleep I've had the whole tour.  It really was a perfect day off.

The next day, we ate more delicious home cooked meals, drank more delicious hot tea, and played more music.  Whay can't every day be like stopping at the Marrow house on tour?!?!  I learned 6 Marrows songs, and they decided to have me play with them their whole set for the next show in Preston Park.  We worked up a load of new stuff, and of course their classic, Reggae Sounds.

Brighton- Engine Rooms

After a brief afternoon recording session in the Marrows backyard studio, Bill and Ben gave me a ride to Brighton, and dropped me of at the Engine Rooms, where I was opening for the Epoxies.
Feb 25th, 2007
I'm on Sydney Street in Brighton at some pub that has free wifi.  Today is the last day of my tour.  I'm playing at the Station w/ The Flying Marrows, POG, WOB, and Evil Sting.  I fly out Monday afternoon.   I can't believe it's already almost over!  I need to go back and write about the last couple shows, but my laptop's battery is about to die, and I can't find an outlet, and I really should be out enjoying my time here instead of staring at this computer screen!  I'll post more later.  
Feb 22nd, 2007
I'm on the train from Newcastle to Kingston.  This is the longest train ride of the tour, and it only comes out to about 4 1/2 hours.  Not so bad.  I'm so used to super long drives in the States. Relaxing!

Newcastle- The Telegraph

Last night's show might have been the best of the tour so far.  Anthony has been doing shows for me in Newcastle for a long time now, and he always seems to get it right.  The room we played in was a tiny upstairs bar w/ a little PA that was perfect for the room.  This was a really intimate and fun show.  Lots of requests and more improvised monster songs!  This time actually a few improvised songs.. One about Godzilla, then another one about some worm w/ teeth, and some football player w/ a crooked nose.

I was super excited that my friends Jeffa and Hutch came out from Sunderland.  The first time I met them was in 96 when MU330 first came to the UK.  They're old buddies with MU330's first UK van driver, the famous Mr. Erland Rump. Wound up staying at Hutch's house. Another really fun, late night.  Really great to catch up with old friends.

The show at the Peel in Kingston tonight promises to be a big one.  I can't believe there's only three shows left!  This tour is flying by.
Feb 21st, 2007
I've made it to Newcastle early.  It's about 3:20, and I'm already at the club, the Telegraph.  They're filming something at the bar right now.  I'm not sure if it's a movie, a tv show or a commercial, or what,  but they just filmed this guy walking throught the front door and ordering a pint.  I'm waiting to for the bartender to be finished w/ the shot so I can figure out a place where I can throw my bags until I need to be back here for the show.

I should have some time to walk around town a bit.  Newcastle is a really great town.  I'm excited to be up here because the accents get better and better the farther north you go.   I really wish I was headed to Scotland!  Next time.

I might even go buy a disposable camera today to take a few pics.  I don't have a digital camera on me, so I haven't been able to take (or post) any photos.  If anybody has some photos of the tour so far, please send them along and I'll post them here in the tour diary to try and break up the endless rambling!

Sheffield Uni- Raynor Lounge
So the show last night turned out to be great.  What a relief.  It was really looking as if everyone was going to stay seated in the back of the room when I started, but thankfully almost everyone came up front and there was a handfull of requests and a bit of singing and clapping along.  

At one point I asked someone from the crowd to pick a classic monster, and I would sing a song about it, hoping that someone would say something like, Wolfman, Dracula, or Frankenstein.  Someone (of course the loudest one) shouted out something like "A Green vegan Monster!"  I gave it a go, and made something up on the spot.  It actually turned out pretty well, something about him "Not eating the meat."  I really don't remember the rest of the words, so I doubt that one will make it on the next MU330 album.

I wound up staying with this guy named Si (Sy? I don't know.. I think it's short for Simon.  How do you spell that?)  He helps put on the punk/ska dance nights at the university with Steph and Paul.  It was great because he lives right downtown by the University on the seventh floor.  The view over Sheffield from his living room was pretty amazing, plus he made tea, eggs, and beans on toast in the morning!  What a guy!  Thank you sir.  That set me up perfectly for the train ride to Newcastle this afternoon.
Feb 20th, 2007
OK, so I'm on day five, sitting at the merch table at the Sheffield Uni.  Tonights show promises to be interesting, if not a little strange.  I'm the only "Band" playing tonight in a little lounge at the university.  It's punk rock/ ska "Club Night" at the Raynor lounge.. which means they'll play music for a while, and then I'll get up for a half hour or 45 min, and then they go back to playing music.  I'm a bit concerned that it will feel like "Who's this acoustic jerk interrupting our dance night?" But there's a few people here already that seem to know that I'm playing, so that's a good sign.  On top of that, the promoters are both really super nice. Steph and Paul have already taken me back to their place to make pancakes!  Something to do with Lent.  I don't remember anything about pancakes having anything to do w/ lent growing up Catholic in St. Louis.  It's got to be a UK thing.

It's time to go back and catch up a bit on the last few days.

Derby- Victoria Inn
After going through 2 bags breaking on the walk to the Croft in Bristol the day before, I was super excited to get off the train in Derby, walk out of the station, look across the street and see the Victoria Inn staring right at me.  What a relief!  When I walked into the pub, the walls were lined w/ posters for the show.  Ella the promoter had plastered the place.  It was great to play with Kelly from No Comply, who is now doing solo gigs.  She was great and had some really great songs.  I played on the floor out in front of the stage, and felt really connected to the people at the show.  The Vic is the perfect venue for doing that sort of thing.  It's tiny and really intimate. Whooo, had a late night after this show.  Wound up going with some friends to the hot new nightclub in Derby called "Mosh." What a funny name for a club. Three floors of dancing and late night boozing.  "Do they have these kind of clubs in the US?" someone asked me that night.  I don't think so.. not that I've seen anyway.  What I'm talking about is that if you go out to a dance club in the US, they're going to have dance music, right?  In the UK they'll have punk rock night, or ska night, or indie night, and they'll play just that kind of music, and people will dance to rock bands.  It was strang and kind of fun to see a dance club playing pixies songs, and everyone dancing.  I don't think that happens in the US, does it?

London- Underworld
I woke up in a daze in Derby, and ran across the street to catch the train to London.  I was on the train within 10 min of waking up, totally foggy and rolling towards London.  Between naps and a bit of motion sickness, I actually got some reading done. Because of my big old bag that I'm dragging around, I didn't want to walk all the way to the club from the station, so I switched over to the tube, which my railpass doesn't cover.  It was a bit confusing, because part of the Northern Line that I needed to use to get to Camden Town was under construction.  I got there some round about way, but couldn't explain it if I had to.

MU330 has played the underworld a few times, but I've never played in London solo.  I always like playing the Underworld.  It's a solid club that always seems to take care of the bands with food and they always have water/ other refreshments backstage, plus the best falafal in the world is right across the street from where you load out.

I played in the little bar to the side, and didn't use a PA.  Everyone crammed into the small room, and it felt like the club was packed.  Good stuff!

It was super fun to see the guys from Monkey and my buddy Mattias, their driver.  They wound up having a really good show.  I was a bit worried that the turnout was going to be grim with it being their first UK tour, and they got put on the bill as the headliners., but it turned out to be a really good show for them.

My friend Lance Underpants (Who played drums on Sweets and Meats, and recorded MU330-Oh yeah! and Ultra Panic) was in London on tour with the band Ash, and was able to come down to the show for a bit.  After the show, I rode back to Brighton w/ Matthias, Buz and Em, and stayed above the Punker Bunker.  It was really great to be back in Brighton.  It's fun waking up right there in the lanes to the sounds of early delivery trucks, people opening up their shops, and lunatic-screaming seagulls.  After a full veg breakfast at the Dumb Waiter w/ Buz and Em, followed by a walk about town, I caught the late afternoon train to Southampton.

Southampton- Joiners Arms

I didn't mess w/trying to walk and find the venue.  Took a cab and got dropped of right in front.  It was so worth it. It was a decent turnout for a Monday night at the Joiners.. probably about 75 people or so came through the door.  This was a good show w/ a bit of good old fashioned drunken heckling from a couple people.  I always get nostalgic when I play the Joiners, because The Joiner's is one of the gigs that really sticks out in my brain from the very first MU330 UK/Europe tour w/ Erl driving us around.

I was a little concerned about a place to stay, because nothing was lined up in advance, but luckily Chops and Rindi came to the rescue (Two people I met before the show started) and offered a place to sleep.  We went out after the Joiner's to this club called Jesters, that had pints for 50p.  Complete chaos.  The amount of undetermined fluids covering the floor of this place was utterly shocking.  Cheers to Rindi for the best cheese on toast I've ever had.  Thanks for the ride to the train station too!  
Feb 17th, 2007

I'm sitting in the backstage room of the Victoria Inn in Derby.  Tonight is the second show of the tour. It's funny how coming back to all these clubs brings so many memories rushing back from touring with MU330.  When I see the names of the clubs on paper before the tour, it really doesn't register until I actually walk into the building. When I walked into the Croft in Bristol, it seemed like yesterday that MU330 played there and had the stereo stolen out of our van.

What a long trip.  I flew from the States into Gatwick, took the train to Bristol, and then walked to the club from the train station, which was entirely too far to drag a bag, especially when the wheel breaks about 8 blocks in. Luckily it broke next to a shop that sells bags, so after buying a new bag for 23 pounds, and switching over all my cd's, shirts, and personal clothes, i was back on my way.  Within three more blocks, the brand new bag had a hole ripped in the bottom.   Ugh!  I duct taped it all up and kept trudging on, and  managed to get to the club in about an hour.

Bristol- Croft
Yesterday was a record long day for me w/o sleeping.  I left Santa Cruz at 7:30 AM on Thursday, and didn't get to sleep in Bristol until about 3:30 AM on Sat.  Big thank you's to Sonic Boom Six for the ride, and to Blake (Captain Everything) and Ben (the Remnants) for the hallway floor to crash on.  Also, cheers to Matt at the Croft.  He was really friendly and nice.  He must not have remembered much about having MU330 stay at his apartment last time we were at the Croft..

What did I learn in Bristol?  Two things mainly.   1) If you've got a heavy bag and you think the club is going to be far away, suck it up and just pay for a freaking cab 2) Cider and Tequila is a bad bad combination.. even if it's really nice cider.
Feb 15th, 2007
Today is day one of UK tour 2007.  I'm sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth airport waiting to board my flight to London.  This will be the first time I've toured the UK by myself on a train.  I'm a little bit nervous.  I'm mostly wondering if I brought too much stuff to drag around.  My bag is ridiculously heavy.  Luckily Mr. Mike Park let me borrow his soft guitar case backpack so that will free up my hands.  Is it going to rain the whole time I'm in the UK?  Who knows.  Mike also let me borrow a giant yellow raincoat.  What could go wrong?
The airport in Dallas is obscenely enormous. There's a conductorless train that takes you from gate to gate around the airport.  There was an add on the train that said "In an airport the size of Manhattan, you know there's got to be shopping." Is it really that big?  Yikes.  I'm in TX.
April 14th, 2005

The rest of Ska is Dead II was rocking, and it was really good to make friends with the Voodoo Glow Skulls and Streetlight Manifesto. They are all super good guys and I can't wait to see them again! Did I mention the rest of the tour was rocking? Well I'll say it again, because that sounds like the understatement of the year. It honestly was probably the best tour that MU330 has ever been a part of. Super fun. It was 8 weeks long, and I wish it could have kept going. Big Thank You's to Mr. Matt Porter (aka Matt-Don) who did an amazing job at filling in for Chris Diebold on the bass guitar. He rocked the parts and was the probably the only real voice of reason most of the time in MURV (MU330 Recreational Vehicle) In addition to driving the bus the entire tour (by "driving the bus" I mean playing the bass - We were not on a bus, and Matt was not allowed behind the wheel once the entire tour) Matt taught us how to harvest coconuts in FL by smashing them caveman style on a parking curb behind the Factory in Ft. Lauderdale.


I'm on a plane right now headed from Tampa to St. Louis. I just finished up playing four solo dates with Mustard Plug in FL. They were all really good shows, and Mustard Plug is great to tour with. I basically flew in to Orlando, took the bus to the club, met Mustard Plug, and then they let me hop in their van and sleep on their hotel floors for the next four days. I felt like an honorary Plug!


This next week is going to be exciting. I'm going to be practicing with MU330 all week, trying to finish up writing the rest of the new MU330 record. We're a little over half way through writing it, and I'm hoping that this week some of the song structures and horn lines will start to take shape. A lot of the songs we've been writing lately are "Monster" themed... almost enough for a whole record. I'm still not sure where we're going to go with it. So far, there's a songs about Zombies, Aliens, Wherewolves, Vampires, Floating Green Heads, a Haunted House, Fear, and Skeletons. While I was down in FL I started working on a Frankenstein song that I'm pretty excited about too. The thing is, I'm a little worried about doing another "Themed" album like the x-mas album because people automaticaly think it's going to be cheesy, but the monster songs actually ROCK! and they go so well together... We also have a handfull of songs that don't fit the Monster/Halloween theme, so it could turn into 2 whole albums. We will see. I'll have a better idea I think by the end of the week.


This Thursday we're playing at the Creepy Crawl, and on Sat at the "Ska Weekend" in Knoxville. I'm super excited because none other than the Mighty Chris Diebold will be returning on the bass guitar for those shows! OH YEAH!

October 19th , 2004 San Francisco

Last night's show in Sacramento was great. I've played at the Boardwalk before with Rx Bandits. They fed the bands spaghetti and lettuce. It was delicious. Big D and Suburban Legends met up with the tour last night, so it is officially a full on circus. There are so many people on tour it's insane. I'm hoping I'll have more people to skip rope with now before shows. Colin and Rick from Mustard plug are both skipping rope with me, and I'm hoping I can get Sean from Big D to start skipping, and Vince and Dallas from Suburban Legends too. Buddy Lee would be proud! If anyone would like to skip rope with me and Colin from Mustard Plug, come out to the show early and bring a rope and we'll skip together. I've been trying to skip for 5-10 min. every day. I haven't missed a day yet on this tour. Oh yeah.

Tonight we're at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. I'm looking forward to this one. It feels kind of like the home town show since I've been living in Santa Cruz for over three years now. I'll know a lot of people at the show tonight. It should be great.

October 14th , 2004 Oh, Canada!

I'm on a ferry right now with Mustard Plug, the Planet Smashers, and Catch 22. We're headed to Vancouver frm Victoria Island. My first date on the "Ska is Dead" tour was last vight in Victoria. This is the first time I've ever been to western Canada. It's so beautiful. Yesterday I rented scooters with the guys from the Plug and we zoomed up and down the coast. It was amazing. Scooters are so fun. I need to get one!

So, just to catch up there's a lot of shows and a couple whole tours that I haven't written about lately... like the Electrodan/ Flying Marrows/$kull Di$co tour in England, and the Flying Marrows/Dan P. California tour. The thing is, I was so busy actually driving around and playing shows that I didn't have much time to actually write any updates. I'm hoping to stay more on top of things this time around.

Ahh! I'm already falling behind. I'm not on a Ferry anymore. I'm at a Motel 6 in Redding, CA. The tour is flying past. The show in Vancouver was a good one. I played a really short set, but it went well. I felt like the tour really got started for me when we got to Seattle. I got to play a 20 min set, and felt like I started to hit my stride as far as getting into the groove of playing solo shows again. It seems like it always takes me a few shows to mentally switch gears from playing with MU330 to playing solo shows and feeling comfortable again. The show was at the University, and I finally had my CD's with me, so I felt like I got some of my music out there to people.

Last night in Portland was the best show so far. The club was really small, so I went PA-less, and just stood in the middle of the room with people all around me in a circle. The size of the venue really suited playing solo more than playing with a full band, so that kind of worked in my favor. I felt like it was one of the best solo shows I've had in a long time.

Tonight there is no show. We drove from Portland to Redding, and are staying at a Motel 6. Tomorrow we meet up with Suburban Legends and Big D and the Kid's Table. Yahoo!

July 7th, 2004 Still in Brighton

I forgot to mention.. the day after the MU330 tour finished up, I hopped on a show in Guildford at the Robin Hood with POG, WOB, Edd from K-Line, and Jason Webley. I hitched a ride from Brighton with WOB and POG and Jason. The Robin Hood is a super tiny pub, so it didn't take much to fill it up. I only played about 4 songs. I was trying to keep it brief because I was a latecomer to the show, and we had to fit in 5 acts.

Jason had a great show that night. He really has a command of the crowd that I really respect. He was able to get a rowdy pub crowd extra rowdy, and then bring them back down to silence for a really soft song. It was great. I hope I can play some more shows with him sometime.

Last night was my first day off. I pretty much just checked e-mails and walked around Brighton a bit, and then last night went to a Pilot to Gunner show at the Hobgoblin that Buzz was putting on. What's really weird is that both Pilot to Gunner, and Jason Webley had both been to Russia within the last couple weeks. Me too! I thought MU330 was pretty cool for going to Russia.. but I guess everybody's doing it these days!

Today is the last day of hanging out until the rest of the band gets in tomorrow morning. Buzz just told me that the weather forecast is torrential rains for the next two days, followed by bad weather for the next 10 days. That's no good. I hope it doesn't rain the entire time we are on tour over here! We'll see. hopefully they are WRONG!

 

July 6th, 2004 Back in Brighton

MU330 has just finished up our European tour, and I'm the rest of the band has flown back to the States. I'm in Brighton waiting for Greg, Mia, and Shannon to land in London and start the "Electrodan" UK tour. This will be our first full on tour with this lineup. I've been to the UK to play solo shows three different times, so I'm psyched bring the full band. It should be a great tour. With the Flying Marrows and $kull Di$co on board, it's going to be a blast.