I'm not even going into how guilty I feel about the lack of tour posts you guys. Let's just say my days have been colored a couple shades darker because of this gaping virtual blog-hole that I've created. Let's just say that I've been a much less happy person in this world since I've been on this tour and unable lazy about documenting it properly. I'm not going to blame my shifty camera and it's missing screws that's operation leaves something to be desired.
Alfred, New York was an all-out JAM. There weren't many people there at all and there was even a kid on his laptop at a table; doing homework and/or sweet-surfing the web throughout the ENTIRE show. Oh, and yes, he was wearing headphones and probably blasting some sweet tunes from a weird MySpace player. We decided that improv jamming is the best way to start our shows off, regardless of the order of our acts/bands that we randomly choose each night. Alfred was special though.. something clicked and I think it resembled the "we feel free in ourselves and we're going to take you with us on the vision quest we're feeling right now." Some kind of alarm went off right we when decided to start the show; it was like an all-city fire alarm or a tsunami (I'm from the Oregon coast) warning, or something. I guess you could say I took the ball and ran with it. I got on the microphone and explained that the town jewel had been stolen and the jam started and ended after 5 full "songs" that sounded legitimately good (to me). We had verses and choruses and everything! In one song Anna kept repeating the line "frog lip keys" for some ungodly reason.
Then we busted out the STAR CHART. The star chart is something that we've created to award ourselves (keep from getting bored) for mundane tasks; i.e. making it back to the car in set amount of time while taking a "pee break" at a truck stop or gas station. The three of us were awarded three stars each for improvising 3/4ths of our sets that evening. Steve Schroeder was awarded a virtual star for attending the end of the show via audio iChat; something I should do at every venue that has an internet connection.
Here's a couple minutes of star chart awards, including special guest stars:
Where Do Stars Come From?
(6.4 MB - VIDEO MP4)
Dear Toronto, thank you. Just one huge, great, large THANK YOU. All caps, all bold, all up in our collective grill and sparky hearts. You blew our mind again, not only with another awesome show with a crap-load of excited kids, but in your feeling of home and deep friendship with Steven, Maggie, Joel (see him in the movie), Greg and every other insanely brilliant kid that is drunk on being radical and melting our faces with their bright ideas.
Canada, Boston, & New Hampshire
(17.2 MB - VIDEO MP4)
Montreal, you're rad, too. We were lucky enough to meet some of the Lesbians on Ecstasy, but not lucky enough to spend as much time with them as we would have liked... AN ETERNITY. My dream is to tour with them where every night we play at fictional raves where there are huge sound systems, hundreds of people that dance and know all the words to all the songs, and lastly....... lots of disco lights.
I took a pretty psychedelic photo of Anna in Toronto and then I met an ice cream hot dog in Boston. Before Boston we got to hang out deep with the WIZARD of Burlington, Greg Davis, whom had set up a really cozy and super energetic show in Burlington, Vermont. I'd never been to Burlington and boy am I glad I finally got to there on this tour. I plan to hit it up as much as possible on east coast tours from now on! Geeze, dudes, make sure you buy Greg's new album with Sebastien Roux that comes out on October 18th, 2005.
How could I forget this? Whilst in Toronto last year my car was broken into and my video projector and ProTools MBox were stolen out of it, along with Khaela's irreplaceable postcard paintings and laptop dioramas. Steven Kado and I started searching in the alleys for the stolen stuff that wouldn't be so great to pawn.. Khaela told us that her items were living in a dark denim bag. This sparked a german accent and an Electroclash™ song titled DARK DENIM. It took us a year to fully realize the joke and record a song.. but boy, did we:
Kasper & Browne present Dark Denim
(2.2 MB - MP3)
That's all for now. Providence, etc. coming in the next day or two. NO LATER.
I think I'm making a 12" single for this new song I made in Chicago. I'll let you know.
jona i went alfred for school and life lessons. it is a place where it snows in may, giant dogs roam the streets and worms come out of the ground after a hard rain covering the sidewalks and the streets. lots and lots of radical art happens there too and lots of radical boozing. i guess what i am trying to say is magik does happen in alfred. it just happens underground or in the atmosphere. i am sure your tunes made it down to the roots of things or made clouds.
I HAVE THIS DREAM JONA:
where you and anna and khaela SHOUT OUT MY NAME REALLY LOUD!!! i think it would be so awesome.
yay! you should make that 12 inch... and it should have a picture of a one eyed cat hidden in it somewhere. i really wish i could see you with khaela, anna, bobby and... E? all at once. that would be so cool.
I just got back from jogging in the park to "Dark Denim". Nice. I'm so sorry you guys got your stuff stolen, but glad at the very least that you made this song because of it.
PDX love to you and yours,
Joel Conrad Bechtolt
jona! thanks for coming to toronto again. you are always welcome. i overheard you saying you'll be back in the spring time.
may i suggest a yacht/xiu xiu tour. now THAT would be something.
but i'll take whatever i can get! rock and roll!
the 30th!!!! chicago!! so close to halloween!! i will see you then! hopefully in a sweet costume!!!!!!
hey duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!
where is the show at the university of chicago? where where where? i will be in the neighborhood, and i want to come and show off my good ass steps!
p.s. are costumes
a. required?
b. a must?
c. totally welcome?
d. none of the above
I don't think I can think of a snappy way of putting it, but knowing that y'all are on tour makes me really happy.
Oh and also now that iTunes supports video library..ing, you should video-podcast your movies. The new q-time pro has an option to export to iPod-sized video, and I'm sure there's a movable type plugin for such nonsense as well. Cutting edge dude, cutting-edge.