Monday, April 16, 2007
Journey to the center of the USA.
Courtney and I started driving out of Brooklyn at 5:30pm on Wednesday March 29th. After a 2 hour long traffic jam, we were out of the NY/ NJ area. We drove, and, drove, and drove until we hit the outskirts of Cleveland. Not much to tell about the trip other than it was long and we listened to Neil Young ‘Zuma,’ at least 5 times.
Day 2 more driving from a motel outside Cleveland area to Euclair Wisconsin. We made a few stops along the way. We witnessed a few strange occurrences at a Goodwill store in Madison, Wisconsin. At this point you should know that all our goodwill/salvation army stops are just par for the KaiserCartel travel course.
Courtney noticed a brawny young woman fighting with an equally brawny, life-sized, puma by the cash register. I didn’t see the young woman at first, but when I finally did, it was hard for me to take my eyes off her. It was strangely fascinating the way she glared at the bear with a maniacal intensity and wrapped her hands tightly around it’s neck. I wondered what the puma could have done to make this woman so angry.
The strangeness continued - a boy, about eight years old, came up to the cash register to ask the cashier with a shopping cart full of sweaters, “are these sweaters made of wool,” The cashier, barely communicative, clearly battling with her own mental demons, gave the boy a puzzled look and said nothing. Courtney blurted in with a laugh, “there’s usually a tag, but this one doesn’t have one. I don’t think it is.” Earlier Courtney had overheard the boys mother ask the boy to ‘find all the non-wool sweaters in the store. I wondered if this was some kind of elaborate punishment.
We were run-down from an 8 hour day of driving and spent the night in Euclair. We pulled up to an Econo motor lodge and checked in. Before we brought our bags into our room, we passed by a window with the curtains drawn wide open. Two men in jeans, flannel shirts, and construction boots, were sharing a dimly lit, room. Both drinking beers and one was lying on the bed and looking out the window at us is if he were watching us on tv.
Courtney and I were deeply creeped out by the two men. We were actually afraid to leave our room for fear of the crazy drunken, construction workers wandering thru the motel. Eventually all these dark thoughts left our minds as we distracted ourselves with internet, tv, and pizza delivery.
MINNEAPOLIS in March.
Our first day in Minneapolis was a whirlwind of activity. We had practice with a guest electric guitarist, a sound-check at Varsity Theater, a coffee break, an early, all-ages show, then off to an appearance at a song-writer-in-the-round coffee house Hootenanny, then back to Varsity for the late, 21 and up, show. All of the 3 shows happened in the short span of 4 hours.
We were the opening band for the cd release show for Cloud Cult, an up in coming band from the Minneapolis area, at The Varsity Theater. Apparently, the cd release show(s) was one of the most publicized shows in town that night -so there was a lot of tension and hype added to the show and the general feeling at the Varsity Theater.
We spent a lot of time hanging out with the Cloud Cult folks and the other openers, The Hot IQs from Denver, Colorado. The Hot IQ’s were kind enough to share their gear a very needy duo. We couldn’t have shared a nicer bill. Both bands were fantastic and we were glad to make new friends.
6-7pm Our first set at Varsity felt rushed and we struggled on stage. The sound on stage - was less than perfect. Our room-to-move on stage was about half the size of a Manhattan studio apartment -so our ‘rapid instrument changes’ were less-than rapid. The club gave us little to no time for a proper sound check. Michael Arnold, our friend from the Minneapolis band, Revolver Modelle, did an excellent job as guest guitarist for both sets.
Ivan, Courtney’s dog, got to hang our back stage in the green room at Varsity Theater and meet all the bands. After our first performance, we had to run off to Jim Walsh’s Hootenanny, a songwriters-in-the-round at a nearby coffee house. We left Ivan in back in the green room to fend for himself as we sped off to the Hootenanny. I felt like some kind dog-ditcher/abusive pet owner leaving him alone in the green room, but we knew he’d be ok.
7pm - 8:30pm The song writers-in-the-round was a surprisingly a lot of fun. Jim Walsh, a Minneapolis music journalist and singer/songwriter, was the host of the Hootenanny. He gave us a big introduction as soon as he saw that we were there. We hung out on stage drinking wine and telling jokes and stories, and sharing songs with some local singer/songwriters. It was a completely unplugged, , lo-fi as you can go type of sound situation. How can you go wrong with the sound system, when there is no sound system.
The crowd, a lot larger than I had imagined, was receptive, attentive, and clapped and sang along with many of the songs. I had the feeling that Courtney and I had traveled back in time to the days when Bob Dylan used to play folk songs in coffee house of Minneapolis, in the early 60’s. There was something so easy-going about the vibe at Jim’s Hootenanny, that was nothing like our show at The Varsity Theater.
Towards the end of our time at the Hootenanny, an energetic, red-haired, freckle faced, 11 year-old boy named Graham came up on stage and played one of his own original songs. Though I could barely hear his shy little voice, his guitar playing was strong. I was impressed because he was so earnest, willing, and ready to get up on stage and play.
The audience roared and cheered loudly for him. How could you not.
9 - 9:30pm When we came back to the Varsity Theater, we found Ivan living it up. He was wrapped in a red satin blanket, snuggled next to Dan, a dog-loving band member of Cloud Cult. He had become the talk of the green room. We were relieved.
Courtney and I agreed that playing at the Hootenanny made it easier for us to relax and have more fun with our second show at Varsity Theater. Our second show at Varsity was a lot smoother and enjoyable for us, compared to our first.
Courtney and I started driving out of Brooklyn at 5:30pm on Wednesday March 29th. After a 2 hour long traffic jam, we were out of the NY/ NJ area. We drove, and, drove, and drove until we hit the outskirts of Cleveland. Not much to tell about the trip other than it was long and we listened to Neil Young ‘Zuma,’ at least 5 times.
Day 2 more driving from a motel outside Cleveland area to Euclair Wisconsin. We made a few stops along the way. We witnessed a few strange occurrences at a Goodwill store in Madison, Wisconsin. At this point you should know that all our goodwill/salvation army stops are just par for the KaiserCartel travel course.
Courtney noticed a brawny young woman fighting with an equally brawny, life-sized, puma by the cash register. I didn’t see the young woman at first, but when I finally did, it was hard for me to take my eyes off her. It was strangely fascinating the way she glared at the bear with a maniacal intensity and wrapped her hands tightly around it’s neck. I wondered what the puma could have done to make this woman so angry.
The strangeness continued - a boy, about eight years old, came up to the cash register to ask the cashier with a shopping cart full of sweaters, “are these sweaters made of wool,” The cashier, barely communicative, clearly battling with her own mental demons, gave the boy a puzzled look and said nothing. Courtney blurted in with a laugh, “there’s usually a tag, but this one doesn’t have one. I don’t think it is.” Earlier Courtney had overheard the boys mother ask the boy to ‘find all the non-wool sweaters in the store. I wondered if this was some kind of elaborate punishment.
We were run-down from an 8 hour day of driving and spent the night in Euclair. We pulled up to an Econo motor lodge and checked in. Before we brought our bags into our room, we passed by a window with the curtains drawn wide open. Two men in jeans, flannel shirts, and construction boots, were sharing a dimly lit, room. Both drinking beers and one was lying on the bed and looking out the window at us is if he were watching us on tv.
Courtney and I were deeply creeped out by the two men. We were actually afraid to leave our room for fear of the crazy drunken, construction workers wandering thru the motel. Eventually all these dark thoughts left our minds as we distracted ourselves with internet, tv, and pizza delivery.
MINNEAPOLIS in March.
Our first day in Minneapolis was a whirlwind of activity. We had practice with a guest electric guitarist, a sound-check at Varsity Theater, a coffee break, an early, all-ages show, then off to an appearance at a song-writer-in-the-round coffee house Hootenanny, then back to Varsity for the late, 21 and up, show. All of the 3 shows happened in the short span of 4 hours.
We were the opening band for the cd release show for Cloud Cult, an up in coming band from the Minneapolis area, at The Varsity Theater. Apparently, the cd release show(s) was one of the most publicized shows in town that night -so there was a lot of tension and hype added to the show and the general feeling at the Varsity Theater.
We spent a lot of time hanging out with the Cloud Cult folks and the other openers, The Hot IQs from Denver, Colorado. The Hot IQ’s were kind enough to share their gear a very needy duo. We couldn’t have shared a nicer bill. Both bands were fantastic and we were glad to make new friends.
6-7pm Our first set at Varsity felt rushed and we struggled on stage. The sound on stage - was less than perfect. Our room-to-move on stage was about half the size of a Manhattan studio apartment -so our ‘rapid instrument changes’ were less-than rapid. The club gave us little to no time for a proper sound check. Michael Arnold, our friend from the Minneapolis band, Revolver Modelle, did an excellent job as guest guitarist for both sets.
Ivan, Courtney’s dog, got to hang our back stage in the green room at Varsity Theater and meet all the bands. After our first performance, we had to run off to Jim Walsh’s Hootenanny, a songwriters-in-the-round at a nearby coffee house. We left Ivan in back in the green room to fend for himself as we sped off to the Hootenanny. I felt like some kind dog-ditcher/abusive pet owner leaving him alone in the green room, but we knew he’d be ok.
7pm - 8:30pm The song writers-in-the-round was a surprisingly a lot of fun. Jim Walsh, a Minneapolis music journalist and singer/songwriter, was the host of the Hootenanny. He gave us a big introduction as soon as he saw that we were there. We hung out on stage drinking wine and telling jokes and stories, and sharing songs with some local singer/songwriters. It was a completely unplugged, , lo-fi as you can go type of sound situation. How can you go wrong with the sound system, when there is no sound system.
The crowd, a lot larger than I had imagined, was receptive, attentive, and clapped and sang along with many of the songs. I had the feeling that Courtney and I had traveled back in time to the days when Bob Dylan used to play folk songs in coffee house of Minneapolis, in the early 60’s. There was something so easy-going about the vibe at Jim’s Hootenanny, that was nothing like our show at The Varsity Theater.
Towards the end of our time at the Hootenanny, an energetic, red-haired, freckle faced, 11 year-old boy named Graham came up on stage and played one of his own original songs. Though I could barely hear his shy little voice, his guitar playing was strong. I was impressed because he was so earnest, willing, and ready to get up on stage and play.
The audience roared and cheered loudly for him. How could you not.
9 - 9:30pm When we came back to the Varsity Theater, we found Ivan living it up. He was wrapped in a red satin blanket, snuggled next to Dan, a dog-loving band member of Cloud Cult. He had become the talk of the green room. We were relieved.
Courtney and I agreed that playing at the Hootenanny made it easier for us to relax and have more fun with our second show at Varsity Theater. Our second show at Varsity was a lot smoother and enjoyable for us, compared to our first.
