Day 8

photo by Leah Muse

So we left off with the band in a South Carolina hotel room....that ended up with a few UFC challenges in which K ended up the victor. Zac and I turned out a "draw," although I walked away with a SEVERE rugburn (thanks to Zac's dirty fighting and the influence of Wild Irish Rose). The only fighting combo that did not come to pass was that of Ben vs. K. We felt that the weight class vs. capoeira training would prove to be too dangerous a fight, and possibly jeopardize band moral.

The show that night at New Brookland Tavern was a special one. The very first time we EVER played a touring show where ALL the bands sounded great and made sense together. We played with SHAPIRO, TODAY THE MOON, TOMORROW THE SUN, and BAUMER. A great night of music filled with good people...we got to hang with Randy, Katie and Bethany....Sarah and jessica at the coffee house next door...and the bartenders kept everyone happy all night. After we watched BAUMER give it all they had, even Josh rocked through some sickness, we jumped in the van and headed for Savannah,GA. Don't remember much of that other than blasting some Pinback then passing out. We drove past some houses and then got on the road for Ft. Myers.

While driving the 8 hours we listened to ELO, the Kooks, Bee-Gees, James Brown, Shuggie Otis, and we made some pit stops. One that comes to mind is a gas station with a big parking lot. Ben, Zac, and I got out to work up some more Frisbee manuevers when the attendant came out from the Kwik-Mart and called us "punks." Seriously?? Really??! For throwing a neon green frisbee... we're punks???? Wow. We did, however, give birth to some great new catches: The Proud Soldier, Lady Liberty, Dr. Phil, The Allstate, and my personal new favorite, Zac's very own "When You're a Jet, You're a Jet."

We rolled up to the Club, BUDDHA BAR, in Ft. Myers and thought, 'This is a bar. We're in the south.' An old friend of mine happened to be in the area and asked me, "So. How do you think your brand of synth-pop will be received here in Ft. Myers?" I didn't have an optimistic response. But we were mistaken.....the best crowd we've seen yet! 'Jersey' Kim, Felix, and Mike were keeping the front of the stage "lively" ;) , Steve Farst and Wonderful Johnson opened up the night and hung with us afterwards, the bartenders (Connie, Lee, Iris, and Jocelyn) kept the spirits flowing. They asked us back tonight (we originally had the night off) so we're looking forward to playing again......