Photo by TW Walsh

October 17, 2009 : Kungfu Necktie : Philadelphia, PA

I was skeptical when we arrived at Kungfu Necktie – skeptical of a lot of things. Skeptical that it could hold 150 people like we were told (it couldn’t), skeptical that loading in through a door that an average-sized adult male had to turn slightly sideways to fit through would be much fun (It wasn’t), and skeptical that the bar, who told us doors were at 8, would actually be adhering to that, since there were some patrons already bellied-up to the bar when we arrived (they didn’t).

Remember that load-in door that an average-sized adult male had to turn slightly sideways to fit through? Well, we’re average-sized adult males, for the most part, but we have keyboards, drums, guitars, merch bins, audio racks, and the like to lug in, so load-in wasn’t much fun. I hurt my back picking things up, which made me feel weird and old, and we had to store our stuff in the basement, down two flights of stairs, because the stage was so tiny.

Now, I should interrupt long enough to say that the bar was cool, the staff was cool, and the show went fine. But the mechanics? The dirty, behind-the-scenes operations that The Bottletree makes so smooth for bands? Those were horrible.

After load-in we got what was undoubtedly the best sandwich I’ve ever put in my mouth from a place down the street called Paisano’s. I’m still thinking about it and feeling happy. I also got to hang out with my friend Chris from the fantastic philly band Pattern is Movement, which was a nice Philly surprise.

After the show, load-out proved to be even worse than load-in. Same narrow door, but add a dance party, complete with DJ, that started AS SOON as Bazan finished playing. No one had mentioned that this would be going down to any of us, so I was pretty stoked to be carrying 100 pounds of merch up stairs, around a pinball machine, and through 20 drunk people dancing to bad remixes.

October 18, 2009 : New York, NY : Bowery Ballroom

We arrived at the Bowery about an hour early for load-in, so we did what anyone would do – we went to find pizza. We didn’t have to look far as Lombardi’s was a scant two blocks away. While there I had the best white pizza I’ve ever eaten (this might as well be a food blog) and a lively 25-minute debate took place about the appropriate piano-tone for “Hard to Be”

BAZAN played their best set of the tour to an almost sold-out Bowery Ballroom, and it felt really good. The nice thing about the Bowery is that it’s a Ballroom, not a rock club. The bar is hidden downstairs, there’s a proper balcony, great sightlines, the best sounding P.A. of the tour, and arguably the best sounding room of the tour. It was great, and somehow I’m not sick of seeing this thing after 19 nights in a row.

Today was a day off in NYC, until a 6 pm van call in Brooklyn. Everyone recalled their day off fondly, as if it were a distant memory when we met back up at the van, alot like when you went back to school after summer break in grade school. Tour is a real time warp like that. After that we walked a few blocks to get some (apparently) world famous, really-expensive, and totally-worth-it Red Velvet cake from a place called “Cake Man Raven” (google the dude) which I won’t even try to explain. It blew my mind.

Next, we hit the road to Boston, but didn’t get all that far before being pulled over on a Connecticut parkway for illegally towing a trailer on the parkway (who knew?). Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication between Bazan’s insurance folks, so although the van was insured, it wasn’t yet listed on his card, and the officer wasn’t too thrilled when he thought we were illegally towing a trailer on an uninsured 15-passenger death trap down his parkway. He was nice enough to let us exit at the next exit (after writing two tickets) to an Econo Lodge where Bazan got a card faxed over and we were back on our way in no time.

We stopped for bad fast food and played fun van games with TW Walsh, who came down for the New York show and rode back to Boston with us tonight where his fantastic band, The Soft Drugs, will play 1st of 3 tomorrow at TT The Bear’s. I’m pretty stoked to see that.

October 15, 2009 :   Local 506 : Chapel Hill, NC

My favorite moment of the night was dinner from Carburrito and getting to hang with my friends Perry, Morgan, and Matt briefly.

We stayed at Bazan’s friends Jeff & Tricia’s house, and what a house it was! If you’ve ever perused a copy of Dwell Magazine it looked like an awesome, more indie-rock version of whatever the coolest thing you saw was. This morning we had delicious biscuits from Neil’s Deli and delicious coffee from Open Eye Cafe. Chapel Hill/Carrborro knows how to eat.

October 16, 2009 :   Black Cat : Washington, DC

Tonight was the best show of the tour. The band totally killed it – at one point someone at the merch table in the middle of “Cold Beer and Cigarettes” threw down their shirt and said “I’ll be right back,” before running back towards the stage in response to one of Casey’s drum fills. There were about 450 people there, and the Black Cat is an awesome venue with the most helpful staff of all time and an awesome cargo elevator.

I wanted to put Barack Obama +1 on the guest list just in case, but Matt wouldn’t let me. Here are some pictures from the last few days on tour. If you click them they get bigger.

David Bazan’s Crisis Of Faith

October 15, 2009 from WXPN – David Bazan has always worn his faith on his sleeve. Under the Pedro the Lion moniker, he challenged both Christian and non-Christian communities with honest narratives that revealed previously unspoken truths. But just as he wore his faith, on the new solo album Curse Your Branches, he wears his newfound agnosticism.

Curse Your Branches has already been compared to the work of Leonard Cohen. Amid melancholic arrangements, the disc finds Bazan detailing his struggle with faith in the Evangelical world. It’s an album of great music and great humanity. In this installment of World Cafe, Bazan gives a moving performance of songs from the new album.

Live performance includes When We Fell, Curse Your Branches, Bless This Mess and In Stitches.

LISTEN NOW

Photos by Matthew Barnhart

October 13, 2009 :   The Social : Orlando, FL

Orlando was a great show. The Social’s a really nice bar in what was once a factory, or warehouse or something. Lots of exposed brick, vaulted ceilings, big pieces of wood everywhere, a boarded up fireplace – the works. There were about 300 people there, and all of them were pretty excited to be where they were. Dave got coaxed into doing another encore, and Blake was a hit with the fans (a couple of glasses of wine increase Big City’s rock-and-roll moves tenfold).

After a sweaty load-out (92 and muggy in the middle of October – gotta love Florida) we found some surprisingly killer, and unsurprisingly pricey ($5 a slice) right around the corner and totally killed it, then it was off to the shadiest hotel of the trip so far, and I should say they’ve mostly been great, the Orlando Quality Inn (so bad that I couldn’t even access the internet to write on this tour blog). Funny how the more they assure you the hotel is nice in the name, the worse it typically is.

October 14, 2009 :   Drunken Unicorn : Atlanta, GA

I loaded the first season of the fantastic HBO series, “Eastbound & Down” onto Matt’s computer and let Blake watch it on mine today. Matt finished the entire first season (albeit abbreviated pilot season), and Blake finished the next-to-last episode right before we pulled up to the venue. He’s pretty bummed about not knowing if Kenny and April ever hook up or not.

What a show! The Drunken Unicorn is definitely the most rock-clubby place we’ve played on this tour. The green room doesn’t have anywhere to sit, put things, or do anything really except stand around, the rider was about ten percent fulfilled, there was a water leak, and the venue went to get merch tables from a pita restaurant across the parking lot – it was also one of the best shows of the tour.

Dave got coaxed into playing another encore (I Promise he wasn’t and isn’t planning on encores) and this one was a three-songer: Priests & Paramedics, Man In Me (it’s first appearance), and Harmless Sparks backed by the whole band on vocals, another first, and it sounded great.

After the show the bar hosted a dance party of sorts, and I got to watch six older black dudes have a dance off. I’m kind of going to miss being in the south.

October 10, 2009 :   Murray State University : Murray, KY

College shows are weird. It’s the nature of the experiment, and they usually yield varying degrees of uncomfortable situations, terrible PA’s, and possibly uninterested crowds. Last night’s show at Murray State University was some awkward combination of the three in that order. The show was to be held at Lovett Auditorium, a large and beautiful 650 capacity theater. However, our show was held on the stage. Let me rephrase that, our show, and it’s audience, were both housed on the stage of the auditorium.   A small foot-high plywood “stage” was at the back of the actual stage with some tables (complete with table numbers and candlelight – what is this, a winter formal?) and chairs, couches, and recliners strewn about for people to sit. It was the weirdest rock show I’d even witnessed. Barnhart claimed it was “nothing,” and grumpily recalled worse college gigs he’d experienced right before he took his dentures out, polished his cane, and shoo’d some kids out of his yard.

About half of the crowd raised their hands when Bazan asked who lived in Murray, the rest had come from nearby Nashville, where I had just driven Dave from after his fantastic in-store at Grimeys. No one asked questions during the first two Q & A’s, and a conservative gentleman asked Dave what he thought of “Pope Obama’s new award.” Thanks for a great time, Murray.

October 11, 2009 :   Bottletree : Birmingham, AL

The Bottletree is the best club in the United States, and it’s located in Birmingham, Alabama, a somewhat unexpected place of residence for such a superb place to see music. The backstage is decorated like a combination of a junk store and my southern aunt and uncle’s house: wood paneling, old southern gospel records, pop art paintings of del monte canned fruit, plastic snowmen, and the like. The green rooms are two vintage campers equipped with a large flat-screen, an atari, a collection of about 20 books and 20 dvd’s (unique to each trailer), air conditioning, a basket of free socks for bands (!) and shag carpet pillows. The owners of this club obviously put in some time in touring bands. The room sounds great, is equipped with an actual, new, well-functioning PA, and the food is delicious (tofu peanut butter pie changed my world.)

Tonight’s show was spectacular. We’ve officially “found our groove,” Casey is on his fourth show and “totally feelin’ it,” and the daily routine has become pleasingly robotic (that’s a good thing, I promise.) An awesome, old, black dude came up to the merch table and talked to me for a few minutes about Bazan – he said, “I dig that sound man, it’s kinda like Fleetwood Mac but a little bit more heavy metal,” whoa. This gentlemen claims to have been a touring guitarist for the Temptations at one point in his lifetime, something which I can neither confirm nor deny, but I sure hope he was, because he was awesome. Bazan played another solo, electric encore tonight. Don’t feel betrayed, Denton, Texas. When Bazan said you may be the only encore of the tour, he wasn’t just whistling dixie. Birmingham had to earn their encore for what felt like an eternity before the dude emerged to play ‘Priests and Paramedics’ and ‘Harmless Sparks.’

BAZAN has added “I Never Wanted You,” a fantastic song from the Headphones record into regular rotation in the set, and they’re also working on a cover that should be pretty great to hear live and with a band. Tomorrow is a drive day; 7.5 hours, without stops, to Gainsville, Florida. It should be….fun.

October 9, 2009 :   Hi-Tone : Memphis, TN

A long eight hour drive felt a lot longer due to the fact that we were followed by a storm the entire day – from our 10 AM van call until our 7:30 load-in it was dark and rainy, and then it just got a tad darker and colder, signifying that it was now nighttime. We stopped at a gas station in Arkansas where there was a folding table for the cops to sit at and gossip while they enjoyed their pecan pie. I hate Arkansas, and like every time, I can only hope this will be my last visit (no offense, Arkansans.)

Why do you have to talk so much Memphis? Why would you pay twelve dollars to stand in a music venue and talk during both bands? It’s an age old dilemma, and it’s one I’ll never fully grasp, but about half of the (around) 200 Memphistites, or…Memphins, or….Memphis-dwelling-people sure seemed to be into it. Also, there was a drunk couple who was trying to haggle with me on merch. I’ll break it down for you like this: no, you can’t haggle on merch prices. ten bucks for a CD and fifteen for a t-shirt is more than reasonable. Do you go to the American Apparel store and tell them $17 is too much for a t-shirt because you spent 5 of your last 20 on lunch (or a mojito, dude in Denton who got in the meet and greet line to ask Dave if you could have an LP for $10 after I denied the request).

I should say it wasn’t all bad apples, there were plenty of nice, friendly folks who came out and listened and enjoyed themselves, but sometimes the bad outweighs the good, or out-talks as it were.

Tomorrow is an in-store in Nashville followed by a college show at Murray State in Kentucky. I get to sleep in my bed, see my girlfriend, wash my clothes, and be in my apartment for a few hours. I’m looking forward to it.

October 8, 2009 : Dan’s Silverleaf : Denton, TX

We left Austin after an in-studio at KUT – the session was good, but most of the band were feeling pretty rough from the night before. There was throwing up in a urinal involved, if that helps. We set sail north where we stopped in Taylor, TX to enjoy Louie Mueller’s Bar-b-q. It was pretty amazing, and could maybe best be described as “foreign.” Other than Barnhart, the texas boy of the bunch, none of us had ever tried this odd central-texas brand of bar-b-q which is served completely dry and with lots of fat. It was delicious.

We picked Casey Foubert, Bazan drummer for the duration, up from the DFW airport around 5:30 and headed for Denton. Denton, Texas is a fantastic college town with a general vibe of “it’s all good.” The people are really friendly and enthusiastic in a way that most towns simply aren’t, and the show was a smashing success by all accounts.

Dan’s, a great bar, was totally sold out, and the crowd was quite enthusiastic to be there. Casey played a fine first set, and the incredibly humid bar was singing along and cheering in a way that kinda felt like a hometown show. A dude up front drove from Norman, OK with some money he borrowed from his dad to see last night and tonight’s shows and received a hug from Dave during q&a. After the set, the crowd was pretty demanding of an encore, but Bazan has not played an encore once this tour, and it’s been a calculated move. We’ve talked about it in the van, he’s announced it to crowds, it just hasn’t happened. So imagine our shock when Bazan took the stage with a telecaster and played “I Never Wanted You” and “Harmless Sparks” to an ecstatic crowd backed only by the pouring rain from a Texas thunderstorm. It was a great moment, and one I doubt anyone there will forget anytime soon.

Thanks for the good times, Texas. I’m sad to see you go.

Photos by Matthew Barnhart’s iPhone.

October 7, 2009 : Mohawk : Austin, TX

Austin is a great town. The people are friendly, the crowds are loud and into it, and the breakfast tacos? Oh my God, the breakfast tacos. I got to visit El Chilitios and Magnolia, 2/3 of my breakfast taco wish-list, but I’m hoping we can stop by a Torchy’s on the way out of town to complete the trifecta tomorrow after the band plays on the radio for KUT.

Yesterday was a drive day, meaning we spent lots of time in the van. Since there wasn’t much to write about, I hope you enjoyed the video clip. I’ll try to do more media and less six=paragraphs-of-rambling in the future.

We stopped for dinner in Las Cruces, New Mexico at what our GPS and Matt’s iPhone told us was a good mexican restaurant called Andale. We were confused when we walked inside, surveyed a menu and discovered “Andale’s Dog House” to be a mexican hot dog joint….as in, this restaurant served what were essentially hot dogs with enchiladas on top – and nothing else. After some consulting and surveying, we learned that the “Dog House” was just a close-by annex of the straight-Mexican Andale, and were relieved to not have to have a half-pork/half-nitrate stick with cheese, salsa, and ground beef on top for dinner.

Tonight’s show was great – Sunny Day Real Estate’s reunion tour was in town, and I’d imagine there’s a large cross section of fans who would appreciate SDRE and Bazan, but the Mohawk was packed and the crowd, though a bit chatty, was very enthusiastic and into the jams.

It’s 3:05 and we have a 9:30 van call, so I’ll now attempt to fall asleep despite Barnhart’s incessant snoring. G’night, internets.

October 5, 2009 : Solar Culture : Tuscon, AZ

The southernmost stretch of California, and….well, all of Arizona is a lifeless, tan-and-green mass of desert, mountains, cactus and traffic enforcement cameras parked on the side of the road, with the occasional oasis in the desert. One such oasis came when we stopped at In-n-Out for lunch – sadly, the last In-n-Our stop that geography permits – and met Dave’s grandparents for lunch. They were incredibly kind and funny people. Dave’s grandpa quipped that he can always tell how well his music is doing by whether or not he asks them to meet him at In-n-Out or the nearby, and apparently more deluxe, Cracker Barrell. When I reached for my wallet to buy my lunch, Dave’s grandmother’s hand gripped my wrist with a surprising intensity and informed me she would be paying for our lunch. When one of Dave’s relatives want to give you money, you’re physically endangering yourself by attempting polite refusal.

We rolled into Tuscon and parked next to some train tracks the “venue” is next to. “Tuscon, Arizona looks an awful lot like No Country for Old Men,” I couldn’t help but notice, but luckily we caught a cool night in the desert. Solar Culture is an art gallery first and foremost, not a music venue, as evidenced by the old gallery dude who lives upstairs getting offended by rolled t-shirts being on the floor too close to the base of his sculpture. “Yeahhh, sculptures don’t really make good shelves for merchandise.” Yeahhh, well art galleries don’t make very good venues for professional touring bands who bring several hundred guests to your establishment, and since the merch booth at your venue is a folding table with a bad leg, we’ll have to make do and agree to disagree.

Tuscon was a very friendly crowd. Everyone was super enthusiastic, and when Dave mentioned maybe playing Phoenix next time for all the people that drove down from there, he was met with cries, jeers, and taunts. Some nice people invited us to come have free coffee at the coffee shop they work at – the spoils of being big, huge, famous rockstars are only just beginning to pour in.

I write you from the historic Hotel Congress which is impossibly awesome and remarkably cheap. I’d like to move into one of these rooms if it weren’t in Tuscon, and I wasn’t sharing it with Matt. Today is a drive day, as it’s a long way from Tuscon to Austin, which means that we didn’t have to get up early to make it to a 5:30 load-in. Sleeping on tour is really, really, nice.

See you in Austin.

PS: When we swing through Nashville in a few days I’ll pick up my camera so this blog is not so boring.