Saturday, September 3, 2011

BROOKLYN

last night rocked! we always have decent turnout and a good time playing at bruar falls, and last night was the best yet. we were worried that the true jacqueline might not make it down in time from massachusetts, but they made it ok. most of justice of the unicorns was stuck upstate due to hurricane irene damage, so russ played a solo set to start off the night. he was good given the circumstances, but i was really looking forward to hearing the whole band. hopefully i'll be able to catch them sometime soon.

tru-jac played a really good set as the crowd grew a little bigger, and by the time gold streets went on, the place was really hopping. gold streets were one of the first bands i saw when i moved to brooklyn 4 years ago and they are super nice and always put on a good show. they've been working on a new recording and we can't wait to give it a listen.

we played a pretty good set, i think the philly set was the best we've ever played (and there was no one there to see it!), but thursday in noho, and last night at BF were really solid. gavin had a little guitar trouble, which lead to me attempting to play (and f'ing butchering) the solo in "red car", and we played "love is a losing game" without him, which meant we skipped the guitar solo, which sucks, cause i thought it was awesome. honestly, i didn't know how it would work covering that song, i think we really kinda made it our own.

setlist:

helen of troy
holy bones
omg
red car
sleeping contest
secret show
love is a losing game
sea + enemy
meditation
free love

we had a blast on this little mini tour, but sadly, our days of playing together as a real working band are coming to an end. we are going to put out a 5 song ep over the next couple of months and play a release show for that. jeff and i will keep the planes going, but we're going to need a new bassist and guitarist, as sacha and gavin need time to pursue other endeavors. the four of us have had a wonderful time playing together, thanks in no small part to the mountains of support that we've gotten from all of our friends and fans out there.

people ask me why i still play music after years and years of work with no real commercial success. the answer is that i do it for all the other bands out there who put up countless hours of work for fleeting moments of glory, and for all the people who come out and spend their time and hard earned money supporting unknown acts in tiny bars because they understand that a community is a machine and even the smallest part is necessary to the function of the whole.

if you're a musician out there, on hard times, and someone out there asks you why you still do it, tell them you do it for me. i'll meet you at a show in the stratosphere. i'll buy the first round.

-steve

Friday, September 2, 2011

Northampton

we had terrible luck with traffic on wednesday heading to philly, and we had terrible luck with traffic headed up to noho. about 25 miles into connecticut, we put on "the boy with the arab strap", and the cars in front of us parted like the red sea. we followed it up with el jezel and happy hollows, two solid brooklyn bands. i was hoping to have a couple hours to roam around town before the show, but no such luck. but there was time to down a thai chicken burrito at bueno y sano, which is all that really matters.

sierra grille in northampton is awesome, everyone was super nice and we sold a couple of t-shirts to drunk people. we met the original bass player from sebadoh, he's an interesting guy. i think he fell in love with sacha (but who wouldn't?). a band from boston, "you can be a wesley", played after us and they were pretty good. i'll be catching them in williamsburg at cameo this thursday.

setlist:

i used to live here
holy bones
omg
collide
helen of troy
sleeping contest
red car
secret show
love is a losing game (amy winehouse)
sea + enemy
meditation
free love

we had brunch at the green bean in northampton and hit the road, got back here a little over an hour ago.

we're playing tonight at bruar falls in williamsburg, it's gonna be a great line up. justice of the unicorns, the true jacqueline, gold streets, and the planes. show starts at 8:30!

-steve

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Philly

we kicked off our mini-tour in philly last night to a very small, but enthusiastic, audience.

the problem with going to philadelphia is that you're likely to spend more time getting out of new york then you spend covering the 100 miles or so on the jersey turnpike. this proved to be the case for us, but we weathered the storm. we listened to shark? and clinical trials, two brooklyn bands you should really check out. late rolling into philly, jeff, gavin and myself set a world record for "fastest consumed cheesesteaks" (my first real cheesesteak, from pat's steaks, F'ING INCREDIBLE!!!!!), while sacha waited on the world's slowest prepared taco. despite the traffic and taco (which she said was "the best chicken taco i ever had, and worth the wait), and despite not knowing where we were, we made it to the show on time.

a philly band called "soundwaves" kicked off the night, followed by this dude, alec stewart, then us, then billy (i am not the universe, the dude who set up the show). the projected the phillies game on a white building across the street and cliff lee almost threw a no-no. jeff and i played miss pacman, but my joystick was broken.

setlist:

helen
holy bones
omg
sleeping contest
secret show
collide
love is a losing game (amy winehouse)
sea + enemy
free love
red car

i drove us home with a splitting headache and a stomach full of cheesesteak, gatorade and gas station coffee and kinda wanted to vom, but didn't. after flawlessly navigating philly, we got turned around in chinatown and ended up getting funneled onto the manhattan bridge like a bunch of lost tourists. i was back in williamsburg by 3am.

we're playing at the sierra grille in northampton, mass tonight. we'll catch you on the flip side.

later,
-steve