Upcoming Schedule

We plan to start touring again in the Spring of 2004

There are no dates at this time

2002

11-22-02

Living the Dream - Derek Dyer Gallery
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Ecstacy 23

This was fun. It's been a good year since I was there, so the details have probably been altered through time. There was a very interesting audience here - almost like art-goth or something. Dan Arsenalt has some amazing photographs. I just heard he's been commitioned to do the artwork for the new No Doubt best-of-album. I almost didn't recognize Derek Dyer as he was wearing a big fur hat thing. One interesting note about Ecstacy 23 was that they had never practiced. You could probably classify them as improv synth-metal.

11-17-02

Bobbie and Jucinda's Wedding
Bountiful, UTAH

We had promised this show several months ago, and intended to follow through for the happy couple. There were a few challenges to play... Ben had trouble getting the time off work, and I had just gotten back from Wendover that morning, and was starting to get sick. Not to mention, our practice has been far from consistent. Anyway, it was great to see their smiles during their vows. We got a lot of funny looks as we weren't very well dressed for the occation. In fact, I was the only one wearing a tie (with jeans). Boy, I sure struggled to sing, both from a sore throught and from that second hand casino smoke. It's now the day after that I'm writing this, and I can barely speak. Ben got to that hickuping drunk stage from the champange and wanted to keep playing long after we had finished our set. We played several of our songs again, and slaughtered a few covers. At that point, not only was my voice absent, but it was really hurting, and I was happy to let him continue while I stopped. Ben continued to drink. Not to embarrass the dear soul, but let's just say there was a guest in the bedroom of the bride and groom leaning over porcelin later that night.

11-02-02

Psycho Bob's Radio Show on KAGJ - The Kage
Ephraim, UTAH

It's always well worth the drive to Ephraim. We had never played some of our songs accoustically, but thought we'd have fun trying. It actually went stellar considering we hadn't practiced any of the songs until just before the show. We also have the all time high record for swearing on his show. Apparently Pauly and Ben have rather untamed radio mouths. You should have seen their faces everytime they'd realize they'd said something they weren't supposed to. We should be getting a tape of this and if I every get off my lazy ass, I'll try some of the songs put on MP3.com for you all.

09-10-02

Tuesday Tunes at the Trolley
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with P.S.

I wish ALL of our shows could be all-ages and free. X-96 and Music Go Round were awesome. We haven't messed up a show so badly in years. I understand the show was recorded - I'm looking forward to hearing just how botched the job was. I think the big contributer to the oxidation was Ben's new ON-CALL job - It's easy to get rusty when you can't play together for more than an hour or so every week. We're doing our best to get that worked out. I was great to see everyone out there. Your support is what keeps us going. From here out, we're back to writing again...

08-09-02

Muse Music
Provo, UTAH
with Gift Anon and some other bands

There's always a problem with being the last band out of 6 when things are running behind schedule. The people who stuck around were an absolutely awesome crowd... now if we could just get a hundred more just like them.

08-07-02

Suite 13
Lindon Day's Battle of the Bands
Lindon, UTAH

So at one point, while trying to get the crowd involved a little more, I said "God Damnit" for some reason (I can't remember why). It was immediately followed by a... "we don't say that here". Hmmm, must have missed that memo. It's a good thing I didn't hear it, 'cause if I had, I probably would have just sworn more. You know it's funny, everytime we play a battle of the bands, (in my mind) I know exactly who I expect to win and why - and I'm always WAY off. There were some good bands. The one that stood out to me was a band from California called Cold Weather Rescue. For some reason I got a "Get Up Kids" vibe from them. Not that they really sounded like the Get Up Kids, they just had that vibe. Another local band that I thought stood out was Marco Polo. I would recommend both.

07-30-02

Cassady's
Salt Lake City, UTAH

So I understand they had been advertising for Extra Ultra to play (not us). Needless to say, there was one person for them there. For those of you who came we couldn't be more grateful, after all... it ended up the slowest night they'd seen in a long time. I'm glad it wasn't because they were advertising our name or anything. I guess they had just barely started having bands in there again after some bad experiences. We tried just playing with the situation. You know, dedicating a song to a guy in a cowboy hat (just because he was there). I thought it was kind of funny that there was a pole in the middle of the stage. It was like there was some intention in having people up there besides the music. I really have to recommend the place. I was honestly expecting some sort of dump, but it was real nice. Of course people would make any place seem nicer, but we'll work on that.

07-27-02

Getty's
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Absinthe

You know, upon reflection (and yes I know we keep changing our minds on the subject), Getty's isn't that bad. For some reason it's developing some charm for me. Absinthe had some very good points. They kind of reminded me of us a little bit, only in more of a Marilin Manson playing bluegrass kind of way. Hey, we had fun, everyone that came had fun... if was just all around fun.

07-13-02

Garage Band Central
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with A 3 Day Stay and EEWEE

We didn't get to see much of A 3 Day Stay, because Ben's big red truck almost ran out of oil and we had to stop and get some to refill the tank. I liked what I heard. EEWEE was fun like always. Well this was one of those shows that was pretty much just the essentials. It was just the most loyal fans and some of their friends. For such a humbling crowd, they packed quite a punch. At one point Paul started singing back up vocals to On top of the World. It took him about 5 minutes before he realized we were trying to get him back on the drums to finish the song. Also, EEWEE (who owns Garage Band Central) was kind of trying to ease us to finish early. We played an extended set just for kicks. Hell, all these people drove out there and payed them to do so - the least they could do is let them stay and watch who they came to see. Right?

07-05-02

The Element
Murray, UTAH
with My Friend Moses

It's shows like this that make all the effort worth-while. This was an absolutely awesome crowd! I was actually overwhelmed by the response and just wanted to babble on thanking everyone until Ben gave me a mental bitchslap and I was back to normal. If you haven't been here, it's actually really cool... very cool stage and intimate environment. The one thing I would change about the place is that they have the sound system turned up to compete with jet engines or something. The second band actually asked the sound guy to turn them down. I've NEVER heard that before. But yeah, we'll definately be playing here again - encores make me all warm and fuzzy. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

06-29-02

Rock Bottom
Midvale, UTAH
with Phono

So after much warning, one of the guitarists for Phono wasn't able to get a bar card in time. He was given the boot and listened to the show the whole time from a folding chair just outside of the back door. I sympathized. But even with his absense they sounded great. It was pretty cool to see the guitarist from Ben's old band (Irony) playing drums for them. So that means that Phono consists of a bass player playing guitar (Rob), a guitarist playing the drums (Brian), and... well, I don't know any of the others - but I'm sure it's just as crazy.

So when I came prepared with bar card this time, the guy IDing asked if I used to work there? Obviously there aren't many bands that end up really getting those cards. I don't think he even knew why I had it. But there were no problems with playing, so HURRAY for the Midvale PD! We met a lot of really cool people here - they deserve all the praise in the world. You know its funny... at some shows the crowds just don't really respond, but you talk to them afterwards and they couldn't be more enthusiastic. I guess we'll just have to work on the whole involvement part of the show. After we were done and on our way home, we continued a late night quest for a silver bullet vibrator that Ben could use on his guitar. To play the guitar with... NOT that! Anyway, the search will have to continue.

06-21-02

Rocky Mountain Raceway
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Andre

We drove up with our trailor looking at thousands of people just packed and waiting in line. Wow! None of us had ever been out here, but their was a whole new culture of Salt Lake (or at least West Valley) that we'd never seen. People actually could race their own cars! Wow... legal street racing - how engenious. Anyway, when we got in and were told where we were setting up and playing, we were a little disappointed. I mean granted, we just don't expect much in the first place when we've only found out about a show a few hours before we have to do it, but the sheer amount of people had swayed our thoughts. Not only were we far in the background for the people walking by, but it was obvious none of the people were there to listen to music (at least that's not why they came). And the entire show we played, we were just competing with burning rubber and screaching tires. There were a few really cool people who would give us cheers and support, but for the most part we were by ourselves. I felt like a circus act for the people passing by to watch. We had a lot of fun, but this definately felt like a step back. Next time I go back here I think I'll just watch the cars.

06-20-02

Liquid Joe's
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Subdefuge

Yes, Liquid Joe's is our favorite place to play. So many new faces - so little time. And it's always funny to watch people try to sign our guestbook when they obviously are signing with double vision and can't remember their own names. I'll have to figure out a way around that in the future. But yeah, everyone was very nice and professional. If you've never been there, I consider it the "Mecca" of Salt Lake local music. We'll do our best to set up some more shows here.

06-15-02

Garage Band Central
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with EEWEE, Distance Theory, and Pinkeye

Well what can I say... this was definately "Garage" like. And yet you'd think that being that way would be something bad. Aside from being a little dark, this was actually pretty fun - it felt really personal. And I made myself better from the night before by having everyone say "fuck Rock Bottom" with me. Yeah, that helped. I must say, we were all overly impressed with Distance Theory. We'll be sure to set up some shows with these guys soon so you can see them if you haven't already. I introduced a new song at this show. I'm thinking about naming it "the current". I got a pretty good response just playing it myself - I can't wait to see what people think when we've made it a band effort. I'll be looking forward to playing here again in July.

06-14-02

Rock Bottom
Midvale, UTAH
with Andre

Thanks to those of you who showed up with the short notice. Yeah, for those of you who weren't there, we got completely set up and then they wouldn't let us play because I wasn't old enough. Looks like my age finally got the better of me. Damn. On the other hand, we had a guy by the name of Andre opened up for us. He was awesome. I couldn't be there, but I guess Paully and Ben played with him for some of his songs.

06-07-02

Mo's Neighborhood Grill
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Seed

I wish I was exagerating when I said the size of the stage was about the same as our practice shed. Trust me, that's SMALL! This place is deemed a "restaurant", so they can get away with all ages and still serve beer. Ben, being used to most bars, came in with a cigarette, and was quickly directed back outside. He spent a good part of the evening out there. Addict. Anyway, we had a lot of fun! I love all ages gigs. There were actually quite a few people (at least for having hardly any warning at all). And for the first time since Liquid Joe's (so long ago), almost everyone there was up there dancing and getting into it. You know it's weird, some of our songs are so serious - sometimes dancing seems almost inappropiate. But at the same time and more importantly, we love to see people out there smiling and having a good time. After all, that's a big part of why we're doing this in the first place. I was blown away to hear the singer of Seed, Jeremy, comment on how powerful our music was while we were playing. Yeah, comments like that make us feel special - especially from such a good band like them. Speaking of which, if you haven't heard these guys yet, be sure to check them out. Not only are they great guys, but they've got some killer songs. So overall impressions of Mo's were good. They're small, but kicking.

05-24-02

Gettys
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Seed

This was another last minute gig (finding out just a few hours before we played). For such short notice, things went surprisingly well. Maybe "Getto's" isn't so bad after all. My mind just keeps changing. This crowd took some real warming up, but we got 'em after a little work. Hell, we're going to tear it up whether they like it or not. This time they did. There were even a few of our loyal last-minute followers. Thanks for coming guys.

05-17-02

Stockmen's Casino
Elko, NEVADA
with Steele Breeze (I think that was their name)

Where do I begin? Man were we overly prepared for this one. We had a slide show to go along with certain songs, detailed sound check, new banner, lack of wings, and a hell of a lot of confidance. Although it was still a lot of fun, that same young crowd just wasn't there. Some girls (just graduated from school) who actually did get into our music were accused by someone in the back of being groupies? We had some groupies there, don't get me wrong, but these people weren't a part of that. It was like some weird across the room interigation or something. No! Honest to god I'm not a groupy! Please! Anything but that! Band Aids are for cuts! Anyway, to make a long story short, Elko wasn't the holy grail we had previously thought it to be.

About half way through our set Dave from Stockmen's came up on stage and presented us with an award for the "Best Male Trio." Is is just me or does that make us sound like some chorus boys or a country band or something? We're grateful to get the award, but in the back of our minds we can only wonder if it was some sort of feel-better-for-not-really-winning prize. It's not like we were the only male trio, but hmmmmm. I still don't know what to think about that. Steele Breeze was yet another cover band. Their drummer had a pretty cool contraption on his drum set with this dummy arm with a mic attached to it. So when he pushed a lever, it swung right to his face to he could sing. They actually pulled off quite a few songs like that. I didn't like that they had to comment "and the crowd goes wild" immediately following several of their songs. That kind of seemed to be tooting their own horn. But don't get me wrong, these guys were real nice and great at their job. They had mentioned during their set to everyone to buy our CDs and that the proceeds would go to getting our drummer a tan. Everyone laughed - Paul was delighted by the idea... a few days later burning himself with a bright red glow. Oh, and I understand they also covered our song Speedy! I didn't see it, but it happened. That's pretty cool.

05-11-02

Tony's Billiards
Blackfoot, IDAHO
with Silence of Seraphim

The first big question we asked was whether Ben's big old red truck would be able to make it out to Blackfoot. I'll leave it to your imagination, but let's just say that Ben's hands are rarely their natural color (usually a lot blacker). Much to our surprise - with a little oil and a LOT of gas we pulled in to Blackfoot. Right off the bat it reminded us of Casper the friendly ghost town. Hmmmmm. Tony's was actually pretty cool for a pool house, as for gigs it was okay - the lights were pretty nice. The stage was in a separate room with this stage falling apart from the inside. We had to strategically place ourselves as to not trip over or through the carpet.

In a few minutes, the first band showed me some of their riffs and I went ahead and improvised as a bass player for them during their show. Damn I forgot their name. Anyway, they lacked a bass and had this "freelance" singer just screaming at random places. Interesting. The thing I really liked about them was that they were real. No cocky attitude, just up there for fun. And they stuck around the whole show. That's how things should be.

Silence of Seraphim was pretty good. One thing they did that stood out to me was kind of freak out on certain points of certain songs to get the sparse crowd moving. They were kicking and trying to hit people with their guitars. Again, interesting.

Now both of these other bands were thrash. I know I've said it before, but we sound mellow as hell after music like that. The other bands had requested to use our PA and that's cool. Frankly we don't care at all... AS LONG AS THEY ARE GOOD TO OUR EQUIPMENT. I'm sorry, but when someone screams with the microphone muffled like so many thrash bands do, it's incredibly easy to tear up your equipment. Silence of Seraphim couldn't figure out why Ben was struggling to make it audible and not hurt his speakers at the same time. He spent most of their set working as a sound man - trying to get things sounding good. Without trying to understand at all they called him an asshole. Real professional huh? They can buy their own fucking PA.

This place was the anti-Elko. It was our first predominantly straight-edged crowd. I don't think they cared for the fact that Ben was smoking and drinking a beer. Much to my surprise, they had enough respect to not give him a hard time.

No sleep this gig. We just decided to drive home afterwards (after a few coffees and dinners anyway). We rolled back in home about 6:00 AM. You know I have a tendancy to complain about Utah, but for god's sake - everytime I get back in this valley it sure feels good. Maybe Salt Lake isn't so bad after all.

If you can look past my bitching, I'm still really glad we played this show. We still gave it our all and had a lot of fun. We try to keep a sense of humor about shows like this. During the song Speedy all I could think of was "not Idaho", "Not IDAHO", "NOT IDAHO!". For those of you who came and stuck around we're always happy to have you there. Thanks for your support.

04-27-02

Stockman's Casino
Elko, NEVADA
with Left of Centre

Elko is nothing like Ely. People actually like living here. Before we started playing we had a casual warning that if these people don't leave, they like you. They told us this was the hardest crowd in the world, and not to expect applause. I've never been so in love with a crowd! Talk about the complete opposite of what we were made to think! Elko holds inside its casino oriented town the best damn crowd out there. And to prove it, we're coming back! Of course none of them seemed to like the fairy wings I rigged onto my skeleton shirt. I had about five different people say that they loved everything BUT the wings - lose the wings. I'll have to figure out some other way to keep them guessing. Ben also made some comments to the crowd about the "slots taking peoples money like the IRS." I thought they'd turn off our power or something for saying something like that. But Dave (the guy who invited us out there) was laughing right along with everyone else.

When we were done, it's always polite to stay for the other bands. We're always happy to see what else is out there. Left of Centre was kind of town favorite when it comes to bands. When I asked one of the members if they were a cover band, they said no. And yet, in the 3 or 4 hours that we watched them play, I heard ONE song that wasn't a cover. I mean, let's get this straight - these guys played a mean cover, you'd think the radio was playing and had come to life or something. But I did think that was kind of a weird thing to say. Appearantly you can make awesome money doing covers in Nevada. Too bad we can't agree on any to do. You know we're just kidding! It's all about the originals baby! Oh, one more thing. I also thought it was kind of strange that 3 and a half hours from home, and there seemed to be more people from Salt Lake then there usually are when you play a bar at home! Okay. Maybe that's why Salt Lake has such a hard scene. All our people are in other cities!

On this trip I was able to avoid the plague of snoring by us all getting our own rooms. Ah, 5 hours of the quietest sleep you can buy - besides the man who jumped into the pool arguing with someone else. On the way down, we thought we'd be clever and rig Paul's snare up on an amp. It fell and some gnome like creature must have pushed it, cause I thought for sure it would be fine. Anyway, it was punctured, and without any spare heads we thought we might be in trouble. Luckily we got the help from one of the local drummers. He was more than helpful.

04-12-02

Rock Bottom
Murray, UTAH
with Seed

Talk about a last minute gig. We didn't know about this until about 3 hours before they wanted us to play. Seed was caught just as much off guard by being called up after a month and a half break from their band. For a small hole-in-the-wall like this place was... not too bad! We all liked it better than Gutters. I actually wouldn't mind playing there again. The people were there just to have fun. A few of our loyal fans showed up, but it was mostly people who somehow know about this little "easy to miss" bar. The fact that they didn't have a cover charge was awesome. I'm curious if they usually don't. I hate it when a bar charges a cover charge. Besides the fans you already have (don't get me wrong... we love you), who would be willing to pay to hear a band they've never heard. The Rock Bottom knows what they're doing.

04-06-02

Gettys
Salt Lake, UTAH
with Die Monster Die

First of all, let me clear up, this was not the band I thought it was. This was a local band - which dressed up like monsters from the 8th dimension. It honestly took me a while to figure out whether it was a comedy act or not. After all, they were playing very 80's punk style similar to the Misfits or Sex Pistols (with an edge) - but dressed more like Rob Zombie or Slipknot. I heard about 3 words the whole show. They were real nice guys. I'd say play as yourself, but I've got to admit they held my attention with costumes like those! The doll heads they threw out to the crowd must have taken a lot of time to do the make up on. Interesting.

Overall this went really well; although, I doubt we'll be playing at Gettys much more. They don't draw any sort of crowd themselves, and that combined with the bullshit of ages and bad communication leaves them with the nickname of "gutters." Their slogan is, it's "where music matters." And yet I think it should be "where money matters." At least Gene, the sound guy, seems pretty genuine.

Thanks to everyone who made it. It was fantastic to see you all there. We always appreciate your support.

03-09-02

Gettys
Salt Lake, UTAH
with Phono

We finally played a gig with Rob's current project... Phono. Not bad! They had a really interesting take on "Eye" by the Smashing Pumpkins. Rob seemed at home. It was also kind of weird to see the singer gently kick over a keyboard out of frustration in the middle of their set. Now this frustration was justified; the sound was't very good on stage or off. But I thought it was funny just to know that this gentle fall broke the keyboard beyond use. Hmmmm. Not as cool as last time here, but we still have high hopes for the gig on the 6th.

02-24-02

The Mountain Dew Ice Village
Salt Lake, UTAH
with The Black Eyed Peas (kind of)

Everyone was really professional. The motorcross had to stop just before we started playing due to rain and snow. The stage was set up in front of a huge "halfpipe" kind of thing for snowboarding, but most of the snow was melting pretty rapidly. So we weren't surprised that we didn't see any snowboarders. It also kind of created a big gap between the audience and us. A little way through our set it started to snow. Yes, this was outdoors... Paul had some cover though. He was wondering why we were so cold. Also keep in mind... snow = BAD when it comes to equipment. And although we all know how unaffordable musical equipment is in the first place, replacement isn't an option either. Anyway, we played through our set with our attention on the distant audience and the snow. Regardless of surroundings this was a blast. Actually I'm really glad we played it. Roy (one of the reps of Extreme Universe) was hoping to set up some more in Seattle - we'll see what happens.

02-23-02

Psycho Bob's Radio Show on KAGJ the Kage

If you're patient enough... eventually I'll put up a tape of the interview. Bob was awesome... OverRIDE had a little trouble not tripping over each other while talking. We also got quite a good response. I'll do my best to figure out how to put the show up here.

02-18-02

Club 510 & the Gallery
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Mis Match? / Miss Mash?

This was for the "They Came From Salt Lake" art and music event. Okay, let me just say we all THOUGHT this would be so much better than it was. First of all, there was no one but those who came for the bands. I think what might have contributed to that was that we were upstairs. We didn't see a single sign pointing that there was even an upstairs to see. And we thought the DJs would play between the bands - NOPE! There was a constant rumble from the downstairs. Let's talk acoustics... I completely turned off the reverb on my bass guitar - the concrete walls supplied more than enough. Would you believe we had to request monitors from the sound man? Lighting? there was just one light kind of half-way on Ben and half-way on Paul. Real professional! Okay, okay, I'll stop bitching. After all, we tried to make the best of it and I'll admit it was wonderful to see so many people who don't usually make it to our gigs (including a good part of my family and friends). However, let's get something straight... we still had fun, but even if this place continues beyond the olympics, I'm sure not playing here again.

02-16-02

Getty's
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Seed and The Opposable Thumb

Last time we were here I wasn't very impressed. Man oh man has Getty's improved! We had a blast! This was probably one of the best shows we've had. Very good bands, and a very good crowd to boot (although they're never big enough for our tastes!).

02-05-02

Saltair
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Edgars Mule, Huge, The Common Ground, and Metal Tears

Wow, giant stage! We didn't know what to do with it. Thanks to everyone that showed up, we had the biggest crowd. In fact, we pretty much had the only crowd. As far as the other bands, they were pretty good, but I was especially impressed with Huge. Hopefully we'll be setting up some gigs with these guys soon. We've been invited to come back to Saltair on a weekend with some bigger bands. I guess we'll have to see how it goes. We've already figured out some things we're going to do differently.

01-13-02

The Manhattan Club
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Stella, Peet, My Density, and Sunfall Festival

This was the SXSW battle of the bands preliminary competition. We didn't make it to the next round by 4 points... damn

2001

12-31-01

Derek Smith's Photography Studio
Salt Lake City, UTAH

You know, I can't emphasize enough, how much better underage crowds are. It was great to see all these people I knew in high school (as unique as the circumstances were). This was a photography studio, so we set up our equipment on a pure white background. As rushed as set up was, between late arrivers and giving people rides, it sounded great. And it was light enough that we could really see people's faces. But seriously, we need these people at all of our gigs. Their VERY enthusiastic responces to nearly every song were much appreciated. There were even weird cinnamon roll hugs and bowing. It was especially meaningful for me to play our rewritten agilly for the girl I meant it for in the first place. If you haven't heard it... some people like it better than the original and others don't. The new version is definitely truer to its feelings. There was this time inbetween sets that this movie was being broadcast. It was like 3 hours long, and we couldn't kill the time fast enough. We went out to eat, and then kind of indecisivly drove around to kill the rest of the time. We even bought a deck of cards, but there was no place to play with them. By the time we got back, we found out the broadcast was even longer than they had though it was going to be, and stood around for another 45 minutes or so. But when we started playing again, it was so much fun. It went a lot smoother than I had thought it would, and I hope more gigs go this well.

We were also hoping to play at the Gardners' new years eve party that same night. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time, and I was getting sick anyway. It's probably better that we didn't, even though I'd still like to play for all those people some other time.

06-29-01 / 06-30-01

Shooters
Ely, NEVADA

At one point we took a walk around this town. Most of the town is composed up of casinos, motels, and gas stations. We came across a failed Pizza Hut. Now as if this itself isn't strange enough, that a major chain like that would fail anywhere, on the side was written "Ely blows". I guess this gives you a good idea of what the town thinks of itself.

The people at KCLS were very cool, not only helping us to get some sorely needed drumsticks after the first night (no, there are no music shops in Ely), but they also played some of our music on their station. That's a nice feeling there, to hear your soul being poured out on the radio. Mike Davis, one of the stations DJs, seemed very optimistic about the town and it's musical potential. I think he's right, but the sheer size of this place hinders their open-mindedness. A good portion just wanted to hear Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd covers. Regardless, we'll be back. Besides, beyond those who thought that our music was TOO modern, there sure were some awesome people - including the great staff at Shooters. In addition, their burgers were to die for.

This place was interesting... ranging from dead silence after certain songs, to screaming, and absolutely not wanting us to stop after 4 and a half hours of playing. And yes, that's 4 and a half hours each night. Talk about good practice. And if you'd believe it, both mine and Ben's voices held up the entire time without much of a problem at all. We sold a record number of CDs here. With that contributing, we came out very well after gas and food etc.

It's easy to conceive that we were tired after this gig. But I don't think it was just the hot weather and the hard hours of work. This town almost seemed to be sucking the life out of most everything in it. I guess the suicide rate is enormous. It seemed like everyone was always tired. I'll tell you one thing. As fun as I had, I don't think I could ever stay in a place like that for very long.

06-22-01

Private show for the Gardners
Sandy, UTAH
with Blair's band

After being POSTPONED from the 9th... The "private" show for our good friends the Gardners. We had a lot of fun. It was nice to see those familiar faces again.

06-15-01

Club Dance West/The Underground
Casper, WYOMING
with Pheonix and Loser

This is a 6.5 hour drive from Salt Lake though one of the most spacious and empty spaces in the world. It's kind of beautiful in that way, also kind of boring.

We were missing Rob for this one. He was at a wedding - didn't miss too much. I guess it's a good thing he couldn't make it anyway, being that all of his equipment he uses with us was stolen in addition to some other things of ours. I think everything will be okay after the insurance comes through (assuming they do). Well, I won't bother you with our griping. Back to the gig...

We got there a little ahead of schedule. I guess a V-10 pays off when you're hauling a trailer and driving against the wind and still going 90. If only MY car had that kind of power! Anyway, Casper has a population about 62,000. It was very spread out - Tom compared it rightfully to Spanish Fork. And surprisingly, this is the 2nd largest city in Wyoming! The only cool looking thing in the whole city was their bank - I think a Wells Fargo. It looked like a big flower. Yippi Eye Kie Ay! The Underground is a pretty cool place though. The upstairs is this place for ballroom and country line dancing. Hehe. And downstairs is were it's really happening. At least it would be if anyone was there. Everyone was real nice, especially Pheonix. Loser didn't really talk until we talked to them. Yes the band is called Loser. Sounds like a self esteem problem to me.

Just the anticipation itself was quite stressful. We're used to getting it done with quick. This time we had to wait for two bands to finish before we got started. God, imagine the face of a person who's never seen a traffic light and you bring them to New York. That was probably about the same look the crowd gave us as we played. You know... stupered, without enthousiasm - just wide eyed and no blinking. I didn't see a person take their eyes off us once. Not that there were too many people there. But what can you do, there was a big game on, and Casper doesn't know who the fuck we are anyway. At least we made a few fans.

That night in the hotel room... Okay, don't ask me how all the band got to sleep on the floor, and everyone else got the beds. That's just how things were. I'm fine with that. It's just when you get three loud snorers in the same room after an exhausting evening, it's a little hard to sleep. I'm not going to mention any names, but there was seriously a chorus of snoring. It went almost like a round... one, then the next, then the third, back to the first, etc. People say you need earplugs for playing music. Ha! You need them for sleeping! Unfortunately I didn't have anything like that in the state. I moved from between the beds, to the bathtub, to the little open doored closet were I finally stayed. Just with a towel as a pillow. Mind you, this was the Comfort Inn. Comfort my ass! Maybe if I was alone!

I can't bitch the whole time. This really was fun. We lost a little money, but we also made some friends. I don't know if we'll ever want to come back to Casper, but if we do, I think we'll know what to expect... people who are more deprived of entertainment then in Salt Lake. That's pretty bad!

06-09-01

Getty's
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with After Eden

I must say, out of all of the places we've played at the management at Getty's was the nicest to us. Of course the sound man was unfashionably late, but I guess that's the fault of Mars Music. At least he was nice, although he didn't seem to understand the stage monitors very well. As long as it sounded good for the audience - that's all that matters.

As always, the people poured in slowly, but once we started, they were stuck. I guess chaining the doors might have worked, but hey, if our music is working then we'll save those chains for another occasion. I felt like this was our best playlist yet. It really seemed to keep everyone's attention fixed to us. And aside from some poorly mixed stage sound and some minor mistakes, we played VERY well. The CD sales were definately a reflection of that! We also intoduced a new song called "Four." I think it really communicated to the audience. I guess we're up to almost 17 songs to choose from now. Wow! I didn't realize we were pumping them out so quick!

I think After Eden sounded even better then the last time we played with them. These guys rock! They seem to really get the crowd dancing. They were a little less social this gig, but still very nice and considerate. I guess things went well with them and April Wine.

Every gig I has its ups and downs. We are certainly getting better at this whole thing. There were a lot of funny details I probably shouldn't even mention. I just have to say that the people sure make these gigs interesting. I feel like I keep learning more and more about who these people really are. Both with funny and unsober attitudes as well as the sweet and reflective thoughts. These are the people we play for. I guess this is our way of becoming a part of their lives. This is our way of connecting with the world. Of course, my desire to play for a slightly younger and hopefully less drunk part of the world is getting stronger. We'll probably start looking in to some all ages events - besides just in Wyoming =). We'll do our best.

05-16-01

Atchafalaya
Provo, UTAH
with After Eden

Damn that Provo scene. We drove down there under the impression that Utah County had about the same rules as Salt Lake... big mistake! They almost didn't even let us play just because I wasn't old enough to drink! Little known to them is that there is a huge difference between drinking and playing. I'm just here for the music baby! Yeah, my honesty gets the better of me - i could have lied. After half an hour of pondering the owner agreed to let us play under the condition that I stay in the back room until we start, and then afterwards leave (by way of the back again). I thought there would at least be a couch or something, but it turned out to look more like the kind of room they stick you in after you've been shoplifting - you know, real crampy with unfinished walls. I did manage to pull a chair out of the rubble. Rob threatened to write "behold the 19 year old freak" on a chalk board near my head. The only reason he didn't is because he didn't have anything to write with. We could have made good money. "$1 to touch the freak!" I asked Ben to get me a pitcher of water for when I started singing (no I couldn't even go out to ask for water). He came back with a pitcher full of Coke. I guess the bartender said something like "if you ask for water, I give you coke". Hmmmm. Damn it! I wanted water. Oh well. And the funny thing is that later on that night, Paul went up to get just a glass of Coke, and she charged him for that! Sometimes it's hard to get what you want! Maybe he should have asked for water. Anyway, to the playing...

I felt bad, the rest of the band had to do most of the setting things up. By the time we started (9:30 or so), the place was still pretty empty. I reminded us of how important promotion is, and how hard it is to promote in a different city. I guess we played pretty well. I really had trouble hearing my vocals. That always seems to be the problem! I think we pulled off most of it really well, but i sure screamed out my voice quick. It was waning steadily by about half way through our set. Mind you I never even came close at Liquid Joe's. It all has to do with how hard I have to sing to hear myself. Ben had some technical difficulties with his guitar, but for the first time... NO STRINGS WERE BROKEN! Those new sadles worked! We got a lot of smiles and good responces to the songs, but it was nothing like Liquid Joe's. Maybe just not enough people.

After we finished, After Eden got up there and rocked the house. To give you an idea of what they sound like, I'd compare them to Alice and Chains. Just a decade ago, and I think they would have been superstars. Not that they're doing bad, after all, they're opening up for April Wine pretty soon, and have some pretty bitching happenings going on. Real nice guys too, especially their drummer Taylor. I decided to just watch from the bar on the side, and wait to be kicked out when the owner noticed. He never did. We got to see most of their set. It's really too bad there weren't more people. Both bands in my opinion deserved a much larger crowd. I guess that's what we'll have to push for next time.

05-08-01

Liquid Joe's
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with The Common Ground

I was just looking over the dates, and I guess this was our first gig in 6 months exactly - it didn't show at all.

We started about 10:15 bar time and played for a little more than an hour. We were all tighter than we've ever been. And just let me take a moment and reflect how intensly better the setup at Liquid Joe's is than at Ya'Buts. We could hear everything for once, although we might need to work on getting a better monitor mix next time. There was a lot of energy from the croud this time. Not only were people getting into it, but some were so outgoing as to come on stage and dance. I can't express how amazing of a feeling it is to see people actually singing along. All of our material had been sort of revamped from the CD - MUCH better in my opinion. You know, just changing little things (like taking out unnecessary parts and restructuring a few minor moments of emphasis) really made a huge difference. We introduced 4 new songs, but because of time limitations we were unable to play 2 of our older ones. This was certainly a much better playlist than we've had yet. I don't think that we've ever felt so comfortable on stage! It really felt natural for the first time.

I couldn't stay afterwards because of my underage ass, but appearantly we had an astounding number of compliments and "connections" set up. We're starting to see things happen. I guess it's just a matter of time!

2000

11-08-00

Ya'Buts
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Mindset

It's been about a month for me to write a summery so bear with me if the details aren't 100% correct. The tables were full, and brimming with a much better croud! Wow! I had a lot of fun at this gig. The monitors were now working (although they still couldn't turn them up loud enough for us to hear without mega feedback!). But this time we turned way up on stage, and from our perspective it sounded much better. I got a lot more into the music this time.

Mindset played after us and sounded awesome. They really had their shit together this time, and I was able to hear their full set!

During the break we talked to a man from a company named "Fragile." This guy had already sent our EP from our last show to his boss, and during this performance his boss called him up to tell him that they were willing to give us full endorsement! We descussed the details, which sounded very sweet besides the fact that he wouldn't arrange something specific for Ben's house payments if we went on tour. Yes we work too. Anyway, he said it would take a few weeks to get the contracts ready. I don't know how legitamate this offer really is, but I do know that we still haven't seen a contract, and its been a month and a half (since i wrote this). Oh well.

11-01-00

Ya'Buts
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Splitface

Ha! The first thing we heard from the asshole sound man (recently fired), was that the power amp for the monitors was blown, so we would basically have to play deafly. And under those circumstances we did the best we could. I had a lot of trouble getting into the music though. It just wasn't loud enough for us onstage. The sound man seemed to think it was still too loud on stage, but Paul could barely hear anything but the drums, and I couldn't hear much expect for my quiet bass guitar, the drums, and no vocals.

To back up a little bit, Splitface played first (possible influence of Korn - they had a very tight and heavy power). They sounded really good, but afterwords appeared to be really unhappy with their performance. These guys were hardcore, and after them, we sounded mellow as hell. They were really cool guys. I had thought that they didn't mention us playing after them, but I guess I just didn't hear them. My mistake - I must have been distracted. But for whatever reason, a good majority of the people left before we even got started setting up - maybe it was just too late... their loss.

I was really unimpressed with Ya'Buts setup. I did have fun though. Appearantly a lot of people did compliment on the mixing job, and the fact that they could really hear my vocals for the first time. To be frank, this was my least favorite of all the places we have played yet. Hopefully it will be better next Wednesday.

10-28-00

Costume Party
Sandy, UTAH

As if some sort of trend is beginning... this was not what I expected. We came early to set up in what was a small living room, which terraced up into the kitchen. Ben and I came dressed as ZZ Top with Skeletor as the drummer. It was great.

Much to our surprise, this was for a croud a bit older then usual (most of which were covering their kids ears from the noise level). The owners of the house had us play in sets of 2-3 songs each. I think we were louder then they anticipated. We only brought what we needed. "I didn't think you guys would bring so much equipment!" the owners exclaimed.

This was the first gig that we really could hear ourselves. Because of the setup, and besides the expected few mistakes, this was the best we have played so far. The only real drawback, was that there really weren't many people to reach out to.

10-14-00

Some Kegger
Elberta, UTAH
with Mindset

Thinking the gig wasn't too far away, we started driving. Two hours later we realized the map was drawn a little out of perportion. The gig was just outside of a town (if you could even call it that) named Elberta. It had just turned dark when we got there to set up. I hadn't brought a coat. Well the longer the sun was down the colder it got, and the only thing to keep us warm was a big bonfire in front of the stage - we also took turns sitting on the hoods of cars. Brad found an extra coat for me - that helped a lot! 8)

We got all set up and started playing, but because we were running on generators, the power started fluctuating. So the volumes turned down when we wanted to be louder. It took a while to get used to. But once we got going it was great. The croud was full of screaming girls and drunk guys trying to mosh with each other. Despite the cold and the power difficulties, we really did pull off a great show. I had tonz-o-fun, and we got so much positive feedback that I was stunned! Everyone had something good to say about us!

When were done, Mindset got on the stage and started miking Matt's drums, and setting up for themselves. They were never happy with the sound they had, but after about 5 half-songs, they decided to keep going. They sounded good, but the crowd was a little wound down until the end of the concert.

We decided to have Matt of Mindset and Paul of OverRIDE to do a drummer's duo. And the crowd loved that! After just a few minutes of jamming out Tom and Dave started a groove along with them. It ROCKED! Anyway. That was one of the highlights of the show for me.

We started taking down the equipment and a dj started doing his thing, so about 30 people got on the stage for a little dirty dancing. You could tell they were drunk out of their minds. We finally got out of there unloaded all of our stuff back at Scott's, and got home just after 6:00 in the morning. What a night!

08-19-00

Some Party
Salt Lake City, UTAH
with Mindset

Our first gig. The cops weren't called from any noise ordinances, but they were for something else... We finished our set, having a lot of fun, but a bit nervous at our first performance together. I thought it went really well, considering. But anyway, Mindset was about halfway through their set when this drunk man comes on a horse, angry at the level of the music. The dumbass marches his horse onto the stage, where the horse becomes spooked by the loud music, and so the horse starts to freak out - spinning around. It ended up getting caught up in some of the cords, and trampling some of Mindset's equipment. Luckily no one was hurt badly. But the man, now being mobbed by all of the people, got even more angry and started to use the horse against the people. And as he escaped, he used the horse to damage some cars. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life! We had a lot of fun. It's reported the man was never caught.