Irepress Tour Blog
This is a collection of the Irepress tour blogs from March 3rd 2009 to July 6th 2009… Irepress toured the country and then some with these incredible bands….
and many more joined…
all ruled!
enjoy
Day 1-Philly
In the weeks and days leading up to this tour the anticipation has been building and overflowing like a turd choked toilet. Last night we finally plunged the log when the team re-assembled, and our well oiled machine was freshly lubed for the grind ahead. We departed for Philly with Sheel at the wheel, while Dino, Shan, and I enjoyed the luxurious elegance of our newly constructed futon lounge. We got a sneak listen to the new Mastadon album which dominates, and then around 2 am we finally arrived at our friend Brian Kraerr’s humble abode.
Our arrival interuppted a very heated and impossible to follow argument about MMA fighting, and whether it does or doesnt allow you to not or also to be defeated or victorious in a street fighter fight. There were no winners in this argument.
We began to watch “Step Brothers”, but Kraer’s menstral cramps caused him to ignore the enjoyment of others and he stopped the movie so we could all watch how passionate he is about the baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies. I was not amused.
Around 4 am it was clearly time for the men to embibe in a delicious scotch drink. We rocked out to Kraer’s song entitled “Shut your fucking face” and got schooled on the new face of “street punk”. Once the conversation began to MMA, I knew it was time to pack it in. Shan and our friend Howie had decided to “spar”(roll around on the floor together in a lovers embrace, grunting and maneuvering). I attempt to sleep but the thuds and grunts of two iron clad salami warriors kept me awake. There was alot of respect in that ring last night. None of it, unfortunately was mine.
This was only the first day, and no music had been played yet. Next stop Baltimore. See you all there.
written by
Jarrett Ring
Edited by Don Shave’
lived by
Irepress
Day 2- Baltimore
As I gaze at the clubs sound engineer’s mustache, he speaks to our Tour Manager Salim aka Beeeubbles about sound check.
The club is a decent place. Probably comparable to The Middle East Upstairs.
Shintles and Dintles are gettin juiced up for sound check with agua refrescos that the generous club provided for us, since there isnt an open store within a 5 mile radius. As Dintles is craving tea he voices his words of wisdom…. “All Juiced Up”
We took the stage in Baltimore, the first show, and the tipping point which lead me to near spontaneous combustion. After hours, miles and months of preparation……..my f*cking keyboard wouldn’t f*cking turn on. Private Benjamin Franklin Gram Kracker defribulated me on stage and brought my keyboard back to life……but for how long??
We began the set and everything was running as smooth a bubble butted baby’s bottom when the Baltimore saboteurs cut the power supply to the right side of the stage that Bret and I share.
At the apex and conclusion to the twelve minute monstrosity, we are instantly silenced. With the quick and nimble, pony-like steps, Salim, and Ben Dover solved the power crisis, and we were able to push through the rest of the set without further dumbass-ity on the part of the saboteurs. Apparently the clubs right side of the stage fuse blew. Thankfully it wasnt our equipment.
Overall the show wasnt perfect but people enjoyed it, and we did well on merch. It was comforting to know that people drove from many hours away to come to see us in Baltimore. We wanna thank all of you who came from far places. It means a lot.
After the show we loaded, and choded heading for Shan’s fantasy land of conception, (arm) Pittsburgh. I took the wheel for this 4 hour journey and we listened to a nice nocturnal string of albums(Mum, Portishead, Wolf Parade, Bjork, Lykke Li, and our good friends Caspian. We arrived in Pittsburgh around 5:30 am, several hours past my mental breaking point. I was only able to survive due to the work of my “Maury Povich-esque” co-pilot Bret.
After a good rest, we woke up and did some re-arranging in the van, and it was off to Cleveland, the birthplace of one of Irepress’ biggest influences, Bone-Thugz in Harmony. At exactly 5:41 pm on March 5th, Bret took his first 5-hour energy drink of the tour and as we crossed the Ohio state line we bump a Bone-Thugz miz created by DJ Broccoli Soup(Salim).
It is now 7:20 pm and we are about 20 minutes from the venue. As I stare at Sheel in his slumber, I am thinking about my final thoughts, and all I can say is “It’s only day 2″.
Day 3-4 Cleveland and Rochester, MI
Arriving in Cleveland was a familiar sight due to us playing here only a few months ago. We brought the ill swagger sizzle to the “Now That’s Class” club at that time, and our return was rather triumphant. We had an excellent turnout, and got to personally thank Chad Lenger, who did most of the art work on the album. We sold even more merch than the night before, and we ate some scrumptious Mexican treats.
After the show we went to stay at our friend Ryan, who plays in a punk rock band called “Wreak Havoc”. Before we got to his place, we stopped by a diner where Shan ordered a chili cheeseburger, and demanded extra bacon. All I saw was his huge Bacon Bites and morsels of food hanging out of his mouth. We slept in the van while others slept in Ryan’s.
Next Day.
Our arrival in Michigan marked our meeting place with the other half of our siamese disaster duo, Battlefields. We let our filth powers combine in Rochester, MI and soon after meeting, we learned that our counterparts had a cheesy-nutted stow-away. A huge rat that had been bred by Andrew of Battlefields had made its way out of its cage during a recent move using the band van. The little cuddle muffin had snuggled his verminous way under the dash and they hadnt been able to get her out even after removing the dash. About a half hour after we met the members of Battlefields, they saw her tail hang from the dash and they were able to snag her. Our little friend would come in handy later on.
We loaded in the shit-stain club, known as The Factory, and proceeded to wait for several pube twisting hours with our new chums, waiting for the curtain to rise on this tragedy’s first act. Low and Behold, the start of the show drags on to the point where the few people who did show up, left and then it was time for Salim’s Bubble-Butt-Barakas to lay the smack down on some Michigan hacks.
A blame battle ensued in which the promoter and the club owner got their wieners tied in knots while trying to avoid the thunderous wrath of AKRAM!!
Club Owner: “Like, I could throw you like 5 bucks, or something”.
Salim: “Aight fine, we’ll take it on principle”.
Club Owner: “Oh now you’re trying to rape me for 5 bucks”.
After an eternity of bickering it was decided(by certain parties) that perhaps our rodent friend may enjoy a new life in a certain Picture-Postcard Michigan Town.
We watched a kid wearing an Irepress T-shirt that had been washed so many times, the logo faded, get his money back and walk out because the new rat owners didn’t know how to put on a show.
Back in Ohio with our good friends Ryan and his dog Carl, Ryan had given us a bag full of these energy drinks that were literally called “Cocaine”.
Note: This is the actual name of the drink and there is a disclaimer on the side that says, If you are stupid enough to think that this actually contains cocaine then you are a dumb dummy.
The company had sent him a bunch of cases of this stuff so he could promote it while touring with his band. Please keep this all in mind because after the show debacle we had an hour and half ride to Lansing, MI. The decision seemed obvious!! We had a bag full of energy drinks, so we began to drink them all despite the tabasco sauce spice and burn on the way down. The ride immediately became a dance party because somehow the spice in the drinks kicks your endorphins in and then the caffeine and taurine get you amped.
Now we are posted up in Lansing waiting for a real show to happen tonight. Not like last night…..OH RATTTTTTTTSSSSSS!!!!!!!
We go on around 6:45 p.m.. See you all in a couple days. Next show is in Grand Rapids, MI.
Day 5-6
During the writing of the previous blog entry, my portly editor Ham Dave’, was breathing down my neck with his deadlines. At this time he was also sitting alongside me on a motel bed in a zip-up hoodie unzipped with no shirt underneath. Upon his badgering, I told him “Shan…I have my role….(comedic pause)…and you have several rolls right there”(points at the gelatinous gut of Shan.
After further haggard fraternization with the Battlefields brotherhood, we loaded into a medium sized bar style venue. The promoter of the last failure of a show, a Millhouse, was attempting to redeem himself in Lansing, MI. He had us booked on an early 5-9pm show. It was pouring rain and the early hour made for an “intimate” show, but we were able to see Battlefields play for the first time. They have a sound as big and chunky as Bret’s grandma’s Matza balls. Heavy with melody and brutal dinosaur screams provided by the unsuspecting Andrew and Rusty, the dragon slayer. They were also able to scope out our set as we sharpen things as tight as Ben’s knickers. After the show we part ways with the neanderthals, and post up in a motel where most of us eat, and Shan massacres a turkey club, even though there was no bacon, and he was disappointed.
After feasting, Bret attempted to mystically master the majestic watching of the movie “300″ for the first time, and was immediately drawn into it until Sheel began snoring like a Michigan lumberjacks chainsaw. Shan exclaimed, “Gaad, kid is ridiculous”. Approximately 7 seconds later, Shan was snoring twice as loud alternating with sheel to no surprise as the rhythm section. The movie was ruined.
The next morning we left Lansing as far behind as possible, and headed for Grand Rapids, MI. We hoped to leave all Millhouses, and goobers behind as we met up with this kind gentleman named Austin, and his two dogs Cooper and Harley. Bret was slightly intimidated by the canines, but once they gave his balls a good slathering, they became chums. Austin is a screen printer and show promoter, and also helped put out Battlefields last album. We hung out at his place for a while and made an ill grocery stop before heading to this house to tear it down to its foundation. We met up with Throttle Chodes and loaded into a small living room. We each drank about 6 coffees, and/or 36 tea’s(dino) at the coffee shop next door.
As the festivities approached, we quenched our thirst with a few delicious brews. At this point we met up with our second group of tour-mates, Dark Castle, a group fronted by a chick who’s balls are clearly larger than any of ours….in a strictly metal sense of course. We then rocked with the most intensity thus far, and made many new fans as we sold, once again, a lot of merchandise.
Stay tuned for Chicago stories. This is Ham Dave’ signing off.
Day 7-9 Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Fargo, ND
Chicago:
Our Chicago correspondent is our long time friend and certified party specialist, Mark Landell. A former Northeastern student, he has been our homeslice for years and now resides in the cheeky creveses of the gay and lesbian area of the city. Upon our arrival we decided to give a salute to the city by brutally drooping(pantsing with undies included) Landell Lakes. The droop was flawless as he flapped in the windy city wind, much to the amusement of an on looking Mailwoman. “That’s what I call some hot buns”!!!, she shouted with glee.
We chilled for a bit and gathered energy before meeting up with Battletoads at the club Subterranean. We also were joined by the Atlas Moth, who were a great group of dudes. They put on a powerful set with alot of intense vocals and some heavy ass shit. Battlefields set had a large pair of hairy balls tonight as we got our first chance to see them in a legit venue with decent sound. I thought our set went rather well also. After the show we asked MArk to let us loose on the party circuit and he delivered. We ended up in a club bumping house beats and we unleased some of the deadliest dance moves several homosexuals had ever seen. Salim and I were a two man cyber-pop and lock robot disco duo and several fools were served by our crew.
While taking a break from the sweltering dance club to rinse in the pouring rain, Bret noticed that our van was being put up on a truck to be towed. Her fat ass was sticking in the air and we had to give the chode tow guy a sob story, but he put the van down and a possible disaster was averted. We loaded up and headed back to Mark’s as a pack of haggard ass post-dance sweat bags. Young Benjamin and I opted to sleep in the van for the sake of its protection, and in the morning it was showers and off to Milwaukee.
Milwaukee
On the way to Milwaukee I drank the biggest Vitamin C smoothie of all time, so I was unable to join the fart patrol as they dined on Mexican cuisine. We played a small art gallery/venue with Dark Castle again and a band from Philly called Towers. It was a bit strange to be in the middle of Wisconsin with a band from FL, one from PA, one from ND, and us from MA. All the bands were great. It was our first show on the tour playing under some of Mary’s finest grass. It was definitley interesting. Towers had a little bit of a Converge vibe and, like most other places people were excellent to us. After the show the wind was whipping atleast 88 MPH and it made for some insanely cold moments.
I took the wheel at around 1:30 am and we headed for Minnesota following Rusty through some gusty conditions. The wind was blowing the van all over the road along with every other vehicle and the Battleships van made several awkward swerves onto the warning strip on the side of the highway. This was clearly a sign of poor driving prowess and I was further saddened when Battlefields stopped 3 times during the journey. On one of our stops, the wind was blowing so fucking hard that Zander aka “Steeyiltz” from Battlefields opened their van door and it blew all the way forward on the hinge and got a huge deeyent(dent) in the front of the van. We then reach our destination and sleep. Next day is Minnesota.
Minnesota
It is now 2:08 am Minnesota time, driving towards the frozen tundra of what is called Fargo, North Dakota. Yes Fargo!!!, The only person that comes to my mind is Steve Buschemi. We just finished a great show at this place called The Triple Rock Social Club. Out of any show so far on this long and treachorous road, this was definitely the best show performance wise as well as crowd turnout. People drove hours away to see us here. I recall a flabbergasted fan coming to our merch table before we went on saying, “We have been waiting fucking years for you guys to come here”. It is tough to gauge a response after someone says that bc you are so far from home, and in the most coldest place on earth(until tomorrow).
This was a great way to boost our morale since we found out we may need a new transmission in the good old horse we ride in(to our luck it was just the shifter that was the problem and only cost us $40). As stated earlier, that fucking asshole tow truck guy in Chicago fucked our shit up, although it may be ours to blame since we parked there in the first place. Nonetheless, this show we played in Minnesota was the right boost we needed.
I leave you with the short story of the coldest place on earth…..When we woke up, Jarrett “Nostril Drips” Ring was acting like he soiled his speedo’s….When we ended the day he was snoozing like he just got breast fed. As Ice Cube says, “Today was a good day”….So cool out…In our case Warm the fuck up!!
Fargo
Fargo is a pretty cool place for iglooing and ice-fishing as well as a place to drink your face off to counteract the cold. This is the frozen tundra, home of Battlefields, and we had been looking forward to playing this show since the tour began, and the show did not fail to live up to the hype. We played a club called the Aquarium that is run by ROb, drummer of Battle-Warrior-Chariots. The place was packed thanks to our frosty counterparts promotion of the show. For this we were greatful.
We spoke to a bunch of people and got a great response as the other shows.
After the show we then proceeded to kick it back at Rob’s crib with a bunch of Fargoer’s. After some Jameson, and our introduction to Hamm’s Beer, plus Mastadon, The Beach Boys, it was clearly time for dance machine time. The New Deal and Irepress brought the straight ill funky cheese dance moves to Fargo and then Rob stabbed a guy who looked like Super Mario.
I end this segment as we are driving towards Bismark, ND, and the scenery is beautiful. These literally are the flat lands, but obviously a place that Irepress has never seen. We hope that in the midst of Bret driving and trying to de-slushify his gatorade, that we dont steer off the road and end up in a snow bank. Dear G*d help us. Check back for more updates in a couple days.
We love you all and miss everyone back home.
Days 10-11 Bismarck, ND and Aberdeen, SD
Currently it is 2:30 p.m. ET on March 17th, and we have the day off(THANK GAAD). We are all recovering from our little sickness’s that we have acquired from the lack of sleep and traveling through temperature changes. On top of that we haven’t had a day off in two weeks, so this is a great treat. We were scheduled to play a show in Missouri tonight at a skate park, but we chose to cancel this along with our tour-mates, Battlefields, and just rest, while running some errands and re-fueling ourselves. The weather here is amazing by the way.
Right now we are at this great restaurant called “The Anchor”. We just finished eating and now all have the severe case of the “itis”. Tomorrow we will travel to Dallas to play Reno’s Chop Shop. It should be a great show.
Bismarck
So while we left you in Fargo, our next show was in Bismarck, ND, where we played a VFW hall type place. We all had no expectations considering this was the only place in a 10 mile vicinity where may have shown some sort of life. We started loading in and the only faces we saw were those of a boat load of 14-18 yr. olds that all dressed and looked the same. It was like we were in the twilight zone in some sorts. All the kids were extremely nice, but it also reminded us of being at a high school dance or eating lunch in high school. Thats the best I can describe it. Anyways we went on 4th, and the response was incredible. Our set opened up with Shan, saying “We are Irepress and this is our first time playing a high school dance”. The kids were laughing. There was a mosh pit for us, and ppl were enjoying themselves dancing. Supposedly there were 186 tickets sold, and it sure looked like it. We had gotten comments such as “Why would you guys ever come here”, “You guys are the best thing to come through here in years”. It was overwhelming yet sad in the same sense bc it showed us how secluded these kids are to what other music there is out there. These kids have to travel 3-5 hours to go see a “big” bill. In any case we did very well in merch as we have in all the shows. We met a guy who was definitely too old to be there, who wore a leather jacket, and definitely looked like he was from the 80′s. He was amazing, and his name was Jay, and he ran off in the moonlight with his fist raised in the moons shadow, screaming “Metal forever”. That is the taste we were left with in Bismarck. Thanks Bismark.
Aberdeen, SD
Aberdeen, SD….So we are driving through Aberdeen and Sheel, as most of the cities we roll through says in disgust, “This place is a butthole”. Most of the time he is joking, but in this instance he definitely was not. There is not much for me to say about this place, but thanks for all the accommodations you gave us, and we wanna thank the guys from Electric Wagon Burner for treating us like kings. The show was played in a small coffee shop(Bret and Dino were clearly in heaven). Just wanted to let you all know that Aberdeen has no real venues for metal shows.. The show was played in front of probably at tops 15 people, but all 15 people bought our merch so it was more than worth it, as all the shows have been. We were well rested in Aberdeen due to the fact we didnt have to travel for 2 days, and because of the treatment we got.
Since there was no life in Aberdeen, a few of us decided it would be good to get a few drinks at the hotel bar, which the guys from EWB hooked it up for us. After the drinks we decided to retire, and on our way back to the hotel room, a bunch of high school kids from the area who were staying in the hotel, decided to mock us and asked us if we were going to some dance that was being held in the hotel for a Girls High school Basketball Tournament. Shan, Dino, and Ben were not amused.
We got back to the room and there was so much commotion in the hallways bc thats what stupid High School kids do. They stay up and flirt with each other, and talk about who made out with who. Once again we were trying to sleep, so we thought as a joke we would go out into the hall way and scare the shit out of them. Shan got undressed into his boxers, and hiked them up over his belly button, and went outside into the doorway and yelled “Keep it down”, as the face of these young high school kids were horrified. Back in the room we were all dying of laughter. This may be a story where you may have had to been there to realize the hilarity of the situation. After this incident, Dino told Shan to go take a shower, and come out with just his towel with his hair slicked back. If the kids were still making a ruckus outside, then Shan would go out and yell again with more authority. Well Im sure you all know what happened next. He opened the door, and screamed “Ive had enough”. This got the attention of the security guard and the guard yelled at the kids to stop bothering the patrons and ppl trying to sleep. HAHAHA. We had done our jobs. After 15 minutes we were in bed and trying to sleep, when we heard more commotion. At this point Shan took it upon himself to go straight to their coach and tell him to shut his kids up. We never heard a peep for the rest of the night. Thanks Aberdeen. You made us remember what even more bigger punks we were when we were in high school, and that you better keep trying because Goonies never grow old, and they sure as hell never say die!!
We will have the news for day 12-13 hopefully tomorrow.
Day 12-13 Lincoln, NE and Wichita, KS
Lincoln, NE
The Ghost House: After two nights of shows without our tour-mates we were eager to reunite and destroy it with them. We met up at “The Ghost House” in Lincoln, and were shown the dungeon where we would play. A broken creaky spiral wood staircase would lead us to a dank(not in a good way) basement. Zander from Battlefields was carrying equipment down the shaky stairs while ducking from the low ceiling. Pretty ballsy I’d say.
After we beasted the gear downstairs, Dino would make a fatal mistake. A bunch of chums hit up a mexican food joint and Dino was to chomp on the fiery hide of a jalapeno, only to bite the shit out of his stomach for the next day and a half. Dino went on to play the show but ralphed shortly after. RIGHTEOUS!!!
The Ghost House then became a circus of sorts when a member of the Nebraska Cruster Hood got up on a giant wooden spool and tried to lumberjack it, but fell on his dome, disturbing the many nesting lice. Earlier that night I was informed that a member of the Nebraska dirt farmers came to the house hammered drunk carrying a bag of Burger King. While stumbling into the front door he did a straight up face-plant and ended up laid out on the floor. Several of his friends were in the room and upon witnessing this there was a moments pause where Ben believed they would come to his aid. Much to Ben’s surprise, they scrambled to grab and eat the kids spilled fries and left him face down on the floor. Thats Lincoln, Nebraska for yah. We left The Ghost House and most of the band headed for a hotel. The next morning it was on to Wichita.
Wichita, KS
We rolled into Wichita around 3:30 p.m. CT, and met Matt, who would put on the Wichita show. At this point the weather was finally warm enough for us to bury our winter clothes and rock t-shirts the rest of the way. It was astounding. After braving the barren arctic tundra of the Midwest and the Dakotas, it was time for my nipples to get some serious sun exposure.
Tonight’s show would be disguised as a video shoot because they couldn’t technically have shows at this venue( a mostly abandoned office building much like Dunder Mifflin with nothing in it but couches, sick artwork(courtesy of Matt), and musical instruments. It would just be us and Battlefields playing tonight and I was probably the most tired and cranky I have been so far this tour.(Not true…Coochy was definitely cranky the previous day as well).
We set up in the office at one end of what you would call a lobby, and people packed in the other side while three camera men moved around us as we played. Im not sure how the video turned out, but I was too dead, and dry-throated to scream in the stale office air, so that aspect of the show was a little sub-par.
After the show we were staying in “The Office” so we hung out a bit and got to see the apartment of the guy upstairs who had a jacuzzi in his kitchen, and no kitchen sink. I bedded down early to the sounds of Mortal Kombat coming out of a bunch of three old T.V’s flickering in this artist hipster paradise!
In the morning our host and benefactor, Matt, delighted us with an assortment of ill donuts from the shop he worked at which included fruity pebbles donuts, cool aid donuts and some other ridiculous shit. Umm yup!! There was a show that was booked in Missouri at a skate park that night, but when we all woke up in Wichita and realized half of us were sick, and comatose, we decided to save almost 10 hours of driving by canceling the show. SORRY to all that were going to attend. We never like to cancel but for our own physical and mental well being it was time for a day off after 14 shows in a row.
The warm, yet not deadly hot weather of Kansas was great for chillin’ and we did some van maintenance, shopping for necessities, and did some laundry, or “Laundry Matt” as Salim likes to say.
We are now driving through Oklahoma heading towards the Lone Star State of Texas, where we will be playing Reno’s Chop Shop tonight. We will be in Texas for the next few days as we will be playing SXSW festival starting March 19th-22nd. We will probably return with more news after. Wish us luck and pray we dont get lost amongst all the vans that will be piled up in Austin for the festival.
Much love to those who have been reading and keeping up to date with our travels.
Day 15
March 18th/Dallas
Back home in Allston, Ma, as many of you back home may know there is a giant drinking establishment known as “Deep Ellum”. As we near the area of Dallas we are playing, Bret informs me that the very bar that we had become intoxicated in back home was named after the Deep Ellum artist district in Dallas. It would be a quick stop here.
Load in, play the show, load out, on to SXSW. Dallas is a very beautiful city, but we were only there briefly and then on our way to four of the craziest days of all time in Austin. The show in Dallas was a decent show, although it was another smoked filled room, so some of our Northern lungs were not amused. Other than that Dallas was great and we sold some good merch as always AGAIN!!. Its on to AUSTIN FELLAS!!
March 19th-20th
South by Southwest Edition Part 1
Austin SXSW Day 1 and Irepress Show
For those who are unacquainted with the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, it is a 4 day marathon of bands playing at over 30 venues in Austin alongside a film festival. Streets are closed off and mobbed by kids from 15 and up.
We were scheduled to play two showcases, one on Thursday and one on Sunday. Due to the exquisite foresight by the Steele Dragon-Rider, Rusty(Battlefields), we left Dallas at around 1am to arrive in Austin around 5:30am. We were able to park both our vans and trailers exactly across the street from the two venues we were playing at. SO TIT!!! There we would post up for the rest of the festival in a miraculous location that would become the epicenter of a party cyclone.
Upon arriving, we snoogled cozily in the tightly packed crevices of the van on a deserted street, yet we awoke to the shitter shatter of a thousand feet. Music fans, tiny emo homosapiens, frothy metal ogres, luscious vixens, thug lifers, indie retro newsies, and glad hand executives wander the blocked off streets in all directions to find the next free Beer-B-Q, or to find the next sick showcase.
We ventured out and tasted the chaos for a while and then assembled to check out the Artery showcase. Our friend Will, from the Artery Foundation, most graciously gave us VIP passes, and we were able to wade through the masses of teary eyed teens.
On stage at our arrivals was “iwrestledabearonce”. They are a sort of metal-corish band with a chick singer who is straight beastly on vocals. She roared and screeched, much to my amusement. Im not gonna lie, I had a metal crush in my icy dark metal heart. The next really eye-catching band was a 3-piece of young chaps from MIami known as “I Set My Friends on Fire”. They played a emo-chorus w/ laced ultra breakdown metal with brutal screams that had all the kids jump kicking. We also caught the “Enter Shikari” set before returning to “Plush”, which is the club we were playing that night, to load in.
Plush is a small bar-like venue that we would play with our Boston Brothers, Junius. After soaking in the frenetic energy of SXSW, we were all hyped for our first opportunity to draw blood. Junius is one of Irepress favorite bands to listen to and play with, and they are straight up beeeeeyadeeeeyass!!! They killed it at Plush which further elevated our energy and we tore-up the venue with fury that was from the hype that is from SXSW.
After we played the packed bar we got many compliments and people who had never heard of us were telling us that they would exclusively be there to see us on Sunday. It felt great since we were playing with many bands which are our peers.
It was then time to tear apart Austin itself. During our set, Rob Braconi, and Jon Labaki, who are our good friends from home, were able to make it out to see us. It was great to see familiar faces so it was obviously time to get blind-ass-dump-drunk. Our boys Jeremy and Ben Schrank came out to see us from L.A and Houston, but the Ratatouille Jeremy was too pre-occupied with the lovely ladies, and he never even saw us play. Ben was not happy with Jeremy bc his whole purpose in coming was to see us play. Even if Jeremy didnt get to see us, he did however get us an ill-nasty hotel room in which many nuts could be scrubbed over the next few adventure packed + sweaty days. This also allowed us to access the hotel roof and see out over the entire city of Austin while chillin’ by the pool and hot tub. At that point we were living like the like sheiks!!!.
Once everyone got showered up some people went down to the festivities while others just chilled on the roof top to relax a little. Salim, Sheel, Bret, and Ben went to go try and get passes to other after parties, where they were successful in obtaining a pass to the Red Bull party. Ben Shrank, Braconi, Labaki, Dino, Jarett, and Shan with the company of some Battlefields dudes relaxed on the roof top for a bit and then hit the streets back to home-base where the vans were. On that first night we all pretty much wandered the streets and hopped from party to party, show to show, and consumed so much alcohol that at a certain point it sobered us up. To save money we would keep a cold rack of beers in the van and then walk the streets with beer in hand. It was such the environment where this could be done legally, or the fact that everyone was doing it, the law did not care to enforce it. The streets were flooded with ppl, and it was just a refreshing and epic sight.
Our friends Rob and John wanted us to experience a Flaming Dr. Pepper shot, where the bartender lines up a row of beers and then shots of 151 Bacardi on top of the beers, and then lights them on fire only after to blow a huge flame into the crowd of people watching. It was an amazing sight and right after the flame was blown, you are supposed to consume the drink as fast as you can. I will have to say it was one of the tastiest drinks ive ever consumed. The bad part of this experience was that somewhere along the line Jarrett lost his wallet, or got it pick pocketed, so he was not able to get into any bars unless they knew him. Knowing that Coochie was outside without capable entry to anything basically, Ben, Rob, Labaki, and I headed back to Plush where they would recognize Jarrett from playing there earlier. Instead of coming back to Plush with us, Dino spotted a show he was surprised to see and was totally excited to see. This band was called “The FLower Traveling Band”, and quoted by Dino, “I was enlightened and my mind was blown away”. This band was from Japan and had been a band since the 60′s, and this was the first time they had toured the U.S.
Back at Plush our other Boston Brothers, “Constants” were performing and it was nothing more than spectacular. Its good to be coming from a great music scene. After all the debauchery was complete we headed back to the Omni Hotel where we were gonna pass out. This was around 4 am, and we were spent. We got a burrito from the greatest taco stand of all time and was served by the greatest senorita EVER TO WALK THIS EARTH!!!. Passed out on the floor of the hotel room filled with 7 of us. At around 6 am Sheel and Salim stroll into the room back from the Red Bull Party drunker than a bum passed out at Back Bay Station in Boston, and plopped their heads to rest. They would feel it in the morning. Some of the others slept in the van. Day 1 was complete. Only f*cking day ONE!!
Day 2 SXSW Day off
When people woke up, some people went down to the festivities again while some of us stayed at the hotel where we would hang out on the roof and drink beers by the pool and hot tub enjoying the view that is Austin. The point of the relaxation is that a few of us wanted to be fully ready for the evening activities, and not get too burnt out. Jeremy, Shan, Dino, Rob, John, Shrank, and Matt from Battlefields all lounged on the roof top until about 5 pm where in the Omni there is happy hour that begins and lasts for two hours. They serve you unlimited free alcohol, and appetizers which consisted of fried shrimp, cheese plates, lamb chops, and roasted veggies. To say we did not take advantage of this was an understatement. The drink of choice for both bands were Dewars on the rocks, and Dos Equis Beer. We were living the high life to put it in a perfect picture. This happy hour would be a staple for the whole stay in Austin. It is where everyone would regroup and talk about what we all would be doing for the nights activities.
Jarrett stayed in the van on the night of Day 1 and on the second day w/ no ID he was not going to stop from enjoying music’s paradise. He had seen a listing for a show featuring Danish Bands and “Efferklang”, who he had wanted to see for a while. Bret and Jarrett searched for this mystery venue but after a noble attempt they consulted the paper. They couldnt find the show, but found out that Cursive was playing an all ages show. They are one of Jarretts favorite bands and he was able to get his spirits higher by watching them from only 10 ft away. ID-0 Coochie-1.
That night Jarrett was able to get marked with X’s and get into another show where “St Vincent” was playing. After a mind blowing performance and looping display by Theresa Anderson, St Vincent broke his and Bret’s heart, to only sew it back together with her amazing vocal and guitar magic. ID-0 Coochie-2
The rest of the gang went to go see “As Tall As Lions, P.O.S, and Dredg”. All three of these acts were absolutely amazing. This was a badge and VIP only show, so during the day Salim, and Sheel were working their magic and getting in with the door man at Buffalo BIlliards where the show would be held. They were able to get in with the guys that were with them. On the other hand, Ben, Shan, Rob, John were on their own mission to get in. Shan and Ben bribed the door man $10 each, and bypassed a line of hundreds of people. The people in the lines were badge holders and VIP members. So much for VIP. Its all about the street knowledge you obtain while growing up in the streets of Calcutta. hahah. With that being said Shan, and Ben then proceeded to get Rob and John in, and then met up with the rest of the crew. We got to see Dredg from backstage and got to have some words with them before and after the show. Drew, and Gavin from Dredg both remember us from us attending Boston shows, and we handed many demos out that night.
After the show was over everyone disbanded again and Salim, Sheel, Bret and Ben attended the Red Bull Party again, only to become cross eyed. Dino, Jarrett and Shan went back to the van area and chilled with the Battlefield dudes for a while and then slept in the van where they found Bret losing his mind, and making us laugh for the next couple hours until the Warden Dave’ eventually shouted his no talking policy. “Lights out, Shut the mouth!!!
Around 6 am again the Red Bull crew show up in the van, and Salim didnt say a word while he curled up in fetal position next to Bret on the futon. Benji went into the passenger seat of the van and reclined the seat and passed out. Sheel unfortunately had to sleep in the freezing bus of Constants. At least everyone had a place to sleep, and it was so bad that no one could make it back to the hotel room. Being cross eyed in Austin is no joke. Thats Day 2.
Day 3 SXSW-G*d Help Us
Partying, shows, chaos, and shenanigans. We are strangers to none of these as some of the band members woke in the van on the 3rd day to rage on. Everyone was pretty hurt up from the night before, and some people were recovering, however, Bret and Salim went out around noon time and found a show that was free, with free beer. Enough said. By 2-3pm they were both half in the bag.
On the other hand an ID-less Jarrett had been informed by Joel, bassist of Junius, that a band called Frodus was playing. They hadnt played a show in 10 years, and they are the original band of the current bassist of The Dillinger Escape Plan. They were pretty nasty. After the show it was back to the hotel for a panoramic view with leafy green undertones from the rooftop pool area where we can see our van, and most of the grab-assing going on below. We would like to make it a point that Sheel did not refer to Austin as a “butthole” once on our stay. This is something spectacular to say the least.
After attending happy hour again, we were all loaded and choded, and ready to hit the streets. Most of the band was gonna be hanging around the van and in front of the venues, while others would wander the streets. Shan, and Dino went into a nearby liquor store to grab some beer to have near the van to drink, when Shan noticed who he thought was a Hollywood actress. It sure was!! He saw Drew Barrymore buying Bud Light!!! Are you kidding?!?! You would at least think she would buy something better. Anyways, when Shan and Dino were checking out, Dino managed to hand Ms. Barrymore a demo. She seemed pleased, and aside from pleased it seemed worrisome that she looked like she was homeless.
The whole night was a boozefest, and some member managed to go and grab more Dr. Pepper Shots, and this is where the night turned from buzzed to belligerent. We met up with Rob and Labaki again at the bar Cheers where they serve these special shots. Bret was with us, and this would be his first and second experience with these exotic drinks. Let this be known that those two drinks were his last of the night. This will be explained soon.
Back at the van everyone was stumbling in and out of the Constants tour bus after downing margaritas, and right by the Irepress tour van, young Bret was making his own thick crust pizza on the pavement, with ingredients from the Dr. Pepper Shots, and the massive amounts of pizza that he consumed that night. Bret was finished for the night.
Young Benjamin was on the streets passing out demos and making small talk with whomever would stroll by. He was making great progress, and brought many people into our circle. This young Benjamin is a man of many traits.
While this was going on Jarrett and Zander were playfully wrestling. Shan had seen this happening, and in his altered state of mind, he thought it was serious and immediately barged through the crowd of ppl, pushing aside anything in his way, and reprimanded Jarrett by placing him in a Navy Seal Death lock. This caught the amusement of everyone, especially Sheel as he uncontrollably laughed in hysteria. Shan then came to his senses and let go. It was done without harm, and no one got hurt. Shan then felt bad, and gave Jarrett a hug, and Zander thanked Shan for saving his life.
Aside from the debauchery ands chaos the night seemed pretty smooth until we all heard gunshots, and thats when we all knew that we must retire for the night. We all went back to the Omni Hotel, and passed out hard. Day 3 had done us in good.
Day 4-Best Show Ever, and Farewell Austin.
As we all woke up in the Omni hotel on March 22nd, we were all ready to get the hell out of Dodge, as some people say. We had a show on this day at this big club called “Red 7″. They had two stages in this venue. One was outdoors, and the other indoors. THe show would be on the bigger stage, which was outdoors. On this bill were a bunch of Boston’s powerhouses like Junius, Constants, and Caspian. If you want to include us then you can, but those bands have paid there dues, and are well respected by us.
Anyways they day started off routinely. We all showered up and got something to eat at basically the only open cafe on this day. Since SXSW was pretty much over, all of Austin looked like a ghost town, and the locals were pretty prominent in the streets.
We waited around the venue all day, and then loaded into the club. We were scheduled to go on at 6:30 p.m., and the crowd kept coming in, and it was cool to see people we had no idea who they were, wearing Irepress shirts.
One kid who really took us by surprise was a young bleached blonde 19 yr old who kept eyeing us like he knew us. After the first band the same approached Sheel, and Shan, who were sitting by the equipment, and greeted them with praise. He introduced himself as Raanen. He was a drummer, and he praised the work that Sheel has done, and he claimed he was heavily influenced by the rhythm section of Irepress. Clearly he was a huge fan of Irepress. Then the shock factor sunk in.
Raanen asked us if we knew who Terry Bozzio was. Sheel, and Shan both knew, and then Raanen told us that he was his father. Immediately Shan, and Sheel were praising his father and the work he has done. For all of you that dont know who Terry Bozzio is, he is only one of the worlds best drummers. He has done work with Zappa, and Jeff Beck, along with many other influential acts. Mr. Bozzio is pretty much a human drum machine.
Raanen was very excited to see us perform, and he talked to us about touring with his band overseas. It is something we were very open to doing. For all of you who do not know Raanen, he is a very humble kid who has so much potential. We had the chance to look at his myspace page, and watch a video of him giving a clinic. All that can be said is that, he is definitely the son of Mr. Terry Bozzio.
It was approaching 6:30 p.m. and its was showtime. This was a show where we all knew we had to play our most energetic, and tight set of the tour. We got up there and delivered the best set we had ever played, and watching the crowd fill in and just become engaged with the music passed even more energy onto us. After we were done, we received much praise by our peers, and the fans.
It was great to finally receive the respect we always thought we have deserved after 10 yrs. of being a band. Respect in the music world is given by your peers from other bands. Every band we have played with on this tour, and more importantly SXSW praised us and saw nothing but good things to come. It was overwhelming, and a great way to end our Austin/SXSW stay.
Thanks to our hospitality liaison, Tito Liebowitz for putting us up in the Omni. Thanks to our boys from home, Rob Braconi, and John Labaki for making the trip to Austin to support us, and finally thanks to all the bands we played with in Austin, and thanks to James who gave us the chance to play SXSW. We will see you next year.
El Paso
After leaving SXSW, it was back to the grind, and everyone was as dead to the world as possible. We all got a total of probably 10 hours of sleep the entire weekend. It was a non stop shit show. In some sense we were all glad to be out of Austin, and back to the normalcy of tour. On our way to El Paso we had to cross into New Mexico, and she was sure gonna give us a nice little greeting. Traveling from El Paso brings you very close to the border, and we had to stop at a checkpoint. We mustve smelled like kibble or something because a vicious she-bitch female dog warrior began to freak out just a foot away from our van door. There was a dead silence cut by barks, but we were told to move on and a gigantic sigh of relief was expelled. Andale Dummies!!!
It was back to business, and as soon as we got into El Paso, we all got smoothies from a juice bar. It immediately gave us the energy we needed, and we proceeded to go to a Mexican restaurant called Leo’s. It was the worst Mexican food place we had gone to thus far, and we were all disappointed.
There was a Guitar Center nearby so we all bought things that were necessary in maintaining our equipment. After the pit stop we managed to check into a super 8 motel where to our surprise the pool was not filled with water. SIKE!! You think a Super 8 Motel in the middle of the desert would keep their shit up to date. NO FUCKING WAY!!!
The great part of El Paso was that on the other side of the highway you could see Mexico and the scenery involved with it. We all were convinced that each factory was involved with the making and distribution of a white powder known as cocaine. Scary shit nonetheless. So onto the show…We played at this club called Zeppelins, and it was pretty much a show in front of our tourmates, since the show was not promoted at all. A big part of the lack of turnout was that there was a huge college basketball tournament going on at UTEP(University of Texas-El Paso). We played a good set and we actually sold some decent merch to the people who actually were there.
After the show we stayed in the hotel one more night and then the following day we were off to Tucson, AZ where we would play The Living Room.
Tucson, AZ-March 24th
Driving into Tucson was a beautiful spectical to behold. Since leaving El Paso the horizon has been dominated by small and distant mountains that slowly came into range. Salim had never been to the west before and he was in awe of some of the booty-rattling landscapes. Tucson itself is a “hippie-paradise” with stores like “Aztec Arts”, and “Hippie-Paradise”(Actual name).
We are playing in another art space with a local band called “North”, who originate 600 miles south of either of our two bands. The show was pretty good with a decent turnout for us, and we were able to see our good friend Adam Feldman, who currently kicks it in Phoenix.
After the show we cruised an hour west to crash with Dino’s cousin. Straight up baller and business genius, cousin Joey let us post up in his domicile with some sweet pussy…..his two cats. He was a most kickass host and the next morning he pointed us in the direction of Lake Pleasant for some excellent views of nature. Lake Pleasant was pretty beautious and we found a sick location where the roadway went straight into the water with the mountains in front. We took this opportunity to laugh our asses off as we took a rather humerous promo shot, which you can find in our tour photos soon enough.
To cap off the day, some of the chaps wanted to soak in some of the local nighlife, but alas, Jarrett still had no ID, so he had to stay in and eat pizzas with Unkie Joey, and young Benjamin. They both chose to watch the movie “Fargo” in honor of our plutonic tour boyfriends, Battlefields.
Majority of the boys went into Tempe to soak it all in, and soak it in they did. They went from bar to bar taking control of every venue they set foot in. They managed to hustle free drinks form each bar they went to by dropping the “touring band” staple. For some reason this makes bartenders wanna give out free drinks. Anyways the time was to come home, and on the way home Salim was driving when a huge flash occured. In Arizona, the cops dont pull you over for speeding. A high definition picture is taken of the person driving, along with the license plates, and a ticket is sent to your house. It was better off that a picture was taken instead of being pulled over, otherwise…well you all can guess what the outcome wouldve been.
All was well until Jarrett was roused from his sleep by a leg tug from dearest Shan. “Hey you finish the blog”, said the unrelenting editorial Mousalini. “Im effing sleeping you dummy”, Jarrett cheerfully replied. In the morning like any family, it was all forgiven and it was onto Cali!! WOOO!!
California, Land of Legend
By crossing into Cali, we made it clear across the country. Northeast to Southwest. The drive from Phoenix to Riverside, CA would prove to have a most awe inspiring array of natural scenery, from dark brown mountains to green winding hill paths to a 20 mile stretch of energy farms that blew our minds. We drove through misty valleys and through the mountains to pull up to a coffee shop in the palm tree-laden city of Riverside.
We could instantly sense that some scrotum twisting news was on the way. Sure enough the venue had double booked the evenings festivities and a pro-medical marijuana conference had bumped us from our show. That sucked, and so Rushdie from Battlefields pushed to relocate the show. After about an hour of cellphone warfare we mounted up for Redland, CA, where an artspace had agreed to hold the show.
As we lifted the equipment up the metal staircase our hopes so to were lifted as a steady stream of ppl began flooding the space. We all were truly re-amped for this show and we were ready to unleash on a crowd of completely unsuspecting people. The first band began to play and, most of us were at the van just grabbing some relaxing time before we played. It was time for us to return to the space and we returned only to find that the total C-unit next door had shut the show down because of noise pollution.
Double-blue ball show disaster. We headed out in a fury and said eff it!! On to L.A.
Hollywood/L.A
L.A began with a great welcome buy our hospitality liason, Tito Liebowitz. He had us stay with him in his fine establishment, The Pallazzo, which is a place for the rich and famous. He began to just drop names left and right, and we got the point of the type of place we were staying.
We pretty much lounged the same style as we lounged at The Omni Hotel in Austin, TX. It was that type of plush environment. It was much of the same type of chillin and grillin so we wont bore you with the same shit.
The night after we arrived at Tito’s teepee, we played a show at The Knitting Factory, which is located basically on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. A bunch of our close friends and family arrived in time for us to play, and the majority of the crowd was all family of Irepress. It was a nice feeling, and felt somewhat like home except on the completely opposite side of the country. Nevertheless we tore the joint up, and impressed many of the L.A locals, and once again we did very well on selling merch.
After we played Bret’s kind aunt bought us all a round of drinks, which was awesome of her, and then bought every piece of merch we had to sell.
The show got out really late, and we were all too tired to paint the town red, so we went back to the shire and passed out. The next day we had the day off since San Diego was cancelled due to too many shows coming into town that day. We went to Santa Monica Beach that day and enjoyed the weather, while eating at Chachas Chicken which was by far the best Mexican food we had all tour. We departed L.A around midnight and traveled to Chico, CA where we would be re-acquainted with the cold weather. SALT!!!!!!!
Chico, CA
There is not much to talk about Chico besides the show, and our hotel stay. It was the worst hotel stay on the tour, and it was all because of the hospitality. The management was pathetic, as well as the appliances in the rooms. We had to change rooms 3 times due to toilets not working, internet non-existent(Bret’s worst nightmare), and a stench beyond comprehension. We argued throroughly with hotel management, and pretty much bitch slapped them verbally. For all of you who ever go to Chico and need a hotel, NEVER EVER stay at the Super 8.
As far as the show goes it was really good. It was in this DVD rental space, which they turned into a huge hall. There were alot of kids there, and we managed to play really well again. This show more than others were a little awkward at first since we were completely out of place as far as our music. Yes, most of the shows we have been the most different band, but this was more apparent in Chico.
Our next stop would be Oregon where we would see old faces, and return home to where it all started for us as kids……The home of The Goonies. Check back in a couple days for
Eugene, OR
As we left Chico, we all broke out our winter gear again as we were going to head back into the cold gloomy weather again. We arrived in Eugene at our good friend Laney’s house, where she greeted us with a fine cuisine, which consisted of Enchiladas, rice, and salad to only be topped off by a glass of wine. We stayed there for a short period of time and then had to head to the club.
The only bands on the show were us, and Battlefields, and then after we were finished, a “Fire Dance” exposition was to take place. None of us had any idea what was about to occur. So we went on, and played a great set in front of a decent amount of people, and atleast 5 kids drove over 3 hours to come to see us, which makes us feel honored to play. An interesting thing occured when these kids came to our merch booth with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album on vinyl, and asked for us to sign it.
At first we were baffled, but then after they explained how they knew we were all huge fans of MJ, it made sense, and this was even a bigger honor for us.
So once the show was over the Fire Dance started and it was pretty much open bar all night for us, while we enjoyed the festivities. When we left the club we went back to our friend Laney’s and relaxed and just talked amongst ourselves only to pass out and get a good night sleep.
When we woke up, it was off to Astoria(Home of The Goonies), but not before stopping by to get some delicious soup from Laney’s soup stand which was located in the hub of the University of Oregon. Thanks Laney!! You are the SHIT!!!
Goonieville(The Birth of Irepress’ Soul)
Summer Tour w/Junius
SO far so good on the tour. We are currently camped out at our tour manager, Salim’s(Bad Rabbits) parents house in Atlanta. We had the greatest southern style breakfast ever which was made by Salim’s parents.
The shows have been great and its felt great to get back on the road. We just got home from playing the Summer Sideshow Festival in Colombus, GA and we were probably the most different band there. Aside from Junius, and Irepress, it was a bunch of Metal Core kids and many of the bands sounded like absolute trash. It probably had to do with the PA system, and it being outdoors. Luckily we bring our own sound guy(Salim).
We have played 3 shows so far, and watching Junius every night is a complete treat for us. We all absolutely love them, and they bring the pain every single night.
Tonight we will probably be heading into the city to show ATL a good Boston Beatdown. Hopefully we all survive the night.
Next stop Jacksonville, FL.
June 19th Harrisonburg, VA
The trek to Harrisonburg was a grueling 12 hour drive. We arrived in our southern home away from home at 5:30 am, and proceeded to slumber to subdue the hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation. In the morning we were re-united one by one with our slack-jawed confederates as they woke, and we began to get energized for the sweat-fest.
After several hours of dicking around and internet coffee-shop-ing we drove the van approx. 12 centimeters to the “Blue Nile Club” and loaded in. We were most gracious to receive some bodacious Ethiopian delectables and got charged up to play, and then follow it up by watching “Gifts From Enola” tear it up at their CD release. The club was packed to capacity and Bart Starr got so excited that he spiked his guitar like a football while attempting to make a quip to Jarrett. Oooops!!! Karma is a hairy pitted bitch!!! We thrashed on and the crowd response was great as usual. The conversation outside the club after we finished was people wondering how big Irepress’ dicks are collectively. We would imagine it to be atleast 1 mm. GFE’s set was triumphantly epic along with the ultra light show by Wayne Vancouver.
After the show the festivities continued back at “The Church”(The GFE’s house) with some beer pong, 35 rounds of Happy BDAY for our beloved DiNo, several shutting of the lights, and screaming incidents. Not to mention a group of metal heads air guitaring to each other in a circle for hours.
The next day would be a day off, so we endulged into the wee hours of morning before deeeeeyozing, or more like passing the FCK out!!
June 20th-Day off Harrisonburg, VA
After several more hours of borditude we were to attend the party of some most lovely Virginia Debutantes. Sheel and Thudd from GFE’s dominated some pong, but that was merely a side show to the main attraction. Shan would display to all of us both his snake charming talents and his social networking skills simultaneously by giving some party guests a “great tip”.
We departed the suare’ and headed to another shindig with a band playing. Outside of the house we had some ill freestyles vs. a toothless backpack main. Upon returning to the GFE’s house Shan must have felt that the warmth of the south was getting to him and decided to shed his clothes and give us all a wonderous display of his bulbous physique. After several forward rolls on the lawn, Brandon, a GFE’s crew homie, appeared out of no where to perform a nude pounce on Ravishing Shan Rude.
Needless to say, our lives will never be the same. Salim snagged Shan’s garments and hid them in the bed of a truck into which Shan would have to climb his bare ass into. He then proceeded to raise his arms and bay at the moon. GAAD HELP US ALL!!!!
June 21st Richmond, VA
Poof!!! Tour dreams go up in smoke.
After some grillins and chillins at the home of CJ Higgins Wentworth Wayneright DeLuca III, we embarked for the venue where we would be playing(NARA SUSHI) in Richmond.
When we were about 10 minutes from the venue our left rear tire ssssssssss-shredded and burst a coolant hose in the processes sending a white plumbe of smoke skyward, much like the new pope had been chosen. Spirits remained high however as Sheel, and Jarrett engaged in a pillow fight of epic proportions, proclaiming “POOF” with each death blow.
Currently we are awaiting the arrival of Salim and Bret with our trusty steed. Cant wait to see how she looks after this surgery. It is then off to Virginia Beach where we will have some BBQ at Tim’s, guitarist of GFE’s, house followed by another sweat fest we will have while playing a show.
POOF!!!
June 22nd- Virginia Beach
In the morning Salim and Bret rose at the fart of dawn to go figure out how much devastation had occurred to our precious transportation. The rest of us chilled while they ate approx. 17 meals in a diner, waiting for the new hose(unfortunately not HOES) that was needed to repair the A/C and coolant system. Once the van was fixed we booked it to Virginia Beach to play at “Bar None”.
We were greeted by our friends Jordan, and Kenneth from the band “Reckoner”(we checked out their new demo and they are brutally SICK). It was another club where you could smoke inside, so there were frequent tiny coughs, but there were also 50 cent taco’s. All was forgiven.
This was some of our first chances to see “A Cosmonauts Ruin’s” full set and they blew us away. Heavy ass rhythms and intricate melodic lines. After the show there were some papa razzi, who wanted some photos so the entire crew of 3 bands all became instantly haggard as possibly, removing shirtsies and twistin knotsies in the shirtziz as we posed before the S.S Monnow(GFE’s bus). After Shan straight butt-fucked Tim from GFE’s. We arranged our stupidity for the photo catastrophe. Mere milliseconds before the flash went off, off came Shan’s shorts and undergarments. Shan and the one-eyed salimander left their marks on several hearts that night.
June 22nd-Wilmington, NC
We awoke and had some breakfast at Timffany’s and shared several chortles with the GFE’s crew and then headed for Wilmington, NC. If anything I would say this place was rare.
Reggie’s 42nd St. would have been a great venue for a show had there been any type of promotion for it or a local act, but instead it was a recipe for disaster. Our set went off semi-cleanly(Jarrett’s keyboard cut out leaving Shan to do the most boring solo this century). Its atleast 3223523 more notes than what Jarrett plays during a set anyways. At the end of Diaspora the GFE’s crew began a spiraling pit of disaster, completely leveling a redneck birthday girl and sending her barreling into some barstools. Salim said to her, “Oh my God are you ok?!? Im sorry”, to which she gap tooth-idly replied, “Bite me”.
A Cosmonaut’s Ruin killed it again and then GFE’s took the stage. Approx. 35 seconds into their set. C.J spilled a glass of water that was on top of his amp, and his amp began to short out. The set grinded to a hault as Nate’s melon nearly imploded. He raced to save the amp and Young Benjamin who was outside at the time, jumped into action and again would be the saviour of another band’s tour dreams. Oh yee Binjy!!!!.
We then proceeded to Stone Cold Dave Austin’s house, our host for the evening and prepared to head out for some shananagans. We piled into the Carolina Death Van, a construction van with two lawn chairs and full of tools. Bret and Salim were literally tossed To-and-Fro while Sheel and Jarrett controlled their fate by steadying their chairs(or tipping them completely over). This would prove hilarious on the ride home when Salim would plow face first into the back of the drivers seat as the bucket he was sitting in toppled over.
Upon arrival at the bar it was apparent that nearly everyone there was out of their minds on some form of ecstasy, or something along those lines and were beeeeyugging out to some techno grooves. We watched dumbfounded as the local hippie population gyrated before us.
Later back at Drunkle Dave’s we were quenching out palates further when Dave decided to throw Dino in a chokehold out of nowhere. After a few neck punches(the dude was shouting this) Dino went down with a glass of water in hand. The chode had choked Dino out for no apparent reason, and after Shan yelled at Dave and fathered him back to reality. After several rounds of “What the fuck were you doing?” it was time for bed. GOODNIGHT DAVEY 2 CHOKES!!!
June 23rd-Carrboro, NC(Chapel Hill)
We arrived in NC and were greeted by our long time friend Freddy Marzetti(Dave Marzetti). He is one of our long time friends who plays drums in an excellent alternative rock outfit called “Sleep Control”. We laundered some clothery and grilled some dead animals and then headed to Carrboro for some free Shlitz to be followed by some free shitz caused by the Shlitz.
GFE held it down, and our set went off without a hitch. Dave’s girlfriend Mariel was kind enough to grace her well shaped(our bad Dave) bum with an Irepress sticker, which is probably the best publicity we’ve ever had.
One of Sheel’s old friends, who is a massage therapist then went to work on several members of both bands. Her prowess caused the face of Spud(GFE drummer) to contort much like many tiny wood gnomes were lumber jacking the underbrush of his under nuts. He and Jarrett then performed a most magical interpretive dance display to the final band of the evening, driving some tears.
After another hilarious evening CJ would exclaim to Shan and Bret that we were his “Best tour friends and I love you guys”. LOVE YOU TOO BRO!!! We departed the venue and returned to Maserati’s to gorge our faces, and Dino and Jarrett got significantly “steamrolled”. Soxies the cat(actual name is Mr. Pickles, but he had white paws, so Jarrett renamed him) became our new friend and after a thorough cat battle and some Hookah, it was bedtime.
In the morning, the most gracious Mariel treated us to some delicious pizza, and were again reminded how friendly and nice southerners are. YEEEEEEE HAWWW!!! It is off to Winston-Salem next. Demon Decon territory.
July 1st and 2nd-New Orleans and Houston, TX
After two amazingly uneventful(wink wink) days off in New Orleans(gaad we love you) it was finally time to fire it up once again in the sweltering armpit like weather of…..THE BAYOU!!! After some mind blowing po-boys and a look at some of the areas effected by Hurricane Katrina, we went to the Circle Bar to play with our newly acquired home-boys “Hat Talk”.
The club was fairly small but was packed in like an inmates fudge. Unfortunately all would not be well for the GFE’s camp. Crud had left his cymbals in Memphis, and would need to brutally murder the crap out of some of Dick VerSheel’s until his could be shipped to him. The show would go on though and after 2 sets, and nine trillion crash cymbal hits later it was time to play. There were a bunch of people who knew our songs well and sang along with the gang vocals, which always chubs us up. This show was a great momentum booster from the lack of life in Tennessee.
It was time to depart this city of sin(Lord knows we created some) for Houston, TX before we all melted and were added to the mixed beverages.
Houston, TX
In Houston we gorged on some incredible Mexican treats at a restaraunt called “Cabo”, and then went to the venue “Super Happy Fun Land”. This place was a huge happy paradise with painted walls and miscellaneous bobbles and trinkets for wookies of all ages to “trip-out” to. There was theatre type seating and a huge stage amongst the 1970′s magazine collection and pianos.
We were grateful to learn that a few people travelled all the way from Austin so they could see us twice on this tour. The drummer and bassist of Scale the Summit(about to tour with Dream Theatre) also came out to see us which was awesome, and we hope to possibly work with those guys in the future.
The show went off problem free and those who made it out to see us were glad they did. The momentum was still in tact. An added plus for playing in Houston was also that we got to see our long time home-boy Ben from Sharon. We stayed with him in his sick pad, and his hyped up dog Jack. It was then off to Denton, TX for some free pizza and Schlitz, and what was to be another SICK ASS SHOW!!