(April 5th - May 25th 1996) 30 Shows Over 2,500 miles 12 States (I think) 2 Time zones 1 birthday
Friday the 5th Cleveland, OH When we arrived in Cleveland the skyline was lit by the lights of the baseball park...very Americana. We rounded the city and stopped off at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for directions to the club. We later found traffic laws/signals to be quit annoying (Lanes would change directions as you were in them.) Our first ever show in Cleveland served as a nice opening night for our tour. We opened for The Twistoffs. They were great, check 'em out when you can. Saturday the 6th Charleston, WV I woke up in the back of the van somewhere outside of Charleston and was greeted with a winter wonderland outside. When I had fallen asleep the sun was shining and we obviously hadn't entered the mountains yet. Our third visit to Appalachia was not much different than the others. We got to see old acquaintances like "Thorndike" the greyhound and partake in a few local blunts. "Flemming and John" had performed a few nights earlier at the club. We would encounter them later on in the tour in Champaign, IL. Easter Sunday 8 O'clock wake up on Easter Sunday, just like mom used to make, only this time we were piling into the van for a 12 hour drive to the Big Apple. We made a fuel stop at the 7-Eleven for some donuts and the famous 7-Eleven coffee Camper Van Beethoven spoke of so highly. We stopped later in the day for a group Easter buffet at Little Sandy's Family Restaurant. Krumm ordered, of all things, a grilled cheese sandwich. I planted a small piece of potato chip inside the sandwich when he was away from the table. Oh boy, what a meal! We had a meal fit for royalty while listening to countless Dwight Yoakam songs as they spilled out of the restaurant speakers. The convenient store across the way sold packaged food that cooked itself when you added water. I debated getting one but thought better of it and decided to crawl back into the van for a post-feast nap. Monday the 8th New York, NY How strange it can be going to sleep somewhere in Pennsylvania and waking up to a busy New York street. A few day stay in Hell's Kitchen is enough to jump-start any exhausted musician. Nights out with friends Dan, Gil, Leslie, Rosa, and the unexpected meetings with Eric J. made for nights of big city fun with stops at jazz clubs (One of Jake's friends was playing one night down the street), pubs, pool halls (Gil's Revenge), and neighborhood bars. Bars I can recall: O'Flattery's, Bull Moose, Joe's (Hey eric j.), and ACME. Our dinner at the Film Center Cafe exposed our upbringing when the waitress asked us about our accents. Do we have accents? Matt and Mary saw Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins on the street. This occurrence started my movie connection notes to which I added to many more times as you will see. Wednesday the 10th Philadelphia, PA The town of brotherly love was another hotbed for movie activity, throw in ghost activity and you've got a visit to Philadelphia. We stayed in a building that had a haunted bedroom. The bed would shake in the morning for about 30 seconds and then stop. No one opted for that room. The next morning the battery in our van was dead, coincidence? We visited the steps that Rocky ran up and we walked through a building used in the filming of Philadelphia. We also visited the Rodin Museum. The downtown area was beautiful, the trees were in bloom and all the water fountains were on...spring had sprung. Thursday the 11th Asbury Park, NJ En route to Jersey we stopped off at the Walt Whitman Memorial rest area. We reported a trash can fire in the parking lot and watched a gas station attendant put it out. Ah, entertainment. I bought a few postcards and the routine road musician fare..sugar, salt, and something wet. Our show at The Saint would be the closest we would ever get to Jon Bon Jovi or The Boss. Some fellow St. Louisans "Gravity Kills" were down the street doing a show at The Stone Pony. Unfortunately, No Bruce or JBJ sightings. Friday the 12th Baltimore, MD Home of 25 cent crab cakes. Too bad I didn't make it down to the wharf to have some. (Drinking and the occasional hangeovers will do that to you) I chose to hide from natural light and coax Jake into the daily pool crown competition. That night Jake lost his sunglasses and made a friend in the process (hello OB1.) We met someone nice enough to give us a gift of fine brew for the road. I have since forgotten his name, but the bottle made for an enjoyable time at our hotel room. Thanks. At the hotel we made tents out of hotel linens and pretended to be asleep. Sat the 13th Washington DC We saw some really great street performers playing drums and buckets and other stuff. We walked the length of the quad and climbed the steps of the capital building and saw DC from a pretty awesome perspective. There was a reggae band playing Bob Marley's "Legalize it" on the steps...don't criticize it. We took a photo op time out for group photo. There were many movie sites to choose from in DC. Scenes from "Forest Gump" and "Born on the 4th of July" etc... We walked by the White House and all the other tourist sites. The city is truly amazing. Tuesday the 16th Muncie, IN Went to see the Cohn bros film Fargo. We were the only ones in the theatre, so we decided to bring our own refreshments. The film would serve as fodder for our ongoing language we were creating...Geez Margie. (As fate would have it, the actor who played Margie's patrolmate would later show up at our May 18th show in Minneapolis. It was my B-day that night.) Wednesday the 17th Kriksville, MO We played with the Freddie Jones Band and De La Soul. This show took the Most interesting bill of the tour award. When we arrived Freddie Jones Band were out golfing. We decided to partake in our own sports activity with the gymnastic gear in the back of the auditorium. Before bed at our hotel our name was scrolling across the television screen in some advertisement for the show that night. Our relationship with television had begun...all in all it was about 10 seconds of fame every 5 minutes or so. We got to meet and chat with some of De La Soul's "entourage." Friday the 19th Champaign, IL A tornado ripped through Champaign-Urbana the night of our show. The place where we bought our trailer was completely relocated by the tornado. We praise those who battled mother nature to make it upstairs to catch our set at Mabel's. Thanks to our good pal Bill Herriot for sitting in on sax and flute for that show. Sunday the 21st WPGU Jason and I arrived at the station alittle loopy after watching the St. Louis Blues hockey game. We played a few live acoustic songs and did an unorganized interview. If anyone has a copy of these performances, we'd love to get a copy of it...so we can destroy all copies. Tuesday the 23 Nashville, TN The disputed home of country music and Music Row. We played at 12th and Porter. Last time we where in Nashville we saw Kim Carnes having dinner there and stayed at the Historical Union Station Hotel. This time we were at the Somethin-or-other-place that was next door to a neon lit Cabaret. Most of that night we were serenaded by some girl whoi insisted on returning to our hotel room to demonstrate "what a good singer she was." Before drifting off to sleep to the sensations of flickering neon and Motley Crue music we were blessed with ample "entertainment." Wednesday the 24 Carbondale, IL I went to the local guitar shop and browsed before I had dinner. Quite a boring visit to Carbondale. Enter Splitsville from Baltimore. They were opening for our next four shows. The were formerly Greenberry Woods. You may have seen them on "Conan O'brien." We pulled out some oldies but goodies for the set. We brought back "Radiance" and two very old, pre-ripplemark songs "Vertigo Leaves" and "Butterfly." Did anyone notice? Thursday the 25th Charleston, IL The suspension on our trailer blew out first thing in the morning. We got it fixed, and got into Charleston early to catch the Blues game. Blues lose, heartbreak. The crowds in Charleston are always the greatest. All we can say is THANK YOU! The good folks from Champaign's radio station The WEBB X came down to pitch the show, thanks again. Friday the 26th Edwardsville, IL Good to be in the town of our childhood. Home cooking, laundry, and a comfy bed. Edwardsville won the award for most band members dancing on a bartop. It was a dance on the bartops kind of night as we played our first ever show at The Gallery. Saturday the 27th Normal, IL An actual fight broke out during Daisy Dawn. There's always a first for everything, let's hope that was the last. This was our last show with openers Splitsville. They drove off into the night only to be heard of a few weeks later when a demo tape arrive in our mailbox, VIVA SPLITSVILLE! Sunday the 28th East Lansing, MI With a break in the tour in sight, we floated through our first ever show in East Lansing; which was a show for about 12 people. Oh well, better luck next time. We met two really great people (Xandra and Amy.) We were shown the wonders of aroma-therapy. We went to lunch the next day at a great Chinese buffet place and talked about everything from Detroit to vegetarians. Wednesday May 1st Champaign, IL We played at Joe's Brewery for the first time. According to a disgruntled fan, this was one of our worst shows ever. We can't really remember, so we aren't going to argue with them. Friday May 3rd Dayton, OH Played with Chicago playboys Materialissue. We had a lovely stay at the Days Inn in downtown Dayton. Krumm and Jake sampled the local night life the night before our afternoon show. Overall, it was a short and relatively uneventful stay in the eastern time zone. Saturday May 4th Chicago, IL Bull-mania was most definitely runnin wild in Chicago. The game was on every TV in the bar. The Michael Kroll Band from NY opened up the show.. After the show Krumm ran into the guys from Materialissue at a party, it's a very small world afterall. Friday May 10th Champaign, IL It was a wet and dreary Planetfest. Flemming and John were on the bill. (There's that small world I've been telling ya about.) We met them and told them how our tours had been weaving in and out of each other. When leaving, their bus had run out of diesel and they asked for a ride to go get some. Wesley Willis was again his crazy, headbutting self. Saturday May 11th Cedar Falls, IA A wedding party arrived and showed everyone how to have a good time. We drove 5 hrs after the show to get back home so we could watch the Blues hockey game on Sunday. We are true fans wouldn't ya say? Wednesday May 15th Lawrence, KS We hadn't played in Lawrence since the days of The Unconscious (St. Louis). It was nice to be back there. We played with Tina and the B-Sides. The bass player later came out to our show in Minneapolis. (Small world, small world) Thursday May 16th Eau Claire, WI We endured the agony of the Blues loss to the Red Wings. It was such a beautiful night, I slept in the trailer with the doors open. Friday May 17th Osh Kosh, WI The street in front of the club was gone, vanished, finito. We stayed with Sonia and her roomate (the name I have rudely forgotten.) The accent issue came up again. The word about is pronounced "abote" in Wisconsin. Saturday May 18th Minneapolis, MN The park across the street from the Loring Bar has some lively squirrels. When I bent down to greet one, it jumped on my back and traumatized me for life. I'll never greet another squirrel as long as I live! It was also my birthday that night. Friday May 24th Chicago We drove into Chicago the night before due to the 5 am load in at the WGN Television studios. Jake was flying in, so we picked him up at the airport on the way into town. We stayed up all night hangin out with our friend Nikki. Matt and Mary slept in the van. Our arrival at the studios was laid back to say it kindly. We were warned repeatedly about smoking in the green room. We shared the green room with a woman who had made a Bulls Championship cake. We were allowed to sample it, it was mmmmmmmmm good. They were bbq'in outside for the show too, but we were too late for leftovers there. The producer ended up knowing us through her college days at Champaign-Urbana.(yeah, yeah, small world) The television studio was the same one they shoot Bozo the Clown in. Friday May 24th PM St. Louis Arrival in St. Louis was a groggy one. In fact, the whole night was spent battling sleepiness. Our friends and families all made it out to the show. During "Oli" someone joined us on-stage for a little chicken scratch. Crowd participation was running wild, someone even counted off the song for us. We have it all on tape thanks to someone bootlegging the show, with our permission of course. Saturday May 25th Springfield, MO Met someone at the show who had seen the band about 4 years ago at a jazz club in Springfield called Murphy's. He still had our tape...autographed nonetheless. We had mysteriously played a song off of that 4 year old tape that night. Four years ago I had written "Thanks for even giving a shit." What a nice thing to write on someone's tape, huh? I was a dipshit. We stayed with someone who was actually from St. Louis and was a big Fragile Porcelain Mice, The Urge, Elizabeth Einstein, fan etc... We hung out until the wee hours of the morning talking about music and weird things to construct your hands into. He taught Jake how to make a talking, skull-looking thing with his hands. He has since forgotten how to do it no doubt. ...krumm is off to London while the rest of us get packed for the next tour beginning June 7th in Chicago.