Coney dogs in Detroit. Smothered in Chili. Two for 5. The best choice when trapped in a van?
Day 18 – Kalamazoo
The Strutt is one hell of a nice venue. It's a bar / restaurant / coffee shop / hangout that seemed to be frequented by a lot of locals and entirely staffed by babes. Amazingly, these babes were incredibly nice to us – much free beer was consumed over the course of the evening and they all seemed genuinely stoked about music. The bands we played with included The Lorax Tree (Cleveland, Ohio), who cultivated a live drum and bass sound. Ghosting was plentiful.
After they finished up, a local act named The Good News got on stage – two young guys playing guitar and drums. Both were really enjoyable to watch, but the drummer was out of this world. Incredibly fast, interesting voicings, stand out breakdowns. Really a pleasure to watch. Also a well informed cat – we discussed local politics and the petition to remove their locally elected official for some dastardliness.
After the show we hung around with the bar staff until closing time and then headed over to the promoter (Sean)'s place – deceptively monikered the “no fun house”. A couple other bands were also crashing in the expansive house, and we all ate some pizza together. There were also some resident pet rats – quite friendly! Breakfast in the morning at a local diner and then the road to Chicago.
friends don't let friends pee on friends?
Day 19 - Chicago
We got into town in the early afternoon and immediately napped. We have been napping a lot, as the night time sleeps are often short and fitful. We had secured an interview with Fearless Radio, an internet station that had previously talked with some bands we dig (Maps & Atlases, Tera Melos). It was humourous, and they had an amazing loft studio. I managed to mention Sheep Tickling on air, which I am being ribbed for consistently now.
Hey we need internet! It can be so hard to find unlocked wifis.
yup.
The show was at Memories Bar in the Northwest – sorta out of the way in the grander scheme of Chicago, and there was 5 bands on the bill. The styles were pretty diverse, and we played early, but it was fun nevertheless.
Drew (whom we had met while in New York – he plays drums in Yourself and the Air) showed up and we ended up returning to his place. It was located in the Latino district; a great neighbourhood with incredible food and pretty nifty architecture. Jeff (bassist for Yourself and the Air) and Nicholas (friend) also lived at the house; we partied on into the night. They are seriously righteous cats, and provided us with DELICIOUS home cooked mexican food - stand out guacamole, chorizo burritos. They're headed to Portland in the future, which is great for the West Coast.
After some sleep in a cool and comfortable basement we awoke, had a little coffee, and kicked off for the drive to Minneapolis.
Day 20 – Minneapolis
The drive to Minneapolis was humid, hot and then rainy and stormy. We heard reports of funnel clouds for the area but did not see anything. In Minneapolis there were sirens, but we were told that it's mostly to convince the suburban moms to buy more duct tape.
Checked out a cool used gear shop in Minneapolis – they had a pretty slick Gibson Grabber bass – and popped into the venue – Cause Spirits & Soundbar. Cool space, great staff (particularly our foul mouthed waitress who lamented Ryan Dunn's possibly death by postulating on tossing his salad). Also some pretty delicious food was had– Don from Hardcore Crayons (a post-rock / dub / ska trio) ate a burger with glazed donuts for a bun. INTENSE.
The opening act was called Toilet. Their set was about 5 minutes long and included the shaking of metal sheets, the throwing of money off the stage, the dropping of a pillowcase that was worn as a skirt by the small guitarist (serious nudity), the wearing of luchador masks, and some crazy music. I had wished their set went on longer, but it was intense, comical and utterly surprising. The dudes from this band also run a pretty sweet local DIY venue.
I feel we played a pretty radical set and we talked to a lot of fun cats after. I was convinced to sell a record for five dollars and two shots of whiskey. It did not take a lot of convincing.
Hardcore Crayons played after us and we seriously enjoyed it – they played mostly new material that hasn't been recorded yet – and it was very exciting stuff (they are planning to record in the next couple months). Afterwards, we continued to party and ultimately returned to Don's place. It was raining heavily by this point and I dropped my jacket in a puddle.
The morning held more wetness of the weather and some brief interneting (as we'd lost a show and needed to fill the gap). Now we make the 7 hour drive to Winnipeg (plus border crossing!) to play at the Death Trap. Shazam!
At the border we acquired some extremely affordable provisions.
Day 21 – Winnipeg
Pulled into downtown Winnipeg with a little time on our hands, so food was negotiated (there's a great veggie place called Mondragon, but we opted for the cheapness across the street). Met up with Zach (Pumas) and dilly dallied a bit. I made a peanut butter and jamwich.
The loading in and the playing of the show commenced, with Enjoy Your Pumas, us, and the Peaches. Best set we've seen Enjoy Your Pumas play – they seemed to be having a lot of fun and really getting into it, which we always enjoy.
The Peaches played some craziness and melted faces left right and centre.
After the gig we headed over to Joshs (Pumas) house with Rosie, Luke and some friends and had a backyard fire, drank High Lifes, ate pizza and talked about funny things. Josh is quite humourous. We slept comfortably and showered, which was very much appreciated. In the morning we got a packed lunch (!!!) and went to a greasy-spoon diner for some greasy-spoon breakfast. Lots of blue hair was in attendance, which confirms a good breaky joint. We departed Winnipeg soon after, very glad to have made new friends and thankful for the great hospitality.
Day 22 – OFF
Not having a show, we had decided to try and jump on a bill in Regina (which traditionally has been our least favourite Canadian city). We were making good time on the highway and it seemed like we might get onboard at O'Hanlons (a Regina venue). And then – a curve ball. Highway 1 was flooded out and we were forced to detour into noman's land. Without access to wifi, 3G network and a stubborn GPS, we were forced to rely on the spirit of exploring adventure and a map that we hadn't quite made it onto yet.
After an hour of driving through what we decided was a much nicer and potentially redeeming portion of Saskatchewan, the decision was made to continue on to Saskatoon. No one really wanted to smell Regina again, and it looked like the show wasn't going to happen anyways. We stopped for provisions in Yorkton and riled up some children (to the chagrin of their father).
Then we drove 120 kph straight into the most incredible thunderstorm I've seen. We slept in the van.
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