JV tour: Update from Tucson, AZ
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01:13:28 pm on May 8, 2007 | # |
(JV and DD, Ft. Stockton, TX, 7 May 2007)A few days ago, a nice fellow who was helping us load the van asked, “Have you ever been on tour before? It’s a lot of fun, huh?”
I can be lots of fun. It’s definitely a lot of work, hence the lack of updates on this here blogernet.
Anyhoo! Here I sit in a lovely room in the lovely Congress Hotel in lovely Tucson, AZ, where we arrived late last night after a 13-hour drive from Austin. Woooooooooooo! After checking in and side-stepping the drunken ruffians (more Wooooooo!) still raving it up downstairs, I performed the new touring ritual: get to the room, plug in the laptop, iPod, and mobile phone, then crash. (Topic of conversation in the van: did people actually tour before laptops, WiFi and mobile phones? Were the 80’s and early 90’s just a dream?)
The shows so far: pretty great, very fun. As one young Daniel Folmer said of her Denton show (which is true of every show I’ve seen), Ms. St. Vincent has had the crowd eating out of her hand every night. Me? I’m 30 and I can’t hear music anymore, but she sure as hell impresses me. JV and DD too, they have the goods, they bring the goods, and they make the kids happy using said goods. Quite a great bunch of people to be traveling with.
Brief re-cap of the shows thusfar:
- Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree: ladies and gentlemen, this is how you setup and run a rock club! Obviously put together by people who have slogged it out in vans at least once, the Bottletree sounds great, is staffed by friendly and lovely people, has excellent food, and has a large, comfy, and clean band chill-out area. I love you I love you I love you, oh Bottletree.
- St. Louis, MO @ Billiken Club (St. Louis University): located a mile up the road from my old house on S. Grand Blvd. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you setup and run a college gig! The staff were totally pro and on-the-ball, the sound was very good, and there was no food-court vibe at all. Very nice. Chris from Undertow/Magnolia Summer, btfl man. Thank you!
- Springfield, MO @ Randy Bacon Gallery: excellent, excellent venue. Great staff, excellent sound, wonderful venue all-around. Randy Bacon and his crew are doing a wonderful thing: hosting an alternative to dirty, scuzzy rock clubs, and treating their local audience to some music that would otherwise pass through Springfield. Thanks, people! (Afterward, DD and I hung with some nice people at a scuzzy rock club just to create some equillibrium.)
- Denton, TX @ Dan’s Silverleaf: I was married here, so of course I had a great time.
- Austin, TX @ Emo’s: Bryan Schmitz (former Dentonite and Baboon/Baptist General) was our house sound guy tonight. He took several volts for the team while trying to diagnose the source of some wicked shocks Annie was receiving. I love this guy.
Tonight is Phoenix (preceded by a 1 PM taco call), then San Diego, then L.A., then home. Wooooo!
More photos below!
DD @ the Bottletree, Birmingham, AL. 1 May 2007.
the Bottletree, Birmingham, AL. 1 May 2007.
the glamorous rock and roll life, Somewhere in Tennessee, 2 May 2007.
St. Louis, 2 May 2007.
the Congress Hotel @ 1:30 AM, after a 13-hour drive from Austin, TX, 8 May 2007.
