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White Chocolate Mocha with Raspberry, bitch.

Last night was rather interesting. We arrived in Pittsburgh in a old downtownish looking area, surrounded by bars and unique restaurants.

Woa, some guy who I thought was Burt Reynolds sat down here at Starbucks. Where’s your limo, BURT?

Anyway, yes. Show. We loaded into Rex Theater with only two other acts that night. Green Jelly wasn’t on the bill for some reason (I find out there was drama with their old bus driver and the venue; nothing to do with the band), so it was just a local opener called Motopsycho, then Psychostick, and finally Nashville ‘Ginerhole.

The draw was rough when we hit the stage since it was a 21+ only show. When Nashville went on they had a bigger crowd which is good for them.

The venue itself was awesome; there was a green room upstairs big enough for all of us. I typed out yesterday’s update in there and enjoyed the solitude (nice ‘n rare for a Rawrb on the Road). The staff was incredibly helpful and friendly and I think we’ll be going back there if we can muster an all ages show.

Across the street Fall of Troy was playing. Alex and Matt were able to catch their set and meet the band themselves. After their show we met at a bar and chatted for a while. Great guys, I really like that band so it was quite the honor for me to meet ‘em. They knew who we were due to all the posters across the country. YES!

We left that night and drove straight to Erie, PA. Wal-mart, then hotel. Thank you Priceline App on iPhone.

That’s all you get for now. YES.

What I learned: Bums can be told “NO” without guilt, seniority is funny, and I love steak sandwiches.

Yeah, so I had to become tour manager for a few days while Anthony recovers from his sick thingy, hence the lack of updates.

I’ll hit you up with a nice long update in a few days. IN YOUR FAEC

Day off right now, whew. Alex’s lady made us some chicken parmesean. YAWRM.

What a strange day yesterday was. The drive was short ‘n sweet; there was a nasty wind blowing during the drive, so I was pushed around the road like one of them thar parasailin’ fellers. The venue was a 500 capacity venue with a good sounding room and a nice underground atmosphere.

The toilets though… they need to fix their toilets. C’mon venues – clean toilets for the touring bands! It is to your benefit! Psshaw.

Green Jelly was a bit tardy due to some complication, but they made it. The opening bands were solid; the one before us was a rockabilly band with an upright bass. Don’t see that very often, so that was a nice break from “RAWR RAWR RAWR RAWR BLOOD RAPE RAWR RAWR” we seem to experience almost every night. Not bitter or anything, just an observation.

The show was awesome; the club was packed and they dug the hell out of us. Hot as all hell on stage though; got very light headed after the very demanding Two Ton Paperweight chorus. Wasn’t anything like the Jager stage at Mayhem Fest though, so I survived so good. I had quite a few beers and a couple of fan provided Jager shots. I was a bit blasted by the end of the night; not a common thing with me just so you know. Heh.

The kicker that night was Jake coming out to the show; I was very shocked to see him out. I got to chat with him a bit, and during a conversation he had with Josh he announced that he decided to leave Psychostick officially. Wasn’t expecting that either. We wish ya well Jake!

Things I learned: It’s nice when someone famous brags about your band, heavy hitting industry people who like your band is also nice, and losing a band member is worse than a breakup.

Yeah, I didn’t update yesterday. What’re you gonna do about it? NOTHING! All you can do is read and/or close your browser!

Well it’s the day of the Covington show, and the past two nights were spent with me unintentionally dodging sleep in the back of a shaky van.

Ft Wayne was at a new venue for us; Piere’s. Apparently it’s “The Place” in Ft Wayne, so that was new for us. When we rolled up Green Jelly was already there, as always, with the contents of their entire costume trailer spilled out onto the loading area. It’s always funny to see a punk-rock version of Fred Flintstone propped up against a wall for some reason.

This particular day was stressful for some reason. A couple of us went off and ate food, and unbeknownst to them, we had to load gear and sound check while they were gone. Good thing we had a few guys, including myself, there to get things going. Matt came back just in time to check. Made a new rule:

“THOU SHALT NOT VANISH BEFORE THY BAND IS PREPARED FOR SHOW”

After than craziness, the doors opened seconds after we finished sound checking. A few people came in, and by the time we started playing there was a small crowd for us. Afterwards people really began to pour in, and the show turned out to have a decent draw unlike the previous two nights.

A couple of drunk stripper girls started harassing us after the show, but we were good sports. Hey, Anthony took full advantage with his camera.

We left heading to Columbus, OH to stay with Alex.

The next day, we woke up close enough to leave that it was slightly uncomfortable. We arrived at The Cove in Geneva on the Lake. I pulled the van and trailer in behind the venue and ended up almost getting stuck in the mud. Heh. After being the “Van Ninja” as I’m told I am, I did manage to get us out of the mud and we were able to finish loading. Woa.

Couple of fans brought us some hot wings and we chowed down on some awesome pasta provided by the club. Mmm-ness. I lost count of how many bands were on the bill too, but that was remedied with the venue having two stages. I get nervous when we show up and there’s a TON of bands on the bill. Often times in the past we’d have to go on at 1:00 AM. That doesn’t cut it anymore, and we make sure that we’re not on that late ever again.

The show had a huge turnout and we had a good crowd; it kind of feels like we’re starting out again new. We’ve gotta win the crowd over with our dumb antics and it works; they put their claws and zeros up like we request, so that’s a good sign. All in all, great freakin’ show, we moved a lot of merch and had a nice time.

This promoter also provided Lunchables. They WIN.

What I learned: Drunk strippers are way overrated, do not vanish before we’re done sound checking, and avoid mud.

Wonder if the Native American culture hates Indianapolis.

Anyway, the show was decent. Huge venue at 8 Seconds (which is a reference to bull riding and normally houses country music) and it looked very empty with the smaller draw. 21+ shows are rougher on us, but our little “cover” went over well with the older crowd. Heh heh.

I had some mediocre Chinese food and Lunchables. Meh.

I figure that doing updates the  next day are easier on me, but they’re not quite as “accurate” since it’s not the day OF the update. I’ll strive to make ‘em the same day, damnit!

We stayed with a friend of Anthony’s; took myself a much needed shower and did my laundry, which is something I’m very proud to update you on. Uhh… yeah. Not a lot of great stuff happened yesterday. Heh.

All in all, nothing crazy to report. Bill from Green Jelly is still awesome; he invited us to his house in LA which I’m really looking forward to seeing. He also bought a little electric motorcycle. Matt got some video of that; we’ll post it soonish I’m hoping.

There’s also a new act on the tour that’s part of Green Jelly’s set. Her name is “The Fabulous Miss Wendy.” She likes to wear glitter.

Things I learned yesterday: Mediocre Chinese buffets are good when you’re hungry, Bill is crazy, and it’s okay to miss South Park in order to play a show.