L -> R: Jona Bechtolt (me), Adrian Orange, Meghan Crotty, Zac Pennington.
WARNING: THIS IS A (VERY) LONG ENTRY.
We're back. I was lucky to have such beautiful company. Like, really awesome people. I would like to give shout-outs to my new and old friends: Zac Pennington, Adrian Orange, Meghan Crotty, Rachael Jensen, Jason Anderson, Melissa Torrente, Kevin Erickson, Kate, Christy, Oliver, Jake Gano, Lacey, No-Fi Soul Rebellion and everyone else we bumped into and shared vibes with. (that phrase feels natural to speak but seems to read so hippy)
I want to talk about the shows now! The shows! Where did we leave off? Oh, before Walla Walla and after Olympia. Okay. We ended up driving in two cars to Walla Walla. Ooh, first let's introduce our cast..
Zac Pennington or "Zac" - My roommate and the band "Parenthetical Girls."
Adrian Orange or "Adrian" - One half of unappreciated couple-nickname "youth group" and two-halves of the band Thanksgiving.
Meghan Crotty or "Meghan" or "Maggie" - Second half of unappreciated couple-nickname "youth group," Adrian's girlfriend and all-around awesome dude.
NOT PICTURED:
Rachael Jensen or "Ratchet" - Super-friend from Boise, ID. She drove to Portland to catch the "Girls Rip a Stick" show (showcase of lady-bands curated by my pal Ritchey) and caravanned with us through WA.
Jason Anderson or "Jay" or "CLAWS" - Old friend with oppressive sense of humor (laugh until you puke) and also the band Jason Anderson. He has an Urban Honking blog in the works..
Okay. Back on track. Good. Good. Zac rode with Rachel in the high-dashed Ford sedan while Adrian, Meghan and I rolled in the early '90s Honda station-wagon. We made good time and arrived in Walla Walla to find a house full of warm hearts and open ears. A nice man named Oliver opened up the night with some sweet sing-a-longs and Adrian followed right up with a painfully-good set of new songs and one request. Zac was in a new zone with a character I hadn't really seen before.. this was a man that wore ridiculous glasses (see picture above) and plays Moog-drone versions Parenthetical Girls' songs. His banter was brilliant... was he drunk? No. Did he seem drunk? Yes, very much so. I played and Kate got everyone dancing. I feel like I'm in a pretty good show zone right now. Sets seem to click, or whatever, real nice. FEELIN' IT. Kate and Kevin's band, which is called Cactus Flower Wonderland Band, played a heartwarmingly soft set and Jason followed. Jason has an effect on crowds that I've rarely seen. He is pretty much part camp-counselor, part incredibly-energetic reverend, part stadium-rock dude and 100% funnymin. He tells a real good joke and gets kids to sing their hearts all the way out of their throats and onto a newly-bloodied floor. Gross, right? Dude has a crowd around his finger. Not only did he cover two, count-em TWO, Savage Garden (possibly the most forgettable band of the late '90s) covers, but he also got everyone to sing a 65% sincere version of We Are the World. Totally weird. Sounds pretty good. After the show we ate at a really good Chinese restaurant/Karaoke-Bar that had the best fake sesame-chicken and fake pineapple-chicken. Jason sang Lionel Ritchie's "Say You, Say Me" and literally blew my mind. I'd heard about this man and his Karaoke skills, but I didn't expect THAT.
The next day we hung around Walla Walla almost all day. I recorded some hand-drum with Adrian for KWCW, we went to a 50%-off sale at a Humane Society thrift-store, we lulled around the Whitman campus, tried to hock a couple CDs at a record store called HOT POOP and ate some really good campus cafeteria food. In the late evening we rolled over to Richland to our show at a place called Ray's Golden Lion. First off, let me tell you about this place... woah.. totally weird. It's half Mongolian BBQ and half "roadhouse" style ROCK club. I emphasize the ROCK part because I'm certain the majority of dudes had NEVER, EVER heard anything remotely similar to the stuff we played that night. We were treated to some quality heckling, "fag" "jokes," ironic-moshing, just flat-out HATE and a couple other not-so-nice things. I felt like Zac received the brunt of the dark stick and I felt pretty bad. A group of kids were almost thrown out for yelling awful stuff at him while he played and later one of them approached me and apologized on what seemed like forced terms and what kept him inside the building. I tried to talk to him about "weird stuff" and music that isn't Linkin Park or System of a Down being just as "punk" and "heavy" in very different ways.. even more legitimate in some fashions. (obviously not the ROCK ones) He was like "Yeah man, like Zappa and stuff, right?" I was like "No, not really. Those things still had million-dollar labels behind them, we're just kids from Portland making weird music that we hope you can get into and feel on a different level?" So that was nice.. I thought since he had mellowed out the rest of the crowd would somehow follow suit. Totally not the case. Dudes were screaming and giving the devil horn fingers ironically at Adrian while he played. Adrian responded with upholding a passively antagonistic front and getting a third of the crowd to sing along to his (and some Microphones/Mount Eerie) songs. Then there was me.. I felt like I had to say something. I started off my set by saying "THIS SHOW IS THE MOST FUCKED UP SHOW I THINK I'VE EVER PLAYED," and after careful review that's not really the case. I'm pretty sure I've played close to 1000 shows in various punk/rock/grunge/indie/laptop bands since I was 13 and there have been a couple that were more EFFED than Richland. I explained the the crowd what I had told the aggressive kid earlier and also that we had their $5 so they should try to "GET IN" and have fun. I played a louder, more punk and run-a-lot-of-stuff-through-distortion set that felt so good. I thought there was a good chance I'd get the craps kicked out of me for calling the crowd on its weirdness and I was totally happy when that wasn't the case. The two most intimidating dudes in the place waited for me at the bottom of the stage only to give me big handshakes and tell me they'd never seen anything like YACHT before in their lives and they got so in. It felt real, real nice. I sold a handful of CDs and saw some nice kids I'd seen last summer at a weird tri-cities festival I played. All in all it was an overwhelming and awesome show. I feel like it's important to play in small places like that. Even if you only turn one kid on to the weird stuff you make on your computer... that's cool, right?
ETERNAL LIGHT AND FRIENDSHIP TOUR 2004
Expect more shows in rural Oregon/Washington. Expect louder, nosier, more aggressive YACHT shows. Also expect ambient and mellow shows to even the keel. I love to play music for people I don't know... also for people I know and love. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC!
Crap, I didn't even mention yesterday.. my friends Phil and Genevieve got married in Anacortes. They are, literally, the most perfect couple that I have ever known or even seen. I wish them the most happiness one person is allowed to wish two other people. The reception was at the Department of Safety, which is the nicest hostel/venue in the world, of course. Calvin Johnson DJ'ed and made us dance until our winter clothes came off. Kyle Field made my heart warm and my guts roll with laughter. So many good people.
Today we drove the long way home from Anacortes. We took a ferry and landed in Port Townsend. We hit rocks with driftwood-bats and called the ocean a home run. Today was a very, very, very beautiful day. I hope that yours was similar in beauty.
dude, are you guys a band? that photo makes it seem like you guys are a band. if you aren't, you should be. true.
Flint took the picture. I added a "photo credit" that should have been there in the first place. Flint is one of the awesome people that keeps the Department of Safety going. He takes real good pictures, makes real good art and plays real good music. I LOVE those D.o.S. people! I swear.
Honies, I was totally heckled on the way to my own car! Me, a non-performer! They hollaed at me:
"Hey, Raggedy Anne! What's wrong with you!?" and I was all: "Me?" and they were like "Yeah, you!" and I said the harshest thing, that I immediately regretted. I said that I "wished they were dead." I am ashamed. But I kind of meant it. Then they said: "Yeah, well we wish we were dead after all those shows!" and away I leapt, like a gazelle.
I miss you guys, sorter a lot. Oh, my heart.
Jona at least when you got there it started out very nice, BY ME of course. I mean I think I got a little too excited that you guys were coming but it was all worth it. I would have paid 20 bucks to get into that show if I had to. I wanted to meet Ritchey - but, at least I got to tell Jona to tell her hi from me. Im glad that Kevin told me to come and read this. Rachael and Meghan are the sweetest girls ever. I hope that you wear that shirt to bed Jona!
Your friend, Lacey Buckingham
Heyyyyy Um i DLed some of your pieces and i'm enjoying them very much. Thanks~ I love the rainbow, very cute~ hee hee um yer really hott i like yer glasses. Those lips! Mmm! ALL THE BETTER TO KISS ME WITH!~ MWAHAHA~....:-\ :-P Mmm ok ima go~ :-P byeeee
To everybody-- thanks so much for coming to richland...the past 2 or 3 years here have been so so SO amazing, but within the past month or so theres been a few incidents of heckling and 'moshing' ...even the punkrock shows have been weird. ..on behalf of the rest of us here in Tri cities- I apologize and swear it's not always like that here, and hopefully its just a phase.
I look forward to running into you guys in portland soon.
Love Jake
P.S. I watched Rachael sell one of the jerky dudes a soda that wasn't hers for 2 dollars. Heroic!
Yes! That's right! I totally saw that happen. Rachael is a very, very funny dude. I couldn't believe she had that sort of amazing quick-wit in her! I certainly don't think on my toes like that very often..
I will rip the tri-cities again. Don't you worry. Oh, and Jer.. I think you're a little confused. Zac is the one with the glasses.. I'm Jona.. I'm the one all the way LEFT. <-- that way.
Ooh, Jona. Your site is really neat. It's cool, too. I like the incredibly plastic band photo. Zach is cast polyurethane, right? pristine! endearing!
maybe when you play aggressive shows you can be "[[[vvrroom]]]y.a.c.h.t.", just so I know? I need a comfort zone.
wow. thank you jona.
the picture of you, zac, adrian, and meghan is the best.
zac - keep the glasses... you are Hawt!
xoxo
lauren