We're off. I'm writing to you from the wonderful city of Asheville, North Carolina. I'll try to describe our journey so far.
In DC we got off to a perilous start. We left DC by 9:00. Trying to pack light, Vanessa decided to bring only a single pair of flip flops, but before we even left DC, one of them snapped. We knew that the road would throw some crazy obstacles our way, but this was just sad. Her lightweight foot apparel had flipped its last flop. Hopefully the road would be kinder to us the rest of the way.
We stopped off at my alma mater, Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, VA, since it was on the way. I gave the extended tour, we picked up some tasty wraps, and were off again by 1:30.
Our minivan is fucking sweet. We have plenty of room for the three of us and a CD player, which is getting very good use. Our playlist is diverse to say the least; the craziest thing we heard was a piece by serialist composer
Milton Babbitt... yo... that was even crazier than early Deerfhoof.
We arrived at the venue,
the Garageat Biltmore at 6:30. I hope all the places we play are this cool. From the inside it looked like a huge barn/warehouse converted into a music/art hangout spot... There is a ton of art for sale on the walls, and large insulation panels to help absorb the sound. The people there are very chill wonderful people, with a cool hippie vibe.
We ate at a place called "Little Pig", where I experienced my first North Carolina BBQ... when we got back to set up for the show, our minds were already blown from the tasty tangy pigs we just ate, and they were blown even more when we realized we left Vanessa's bag with her pedals and cables and slide at iota in Arlington. Oops. We can't really go back to get them... Usually bands don't lose lots of equipment until after they play their first show on tour, but we don't like to procrastinate.
The show was good. I felt like the chill environment or the city put my nerves at ease, but it seemed that having to improvise with no pedals and a glass candleholder for a slide sent Ben's nerves in the opposite direction.
Saint Solitude played before us - he was one of those awesome solo acts who's mastered the art of the loop station. Grammer School played after us; they played a bunch of songs, some of which sounded like crazy gypsy surf music.
Oh... to explain the "Swine Flu" part of the title, we were going to play a show at a summer camp in Georgia, but because the entire camp was quarantined due to a Swine Flu outbreak, the show was cancelled. I was more excited about going to summer camp now, than when I was 13... Oh well...
Thanks so much to El and Dan!!!!! Wonderful Tutwiler hospitality, and amazing coffee.
Now we've got a free night! Camping? Fire-side jam? Who knows? Check back tomorrow for the scoop.
