The Capitol Years tours behind Dance Away the Terror, released September 12, 2006 on Park The Van Records.
10.04 - STATE COLLEGE, PA - Roustabout
10.05 - CHICAGO, IL - Abbey Pub w/Bettie Serveert
10.06 - CHICAGO, IL - South Union Arts
10.07 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN - 7th St. Entry
10.08 - DES MOINES, IA - Vaudeville Mews
10.09 - IOWA CITY, IA - The Picador
10.09 - RADIO - KUNI - On-Air performance 7pm www.kuniradio.org
10.10 - OMAHA, NB - Oleavers
10.11 - DENVER, CO - Oriental Theater
10.12 - SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Broken Record
10.13 - PORTLAND, OR - The Artistery
10.14 - SEATTLE, WA - The Crocodile Cafe w/Bettie Serveert
10.16 - SF, CA - Cafe Du Nord w/Bettie Serveert
10.17 - SF, CA - Hotel Utah
Woooooohooooo! Oh, we have got some catching up to do, tour blog. And let me just say, I'm sorry it's taken so long to write. Really, baby, I'm sorry. It's just that, well, I've been, you know, busy. Busy playing sick rock shows. Busy driving to sick rock shows. Busy eating at Subway. Busy showering in weird places. Busy…well, you know, baby, just busy. Are you mad at me? Don't be mad at me. You know I still love you, right? Right? I mean, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you hooked up with a rocker. Shit, you know what? You asked for this! You wanted it all along, didn't you? Huh? Answer me! Aw, don't cry. Come on. Baby? Seriously though, you know what blog tears look like? Commas. Yep. Think about that shit! What were we talking about again? Tour blog. Great.
So uh, let's see. It's been a full two weeks now, and we've managed to drive completely across the country in a gleaming white National Doug van. I'm writing from San Francisco, which has always been a kind of second home to the band on account of one Chris Bear Hafner. He's a legend in his own right, but that's another blog. Really, it probably is. Icerocket that shit! Anyway, I'll try to bring you up to date while sparing you the boring details. Which should be easy, honestly, as touring is like 95% boring details. And 130% awesome! And like another 80% super fucking sick! What? And yes, I know that adds up to way more than 100%. But you know what? You don't need no math to rock!! Unless you're in a math rock band. Or, like, Rush or something. Which is fine, if that's your thing. Nerd! Um, ok, so from the beginning:
We left on Wednesday, October 4th and headed west across Pennsylvania to State College, where they have a state college. Driving west across Pennsylvania is a bummer. Just sayin. We played a show put together by the good folks at Roustabout! And for the record, that's their exclamation point. Good times. Breaking in the new Capitol Years/National Eye mega-band thing and all. Next stop, Chicago…
Two days in Chicago, to be more specific. And that's great, because Chicago is a fantastic city, and we've got friends and family there, and there's a totally vegetarian diner, and traffic, and it's all around nice. So, our first show was at the Abbey Pub, which is a place very dear in our hearts. It was in the basement of the Abbey Pub that we first met Israeli celebrity and pop song soulmate Shy Nobleman. He asked for a cigarette. We gave him one. It's been a harmonized transatlantic tale of two Shais ever since. Aw. Anyway, our show this time was with Bettie Serveert, which is awesome, because of Albert Chui. Albert Chui was a high school friend of mine that was like the Alan Lomax of girl-fronted alt-rock bands. Every day on the bus he would pull a few friends aside, all quiet, and be like, "Hey, you guys ever heard of Tsunami?" Or Velocity Girl, or Juliana Hatfield, or fucking Frente, even. Well, one of those mornings he introduced us to Bettie Serveert. So this show was like one of those full-circle moments for me. And to commemorate the occasion, I dedicated our set to Albert. Not like on stage into a microphone or anything. But still. In my head, and in my heart, on Thursday, October 5th, in Chicago, a very special version of "Long Time" went out to Albert Chui. Really. Ok, not really. But even more interesting (and let's face it, that's not saying much…), who do you think we saw hanging around upstairs at a corner table during Bettie Serveert's set? Jeff fucking Tweedy! Seriously. As huge Wilco fans, we just couldn't resist, so a couple of us walked up to say hello. After some small talk and exchanged niceties (a "love your band!" here and a "good set" there…), Jeff actually invited us to sit down and have a drink. So we did. And next thing you know, we're having like an hour-long Fightclub style debate about violence and being tough and the common misconception that band dudes are all frail damaged artist types that can't throw a punch. At one point, our drummer Kyle, who had had a few beers too many, let's say, actually called Jeff Tweedy out, betting him $500 that he would never hit anyone, even if like a crazy fan jumped on stage during a show or something. And Tweedy took the bet! Seriously! Not like he'd ever do it or anything. But shit, that was funny. It was a crazy night. Anyway, our second Chicago show was at the very cool South Union Arts space. And if you don't mind me breaking the narrative timeframe for a moment, I totally saw a poster there for Philadelphia expats Tim and Eric (of Tom Goes to the Mayor fame), who are gonna be at the same space in couple of days (10/21, to be exact). They're funny. If you're in Chicago, you should go. Just sayin.
So, next we headed to Minneapolis, which is another favorite stop, largely because of Ben Ivascu, who is the greatest living drummer in America. Seriously. Total Fucking Blood. And I'm not making that up at all. Anyway, we played at 7th street Entry, which was great. And we got to sleep in a little and enjoy a nice brunch, as the drive to Des Moines was relatively short. So yeah, a nice brunch. Who doesn't like a nice brunch?
And on that note, I'm gonna put this little project on hold for a moment and grab something to eat. Maybe French toast stuffed with farmer's cheese? A cranberry scone? Or maybe I'll just go straight to lunch and grab a Mission burrito. Anything goes on tour! More excitement to come…
10.19 - LONG BEACH, CA - The Prospector
10.20 - RADIO - Little Radio On-Air performance 12-2pm PST www.littleradio.com
10.20 - LA, CA - El Cid
10.21 - LA, CA - tba
10.22 - RADIO - Indie 103 FM - On-Air performance 8pm PST www.indie103.com
10.22 - Glendale, CA - The Scene
10.23 - LA, CA - Spaceland (free)
10.24 - LA, CA - Silver Lake Lounge
10.28 - TUCSON, AZ - Plush
10.31 - DALLAS, TX - Club Dada
11.01 - AUSTIN, TX - Mohawk Club
So yeah, where did I leave off? Um, that's right…I was going to get
something to eat. And apparently it took two weeks to work that out,
huh? Would you believe there was a reeeeaaaally long line? I didn't
think so. Good times. Well, I did, in fact, get a burrito, in case
you're keeping score. But you're not, I'm pretty sure. So, let's
see…tour blog.
To get started, Happy Halloween! Yep, today's that one day of the
year when the endless masquerade that is the modern day indie band is
legitimized by way of contrast to, like, regular work-a-day types
showing up all over the place dressed like Johnny Depp in that
Caribbean Pirate Movie. Argh! What? Really, though, anyone ever
take a look at whether or not the Freak Folk Industrial PR Machine is connected to
the marketing firm that handles the Pirates franchise? Related
subsidiaries, maybe? Cause really. Just sayin. Eh. Not really
sayin much, as it turns out. Old news, indeed.
Speaking of news...has anyone checked out Shai's Cap Years blog on myspace?
Consider yourselves lucky to end up here...this is what he writes:
"These shows have left us with a deep feeling of greatness which
overwhelms only those who have known the joy of microwave popcorn."
Really. That's it. So here's to Dave's blog...not that it's an easy task. The
thing about touring is that it is just completely filled with the
kinds of little details that you really can't make up. For example,
once, on an earlier tour, we played to 10 people in Ft. Worth, Texas,
on a bill with a metal band, and then slept on the floor of a
one-legged Bartender named Carl. He had Britney Spears posters and a
bong. It was all too much for me to handle, so I slept in the van
outside his apartment and took a piss in the middle of a parking lot
in the morning. Seriously. The point being, it's hard to convey to the general public,
let alone your loved ones at home, what this touring thing is all about. But I digress...
Los Angeles:
So we're in LA...haven’t been posting much updates on here and, you
know, we're all a bit lazy.
In fact, there are days when we just sit here at my sister's house and
stare at the yard or each other, or watch Doug or Jeff sleep...I guess
we just enjoy getting back to nature when we're not sitting in LA
traffic.
National Eye and the Capitol Years have been in LA since last Wed.
night, the 18th...today is the 24th and we play our last official show
(though we're still poking around for a house party or something.)
Long Beach was cool, surprising...if you didn’t know it you'd think you
were walking into an old misty steakhouse where old dudes and hags
watch the World Series over some pickled, fermented peppers and celery
sticks...we almost turned around and left, feeling a bit exhausted and
bewildered.
But we stuck it out and with good reason, this little steakhouse
transforms into a local hub for music lovers and lovers of love and
noise...by 10pm the kids were trickling in and we ended up having a
pleasant time...good club, good people booking there, and a good
night.
We joined our friend Chuck at the hugely huge Indie 103 for an
acoustic session which aired Sunday night...some of us are sick and
are handicapped by respiratory injuries but it went alright...even
played some omnichord on that shit.
Other shows...El Cid, love this place...a Flamenco dinner theater with
a beautiful outdoor courtyard...we had a nice crowd of friends and
strangers....Dimitri from the Burning Brides (who are playing in
Toronto at this moment).
It was a kick to sing 'yes it's a shame the Burning Brides skipped
town' with a Burning Brides standing right there...great.
Then we did a brunch show in which National Eye played...eggs and
guacamole burrito...very effusive waitress...cool club....weird show.
Then we played Knitting Factory with the Joggers and Oxford Collapse.
I must say the LA Knitting Factory folk are super nice and it's a
pretty excellent little complex they have there. We soundchecked and
played the first chords of Mirage People and sounded like magic.
Amazing what an amazing sound system will do sometimes.
The show was cool but super early. Was great to hang and meet the
Joggers and Collapse guys...Joggers did a Yes cover that was pretty
excellent and their drummer is one of the best we've seen in quite a
while.
Last night was Spaceland, a free Monday night show we've heard about
for a while...was cool...Alicia Silverstone was there early on to
check out Rick Flom...nice LA moment.
We followed a band called the Rocket who were awesome...all girl rock
troupe that were really great and not easy to follow...but we did, and did fine.
Some superfans in the house as well as old friends from the High Strung and
Enemy Love.
After 8 solid days we left Los Angeles and passed briskly through Tucson.
We stayed with our good friend Bradford Trojan who supplied me with a pair of
color therapy sunglasses. So far, so good. We had the first night off just to hang
and we decided to try to get into the Zepparella show at Plush, where we'd be playing
the following night. We got in no problem and Shai got to do the light show for these
lovely ladies...an all female Led Zeppelin cover band. Jimmy Page is beautiful, actually.
Our own show at Plush was the following night and went well.
The finale that consisted of some girls coming up on stage and joining Doug in a fake shower
with shower curtain on stage (think Daniel Laruso's costume from Karate Kid).
This is one of our favorite clubs and this show was par for the course, for some reason
Tucson is consistently good.
The next 2 days we visited our good friends who sometimes stay in Menard, TX. They live part
time at what is known as the 'magical ranch'. Hard to describe but just imagine 1400 acres (or more?)
with atvs, motorcycles, kayaks, a herd of goats, 2 horses, sheep, the San Saba River, and a
jacuzzi under the stars. Oh...and a telescope, through which Doug found Saturn at 6am.
Leaving the ranch we passed through Dallas, a decent Tues. night, and then Austin.
We played the Mohawk in Austin, a club that has changed hands regularly. I think the folks
running it now are onto something. It was a pretty great show with a very friendly crowd and
lots of support from the people who work there. The Lemurs headlined and were great. Great
guys, great band.
Soon, a report from glorious Shreveport, LA.
11.02 - SHREVEPORT, LA - Lil Joe's
11.03 - NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Republic
11.10 - PHILA, PA - Johnny Brenda's
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http://www.capitolyears.com
