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October 23, 2005
Greetings from Reno, wait, Boise, oh, uh, Portland and...
Perched in some dudernet cafe in downtown Reno - hello!
The RADICAL BROS fall tour proceeds apace. The Volvo (or, Brolvo, as it has been affectionately dubbed) is performing like a champ, stuffed to the gills as it is with rock and rockers. Bit of a lowrider at this point, but nevertheless cruising right over the Donner Pass with nary a blown valve. Knock on hard plastic dashboard. Tighten the bungie cords. Turn up the AM radio.
We've had a real cool, if not somewhat surreal, time - myself, Max and Eric are all committed to having fun on this tour. I mean, our musicianship has been relatively loose, if not ass-ish, so why not, right? I dunno, people seem to get the vibe. Our first night out, at an all-ages show in Grass Valley, CA, the keyboard stand collapsed on Max (resulting in a huge, percussive crash) during our cover of "Billie Jean" - precisely in rhythm! Epic jam. I mean, it could not have been timed better. Without missing a beat, Max promptly grabbed the mic and yelled, "Thank you, good night!". The assembled crowd of kids and duders (and their parents) went apeshit. Someone soberly told us later that it was the most rock & roll thing they had ever seen. Not so sure about that, but it kinda set the tone for the rest of the tour: barely controlled chaos, openly nurturing entropy, dancing on the bar, cats and dogs living together, you get the idea. Modest, yet determined self-destruction.
Anyway, I started this entry months ago. The metaphorical and literal dust has settled, my friends. But! Here's some pics from The Crocodile in Seattle and the Silverlake Lounge in L.A.:
(photo by Curt Doughty - thanks, Curt!)
(photo by Delia Walowski - thanks, Delia!)
I needn't ramble on about the mildly sordid details of the tour: cemeteries in the early hours of the Boise morning, "Keep the positive vibes!", dragging semi-unconscious drunk girl-friends back to pristine mid-century apartments (not what you might think!), "Um, OK if we play here tonight?", sneaking in and out of Mormon McMansions, "I could smoke you guys out tonight if you wanted...", aborted Wings covers, stolen AC/DC tshirts, sunsets, sunrises, heartbreak, etc.
(photo by Curt Doughty)
The tour was a bit of an extended rehearsal/social experiment. I guess it succeeded on those levels. Max has some awesome new songs that I routinely slaughtered on the bass guitar.
(photo by Curt Doughty)
Honestly - we were pretty awful, all things considered. Our reach exceeded our grasp. Or is it the other way around? But we totally had fun - and by the time we hit Billie Jean, so did (most) everyone else. Maybe we'll do it again sometime soon. Rad thanks to Max and Eric for covering my meager charms with their amazing musical kung fu. Thanks to bands and friends for helping us with floors and fun. And thanks to you if you were there. Radical bros, indeed.
(photo by Delia Walowski)
Thank you! Goodnight!
YOUR FRIEND,
DANA
posted by dana at October 23, 2005 06:10 PM
