"time to cat and not mouse" tour 2001 diary - week 3

tuesday, september 25 - lawrence, ks


from tom:

   we get up and do a little blow-by of the freeway and get on the road again by 10:30. the drive isn't too far to the bottleneck in lawrence, and we pull into town around 2:30 and I head over to the music shop to get some strings and picks. I also write some post cards and make a call and get back to the club to load in. we a re playing with our friends in bargain music again and after soundcheck we see them walking in from a long drive from arizona. it's good to see them again and we hang and talk for a while. there is also another band on the bill so that makes it four bands and that means it will be a late night tonight. we are supposed to start at midnight which is late fo a tuesday night. before things get started I take jerry and chris from the urchins to a vietnamese place that I've eaten at before. it is fine and light and good for playing on. at the club the first band, five ticket fraud is playing to the first people at the club. after them the bargain music guys get up to play and they have had a lot of beer and not much food so they have a little warm up time before they get cooking. then the urchins do a fine set of their songs that I am starting to really like. they know how to work the crowd and there's a lot of humor in their music too.

   we gget set up and ready to play by 12:15, a little bit late start but we push on through and keep it together. I think it's a good show. after our load out we follow kevin back to his house for the night. I have stayed here with watt a couple of times and he has informed us about the stuffed pig stomach he had preparred, but I am totally burned out and I hit the sack.



from jerry:

   no time a wasteing, were up and gone. its 4 hours to lawrence through missouri's farmland and waterways. we stop at a iron skillet (gullet) so tom and I can feed. the greasist spoon yet. truckers must gobble this shit up by the shoveload. make some thick mack pudding for the long haul. we pull into lawrence early, about 2. I'm kinda burnt and decide to lounge in the boat for a couple hours. tom and mike disappear leaving me to my own. I give kel a call and talk about home stuff. she's so good at making me feel less homesick. touring affords one much time to ponder many great things await me when I return. wanting is a good thing. we say our goodbyes and unload for soundcheck. bargain music is on tonight's bill along with the urchins. to bad josh and the fellas don't have more gigs other then the three booked for this tour. great guys to hang around. I ask tomato from urchin to come chow w/tom and I and we search out a vietnamese joint 3 blocks away. good tasty fair and not to heavy. tomato tells us of his past band life and urchins plans to expand their fanbase to cali. I told of some good venues around socal. I'll try helping them when they decide to make the journey out west.

   bargain is on first and since the club wouldn't hook em' up w/din, free beer is tonight's meal. they began the tossback at about 5 w/no stopping for even a breath. zippy's feeling it most w/the smaller frame and lighter weight. determined to become completely shitfaced before their settime, 4 of the 5 are two fisted and flying high. phil the drummer is the only one holding out. can't have a drunk stickman and expect to keep to all together. the first song shows the extent of the damage as it's just a big giant clamblow. the bright side's that it can't get any worse. somehow they manage to uplift and regain composure. the urchins jump aboard next and stick to their good rocking ways. think I'll try to learn a song to jam w/em' later on. we hoist our flag and weigh anchor for this port o call. w/the large p.a. I'm thinking the levels are gonna crush on inner brain, but the sound guys have control and spare me a hard ringing. the set goes well cept' tom's amp starts fading soon after we start. I'm getting a feeling it ain't gonna hold for the tour. I peer off to the stage side and notice phil gazing on, next to him sean is grobbling w/a local younging. I spotted her and the drunken kackle of hens earlier. they took a quick liking to the bargain boys. after the show the same younging is now velcroed to zippy, lust abounds.

   we get a crash pad w/mike's bud kevin. he offers up some homemade stuffed pig stomach w/potatos and sausage. delicious! I go for seconds and forego the mota. get my own bed again and watch a little news til' the sleepie's catch up. kel, rilei, and the kitties fill my head w/happy visions. good night.



from watt:

   I pop early and hose off quick in the shower. more dazzling sunlight outside. there's a "kum and go" across the street (what a fucking name) and I get a coffee there. a little park is across from that and I hoof on the grass there. there's squirrels running all about, I am thoroughly charmed. I sit on one of those spring-supported horses in the playground and have a good think - too much think to drink. I have kind of down thoughts about myself and must walk it off. even w/all that sun coming down warm on me, I get this way still. no cure, only perseverance in the faith I can get beyonder and into different realms. still stuck w/the same watt but not in despair. my confidence factor can get pretty low, thank god I've got the momentum of all the years still pushing me. but being in the moment has it's price: self-relization and a loss of the child's eye. I know it doesn't have to be this way. I can somehow regain the child's eye - in fact, I never really lose it - it just becomes hidden from me, covered w/un-healthy thinking. aahh, to be cured... physician: heal thyself!

   I let my guys sleep in as long as they want, lawrence is only three or so hours away and we bail when they're ready. across the missouri river into iowa and down the I-29 towards kansas city. we stop to gas/chow (same thing?) and I sit in the boat to down a pimento cheese sandwich and some hard boiled eggs while tom and jer shovel at the filling station's restaurant. from there, we turn the boat starboard and head west on the kansas turnpike. we're in lawrence by three. I go directly to that outdoors store I figure I can get a sleeping bag and find one that's supposed to keep you warm down to below freezing. I return to the club we're playing, the _bottleneck_, and say hi to big al, who has a mohawk this time and jackie. I go upstairs to the heavily, heavily graffitied dressing room and plop down on the most disgusting futon ever. how many, many stains are here, I wonder? I chimp diary into the 'puter and wait for soundcheck. amanda, tonight's boss, brings chips and some really hot salsa. tom joins me in heating up the insides good w/this stuff. aaron, the soundman, does a quick, one song soundcheck. I like it that way. I sign a cat named dave's left-handed bass. anything to get cats working their machines more to get something to come from the heart.

   _bargain music_ is w/us again tonight and it's good to see them. there's two other bands too: the urchin cats and a local, _five minute frog_. I go to the back of the boat to test the new bag out and konk. I wake right before showtime, damn it's pert-near midnight - the bag works great! I talk to b-hill of the urchins and ask them to give us a little more time, clearing the stage earlier to start on time. especially on a work/school night. I tell him no disrespect to them, just let's help each other out here w/this. guess what? I missed all three of the openers. well, I'm ready to go and we're off. the band plays sharp and tight - great. alex, the monitor cat, does really well w/getting my voice so I can hear it - thank you, alex. we do a good set and it's probably the best sound I've heard any of my bands on this stage - for some reason it can be a tough cookie. the crowd is really sweet and has us back for an encore despite the lateness. I'm very grateful, to my guys too. I shake more than a couple bass players' hands. that's a good thing too. john, an old friend from k.c. - who's bro, andy, a fireman, couldn't come - made a minidisk of the gig and will send it to the hoot line p.o. box later. I dig cats doing this even though I always get to scared to hear them. good to have them anyway for someday, whatever. thank you, john. we pack up and I say goodbye to all the good people at the ...neck and we take kevin in the boat w/us to his pad, we're staying there tonight on his invite. it'll be like my fourth or fifth time in a row there. he gives me a bag of jalapenos - thank you!

   usually there's lots of folks waiting for us when we get there but this time there's no one. kevin's got some of that potato and sausage stuffed in pig's stomach and I chow a little of that. jer chows a lot. I don't really like chowing much after a gig, it can be a bad habit and add to "belling" (growing one's self spherically). he gives me two pears too but I'll wait to do these in the morning. hardware floors in the living room here so I konk right on the couch I'm sitting on. there's this great, fluffy longhaired cat that hops up on my chest. tons and tons of purrs. I give her rubs - she loves it - what a great disposition. even w/the lights off and mask down, the sensation of fingers kneading fur is calming. I think of the man, my cat of seventeen years that passed away two summers ago. there, good memories and I pass easily into a state of konk and rest.





wednesday, september 26 - st. louis, mo


from tom:

   I wake up to kevin making some breakfast and we get fed real good and sit and talk for a while about everything that's been going on. we get on the road by 12:00 and head out of lawrence to st.louis. tonight we are playing at a place called blueberry hill and it used to be a place called cicerro's, which was a pizza place upstairs and a bar/club downstairs. mike says it has been expanded. when we get in to the club the sound of urchin is already loaded in and tonight we start the first of of a string of shows with our friends cobra verde. they're from cleveland and we've done a few shows together on the last couple tours. it's great to see them when they walk in, it's always nice to be able to play with friends on tour. after we check we are treated to a meal upstairs and I get some red beans and rice. time goes by until the sound of urchin start to play. they have a good set even though the guitarist scotty breaks a couple strings. they're a fun band to watch. cobra verde get up and play some songs that I remember from last year and few new ones. I really love this band and it's great to hear them again. we get up after the cobras and play the set and then cobra verde comes up to join us on the red and the black for an encore. it's a fun show and we get wrapped up a and load out and head over to guy's place nearby to sleep.



from jerry:

   crossing missouri today for the middle city of the heartland. two big rivers on this drive, the mississippi and the missouri. good chance for photo opps. the osarks are is between the two, giving us pleasant viewing and great snaps. arriving at blueberry hill the urchin guys just finished loading and we time it perfect to pull in. it's a underground place so luckily the elevator thing is happening. I do my setup and head upstairs for some din. this place has the food inhouse and I opt for a sandwich and french onion soup. sound guy bob stops for an intro as we finish up. soundcheck is quick as usual. most of the time all sexed up is only played. the cobra verde's from cleveland arrive. tom having toured with em' previously they reaquaint with eachother and I'm introduced. all very nice people, looks like a great billing for a couple weeks.

   urchins have first crack and work a tight set. next up the verdes chime in. my first chance seeing them and I dig the 70's glam rock vibe. their new guitarist derek shows great chops and strong command of the war hammer. mark the drummers bams harder than bambam. everythings a powerstroke w/him. frank holds a firm rhythm track along w/bassman ed. john's stature and presence give the cobra's their voice of seasoned rock. great tunes round it out. in front all night is this cat beetle bob. w/a rodney binginheimer doo and funky dances moves he alters the time mode back to 1973. our set goes well cept' for a shitty monitor mix for mike. why is it so tough to get a good mix? soundman bob does his best besides the lacking system.a low clam count keeps the set a flowing.

   mike does the business and we load up fast. this kid named guy offers up his pad for the crash. it's only a block away, so we leave the boat at the club and huff it on foot. a small apartment w/min. room. I brush aside some clutter and stake claim to the kitchen doorway. mike takes offense to my cacoaroach crack on his pad, sorry guy. first night on hard wood, hope my back can handle it. sleep comes quick.



from watt:

   pop to big purr sounds from the cat. I chow the pears. kevin's got a long tub and it's good to soak in that. takes forever do fill though and I cut my nose hairs while I wait. I use my swiss army's knifes little scissors for that and take my time - it's tricky. I grow them thick there, must be in the genes. kevin gets up and cooks us chow. I have some bacon and avocado. he works at an glass pad and said he might be able to get a windshield for the boat. there's cracks all over this one from fucking trucks who don't have their loads tarpped and little rocks and shit that fly out and strike it as we're driving. well, the shop can't rustle one up 'til noon and then there's an hour to put it in. not enough time - thanks anyway, kevin. he puts the tv on and it's the first time we see all the you-know-what dumping out of the screen. another good reason to be immersed in tour mode and be able to avoid most of this crap. we're all still very sad for the insane hurt that happened the first day of our tour but to get led around by the nose by this?

   off into the boat and bye to kevin - thank you, bro. we're back on the kansas turnpike and heading east towards missouri. into kansas city and onto the I-70. man, maybe seventy percent of this road must be under construction. it's pretty tedious but we drive on. we're travelling from one end of the state to the other - from the missouri river to the mississippi. on the way, we pass "biffle's" the pad that poisoned mister steve reed all the tours ago w/lame chow. well, we see the sign but never really see the pad. we pull off a little way past to get gas and the station has these fucked-up teeth you put in your mouth called "lee-bob teeth." we all right away think of righteous stickman, mister bob lee - not cuz of the choppers but cuz of the name. later, back in the boat, we decide we should've got a pair and flowed them to him in the mail. damn.

   we get tonight's venue, the _bluebery hill duck room_, where I just played last spring w/j + the fog. played there last when it was half the size and called cissero's, back in the _fIREHOSE_ days. the soundman bob is a good cat. I do an interview right before soundcheck for a skateboard zine w/a cat named guy while I chow a salad. he asks good things. I try to work my bass like I'm riding a board, always have been inspired by those cats even w/them being much younger than me. one way to bridge the years w/out anyone having to look down on each other. we do the check and the _cobra verde_ cats show up from cleveland. dave and chaz aren't w/them this time - instead there's ed now on bass and derek on second guitar. they've learned the _blue oyster cult_'s "the red and the black" and are ready to play it w/us. we're gonna get them wet w/it tonight. always great to see these cats - love them.

   I go to the back of the boat to konk. not too cold tonight - I only need a bunch of the tour shirts to keep me warm on the pad back there. I konk hard for three hours, good. jer rousts me and I find I've missed both previous acts, the urchin cats and the verdes. damn. well, I really needed that konk. I'm wearing a flannel someone threw up at me last night in lawrence (two pockets and a great plaid). we start the gig and man, is the sound on stage really, really bad. there's a mid-range feedback you wouldn't believe. something about how the stage and room are plus the mains hanging off the roof. it all adds up to resonance that's unbearable. all the sound of the band is collected into this one frequency that makes everything indistinguishable - it can be this bad in the front of the house. I mean, we don't pay to hear ourselves so the main responsibility for good sound is to the folks in the audience and not us so I'm praying they're not getting this din. doesn't seem like they are, they're digging what were doing. beatle bob is dancing out front. he met us earlier as we drove in and had a lot of bad news about how saint louis had crazy shit happening as a would-be staging ground for terror shit too. damn, the hell of violence as religion - so fucked up - it can never be justified in my head. anyway, back to gig time: I break a string during my solo on the little bass in "sweet honey pie" - shit, a 'd' string. I hand the string to some kid in the front he tells me he wants to someday hand me one of his, very sweet of him. then, in the next tune, "the big bang theory," I break an 'a' one. aaaarrrrgggghhh! weird too - I was thinking as I woke from my konk in the boat that I gotta change these strings tomorrow in madison. well, looks like I'll only have to change two of them cuz I'm doing the other two now on stage in front of folks! the tunning gears are really tight cuz I cranked down the screws after that seattle stuff w/them. I gotta get some wd-40 on them tomorrow. damn, I gotta crank w/my left hand and I'm right-handed - aaaarrrgggghhh again! there's some talking while I'm doing this and someone else shushs them. I say to let them talk, there's enough of people getting told to get sushed these days. I'm also feeling pretty awkward and embarrassed. soundman bob gets some of the horrible feed back out and we finish the gig good and bring the cobras on after "...tweeter" in the encore. they're not ready to go! aaahh, the trains got leave w/out them and they scramble to get on board. john does some wild selector switch "stun guitar" solos but I want him to do singing w/me too. next time. they do great. in the "down w/the bass," I finally get the solos happening at the end - it's taken this much tour for me get this together - damn, watt.

   we finish up and I sling. dottie's there and I sign her friends b-note key from his hammond organ. she's moved from last time so we scramble to find a pad. guy, the cat I did the spiel w/offers up his place and it's only two blocks away so we leave the boat in the back of the club here, via permission of the bar manager, who's a nice cat. from a listener, I get lots of live cds of _pliers_, _black flag_, bob dylan and assorted other shows. thank you! we hoof our bags over and tom and jer flip a coin for the couch. tom wins. jer's on the deck w/me. my mind is racing w/crazy thinking, even w/the mask on and body still. john from the verdes was talking to me after the gig about all of everything - he works at a paper and he's telling me about all the writers there pandering to "patriotic pornography" and then there's that stuff from beatle bob about the hell from the other side and the fucked-up hate there to kill us... watt is not unaffected - I want to somehow to help heal the world of all of this. I cannot reason away any of the scared shit I'm feeling pounded down w/and I feel so stuck in the middle of all of the consequences. you add adrenaline from working your brains out on the little bass and it's a wonder I ever konked at all but I do though it's an uneasy and disturbed one.





thursday, september 27 - madison, wi


from tom:

   we get up and out by 8:00, mike and I get some coffee and then start driving towards madison. it's kind of a long drive and we pull into town at around 3:00. we load in and wait to sound check. cobra verde shows up and we sit and talk with them for a while. there's a local band called hum machine opening up tonight and by the time they start the club is filling up. they play a kind of american rock thing with two guitars, bass and drums and I watch a few songs and then hang out downstairs with the coba verdes until their set. the verdes play a few songs and then dereks guitar amp quits so I lend my cabinet so they can finish their set. it's a good show and then we get up to play. when we start I notice that my amp is only about half power which is a real drag. I go through the songs this way anyhow and play only barely hearing myself. I don't know what happened but something is deffinately wrong. we get through it okay and finish up only slightly crippled by it. it's a full club and the people enjoy the show and by shirts and posters from mike after the gig. we move our stuff and wait with dimitri until we follow him to his house for the night. it's a long day and I fall asleep immediately.



from jerry:

   with a long drive to madison mike wakes us early. guy is up and feeling torqued by his binge of last night. we thank him and depart rapidly. I'm soon knocked out and awake only for the gas stops. madison greets us w/another pleasant sunny day, can't get enough of them. were early in so as to have a chance to relax and write some diaries. I order some cheese curds(deep fried cheese w/batter)and split it w/tom. damn good! after soundcheck I linger around w/out much to do. lots of waiting while touring. charlie watts once said "touring in a band is 2 hours of work and 22 hours of waiting to work". so i wait.

   another show w/cobra and I decide to catch their set again. three songs in and dereks rig shits out. tom comes to the rescue. they hook up tom's cabinet and back to the rock. they finish up strong and we switch over for the clean up crew. tom goes and hooks up his rig only to hear less than half the juice coming out. all gig long all I get is bass and drums. the things had it. the soundguy does his best by boosting the main mix, but stage lever is shit. looks like a new amp is on the horizon. after show its kinda chilly and we have to wait while mike takes photos w/some dude that made him a bass. their inside a bus parked out back and all I can see is flashes. I start making comments about some man love photo session going on inside. too cold to wait outside so I jump in the van and crank on the motor. don't want sickness to grab hold again.

   mike's pal dimetri offers up his home for our snoozing and we proceed out of town. once again I have my own room. this time his baby's nursery thats equipped w/a futon. I forego the mota and tucker down for the night.



from watt:

   pop and hose off. we have to bail early - it's over four hundred miles to madison. much easier ride than yesterday through the ozark foothills though. we're east over the mississippi and then north on the I-55 through illinois. smooth road, just been redone. lots of farms, both illinois and indiana have such a contrast between industrial north and rural south. we pass peoria, where my ma spent her teen years after wyoming. we stop to gas the boat and get subway sandwiches. no grease at least! I chow tuna. it's good. further north on I-39 and into wisconsin.

   after seven hours behind the wheel, I pull us up to the venue, _the annex_, a pad I've never played before. the place I'm usually at in madison, _okayz_, burned down in a fire several months ago, very sad. I love getting to the gig early so there's no stress and I can be calm and relax - have peace of mind and no twisted stomach, worrying about making it in time. such a gift! I do a spiel w/a cat for the pittsburgh show on the phone and the eat a "brat" - hey, we are in wisconsin. I am one tired pecker and after soundcheck, head straight for the boat and adopt konk mode.

   it must be like five hours later when jer rousts me - damn! well, I surely needed it. I missed the openers, locals _hum machine_ and our buds, the verdes. coming into the pad w/the sack of shit to be slung, I greet the boss, old pal tom layton - big hugs. tim, a luthier living in iowa, is there too. he's got my "brownie," a gibosn nonreversed thunderird IV bass of mine that I asked him to make a "banana plower." wow, what a great job he's done. it's completely yellow, even the fingerboard. beautiful. shaved the neck and made it more like "bluey" (my other thunderbird). plays fantastic. there's another bass, the one based on a fender tele that he made before but had a weirded-out neck. this new neck is like the t-birds - same scale length - but more slender. it plays great too. thanks so much, tim. problem is, my hands are sore these days to play these long things live - that's why I work the little bass for gigs. it's sad to tell tim this - he's worked so hard and did such a happening job but that's what life has brought me as the years have gone by. I can play them sitting down easy cuz you can lean over the neck and don't have to stretch the hands so much - that's why I'll use bigger basses for recording but for gigs, it's gotta be the little bass. I just can't get hurt so bad I might have to stop altogether. I can tell it kind of bums tim out. aahh, what can I say?

   stage time. something's up w/tom's amp. the verdes had an amp go and they borrowed tom's speaker cabinet. now there's just tiny sound coming out for his guitar. oh well - we'll soldier on. I ask soundman lou to put him in the monitors. I'm a little shaken at first and I fuck the words up to the first tune big time - so sorry, john talley-jones. I do recover and get my focus back and more together. kind of sounds like a real "bass and drum" duo. I can tell tom is kind of down but he keeps on - now whussy-fits from tom, he's got too much heart. we actually play a good set despite all the problems. the packed house (actually oversold a bit) has great spirit for the gig. I thank them much and for being in a town that has what I think is one of the country's best newspapers, "the onion." I also give attention to the billboard oustside across the street, it says "the sustainable solution to corporate collusion" put up by a group called www.socialpacifists.org. you don't see so much advertising regarding those thoughts much. trippy town. we have the verdes on to do "the red and the black" w/us and john has to play maracas cuz of the blown amp. it's a fun romp. jer loses some sticks in a drum solo, that's ok. he does a pretty good monostick job while recovering. then we're done and it's time to sling.

   one cat gives me a drawing he did of my pop culled from the cover of my opera, "...engine room." very sweet of him and sincere. thank you. another cat gives some 'dines, crackers and "melinda's" habanero sauce. I like this stuff, not much heat but good flavor. thank you! one thing bugs me though - the "security" is hollering for folks to beat it. this after I helped them sell a bunch of beers by playing here. damn, does a little authority really go to some people's heads. I ask them to leave everyone the fuck alone a little while 'til I sign all the shirts and posters they got for me. damn.

   I settle w/tom and he tells me a great story about opening his pop's mind up w/maybe some different thinking w/approaching this war thing. trippy about pops and sons and how they realate or learn how to, even in the most insane situations. I then go see tim and we take pictures w/me holding the basses. I thank him again for all the care and work he put into them. he'll mail them to me in pedro when the tour's done. dimitri, a cat who's seen me play since the minutemen days, invites us to his pad for the night. thank you, dimitri.

   we follow him it his home in the woods (trippy how like seven miles from the state capitol, you're out in the woods!) and he's got a "don't tread on me" flag - something from our revolution. I like this flag, the best one I've seen all tour. he brings us to his "bavarian room." there's two new ducks on the wall since I was last here. tom and jer konk while me and dimitri talk 'til like four - damn. I must get to sleepytown and recharge the battery within. thanks dimitri for everything.





friday, september 28 - minneapolis, mn


from tom:

   we awake and dimitri is making some food and I get an omlete with chilis and coffee. after that we're packed and ready to roll on to minneapolis. it's about a 5 hour drive and we pull up to the 7th st. entry at about 4:30 and we get loaded in. my amp is still messed up so we wait for the cobra verdes to get there so I can use franks amp to sound check. I'm going to have to get another amp for the rest of the tour so tomorrow we will go out to look for one. we are playing here tomorrow night too and tonoight the sound of urchin is also on the bill and they show up soon after the cobra's. after sound check jerry and I go get some thai food and I get some fried rice with tofu which suits me well. we get back to the club and wait for the sound of urchin to play. the urchins play a hard rocking set and derek from cobra verde gets up to sing on one song and it's a great show. cobra verde plays a great show too and the club is starting to fill up. the 7th st. entry is a nice little place and it sounds good when there are a lot of people in it and when we get on to play it's good and crowded. I play through franks amp and it sounds good so I have an easy time hearing myself and we play a strong set. we are playing here tomorrow so we can leave our equipment in the club tonight so there is no load out. after getting out and on the way to the promoter steve's place for the night.



from jerry:

   I must have woke up three times to go to the can through the night. must be from the water I gulp after every show. up and down the stairs w/creaks and cracks trying not to disturb the sleeping family. about 9 and up again to pee, but this time dimetri is up w/his baby christo. and adorable little 5 month old boy just 2 weeks older than rilei. I'm drawn to him instantly and begin playing little baby games to get him to laugh. dimetri asks if I'd watch him while he cooks us breakfast, how could I refuse. that short time helps me fill the void in me w/missing rilei. I so miss her. kel would be proud of me for showing up my fatherly stills. after some great chow I get a small taste of mota and go for a short walk in the hood. it's very beautiful in this part of the country, but they do have some brutal winters. after some photos w/dimetri and christo we say farewell and throw out the bow lines. as we leave the flag on his house reads 'don't tread on me'.

   I sleep again for the ride and suddenly(well suddenly to me) were in minneapolis. its a two night stand at 7th st. entry. this is a small club connected to a big club. the big one being that place in prince's purple rain flick, 1st avenue. the main room shows happen early so I'm able to catch the other acts before we gig. tonight is thrill kill kult w/some other goth rock spoof band. not really my thing. I catch 1 song from kult and trun and run. they sorta caved for the size of the venue. tonight the urchins are back after a day on their own and I miss em' cause I'm in the office doing emails. cobras get on around 10:30 and I make it down for the set. frank from the cobras loaned tom his rig, so no lamemo git sound. another good set thanks to a full round sound. tom will try tomorrow to find an amp. I say solong to the urchins until philly and we leave our gear set up. another show tomorrow.

   promoter steve kindly invites us to commandier his living room for the two night stand. tom and mike grab the couch and floor space in front of the tv. I'm left to the dining room. steve's kitty comes by to say goodnight. wish I had some oh's cereal to munch.



from watt:

   dimitri tucked me into his couch good w/blankies. I pop toasty. get the second week's tour diary coded and loaded up to the web while dimitri cooks up omlettes w/sausage fresh from a pig he had slaughtered a couple weeks ago. great cook - damn! thank you. we bail northeast for minneapolis. gray morning, like in cali - kind of cold though. jer bundles up in the back and konks on the bench. he seeps fumes constantly. tom anoints the air w/peach scent to spare us a foul drive. jer needs to get that o-ring fixed.

   beautiful hills and dales of wisconsin dairy and farmland pass by us as we take I-94 into minnesota. first through saint paul, back over the mississippi and then minneapolis. there's a little bit of a plug on the freeway and we're cured pretty quick of some l.a. homesickness. we make it to the _first avenue_ at four. we're playing a room on the side called the _7th street entry_. I've worked this room many, many times and dig it. conrad greets me at the hatch and it's great to see him. he lost his cat of thirteen years, "truman," and that's very sad to hear. I think of my man. we do soundcheck and then I do a spiel at a chow pad w/two cats who have a web zine. it's a good one, they ask some great stuff. back to the venue, boss steve mcclellan is there. so, so good to see him! _gov't mule_ is playing a few blocks away tonight and I've been asked to meet drummer matt at some meet and greet. me and steve go over there and I give matt big hugs. I recorded the _ccr_ song "effigy" (mixed in w/parts of a couple other creedance tunes) w/them just before the last euro leg of j + the fog tour. still haven't heard the finished thing yet but can't wait. warren's at the venue, prince's old club, _grand salm_ (now _quest_) and we go over there to say hi. after big hugs, we both agree these are heavy times. I tell him I'll think of him tonight when I play. they have oteil burnbridge on bass and it's quite a honor to meet him. we go back over to the steve's club. I call nanny back in pedro, an old friend and the lady who does my shirt drawings. I tell her about all the scaredness I've been feeling all tour, all the fears and anxiety. she is much stronger than I am about these things. I'm glad she took the time to talk w/me. I'm drained. w/staying up so late last night and all the driving, I'm tuckered and must konk. steve let's me use his partner jack's office. on the deck there w/blankies from the boat, I'm out like that.

   the urchins and verdes both open the gig but I miss both of them. sorry, guys. I pop just in time for our set and head downstairs. the room is stuffed w/folks w/good spirits. tom's using one of the verdes' guitar amps, a fender tone master w/a generic 4x12 cab and sounds good. the monitors are clipping pretty bad, whoa. I troop on. our set is really good, the band plays tight. I'm wearing the purple cowboy work shirt I got in texas while on tour w/j - it is the club where prince made the "purple rain" movie. it's really hot on stage and this thing is sweatier than a flannel! so what, I'm glad to be working the little bass for folks. again in the encore, we have the verdes on for the b.o.c. tune and this time john is playing nothing but handclaps. I told him the lyrics I want him to sing w/me in the middle break of the song, "hornswoop me bungo pony - dogsled on ice," but when it comes time he's singing something I can't even begin to understand. oh well, maybe tomorrow night. mark does the ending w/five hits instead of four - I tell the crowd about the "law of fives" which is for every two things you reveal, keep three concealed. I read that in the "illuminatus trilogy" years ago. I thank everyone, including ron, who did the sound knobs.

   I get a book, "the journal of albion moonlight" by kenneth patchen and a cd, "the johne coltrane quintet w/eric dolphy" from buddy steve, who's pad we stayed at last year w/the pliers. thank you much. lots of nice words from folks. grant hart's here, he was at my starboard the whole time. happenning. after the crowd clears out, I see betsy's been working a bar. she just bought a house. she says she's bringing her niece tomorrow - that's right, we're playing the same pad again tomorrow night. that's kind of unusual for me, I usually just do one-nighters. I couldn't think of a better place to do that, I dig it here. steve has us follow him to he pad in the northeast part of minneapolis, just over the river by the old mills. we camp out on his living room rug. he gives me his sleeping bag to konk in. lights out but I must've laid there for like a hour and a half w/my mind racing like a whirling machine. damn, what a torture session - in a tug of war w/my own thoughts. somehow, I'm shown mercy and finally allowed to let go of consciousness and slip onto that train to sleepytown. thank god.





saturday, september 29 - minneapolis, mn


from tom:

   it's day 2 in minneapolis and we get up and mike and steve and I head out to change the oil in the van and also look for a new amp for me. after a little search we find a jiffy lube and get a cup of coffee and talk about mikes navy family life. I know the whole story by now but he and steve compare information on the subject till the van is done. then we go off to hit a couple music stores to find a fender twin. the first place has a couple without master volume knogs so we move on to another place with no luck either. the third place has a good one and I plug it in and it sounds fine so we take it and head back to steve's place. steve has to take off to some prior engagment and we hang out at his house till it's time to get back to the 7th st. entry. we are already set up to do a soundcheck and that goes fine. el vez is playing an early show next door at the 1st avenue space and jerry and I check out a few songs. tonight we are playing with cobra verde and a band called cursor and we meet them when they get in.

   the club is start to fill up and by cobra verdes show it's a good crowd on a saturday night. we get up to play and start the set with the stooges song down on the street, and then go through our set. it's a good sound on stage and the room is very hot so we sweat it out and wrap it up with the cobras joining us for the red and the black. we load out and say goodbye to cobra verde until they meet us again in nashville. then it's back to steve's to get some sleep.



from jerry:

   get up early, don't know why. playing the same place again and theres no need to. cept' steve offers breakfast. I guess reason enough. the first place is too crowded and small, so we settle on another. a limited menu leaves few choices, but steve assures me the foods good. laura the waitress is very nice, and I come to find out she used to play drums in babes in toyland. saw them once open for white zombie. mike's constant foot tapping starts buggin me and I speak up. didn't know steve was also tapping, and I sorta feel bad. I mean not only cause I pointed the blame at mike, but I sometimes do it myself. sorry mike and steve. back to steve's and I'm left while tom, mike, and steve go amp hunting. nothing to do but watch tv. steve's wife returns from a trip to the park w/her girls. we start talking about music and I inquire of her past. much experience w/many well known players and I'm intrigued by her accounts. the guys finally return and its back to the club for the soundcheck.

   after soundcheck tom and I wander over to this pizza place we ignored yesterday. it's worth the stop this time. great food and cut rate beer prices as well. we depart stuffed and happy and head back to catch el vez's set in the big room. his show is very vegas loungey and a bit fluffy. the sound could be much better and the material is somewhat bland. glad I didn't buy a ticket for that one. back to 7th st. for ths show. looks like maybe we might cave this one judging by the early crowd, but a late fill settles that concern. our set is strong and the verdes once again help out w/the red and the black, as they have on every show w/us. it's getting tighter everytime. we put mark the drummer up front and his pounding is right behind me, man can that dude pound!

   after a quick pack it's back to steve's and under the dining room table again. hello kitty! back to wish me good night once more. I give him a purr back and turn over and out.



from watt:

   pop early (I don't know how - I got maybe three hours of konk in) and hose off. man, is steve's son into hair color - it's all over the shower and throughout the head. wild colors too. I get a really great email from charlie thompson, who's digging on the tour spiel up on the hoot page. he has a great idea for touring himself. here:

"...over the years Nebraska has really grown on me. When I was a baby my family saw a big UFO in Alliance, Nebraska. Thought it was the end of the world. Some day I'm gonna do a tour called THE GREAT PLAINS TOUR. Just the plains. Ghosts of Indians and all that. I'm getting closer to my other dream tour...THE MISSION TOUR or EL CAMINO REAL. Just 101. Near to the missions, all 21 of them. I got a song called 21 Reasons as in why I don't care much for Christmas, and for the 22 toungues that got wiped out by the Spanish. I guess that's why I started on the mobile recording rig. I want to be able to set up shop for a few days in places like the Knights of Columbus Hall in Kern County if you know what I mean."