from the Wumme

More tour photos

We were feeling a little nervous about getting to Providence from Rockland because a large snowstorm was on the way to the Northeast Region. But the roads were not too terrible and we made it there ok.

On the way down we stopped at a shut down seaside town in New Hampshire. It was beautiful, we were there right at sunset. The seaside blended with the the snow and ice and gulls flew and squawked around us.

Once we were in Providence we met up with Cloud Becomes Your Hand, a band of some friends of ours. I couldnt get any photos of them from that night because I was too busy getting my mind blown by how great they sounded. Also that night our friend Ric Royer played with Bevin Blectum.

Then we headed towards Boston, and towards the impending blizzard. We arrived in town pretty early and enjoyed some down time at the White Haus and did some thrifting.

Weston of Cloud Becomes Your Hand

Look at this giant chunk of rosin that was hanging out at the Whitehaus:

Hobbit hole under the stairs at the Whitehaus:

The show in Boston was really good. We played in a basement with our friends Peace, Loving.

Cloud Becomes your Hand also played:

It was great! And my old friend Ryan and his wife Abby came to our show and also our friend Greg was in town from Philly. Old friends and good times. But then, the blizzard hit and we got stuck at the space! It was pretty intense. We woke up the next morning and shoveled the driveway. Eventually we got the car out.

I’m tired of updating this blog. I’ll do the rest later.

April

Triumphant return

The snow is raging outside of the window but I am semi warm and back in Chicago. Our tour was a great experience, probably the best one yet. We woke up very early this morning in Cleveland and managed to beat the blizzard.

I left off with us in Worcester, MA at the Firehouse.

We played with a metal band. They were really good. I felt silly for not having drum cases. Next we went to Portland, Maine and met up with our friend Skot who runs a book/record store called Strange Maine. Its a really good place. We played there last time we passed through Portland. Al went to watch the Bears game at some bourgeois bar called Nosh and I hung out and caught up with Skot and did some crocheting. I picked up a couple books that I’m looking forward to reading, and Al got some sweet tapes. We played at a place called the Apohadion Theater that was really cool. The show was excellent, there were some really good bands that played. I didnt get any pictures, I feel weird trying to take a flash picture while a band is playing because I don’t want to distract them so I dont have a ton of show pictures. After the show, we drove up the Maine coast to Rockland, where our friend Kit lives. She started an apprenticeship at a wooden boat building school. Its every bit as badass as it sounds.

The view from Kit’s shop:

They were making toboggans!

These two were using this table to bend wood.

Kit, working on her boat:

Kit MADE this toolbox!

Then we played in an actual boat house. It was amazing.

Kits street:

This post is getting really long. I’m going to stop and then start another one, I dunno, that just seems like the thing to do.

April

Hello from the road

Hello! I am writing this post from Worcester, MA at the Firehouse. The people who live here are making a big delicious dinner. Our tour so far has been fantastic! Our first night we played at PJs Lager House in Detroit. Greg Baise set our show up and it was great, the venue was really cool and we had a good time and got to play with our good buddies Lord Scrummage.

We spent some quality time with Mooper.

Chameleon!

Next we headed to Buffalo to play at a space called Soundlab. The space is pretty neat, its a non profit but its set up really well, in the basement of an old building in downtown Buffalo. My friend Liz and her roomate made us some chili, which was exactly what we needed after being on the road all day and getting lost a couple of times. It was pretty snowy but not too bad. We have started to feel like we are touring on Hoth, although we have been pretty lucky so far with the weather and road conditions.

Al gets comfortable at Liz’s.

We then loaded up the van and prepared to set out for Troy, NY.

We made it to Troy and managed to only get lost once. The venue, 51 3rd St, is a really amazing place that is run and owned by some like minded nice people. Part of the space operates as a bike rescue. The show was especially great because we were sharing a bill with our friends Bernie and Owen from Baltimore. Here’s a blurry picture I took of them:

Al and our gracious host, Pete find some common ground:

Downtown Troy

Headed to Worcester:

Thats all for now, we’ll update this soon. Headed to Maine tomorrow!

April

Tour Time

On Wednesday we load up our van and head out for a two week tour of the northeast. We are going to a lot of fantastic towns and I am pretty excited about the whole business. We are re releasing our first tape, ROG, with a couple extra tracks added. I am making a bunch of handmade crocheted and embroidered little bags and pouches for sale, as well as some yarn pom poms.

Here’s where we’re going:

Jan 19: Detroit, MI: PJs Lager House with LORD SCRUMMAGE, Everybody’s In, Winter Ruby
Jan 20: Buffalo, NY: Soundlab
Jan 21: Troy, NY: 51 3rd St with Andrew Bernstein and Owen Gardner
Jan 22: Worcester, MA: The Firehouse
Jan 23: Portland, ME: The Apohadion Theater
Jan 24: Rockland, ME: Pat’s Boat House
Jan 25: Providence, RI: The Soft Approach with Blevin Blectum *
Jan 26: Boston, MA: Gay Gardens with Many Mansions *
Jan 27: SUNY Purchase *
Jan 28: New York, NY: Silent Barn *
Jan 29: Baltimore, MD: The Lumberhaus*
Jan 30: Pittsburgh, PA: The Shop with Plastic Crimewave
Jan 31: Cleveland, OH: The Boo Box

* with Cloud Becomes Your Hand

Hope to see you there!

April