andalusia

March 2003 Tour Diary

pdx rocks

March 25, 2003, 10:17 am

Here we are at the grand finale of the tour. Two and a half weeks have clipped by at an unbelievable pace yet it seems like we've been doing this forever. The life of vagabonds is something we all got used to very quickly...but I am looking forward to playing with my dog...

Last night we played the blackbird in pdx with the Reputation from chicago. They reminded me of tanya donnelly. There was a good crowd for a monday night...and we finally got to meet the man who helped us put this whole thing together: rob of haywire booking. Rob, thanks again for everything you've done for us... We had a great time with this tour and it would not have happened without you!

Today is the 12 hour drive home. Tomorrow we go back to reality. It just doesn't seem right somehow.

:)

a nice day in seattle	March 24, 2003, 2:32 am
I don't know if you can tell that I may be running out of insightful comments at this stage of the tour. Tonight's show was nice. We played well and people liked us. Saw some old friends. Stayed with Cameron's old friend Rob. Thanks Rob! Hard to believe that there is only one more show left to play on this tour. Seems like we just got started, seems like we've been doing this forever...

Spokane, for professionals?

March 23, 2003, 5:50 pm

Saturday March 22 we are at Mootsy's in Spokane. This night turns out to be one of our more well-received shows. The crowd was into it and responded in kind. It also turns out that most of the people at Mootsy's are very well lubricated. We wonder if these two circumstances are related.

Reduction Method was supposed to play with us again tonight but their van broke down and are stuck in Missoula, possibly due to snow. We are damn glad we got out of these early enough to see more snow.

The othe two bands for the evening are Avenue of the Strtongest (june of 44 vibe) and Datime Heroes (like Sunny Day Real Estate/Seaweed). Both bands are excellent and totally rock our world.

Many thanks to my Aunt Lou and Uncle Paul for the food and shelter... We were well-fed and got to sleep in real beds to boot! This works wonders for morale...which surprisingly is not that bad off at this point in the trip, but it's always good to get a boost...

march 21, missoula

March 23, 2003, 5:20 pm

Today we get to see Montana in the daylight...yesterday is was dark by the time we got to big sky country. Montana landscape is a bit more hospitable than Wyoming's...driving through wyoming's desolate and snow-covered landscape was awe-inspiring but a bit freaky...as if we were on another planet all by ourselves. We were wondering where the scant 500k people that supposedly live there were hiding. We hardly saw a sole.

This night we are at Jay's Upstairs in Missoula. The beer is free for band members and we take full advantage of this. We go on after the Reduction Method who drove all the way out from Portland. They are good and loud. We play and we are good and loud althogh one drunken heckler came close to disrupting things for us. Then Missoula's the Things go on and are also good and loud...they remind me of the odd numbers from back home.

We luck out and crash at Dan the sound man's house. We think the rhythm of the road is returning.

march 20...17 hours

March 23, 2003, 11:44 am

We flee Denver at 6am. The roads are plowed and open and the sun is shining. We want to be in Bozeman, MT in 11 hours.

This does not happen. We get stuck outside Cheyenne, WY for 4 hours. They say it's to clear a 10 foot snow drift but we see no evidence when we finally pass through.

We get to Bozeman at 11pm...and play our set 30 minutes later. After 17 hours in the van, we are tweaked and play our worst show ever.

One silver lining was that an old friend Raven turned up at the show and put us up for the night. Thanks Raven!

We resolve to purge the demons of this day in Missoula. On we go.

Denver day 2

March 22, 2003, 1:19 am

We are sad. It's snowing so much all the roads out of town are closed and we have to cancel the rapid city show. This is doubly bad since we just hate to cancel a show and cuz we got a great write up in the papers there.
It could be worse. The hotel we are staying at serves $1 Irish coffees whenever it snows. And all days it's snowing.
So we paly rummy, drink Irish coffees and watch the war start and hope the roads open tomorrow.
It is a surreal time.

Denver, day 1

March 22, 2003, 1:14 am

It's snowing. It's snowing like crazy. It's snowing so much our show at 15th st. tavern is cancelled/moved to the climax lounge.
It's snowing so much after the show (which was a fun one) we can't start the van and it's buried. We palyed with B Diddle, the Munleys and Iron & Wine. All of the bands are like a heavily appalachian-"Low" influenced bunch.
We got a ride back to the hotel with a local who can fishtail quite expertly through the unplowed snow drifts all 20 something blocks back...
What a strange night.

we be down with Colorado Springs

March 18, 2003, 7:28 pm

We hit the road promptly yesterday morning from Wichita...in the wrong direction. We headed north on I-35 instead if I-135, a honest albeit boneheaded mistake by yours truly. Fortunatle for us ther Kansas patrol was not paying attention to the west-bound direction and we were able tp push the stay-puff marshmallow van to upwards of 95 mph to make up for lost time. This served the dual purpose of getting to Co Springs on time as well as outrunning thunderstorms in west kansas and tornadoes (reportedly) in east colorado...

We get to HW Briggs and are promptly takrn care of nicely by Marc with free pizza and beer! The screamo bands we play with (great redneck hope and autokitinkin) rock out and all the kids buy merch. What a great town. We will come back here.

Unfortunately we have to blow town to make it to Denver before the huge snowstorm hits. We end up getting stuck in the storm and it takes 3 hours to get to Denver instead of one. Cameron's dad is cool enough to put us up in a nice hotel since we were supposed to stay with him in Boulder...but no one is getting in or out of that town today. All hail Paul Ray!

a word about Dallas

March 18, 2003, 6:37 pm

Reminiscing on Dallas...

Dallas was on fire Sat night. The Deep Ellum hood was packed with people of all kinds. Jocks, hip-hoppers, punks, cowboys, black, white...all shapes and sizes were present and accounted for...

And partying their asses off.

The main drag was blocked off. The surrounding streets were being cruised hard core by about every car in the whole city.

We took the stage at midnight and played probably the best sounding show of the tour. Drew the sound man was completely dialed in on our style and took proper care of us. Right up to housing us for the night...

Dallas is one crazy town. We think we liked it...it was all quite blurry. Fortunately we have loads of video tape to try and piece the night back together.

true dreams of wichita	March 17, 2003, 3:02 am
We played to the very hospitable staff of the Port of Wichita and some crickets. The set went well but crickets don't clap very loud. Glinda fed us well and Diana put us for the night, supplying an air mattress to boot! This is luxury. Too bad about the crickets tho...

Denver day 2

March 22, 2003, 1:19 am

Denver, day 1

March 22, 2003, 1:14 am

we be down with Colorado Springs

March 18, 2003, 7:28 pm

a word about Dallas

March 18, 2003, 6:37 pm

true dreams of wichita	March 17, 2003, 3:02 am
We played to the very hospitable staff of the Port of Wichita and some crickets. The set went well but crickets don't clap very loud. Glinda fed us well and Diana put us for the night, supplying an air mattress to boot! This is luxury. Too bad about the crickets tho...

Dallas is on crack	March 17, 2003, 2:52 am
I'm having trouble posting so this will be short. I'l try to elaborate later. Dallas was out of control. And fun. Thanks to Drew for great sound and a place to stay. Thanks also to the new fans we made.

Austin, you've been great... thanks for everything

March 15, 2003, 1:22 pm

Where do I start about Austin? We had a blast. Arrived late at Jen's Thursday afternoon after the eight hour drive from Lubbock, showered, ate, and headed down to 6th street where the madness of SXSW was happening. It's always amazing to see how much is happening on a Thursda night in Austin during the rest of the year... which made the experience of SXSW even more ovewhelming. Tons of music, tons of people. Just astounding that there is so much music going on in one place at one time. So we (the band as well as hosts Jen, Doni and Zach) search out the clubs that aren't charging a cover... since we are without the spendy SXSW wristbands and manage to find a few.

Friday comes and we're headed to the Counter Culture store on the drag to play in their back parking lot with some other bands including the American Idles (rockabilly) and the Good Looks (foot stompin garage rock). Many thanks to Matt from the Good Looks and Rob the owner of the store as well as Jen who got us the hook up with these great folks. The parking lot show is a non-sxsw show, it's free, it's hot, and it's by far the best show of the tour. Most of the people at the show are locals, since it's not on the SXSW docket, which makes it even cooler for us that we get the great reception from the crowd that we did.

So we feel like we accomplished something having played this show. We're the furthest from home that we've been as a band, we won some folks over and we're basically experiencing the center of the universe musically for a few days. Are we glad we've logged 3,000 in the van miles to get here?Absolutley.

After the show, we head out for some great Tex Mex and then back to 6th street for more of the experience. Cameron mans the video camera and sets about randomly interviewing people in the bars, on the streets and so forth. Should be interesting fodder for home movies later on.

Today we're headed for Dallas but before we go we are headed back to 6th street to see our pals Crosstide from Portland who have driven 40 hours straight from Portland to play a showcase at Emo's at 2:30!!! I'm curious to see them just to make sure they aren't falling over onstage from exhaustion.

Thanks once again for the hospitality Austin: Matt, Rob, Doni, Zach and especially Jen whose floor we occupied, bathroom we monopolized and food we ate for a few days. WE LOVE YOU AND Y'ALL ROCK!!!

-Jon

Amarillo or bust!

March 13, 2003, 1:44 pm

Yesterday evening we arrived in Amarillo TX and then on to the small community of Canyon. The show was at the pavillion, which turned out to be just that.....a little pavillion in the middle of a park. We hung out for a bit untill the show "manager" arrived. We decided to go back to Amarillo to find some beer, as Canyon is a dry town, and we also had about an hour and a half to kill, or so we thought. On our way back to Canyon, as were turning into to park, we realized that earlier in the day we had passed through another time zone. Whoops! So we were a little late. After a bit the show got started and The Assult, from Amarillo went on. Three kick ass punk rockin indie kids whaled away and brought me back to my punk rock youth. It was great. Afterwords, we hit the "stage". All and all, a really fun set, although it was freezing cold outside. Afterwords, we hung out with the Amarillo crew, who were so totally nice to us, unlike the night before, and then hit the road again @ about 12am towards Austin. We decided to pull over at a rest stop and crash out for the night in the van. Rock-N-Roll!

-Cameron

Albuquerque, full of hate?

March 12, 2003, 12:13 pm

So we get to the gig last night and it's Smooch's, a college area bar and grill that the kids take over at night for shows. We wait for someone in charge to show up. The other bands arrive and we as is customary make nice to them and they pretty much just shut us down. Their uber-core attitudes just wouldn't let them be cool to the visitors who were a bit different. So we start asking for the guy in charge, and either everyone doesn't know who he is or just gives more attitude. So we split. It was clear we were being told to fuck off. Went downtown, hung out at another bar for a bit where people were a bit nicer...found a cheap hotel where we paid for 2 and snuck 2 in...life on the road on the cheap.

So this one goes out to the nice kids in AlBQ...because there must be a few cool kids here. We just hope you figure out how to get the out of here someday. Oh and we welcome dissenting opinions on this town of course. If anyone want to tell us why we shouldn't hate this place forever please send us a note. We'll see u in Amarillo.

driving through the desert	March 11, 2003, 7:32 pm
We have yet to arrive in Albuquerque, NM, but felt the need to post since we have been driving thru the desert for 8 hours... So much nothing...yet so much beauty in the cliffs and the rocks and the sky...it is at around this time that it really starts to sink in... That is, I can't believe we're doing this... (!!!!!!! =)

Tempe...if it looks like a warehouse...

March 11, 2003, 10:02 am

It must be a warehouse. Tonight marked andalusia's first ever warehouse show. I don't know how we have got away with going this long without playing one before but...so it goes.

The other bands were As Kids Laughing, a one-man bass fuzz freak out that was very entertaining, and the Underliners, the perfect warehouse indie band...also quite good. Scott from the Underliners (and his girl Amy) are kind enough to put us up for the evening. We met their sbake Blackalicious and the dog Milo. I think Milo is part Chow and did well to guard the van in the drive outside...barking at the presence of any squirrels or other desert beasts threatening our prized possessions.

wake up Tucson	March 10, 2003, 10:58 am
Tucson is a sleepy desert town. We played the Vaudeville Cabaret last night with Phil Tageliere and the Solace Brothers ... Both were quite good. We were lucky enough to find a place to crash with one of the kids at the show. Wes, you rock! Onward.

in love with PB...

March 9, 2003, 3:56 am

We love San Diego. Specifically, Pacific Beach. "PB" as it's known is in a time zone, or perhaps a planet, all its own. Once you are in its atmospere you get sucked into the whole vibe of the place. The sun, the surf, the sand, the remarkably good looking people... it's as if there's come kind of sentry at the neighborhood entrance that only lets the beautiful people in... except that the people are so relaxed such a thing would just never happen. And therein lies the mystery... is it something about this place that attracts all the beautiful people? Or is it something about the relaxed atmosphere here that somehow transforms average looking people into really good looking people? Maybe I'm thinking about this way too much...

Tonight's show went well, despite having to play at lower volume on account of the wee small size of the space. The room was situated above the gelato cafe... folks enjoying their creamy Euro-dessert while having their eardrums gouged with sound. Gelato, for those of you who have not had the pleasure, is the so-called Italian ice cream, milk-based instead of cream based and less air is incorporated while making it which adds to the denser texture. Now isn't that more useful culinary info than you ever expected to get here?

The upstairs room had windows all around and offered a nice view of San Diego... and some open windows so that we could serenade the locals wandering around the outskirts of the "Little Italy" of San Diego. We're still all somewhat perplexed that we play a gelato cafe.

On to Tucson, and wondering where we'll be sleeping tomorrow.

one down, sixteen to go

March 8, 2003, 12:49 pm

The maiden show is over. LA's Club Lush, technically in Santa Monica, is done. It was a good show... Not too many heads probably because of the early start time but it was fun nonetheless. Felt good to get that one under the belt. The first show on the road is always full of jitters but this time seemed to work for us. Maybe it was the great sound on stage or our resignation to our inability to change the pervailing attitudes and ambivalence in la-la land.

Or maybe it was dinner. We got into town early and found a nice pub to get overpriced fish and chips and Guinness. This did much to wash away the road weariness and probably lent a lot to the fluidity of the performance. Just hope the tape sound as good as we seem to think it did.

The headliner of the evening was Laura Doun... which is a band and not a lone female as we expected. Not a single female in te band sadly but they were quite good... Cameron was partiularly enthused citing Sigur Ros and Mogwai ("they kicked ass and you can quote me on that" he sez) while Suzi heard Tortise and Mercury Program... all of which makes me wish I'd paid more notice but I was busy talking with my bro Will and his girlfriend Carly who were cool enough to drive down from Santa Barbara.

After the bands it becomes a disco at Club Lush and the first song out of the gate it's Wacko Jacko's "Dirty Diana." Time for us to make an escape wethinks.

We drive to San Diego tonight... the need to get out of LA was too great. Or is it the call of the open road already embedded in our very fiber? Looking forward to getting breakfast at Kono's (the best cheapest breakfast bar none anywhere) and chillin in Pacific Beach before the show at Gelato Vero...A gelato cafe. We hear it's small. It should be interesting.

Jon

Andalusia Tour Diary

March 5, 2003, 2:38 pm

Here's a silly welcome note for our tour diary. Let's hope we think of some clever things to say. We will be updating this from the road as much as possible...hopefully at least once a day.

Here is the tour itinerary.

There is still so much to be done before we go... we're got this "limited edition" EP that we're supporting on this tour that we are doing the packaging ourselves for. Gotta fit in trip to Costco for the dry goods and provisions needed to fight the hunger and the boredom of the road... as well as any last minute music store runs for sketchy gear replacement.

Tour madness has set in before it has even begun. This will be fun.