None more west
After logging just shy of 5,000 miles, we finally made it to California late last night. I say "finally" not out of any sense of desperation but rather because a) I'm as far from home as I can get in the continental U$, which is a cool feeling, and b) all our best shows will probably be out here (at least in terms of attendance). Our show in Phoenix was ok, and the hospitality was excellent. We stayed almost all day yesterday, ran some errands, and were treated to a ton of really good free pizza. In case anyone had any doubts, Phoenix is still hot as hell. We did the drive to San Diego late last night. I-8 goes along the very southern edge of AZ across the Colorado River into California, bumping shoulders with Mexico on the way. About 100 miles from San Diego, we hit mountains that I'm sure would have been quite scenic had it been daytime. Imperial Leather played there last night and stayed with us in a small apartment in Chula Vista. It was cozy. We stayed up late shooting the shit, and it was the first time I had spent any time actually talking with any of them. As some of you already know, Swedes are the funniest people on earth. This was confirmed for me last night.
Today we made a short visit to Imperial Beach, a few miles north of the Mexican border, and then headed to the show, which was a matinee at a spot called the Hot Monkey Love Cafe. The owners of the cafe had forgotten about the show and showed up two hours late, which created a crunch since there was another event booked there for 6pm. We and Imperial Leather played shortened sets (they had been added to the bill at the last minute), and only one of the two local bands booked actually got to play. Not a bad show, but as my bass player said, it felt like we were on a field trip and being given a short amount of time to recreate freely before returning to the bus.
After the show, we drove up to Long Beach, which is where I am now. Our show here tomorrow will likely draw upwards of 200 people; it's a Friday night, and from what I gather, the punk warehouse here is one of the best diy venues in the country right now. The guy who booked our show is a dude named Allen, who put us up after one of our CA shows last year and treated us really well. At the time, he had just opened a record store and was working on renovating the rest of the space here into living quarters. It's finished now, and it's really cool.
Can't wait for tomorrow's show... In the meantime, here are some pics from today:
PUNX ON THE LAWN
IMPERIAL LEATHER
ODE to ODB
SHIRT OF THE DAY
EDIT: I didn't see any of these or these in the past 48 hours.
Today we made a short visit to Imperial Beach, a few miles north of the Mexican border, and then headed to the show, which was a matinee at a spot called the Hot Monkey Love Cafe. The owners of the cafe had forgotten about the show and showed up two hours late, which created a crunch since there was another event booked there for 6pm. We and Imperial Leather played shortened sets (they had been added to the bill at the last minute), and only one of the two local bands booked actually got to play. Not a bad show, but as my bass player said, it felt like we were on a field trip and being given a short amount of time to recreate freely before returning to the bus.
After the show, we drove up to Long Beach, which is where I am now. Our show here tomorrow will likely draw upwards of 200 people; it's a Friday night, and from what I gather, the punk warehouse here is one of the best diy venues in the country right now. The guy who booked our show is a dude named Allen, who put us up after one of our CA shows last year and treated us really well. At the time, he had just opened a record store and was working on renovating the rest of the space here into living quarters. It's finished now, and it's really cool.
Can't wait for tomorrow's show... In the meantime, here are some pics from today:
PUNX ON THE LAWN
IMPERIAL LEATHER
ODE to ODB
SHIRT OF THE DAY
EDIT: I didn't see any of these or these in the past 48 hours.
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