The marquee at Pomona's beautiful Fox Theater by Krystal Eileen on Flickr.
We've already established that Marfa, Texas is a special place for us, right? Right. Almost two years ago, we moved to Marfa to write and record our album, See Mystery Lights. We chose Marfa because of the Lights, but also because the desolate and isolated Far West Texas desert was an attractive recording space for us. In reality, this isolation was a mirage. Our short time in Marfa ended up being the most social time of our young lives. Bonfires, daytrips, and parties punctuated our time there, but the ONE night we chose to stay home turned out to be the very same night that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were in town and inexplicably partying with our Texan friends. The next day we heard how about how nice they were, and how they too were recording a new album in Texas, three and a half hours away near El Paso. We wrote it off as mere coincidence, thinking our paths would probably never cross again, for all time.
Since then, we've returned to Marfa a handful of times, and will undoubtedly continue to do so until we end up setting up there permanently. On our last trip there, we received an email from our North American booking agent with a request from the aforementioned "Yeahs" asking if we'd like to tour with them starting in a couple weeks. We were ecstatic. At first the offer was for a string of East Coast dates, but preexisting commitments transformed that into a West Coast tour starting in our hometown of Portland, Oregon. We were doubly ecstatic and again humbled by the magic and mystery of Marfa.
We're not sure exactly how you interpret YACHT as a band, but with the exception of The YACHT Trust, we are a very small and almost exclusively independent operation. We've received more critical acclaim for our new album than we ever could have crossed our fingers for, and we're on an internationally revered record label, but that hasn't changed the fact that we still do long-haul tours in our VW Golf, and make everything -- the music, the video elements, the companion literature, the design of our websites and merchandise -- all on our own. This approach has been crafted over the years by a healthy mix of plain old economics, and needing to control as much in our lives as possible, down to the details.
So when the gentle giants of the YYYs showed interest in us and offered us up to their audiences, we were deeply honored.
As could be expected, this tour was awesome beyond description. Not only were the shows incredible -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs fans are very excited, kind, and accepting people -- but everything else about it was like a dream. We did it all. We swam in Lake Shasta, partied in Salt Lake City, limboed under a clothing rack, buffeted in Las Vegas, and visited the Apple Campus outside of San Franciso (and saw Steve Jobs).
Above all else, we got to play with The Breeders in an epic Grecian amphitheater outdoors in Los Angeles. Thanks to the Yeahs' good-natured insistence, and in spite of our nerves, we got pulled in to their room to meet them, too. Of course, they were lovely people, and very impressed by Jona's white suit. Here's a group photo from the end of the night. All of which is crazy, since The Melvins, The Breeders, and Nirvana were Jona's very first big rock concert.
What else do you want to know about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? They are stand-up people. They have great hair. They were unprecedently kind to us (thanks for the cupcakes, guys!). They are an insane live band. We have nothing but the most profound gratitude to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, their incredible fans, and everyone involved with this Y-heavy tour. We never thought our paths would cross again, and we were fools -- the West Texas spirit is in us all, and will carry us all together across time.
YACHT will remain on tour throughout the rest of 2009, starting with Europe, a pair of shows in Southern California, China and Hong Kong, a pair of shows in Florida, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and more. If you'd like to host a special YACHT event in the future, inquire below:
✍ Ryan Craven of The Agency Group (North America)
☎ +1 310-385-2800
✍ Andreas Oberschelp at Puschen Booking (Europe)
☎ +49 (0)30 7022 5001
✍ Andy Duggan at Primary Talent International (UK, Australia, & Japan)
☎ +44 (0) 20 7400 4500
you guys are really appreciative of everything that happens to you and everyone around you. you're really special, such treasures.
Whats better than Yacht?
Whats better than YYY?
YACHT AND YYY TOGETHER, hahaha
:)
Loved this post.
And agree with hollie that you're really special!
Jona - Its David from Manchester/Melbourne - i just managed to get a hold of tickets for Meredith Music Festival and noticed you were playing!!! AMAZING. Two things - You have to visit our camp site for some dancing/loving and if you need someone to dress up as a furry animal and dance on stage, i'm your man. haha. I saw Lukey a few months ago playing in Melbourne and the 2 of them blew everyone away here. See you soon. David.
Can't say no no no to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!
Lovely post. Hoping you'll be home for dinner Tuesday.
xxx