PORTLAND, OR - The Towne Lounge
Our first show of the tour was at lil’ joint in Portland called the Town Lounge. We played with our tour partner Rachel Robinson and a soloist from New Zealand called Bachelorette.
We ran into a few technical difficulties. A broken string before the show, followed by a lack of direct boxes for acoustic guitars, then followed by a pickup literally going dead in the middle of the set. If there was a way to make my drums spontaneously explode towards the end of the set, I would have done it just to add to the rising pile on-stage technical problems. Somehow the audience didn’t seem to mind, and we got a great response inspite of our technical issues.
The after party was a trip to a 24 hour diner called the Roxy. We have to thank our good friend and touring companion Michelle Chapman for providing us with a local cast of characters as the evening’s traveling party.
One of the things I remember most about the diner is a disturbing, warhol-like, multi-colored,portait of Quentin Tarentino that hung on the wall. The Tarentino painting seemed to be watching me as I ate my hash browns and would not let me eat in peace. I had to completely turn my body away from his stare to enjoy my late night snack.
Other than that, I really liked the place, and the company we were in. It was a fun little night out and about in Portland.
EUGENE, OR - Luckey’s
The next day on the road was tough for me. I had come down with terrible cold that gave me headaches, and drained me of energy. All I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, then I could wake up and be rid of the bad dream (and bad health) I was in.
Before leaving Portland, Courtney and I went back downtown to buy a much-needed new pick up for her guitar. Then we got on I-5 and headed down to Eugene, OR to visit my cousin David, his wife Catharine, and their two small kids, Eitan and Zev. We had planned on staying at David’s while in Eugene, and I was looking forward to some catch up.
However, I could barely keep myself upright, let alone hold a decent conversation at David’s house, so I took nap while Courtney and little 2 year old Eitan played together.
The Scene at Luckey’s was low key. It was the first Saturday night during spring break. You can imagine the quiet that can come over a college town. It was a mellow night for us, but there were a few locals at Luckeys who liked what they heard, and let us know after the show. I had a brief burst of energy to chat with the locals, but moments later, I could just barely pack up drums and pack up the car, without falling over on my face.
SEATTLE, WA -Tractor Tavern
My cold lingered on the next day as we made the 4 hour drive up to Seattle. Lead-foot Courtney was at the wheel and we made good time. We had a chance to stop in, and visit hosts Tyesha and Chad. The show was at The Tractor Tavern and we shared the bill with two local bands, Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, and The Birthdays. We’d heard good things about the Tractor Tavern before going there. Truth be told, it was our favorite venue out of all 3 Northwestern shows.
Our show was a lot of fun. We were playing on Easter Sunday and it was hard to resist doing something festive to celebrate the holiday, so Courtney and I arranged to have an egg hunt in the bar. Michelle Chapman’s Mom, Linda Chapman was kind enough to provide us with plastic eggs, baskets, fake grass, chocolate eggs, and some peeps.
We made the announcement about the Easter egg hunt after our first two songs. It was the first time we ever asked the audience to NOT watch us and do something else. Immediately, we saw audience members scatter around the room to look for eggs. Courtney hid eggs all over the club. And she hid one ‘special egg,’ that contained a KaiserCartel button. Whoever found the special egg, would win a free cd.
The audience was great. Jeff Poteet, our friend from Gibson, was among the people in the crowd. It was amazing to play a responsive, energetic crowd. I felt like we had found a new home away from home @ the Tractor Tavern. In addition, I was feeling a bit better on stage, and a little less-sick than the night before.
Was I finally over my cold?
Our first show of the tour was at lil’ joint in Portland called the Town Lounge. We played with our tour partner Rachel Robinson and a soloist from New Zealand called Bachelorette.
We ran into a few technical difficulties. A broken string before the show, followed by a lack of direct boxes for acoustic guitars, then followed by a pickup literally going dead in the middle of the set. If there was a way to make my drums spontaneously explode towards the end of the set, I would have done it just to add to the rising pile on-stage technical problems. Somehow the audience didn’t seem to mind, and we got a great response inspite of our technical issues.
The after party was a trip to a 24 hour diner called the Roxy. We have to thank our good friend and touring companion Michelle Chapman for providing us with a local cast of characters as the evening’s traveling party.
One of the things I remember most about the diner is a disturbing, warhol-like, multi-colored,portait of Quentin Tarentino that hung on the wall. The Tarentino painting seemed to be watching me as I ate my hash browns and would not let me eat in peace. I had to completely turn my body away from his stare to enjoy my late night snack.
Other than that, I really liked the place, and the company we were in. It was a fun little night out and about in Portland.
EUGENE, OR - Luckey’s
The next day on the road was tough for me. I had come down with terrible cold that gave me headaches, and drained me of energy. All I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, then I could wake up and be rid of the bad dream (and bad health) I was in.
Before leaving Portland, Courtney and I went back downtown to buy a much-needed new pick up for her guitar. Then we got on I-5 and headed down to Eugene, OR to visit my cousin David, his wife Catharine, and their two small kids, Eitan and Zev. We had planned on staying at David’s while in Eugene, and I was looking forward to some catch up.
However, I could barely keep myself upright, let alone hold a decent conversation at David’s house, so I took nap while Courtney and little 2 year old Eitan played together.
The Scene at Luckey’s was low key. It was the first Saturday night during spring break. You can imagine the quiet that can come over a college town. It was a mellow night for us, but there were a few locals at Luckeys who liked what they heard, and let us know after the show. I had a brief burst of energy to chat with the locals, but moments later, I could just barely pack up drums and pack up the car, without falling over on my face.
SEATTLE, WA -Tractor Tavern
My cold lingered on the next day as we made the 4 hour drive up to Seattle. Lead-foot Courtney was at the wheel and we made good time. We had a chance to stop in, and visit hosts Tyesha and Chad. The show was at The Tractor Tavern and we shared the bill with two local bands, Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, and The Birthdays. We’d heard good things about the Tractor Tavern before going there. Truth be told, it was our favorite venue out of all 3 Northwestern shows.
Our show was a lot of fun. We were playing on Easter Sunday and it was hard to resist doing something festive to celebrate the holiday, so Courtney and I arranged to have an egg hunt in the bar. Michelle Chapman’s Mom, Linda Chapman was kind enough to provide us with plastic eggs, baskets, fake grass, chocolate eggs, and some peeps.
We made the announcement about the Easter egg hunt after our first two songs. It was the first time we ever asked the audience to NOT watch us and do something else. Immediately, we saw audience members scatter around the room to look for eggs. Courtney hid eggs all over the club. And she hid one ‘special egg,’ that contained a KaiserCartel button. Whoever found the special egg, would win a free cd.
The audience was great. Jeff Poteet, our friend from Gibson, was among the people in the crowd. It was amazing to play a responsive, energetic crowd. I felt like we had found a new home away from home @ the Tractor Tavern. In addition, I was feeling a bit better on stage, and a little less-sick than the night before.
Was I finally over my cold?
posted by Courtney Kaiser at
10:55 PM
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