#4 Post D.C./Philly Arrival

Currently I am in the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. I am experiencing a terrible stench that the locals call "shit berries"- a berry that falls from the tree outside of the church. It is endangered and therefore cannot be cut down. Everybody is stepping on the berries and tracking in this god awful smell. It's wretched.

Last night found us in Washington D.C. at DC9. It was a smaller, older club where the bands play upstairs. We loaded in, soundchecked, and ate a nice little meal that was generously provided by the venue. They even had a projector already mounted so that saved us some hassle. The set went very well and we got a polite response. I'm sure that I have said that before as it is surely the case with this entire tour. If anything we are grateful for this as this incarnation is still very much getting familiar with how we should and do execute a set. It's encouraging that these kids who are at these shows for some aggressive music don't hate it and end up chanting for metal.
Anyways, I think I am becoming more confident with my guitar playing and vocals on these songs and have been receiving some very generous compliments in recent days from the audience. The other thing I am always asked is if my light mounted to my guitar that I use to activate/manipulate my theremin is a "chaos pad"...which it surely is not. (After all, that sounds expensive- which means I would not have one.)

The rest of the night was spent reminding ourselves again how old we are as I figured out that I had played with the bass player from Russian Circles many years ago when he was in Botch. Another guy came in and he was once in Thunderbirds are Now. Another guy came in and he was in Frotus. We all had stories for each other though most of those guys are now fathers and have real jobs. I just have a pathetic half-beard and a foul stench.
I did get to ask ol' boy from Frotus if they got the name from a Monkees episode in which there was "the frotus room", which was also a reference to a small room where the Monkees hung out and smoked pot when they weren't needed on camera. He was stunned that I knew this and said that I was one of maybe three people EVER who had asked. He also said that he once took a piss at a urinal next to The Nez. Wow.

We stayed with a guy named Ross who was AWESOME to us. I slept well on a very comfortable couch. I have had two or three dreams about Todd Cook getting a haircut and being clean shaven. Frightening.

We got up this morning and thanked Ross. He gave us each a CD of his band which has the most awesome fold-out art of any album EVER. I promise.

On our way out of D.C. we saw a Whole Foods where we spent a long time utilizing the clean facilities and eating. This made us feel a lot better about life in general. I bought macaroons to share with everybody. I am still full many hours later.

We talked to Evan earlier and the Young Widows van is sick. He is going to have to pay $500 to get it up and running. I hope they make it here on-time.

Here in Philly the weather is cool. Not bad though. It's an early show and, as always, I feel a bit of anxiety about how we will be received by the younger crowd. We shall see.