Thunderous Applause

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Mountains

2009-11-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

After a long drive from the bay area we found ourselves in the deserted tourist town of Mammoth Lakes. A long haul from SF because the Tioga Pass just closed for the season therefore adding another two hours to our drive. It was well worth the extra drive time. Our show at The Auld Dubliner was exceptional for a Monday night in a town where the tourists have yet to arrive at their million dollar condos and chalets. I was told that the town is composed of around 7,000 year round residents and can swell to as much as 30,000 during the winter months. Whoa! If it wasn’t for Rantz’s friend Jeff, the bar would be like an indoor version of the presently off-season sleepy town. Dead from a musician’s perspective. Jeff went to great lengths to have us come to town, make sweet posters, and gather a plus fifty crowd. He is the real deal folks. His band from Mammoth, the Sweetwater String Band, played their first show in months on an off night just so we would have a crowd. They brought all the sound equipment and took us to a little chalet party before the show to feed us and let us meander with the locals. That’s top notch hospitality. I found out later that the gathering (remember this is a Monday night) happened because we were coming to town and once the fridge was beerless they all gathered their jackets and beanies and migrated the six block walk to the bar. This is unheard of and a one of coolest things that has happened to us on this tour. There are a lot of times when people say they will bring a crowd and more often than not they don’t. And its not like they aren’t good people for trying it’s just hard to get a group of people to commit. Jeff did all of that and more. He put us up for the night in a sweet pad about twelve miles south of Mammoth. Since we climbed up to Mammoth from South Lake Tahoe during nightfall I didn’t get to see the sweetness that surrounded me until the next morning when I woke and saw some of the most beautiful country that I’ve seen on this tour. Mountains shot straight up to the sky from the backyard and to the north and east I saw a huge grassy basin surrounded with even more spiny mountain ranges. The morning, or lets be honest it was more like afternoon, was perfectly clear. It felt like I could see for a hundred miles. Clear blue sky and snowy peaks that climbed over twelve thousand feet. As I sat on the deck and took it all in, I quickly forgot how broke I am and how exhausted I am from weeks on the road. My muscles relaxed with the warm coffee and my rattled head from the night before went easy. It’s one of the perks of being on the Road that pushes me to get back in the van and roll. What am I going to experience next? What beautiful scenery will grace my presence in the future? What clubs will open there arms to us in the future? No one knows but the potential is always there. All that is needed is a drive to make it happen and a lot of heart. A lot of heart.

Sac-Town

2009-11-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

We have a GPS system in the ol’ Weinlander that sometimes leads us astray to not-so-good parts of some cities. Her name is Gwendolyn and she speaks with a British accent. She is highly educated in cartography and vocabulary. But she lacks serious street smarts. Because we rolled into Sacramento and thought we were going to Luigi’s Fun Garden to play a show with Loch Lommand but instead we ended up at a dead end by the railroad tracks. There was not a soul in sight. I gave Gwendolyn a stern warning and she piped up to take a left then a right go straight for a while then u-turn. She is so temperamental. Geez. So…when we finally arrived to Luigi’s Fun Garden or in my mind Luigi’s Pizza Garden we were greeted by our good friends Loch Lommand. It was really exciting to see familiar faces after three weeks on the road. They are great people and fantastic musicians. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them live and they sounded absolutely amazing. I just love their instrumentation and jaw dropping harmonies. Sonically they fit the room perfectly and played to a very appreciative audience. The crowd was one of the best that we played to in a week or so. All age crowds are fun and very attentive because they are not all sloppy drunk and distracted by a two dollars and fifty cent shots of Evan Williams or stepping outside to chain smoke. They sat and stood to take in the music. A dream for a traveling musician. I had fun and hope to be back at Luigi’s soon.

Tucson to A Goose Egg in L.A.

2009-11-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

More dessert...

Prickly pear cacti and deep troughs of sagebrush nestled up against sand banks littered the refuge lanes on Highway 8. Traveling east from Tucson we passed awfully close to Mexico. I could literally see the George W. Bush border fence to the south as we passed through not one, not two, but three customs and border checks. The sand dunes and tall cacti mixed with the impromptu inspections made me feel like a foreigner in my home country. It also created a whole lot of tension in the van because we were running way behind schedule and knew the Hollywood Freeway in LA was going to be locked up with impatient, cell phone texting drivers during the tail end of rush hour. And it was.
Luckily, Rantz was behind the wheel and manhandled that freeway till the bitter end. Finally, when we arrived at the Origami Vinyl off Sunset Blvd for a short record store performance we unloaded all our gear only to find out that we had to travel up a small spiral staircase to an even smaller loft. I exnayed the whole keyboard setup (there was just no room) and just played the Casio high performance 20 key pipe organ beat box. It was fun but we were exhausted. Our bellies were void of any food and we were in LA where a slice of pie and a beer run you at least ten bucks. So after the “performance” to two people and an employee, all of whom were extremely nice, we packed up (now down the spiral staircase) and headed to Hotel Café in Hollywood for our 11:30 show. Thank God Baby Jesus there was a Whole Foods on the way. Fresh veggies and a sando got me through a rockin’ show at the Hotel Café. They had an upright piano on stage and it was awesome. The sound was awesome. The venue looks awesome. But the fat goose egg was not awesome. 0 dollars from the club and 0 dollars in merch sales. Did I mention that we were in L.A.? The only way that a band gets paid at the Hotel Café is if there are at least twenty five people who are there to see YOU. We had about twelve maybe a few more. No big deal though. I love playing the Hotel Cafe and the word on the street is that bands get paid much to nothing in L.A. So it’s fine by me if we didn’t make a dollar. I got to see palm trees, sunshine, my buddy Sanders and a serious drunken fight explode into the street outside of a night club near the venue. Also every woman in L.A. seems to wear the same exact dress except in different colors. I thought that was ironic for a city of fashion. But, hey, who am I to say? I wear the same thing every day and haven’t bought a new shirt in years.

Inside the Hotel Cafe

Only in L.A. do the "mamicans" have size D boobs

The Dessert

2009-11-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

Sunshine in November is not a common comfort for a Portland guy. I am usually wrapped up in a raincoat and hiding my head from the incessant “liquid sunshine” while wiping the rain droplets from my glasses. It’s a factor of life that we north westerners are complacent to because the summers are so good. That’s why I’m falling in the love with the dessert in November. It’s like summer in Portland. And when you pair up sunshine with rock n’ roll and some serious Mexican food, life is good.

Prescott

The Raven Café is like a little oasis in the high dessert of Prescott. Amazing beer on tap (like Portland in a way) and a slaw dog that rivals the best Hebrew National on the planet. Plus they have a sweet roof top bar and a generous bar tab for musicians. It doesn’t get much better when I get a meal and a few beers on the house. Our show went well on the smallish stage to a smallish crowd. Our set was enjoyable but ended quite abruptly after only half an hour. The sound guy cut us off mid sentence when we still had two songs left to play. I didn’t and still don’t quite understand why. The band that was about to play after us witnessed the whole event. They didn’t get it either. We were all confused. Come On! We travel half way around the country to play music and you cut us off early! We sacrifice a lot to play to every crowd. Let us play! It’s what we do. So in retaliation, we packed up the van and headed to a house party. We met some very nice college goers at the show and they asked if we would like to play at their house and of course we said yes. Little did we know that we were on our way to play in the smallest room ever and to a crowd that danced their asses off. They were dancing right between every other member of the band knocking down beers and borrowing my microphone. It was a good makeup to what happened at the Raven. The only downer was the fact that by the time we got done playing and loaded out it was nearing two in the morning and we had to wake up at eight the next morning to head to Tucson.

Tucson.

Tucson is really not that far from Prescott. About three or four hours. But we sacrificed our precious sleep to fill our bellies with the amazing Mexican food at The Little Poca Cosa before they closed at two. That’s how much we like Poca Cosa and you would too if you had their chiken mole tacos. Mouth watering goodness. They don’t have a phone, they bump Neil Young at an ear piercing level, they only take cash and there is a mandatory hug from the cook/waitress after every meal. I am not ashamed to say that we ate lunch there and went back the next morning for breakfast. Nothing trumps Café Poca Cosa.
After the satisfaction of barbacoa and mole we all rolled down the street to KXCI for a little radio promo for the show at Plush. We all squeezed into a small recording room, set up as minimal as possible and played a couple songs for the people of Tucson. They were listening too, because a handful of people we met at the show heard us on the radio. The best part was the next morning at Poca Cosa when we ran into someone who heard us talk about how much we loved Poca Cosa on the air and that we were going to eat there the next morning. He managed to be there at the same time we were and bought a c.d.! Sandra, the cook, told us that there were multiple people who stopped by that morning and said that they heard some gringos talking on the radio about how much they love Poca Cosa so they had to try it themselves. Poca Cosa and Weinland = BFF.

She parks her bike inside the front patio at the restaurant

Awesome

The show at Plush was our best performance of our fall tour so far. We rocked out to the max for two hours in the lobby to a bellied up bar crowd. The band was tight and dynamic. Adam’s vocals on God Here I Come were something special and a definite highlight to a great performance. Weinland…you can pat your self on the back. We even met some guys that drove down from Phoenix to see us play.

We’re huge!

TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS!!!

2009-11-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Weinland world has been pretty quite for the past week with a mix of driving and recording. We hung out with our friends in Fort Collins during a dry spell in the tour and recorded some top forty hits soon to be released in the spring. We thawed out after the snow storm during our drive down to Texas. It took a while to thaw…about 15 hours to be exact. The drive was an all day affair mixed with subway sandwiches, radio surfing for the world series game, and bare Texas landscape. Oil Country is like a dessert dotted with nauseating cow farms and ghost towns. You do not want to stay very long and the impression I got from every gas station attendant is that they don’t want you to stay long either. At least they got the reciprocal relationship thing down. When we finally time warped to Fort Worth for the night we were smelly, slimy, tired, hungry and thirsty. Thank God Jayson and Sarah were prepared with a cold beverage and some snacks. We met them last time we were down in Fort Worth and they are great people. Genuinely generous and thoughtful. They’re like angels on the road. Much like our friends in Fort Collins and Denton They make the Road justifiable. I love them all.

Austin - Hole In The Wall

The Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Neil Young, Elvis Costello, The Band, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys. The hits were being spun by two vivaciously drunk, ass grabbing lesbians. They were putting on a show for all to see. They danced in front of the juke box with a fearless display of affection. It was pretty funny to see some dudes get up and try out their moves. Rejection at its finest. It set the tone for the evening at the Hole In The Wall. A college bar full of drinkers, two stages and an outside patio bigger than the inside bar. It's the Austin way. Outdoor venues, coffee shops, taco carts. Everything is outside. It’s awesome. Quite different from our rainy northwest town.
The show at the Hole In The Wall was our first show in a week. A little offsetting and strange but it did not get in the way of us shaking the ground at the Hole In The Wall. We rocked pretty loud and loose to a smallish and appreciative crowd that held their beers up to the sky after every song. After our set we got kicked out of the bar because it was closing time. They rock out late night in Austin and little was I to know that they rock out late in Fort Worth too.

Muchos Backflips at the Hole In The Wall

Fort Worth, TX The Moon

The Moon is a great venue in the TCU area of Fort Worth. Small and sweet with the best bar employees ever. Last time we played at The Moon every employee bought some article of merchandise from us. Even the door guy bought a c.d. The same people were working there on Friday night which was awesome and they even remembered who we were. We’re doing something right!!! The night started off with Pictures Of Then, a seriously serious rock band from Minneapolis. They played a polished and energetic set of songs that featured a great bass player and lead guitarist. I also learned a few business tricks from them during a post-show chat. Great people and great musicians. The second band that graced the stage was a two piece, guitar and drums, from Oklahoma called Hosty Duo. And Holy Shit! could the lead singer shred on his hybrid strat-tele. He was pulling out no-look licks and flawlessly playing a bass pedal board at the same time. The best guitar player that I have ever seen live. And he brought the banter. Hosty Duo are the total package.

We're so excited Weinland Dance Party!!!

We're so excited Weinland Vinyl!!!

Vandalized Weinland poster

Jayson wearing the vandalized Weinland poster

Coolest bartenders ever!

We finally graced the stage around midnight and rocked to friends and bartenders. And once again, we closed down the bar. Not because we exactly wanted to but after schmoozing and packing up it was closing time. Texas knows how to throw down, put beers back and party until the sunrises. We have been kicked out of every bar for staying past last call. I’m not exactly a late night guy, so staying up late night is pretty exotic. Waking up at one in the afternoon creates a mini twilight zone in my head. A fuzzy realization that I’m wasting away daylight. I’m all nocturnal now. It’s been two weeks and I’m finally falling into the rock n’ roll schedule. I’m getting use to two meals a day (I can’t believe that I just wrote that), the cheap beer IS water, and sleeping on hardwood floors. What a glamorous rock n' roll lifestyle!

Push up competition at three in the morning.

Dallas, TX

Last night at The Cavern in Dallas was something to remember and behold. The venue is seated right in the mix of a couple dozen bars and dance clubs. The street was en fuego with short skirts, drunk military men, a bus load of more drunkards dressed up like Santa Claus (it’s too warm for Christmas in Texas…I didn‘t get it) and enough cops to break up a three hundred person riot. They closed off a side street across from the venue so they could park the paddy wagon close to the action and when that paddy wagon got full there was always another one ready to take its place. The strip didn’t get uncontrollably crazy until we had to load out to the curb around two thirty in the morning. A bunch of drunk guys that weigh A LOT more than I do decided to start playing the drums and un-casing the bells. I can see why they have a lot of cops on Greenville Ave. Oh…Dallas…you uphold your image. Party hard and never give up. Puke into the gutter then head back to the bar for another shot. ‘Cause, you got this Dallas, I know it’s in you!

The Fox and The Bird playing IN the crowd at the Cavern

Stella Artois Presents

2009-10-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

The show at the Lion's Lair last night could go down as one of the best Weinland shows of all time. We were all on the same page some how. We didn't speak about it before hand and didn't need to. It didn't matter how many people were there or how good the sound was. It didn't matter that I was exhausted or that I lacked a seriously good costume. We were loose and sonically tight at the same time. We started songs with sweet jam sessions and expanded the energy on Autumn's Blood so much that I thought the stage was going to explode. I woke up this morning and asked myself what happened last night? Was it the fantastic pairing of rock and facial hair on Rantzy's head (see below)? Was it the free beer (probably didn't hurt)? Was it the raucous local crowd of zombies and lions(also, see below)? It doesn't make much sense logically because this show was booked three days ago from the road in a desperate attempt to make up for our canceled show in Denver on Thursday. There was no press and no money on a night where everyone is dressed up like their favorite fantasy character and wanting to go to a costume competition dance off with deejays and spiked punch. The cards were definitely staked against us. But these last minute additions is exactly why playing music and traveling on the road is so addictive. Granted it IS hard, tiring, and I am so poor that I might as well shack up in the nearest shantytown. But you never know what you are going to get or what's going to happen. It's the unexpected expectations. The moxie. The unspeakably good performances. Everything and anything. It's what keeps you going when you wake up in the morning with a splitting headache after four hours of sleep and you're sleeping next to another dude on a bed that's really made for one and he is trying to spoon with you because he's dreaming about Cindy Crawford. Oh the sacrifices...

The rest is all pics. Take it all in. Last night was a good one.

Hippie Rock Shearer

Sheriff Brown

Raugust all fog machined out

Purple Haze, right across a very busy street from the club. I also was approached by the most methed out human being I have ever seen. This is coming from a guy who lived in Tacoma for 4 years. Just sayin'. Definite downtown activity.

Ol' Man Cowboy Lyles

Bellied Up!

Alright. I got a good story about these locals. First off, I want to say that everyone I met at the Lion's Lair was hilariously drunk and jolly. Except for Donald Duck on the right. And I can't blame him. Because zombie lady in the middle was wasted and trying to bite the jugular of every male in the club. She came at me with vengeance and forced me against the bar only to make out with my neck for a split second. I was really uncomfortable because I could tell that Donald was with Zombie Lady and he wasn't happy. After going for my jugular she went for the dude's neck on the left . She forced herself on him and instead of backing off, he embraced it and acted the part. He then preceded to put his arm around her and take full advantage of the "drunktayciousness" going on. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Donald taking off his duck mitts and starting to make a fist. Donald was furious. I tried to strike up a conversation with him but it wasn't going to happen. Luckily, he kept his cool long enough to drag that Zombie lady out of the bar. I thought I was going to see my first bar fight of the tour. Oh well...better luck next time.

Too good to be true?

This street fighter stole my Thunderbolt

Straight quote from Lion Cub; "I'm not allowed within three hundred yards of a school!!!" He screamed in the bar. Don't know where it came from but it was pretty funny. He got bit by the Zombie Lady too but in the "teet" and then preceded to run around the bar telling everyone in high drama fashion that he no longer has a right "teet".

Goodbye ya'll. Drive safe now, you hear?

Canceled Show In Denver

2009-10-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

There is not much that a person can do about a freak snowstorm. They just happen and they happen more often than not in the Rockies. Unfortunately, it had to happen right when we have the sweetest show of all time scheduled at the High Dive in Denver. It was canceled because Langhorn Slim, the headliner for the evening, couldn't make it to Denver from the east. All roads were closed east, north, and south leading in and out of the Denver area. We managed to squeeze in from the west along I 70. One of the few highways that was open.

Here is Rory, 10 and 2, along I-70

After we heard the news, we scrambled to find another show in Denver. We called our booking agent, friends, family, and most of the bars in the area. No luck. Four or five band bills were already scheduled at many of the venues and the others were canceling their shows. Oh well, we had a beer to drown our sorrows and headed to Fort Collins to stay with our friend Doe Eyes.

Fort Collins, CO and our friend Jack rolling around in the snow

To end on a positive note, Denver don't worry. We will see you on Halloween. All that work calling around Denver got us a show. More details coming soon.

Recording in Bluffdale and Midget Wrestling at the Mesa

2009-10-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

After our fantastic experience in Salt Lake we headed thirty minutes south to Bluffdale to visit our friends Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. They were kind enough to let us record and lounge for two days in their basement. We also worked on our short game in the back yard on their 85 yard chip n' putt.

Ian laying down sweet beats in the play room.

After recording and hanging out with our friends Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, we headed to Grand Junction, Colorado for a show at the Mesa. The trek south passed through some desolate high dessert areas with beautiful snow covered plateaus along the horizon. We also passed by dinsaur bone quarries and practiced our shot with the BB gun. Generally, a normal day in the van.

We left pretty early in the morning because of the possible inclement weather along the way but lucked out with only a few snow showers. That left us with a lot of time to spare before load in at the Mesa so Rory and I roamed the town and stumbled in to The Snowflake to play some pool and take advantage of dollar PBRs. Little did we know that the bar is notorious for fights and shootings as well as serious meth activity. It makes sense that they put this sign up at the entrance to the bar.

Rory showing some good form. Too bad I took him to school winning three out of four games. I have to brag a little because I never beat Rory. Must of been the dollar beers!

As you can see below, the Mesa also features other forms of entertainment. This picture could go down as the best snap shot ever!

After set up and sound check in the lounge (we didn't play the 800 person theater because no one knows who we are in Grand Junction...at least not yet) we hung around for a bit to see if anyone would come to the show. Unfortunately, the only people there were the cheery bartenders and some drug dealers. No joke. I got asked to buy four different types of "chronic" during set break. Despite the low turnout, we had a lot of fun rocking out and joking with the owner about how the Phillies beat the Yankees. He's a huge Yankees fan.

Fun Fact of the Day:

Wilco played the Mesa a couple years ago and the rumor around town was that the audience threw beers at Jeff Tweedy because he was wearing a cowboy suit. This is definitely a rough n' tumble town.

Oh yeah, Ratt played the Mesa too. Awesome.

The lounge in the Mesa

From Boise to Salt Lake and then some....

2009-10-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

On the morning of the 23rd in Boise, my breakfast/lunch plate was graced with a beautiful BLT sandwich. Fresh greens with thick sliced tomatoes and crispy bacon on two slices of lightly toasted wheat bread. Bacon baCoN BACON!!! Bacon is one of the best foods a man can eat on the road. I am totally convinced. Its greasy goodness coats the stomach and it is scientifically proven to help a hangover. No joke! Heard it on NPR.

Some Idaho landscape

Okay. Enough about bacon. I could go on for days about bacon. What I really want to write about is how much I love Salt Lake City, Utah. That’s right. I love Salt Lake City. The first time our old tour van, the notorious 1974 Ford Econoline Conversion van (bless its soul!), rolled into SLC I had reservations. I mean, it gets a bad rap sometimes because of the whole Morman thing. But Salt Lake City and especially inner SLC is a warm and welcoming place to us liberal folk from the West Coast. When I’m on the Road for a month there is nothing better than playing rock n roll in a town that is full of generous and appreciative music fans. It also doesn’t hurt that’s it’s a beautiful place with bountiful bike lanes. But, how the hell can anyone get around in this town? Salt Lake! Tell me please! 400 S, which travels east west, intersects with 400 E, which travels north south. And I know that it has to do with the whole Temple thing and all but…what the? Really? If it wasn’t for our GPS unit named Gwendolyn, all of Weinland would have a drunkards sense of direction 24 hrs a day.

But don’t worry SLC, I still love you. Just get your damn street signs fixed.

Now on to Day 1. House Show.

I’m sort of new to the whole house show experience and I’m starting to really enjoy it. Friday night’s show was played under a small carport in the backyard of a house on a clear and cold night near South Salt Lake. I know the photo on the left doesn't show it, but there REALLY were 30 or so people shakin' it to stay warm. I could see my breath with every word I sang. Glad I had a bottle of Evans Williams (on sale for nine bucks! Liquor? In SLC? Huh?) at my side to warm me up through out our two hour set. Don’t worry, Mom, I shared the bottle with the band. We won over the crowd by the end with an audience participation dance off under a roof that couldn’t contain the shredding heartbeat breakin’ rock that eventually got the cops called. That’s right. The cops were called on Weinland. They got five phone calls down at the station. I can check that one off the list.

A sweet merch tower

Day 2

In just these few posts (I'm new to the blogging world) I can tell there is a theme emerging other than rock n roll. And because I have a metabolism that is through the roof, food is very central in my life. Two breakfasts are usually followed by lunch, tea, dinner, supper and maybe a midnight snack. However, when I’m on the Road it’s a little harder to satisfy the constant hunger in my belly. No one else in the band eats like I do, so I got to go with the flow when we only eat two meals a day. Thank God for the food box under the bench seat. Other wise I may shrivel up and become a human raisin.
Yesterday, after our sound check at the State Room, my hunger was fierce. I needed to fill a growing void and there is no better place to satisfy a hunger than the Red Iguana. The authentic Mexican menu features seven different mole options, with a few signature dishes like chile verde, burriots ahogados and chile colorado. I chose the former and was pleasantly surprised to taste a rich, smoky and slightly spicy simmered beef with homemade refried beans and warm flour tortillas. This was a dream come true. Best food experience ever in Salt Lake City and could be encroaching on the Top 5 Thunder Saving Meals of all time! Unfortunately, I ate so much that when I stepped on stage I felt like the kid who turned into a blueberry from Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory. It wasn’t my best show, to be honest. But sometimes life saving measures are needed even if they have sedative like side effects. Luckily, Adam was in prime form flattering the crowd and laying the ground work for Greensky Bluegrass. Greensky Bluegrass played some off the best bluegrass that I have ever heard. It makes sense that they won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition in 2006. Fantastic musicians. They also have the art of road travel down with their stereo/cooler combination. Brilliant. A cold beer and tunes during load out! I like these guys.

Greensky Bluegrass on stage at The State Room

Moscow to Boise

2009-10-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

The drive from Moscow to Boise is not exactly easy. It’s a long windy pavement python. Up and down hills that skirt the Hells Canyon area. The deluge of constant rain didn’t help either. We were fighting foggy windshields when we passed by the small town of White Bird that is nestled in a valley along the Snake River. It is supposedly famous for its pickles. World class pickles I was told. I didn’t prod the band to pull over and stop to test out the folklore because the last time we drove through White Bird we received some very serious “what the hell are you doing here?“ looks from the locals. Lets just say that the folklore stands and White Bird has the best pickles in the whole entire universe. Better than the pickles on Jupiter. But are the pickles kosher? Are they sweet? Dill? What about relish? That’s in the pickle family right? Next time, I’ll work up a little moxy and try those damn pickles! Sometimes you have to ease that curiosity.

The Neurolux (super amateur photo, sorry!)

Finally, after seven hours of constant rain and a churning stomach from the pavement python, we arrived in Boise at the Neurolux. We unloaded gear into the smokey club to find the Grand Archives (the band that we opened for) on stage for a sound check. I love the Grand Archives. Not only are they super nice guys but their music is a fantastic form of catchy indie rock-pop. Their call and response harmonies are tasteful and I dug the song arrangements. It was unfortunate that they got kicked off the stage for a DJ. I wanted to hear more. They’re a little infectious. I talked to them after the show and they said that they “opened” for DJ’s often in Europe. Weird!? The last time we were at the Neurolux playing with Norfolk and Western, we “opened” for a DJ too. I don’t have anything against DJs. Most of the time they set the tone for a great dance party. I understand it from a club’s perspective. DJ = Dancing = Booze = Fun for all. Its cheap entertainment for the weekend warriors. But there is so much potential in the Neurolux to be a fantastic venue for rock n roll. The sound is really good both on stage and off stage. I would love to see that place packed full of headnodders getting down with some live music. Weinland needs to become famous. Come on Boise…make it happen!!!

The Grand Archives on stage at the Neurolux. Once again, amateur photographer.

Portland to Moscow

2009-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was a good night. And when good nights happen in rock n roll, it makes all the hard times disappear. At least for those forty minutes of stage time. But the whole night at the Doug Fir was a lot of fun. From the home town crowd to the always engaging Thao With The Get Down Stay Down. It was great to hear some new material from Thao and to be amazed with Doug Jenkins, I mean THE Doug Jenkins. Shit, I thought that guy just played a mean cello, but he was hitting the keys, shredding on the guitar and tooting some pop horn lines. Awesome! The crowd vibe was great and there was even that token drunk guy right up in front dancing to the crowd and shouting obscenities. Cant ask for too much more.

Moscow is fun and I always look forward to playing music there. I think that Weinland is creeping up on double digits for the amount of times they played Moscow. Lets just say that I know where the co-op is, where to get the cheapest beer and the best cup of coffee. I might as well become a citizen. Too bad I love Portland too much. This time around Weinland played a coffee/beer/college hangout place called Buccer’s. We set up real close to each other in the front window and serenaded each and every college lady for two hours. The attendance was high for a small room and I think that we saw the most amount of people at a Weinland show in Moscow ever! We build in baby steps. Soon there will be thousands lining up around the block and they will have a parade down Main Street with a huge blown up buffalo riding high above. Yes! Moscow, make it happen! Once load up finished (its real life Tetris by the way) we headed two blocks away to John’s Alley. Every time we travel to Moscow we always make an appearance at the JA. Dollar fifty PBR and ruckus native folk life. I had my first red beer (PBR and tomato juice) at the JA and saw the Weary Boys play great country bluegrass there a few years past.

This is Cryin' Ryan with a HUGE beer.
He was kind enough to put us up for the night.
Thanks Ryan!!!