Here's days three and five (since we just stayed home and slept on day four).
So Day Three was "book it back to NYC from MD." Not fun, I can tell you.
-- We left late...again...but still managed to make it to my house in time. And then we made egg sandwiches, which turned out to be a team effort.
-- We got to Music Hall of Williamsburg after doors opened but before sound check was over, which meant we had to sit around downstairs for ages and then we didn’t realize that the floor had opened, and all the tables on the balcony were taken already. Unhappy face. We still scored a superb spot up there.
-- Had to pee about a million times. Got a gin & tonic for $3, though. That's pretty much unheard of in NYC.
-- Shannon was back onstage with Longwave, presumably because it was a home town show and he didn’t have to go very far, so after the third song, we yelled out “WELCOME BACK, SHANNON!” I was worried they wouldn’t hear us from up there, but Steve laughed into the microphone. It was awesome.
-- When I got back to my spot after having gone to the bathroom AGAIN pre-OK Go's set, some dude and his gf had tried to take over, which made me a little angry, but it was okay because he was a big OK Go fan and played the handbells, too. It’s amazing the number of people who I’ve met on this tour who have played bells. It just seems to bring us all together.
-- WE MET Mr. Mr. Jorge, Whom I Adore, Whom I Adore. NO SERIOUSLY IT WAS AWESOME. What a lovely person.
-- The NYC was a notch less good than the two nights before. You wouldn’t have known that had you not been at the Philly and/or Baltimore shows, but we had so we could tell. The whole "not being rockstar!Damian" thing started to wear off a bit, which makes me sad. His explanation pre-"Last Leaf" solo went from being "Guys, can we keep this song? Also, this is totally new for me." to "I'm a sarcastic asshole, so this is new for me." le sigh.
-- ALSO HE TALKED SHIT ABOUT ME ONSTAGE. Please see the beginning of this thread for deets.
-- Oh, plus it was Andy's birthday, so we all sang to him (if you watch the two videos in order, you'll get the whole song, ha):
-- Post-show, we kind of hung around a bit, ran into some people at bars down the street, and then decided to call it a night because man, I was knackered.
Random quotes:
"So when you're husband dies, then what?" - Amy "PRINGLES!" - Me
"PLAY IT AGAIN!" - random dude "Did you just yell 'play it again'? I have been heckled in my day, but I have never heard someone yell 'play it again' before." - Damian
Day Four was the designated Day of Rest. Onward, then, to New Haven.
-- Got there shortly after doors had opened. Walked by the pizza place next door to Toad's Place and saw Tim and Dan waiting around with cases, so we popped in to say "hi," and, since we'd noticed bassist Morgan walk in, said "hi" to 3/4 of Longwave as well, who were apparently waiting on spaghetti and meatballs. ("Are you guys eating?" "No, we ate around 5:30." "I did, too, and I’m still getting spaghetti and meatballs.")
-- Toad’s Place is...weird, as they’ve got this barrier set up so that under-21s can’t go in to the area where alcohol is being served. An okay space, though. I wasn’t enamored of it. I didn’t necessarily want to be front row again, but we were, anyway, just far off to the side, stage Andy. I sat in the space on the edge of the stage between his bells and the speakers, actually. It was a pretty plum spot, if I may say so. I didn't have people trying to take my spot all night.
-- Oppenheimer was, as always, excellent, and the crowd really appreciated them. Longwave had a whole mess of sound check issues before they started, including but not limited to Morgan not having a microphone. In the meantime, I yelled, "How was your pizza?" (clearly I forgot they'd gotten pasta) and Morgan was like, "It was so huge! We hardly made a dent in it!" Also, when Steve saw us off to the side, he hopped and clapped. I can’t make this up, kids, he was like a 5-year-old getting a new toy. Their set was good; I liked them more the more I watched them.
-- Umm...OK Go's set went well. I can't think of anything in particular that separated it from the other nights. Other than, when Damian started talking smack about me pre-bells, I suddenly became an airheaded teenager from the Upper East Side, which made me feel insulted at the time, but now I realise that, perhaps, there was another person (presumably a teenage girl from the Upper East Side) who told them off due to technique in Brooklyn. Though I have to say, they'd gotten worlds better at that point. Except Andy, who still played like, "BELL! I HAVE A BELL! LOOK AT THIS BELL!"
-- Post-show, we hung around a bit, and talked about various subjects such as The Avengers no. one, $30,000 Telecasters, Small Venue Snobbery, and such things as that. And then drove 45 minutes back to where we were staying.
The only random quote I can think of:
“I’m sorry to all the lepers on this side..." - either Shaun or Steve, I can't recall as to which, talking to the under-21's who were stuck on the one side of the barrier.
Okay, so. Finishing up! 'Cause I'm tired of thinking about this stuff.
Day Six was the NoHo show, about which I was excited because, yay NoHo!
-- Right, so, left New Haven around midday and stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Holyoke for cheapish pancakes, since pancakes are good and I get 20% off.
-- Went into downtown NoHo, wandered around and shopped a bunch. Rachel decided that she really likes Northampton and is pretty much in love with Faces now, which only further demonstrates why I had to go to school in NoHo after I visited that store. It's magical.
-- Got to Pearl St. just as the show started and, DUDE. Three-quarters of the people who showed up for the night were already there. WTF? I don't EVER remember that having happened at any previous OK Go shows in NoHo. (Then again, those were all pre-HIGA, so.) Also, security has tightened to the point where this chick was literally digging through my purse and opening up my shit. I understand they had to check everything, but I wanted to be like, "Ummm aren't you supposed to ask me to do that?" I was slightly offended.
-- Meg wandered in shortly after we did and then Elle showed up which, hooray! Elle and I were all gabby-gabby-gabby through the whole thing while Meg and Rachel chatted away.
-- The show went well, although, again, I think the Philly and Baltimore shows were the best, so the rest really didn't measure up. Damian talked about being a hippie in an upcoming film, and showed us a picture...on Dan's iPhone. Which wasn't super-effective.
Case in point.
-- And then after the encore, they got the microphone cameras to work and he showed us again:
And then talked about how he'd asked about where his wig came from - Russia, apparently, so he said, "Oh, so all these people are dead or maimed now, right?", or something to that effect, trying to be witty, and the hair lady was like, "NO. NOT AT ALL. *shifty eyes*"
-- He also messed up part of "Last Leaf" which was actually kind of cute.
-- After the show, we hung around a bit and everyone else got to talk to Andy and Tim while I talked to the other dudes in the other bands.
So, um. Yeah. Kind of a boring review. Random quotes:
“I KNEW IT! 700 people from Fredonia!” – Damian, when he announced that the band had been recording outside of Fredonia, NY and everyone screamed
“So, no, we’re not turning into hippies...” – Damian “No, you’re turning into Cheap Trick.” – Rachel
“So here’s a picture of me looking like a total fucking hippie…” – Damian
“I have black market hair.” – Damian
Day Seven was Boston.
-- Drove out to Cambridge to Rachel's friend Kelly's house. I knew our stay would be awesome when I walked into their apartment and saw a lightsaber and a poster for The Empire Strikes Back hanging up. <3 Both Kelly and her husband, Paul, who is British and very much liked my use of the word "quid" were so so nice and regaled us with things like an incredible home-cooked meal, a comedy show called Look Around You that pokes fun at old science videos they used to show you in school, and a book called MORE Pets With Tourette's, which is a book full of cute animals "saying" naughty things and makes you wonder what in the world went in the FIRST version of the book if all of this stuff is the leftovers.
-- We got to the venue just after doors because somehow the completely wrong address got typed into the GPS and we drove in the wrong direction on Comm Ave for a while. OH MY GOD the Paradise has CHANGED a BUNCH. The old lounge is now the entrance. It's crazy. AND IT'S SO MUCH SMALLER THAN I REMEMBER OMG. I was STUNNED.
-- Anyway. I was not completely taken with the opening band, Hooray For Earth, who were standing in for Longwave that night, but apparently they're friends with Dan, who got them the gig. Speaking of Dan, he came out to watch their set, and inched closer to use to the point where we went up behind Rachel and knocked her knee out from under her. And then he did the same thing to me. And laughed about it. And then he watched the rest of the set with us. I was reveling in the fact that I had members of two of my three favourite bands on either side of me. (Nate: "You are win!") The next day, Rachel had the following conversation with Adam on the phone: "Last night your wife was assaulted by a drummer in a jaunty cap.
...
No, a drummer, not a German."
-- The show ran the same as usual, but it was tonnes of fun having Mike and Nate around to mock the band whenever possible. They also participated in the sole "Run's House" of the tour, barring the one time we did it in Philly, which was great. I sort of expected them to be like, "Um, what?" but they totally got it. We didn't get much of a reaction from the boys, but I suppose that makes sense since they already knew we were there, so. Evs.
-- Didn't stay much after the show, just enough so that Rachel could get people to sign up on a mailing list. Ta da. When we got back to Kelly-and-Paul's place, they'd set up the pull-out bed AND left us little Dairy Milk bars on our pillows, like it was some sort of hotel. Seriously.
Random quotes:
“PLAY IT AGAIN!” – Nate “Did you just say ‘play it again’? That’s the second time in three days that somebody has yelled that.” – Damian “I JUST BLEW YOUR MIND.” – Nate
“I’m going to play a totally earnest love song.” – Damian “Ernest Goes To Camp.” – Nate “It’s about him.” – Mike
“YAY CONFETTI!” – Mike and Nate
“I want to request a song, but I don’t want to yell ‘you’re so damn hot’ at Damian.” – Nate
“What did you say?...Wait, she managed to yell something and then all of you are yelling over her…” – Damian “I LOVE YOU DAMIAN!” – random chick “Oh, thanks.” – Damian, completely nonchalant
“You never play me this song!” – Jen, VERY LOUDLY, during "Last Leaf," which is a very quiet song which her boyfriend had never heard before in his life.
“That drummer just got all up in my business.” – Me “That’s ‘cause rockstars want to get all up in your business, Katy.” – Rachel *weird stares* - Mike and Nate
So...end of the road. Sadness.
-- After stopping in Copley Square to visit Rachel's friend, we drove up to Portland. This was about the time that I figured out how to make the Internet on my computer work. >.<
-- Checked in to our hotel, got ready, left for the show, had a terrible time finding parking.
-- Went to the Subway next door as I was starved, only to have Dan come in five minutes (not even) after us, which was nice 'cause we got to talk to him and he let us in on the prank they were going to pull while Longwave was onstage. Tee hee.
-- Decided to sit in the lounge section instead of standing 'cause we're lazy and we'd been standing all week long.
Clearly I should never be let in on things because all you can hear in that video is me giggling like an insane person.
-- Oh, and then Damian and Dan joined them onstage during "Life Is Wrong" (question: How is life wrong?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e6senC4Pm4...player_embedded Please note that the first minute of that video is them trying to get their shit together. It's also a very good example as to why one SHOULDN'T wear all white onstage because you just wind up being all reflective.
-- Partway through OK Go's set (around "White Knuckles"), Steve came over to say "hi" and then he told us how he'd asked the stage manager to shut down the show during the middle of OK Go's set, as a joke, and then how he realised that was a REALLY BAD idea. Thankfully, it didn't happen. Then again, that would have been totally awesome. I'm sort of torn as to how I wished that had played out.
-- During "This Too Shall Pass," I kind of said, "FUCK IT!" and just danced like a nut, which wouldn't have been noticeable at all had we been on the floor, but we weren't, so Damian just kind of stared at us a bit. At the end of the set, he was like, "Thanks for knowing the words to our songs better than I do," which I thought was riotously funny at first and now I'm just really sort of embarrassed about it. :S
-- Andy came over to talk to us after the show and was like, "You did it!" Well. Did you doubt us?
The only quotes I can think of:
"Why are you dressed like Jesus?" - Me "...am I?" - Steve "You're just really reflective. It's like you've got an aura around you." - Me
“I think it’s kind of bougie-hippie.” – Tim re: listening to NPR
A few brief corrections - Kelly lives in Newtown, CT with her husband Rob and their 2-year-old Daniel. MEGAN lives in Cambridge with her British husband Paul who loves Star Wars, Dairy Milk, and Look Around You. Dan did not assault me. He Accosted me. Also, re: what I said in Boston, it was “That’s ‘cause all rockstars want to get all up in your business, Katy.” As Queen of Hyperbole ™, I'll admit that it was a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit.
Katy left out that in Portland, Andy joined in on one of our patented "Katy/Rachel Camwhoring Pictures". I'll post it, I promise. I just have other things to do. But to be completely honest, you can't tell that we took it ourselves. So if you're in on it you know he's camwhoring with us, but otherwise it just looks like a fairly well-framed close-up.
Oh man, Bougie-Hippy. That was hilarious. I forgot all about that.
A few brief corrections - Kelly lives in Newtown, CT with her husband Rob and their 2-year-old Daniel. MEGAN lives in Cambridge with her British husband Paul who loves Star Wars, Dairy Milk, and Look Around You. Dan did not assault me. He Accosted me.
Oh man I am fail at the name game. :S And the funny thing is, every other time I've referenced her in my head, I've thought "Megan." I don't know what happened there. Except that I wrote that at 1 am with a wicked headache.
Assaulted, accosted, whatever. It's like, the same. Dan came up behind you, knocked your knee out and then laughed about it.
Here are my best pictures from the shows:
This was an accident.
Because Rachel's busy, I'll post it. We have a million more camwhore shots, believe me...
And some more, because the Boards won't let me post more than 10 per post:
Thank you so much, this is just really really beautiful to read! And that mouth-open pic of Damian is incredible!
Aww, thanks. A majority of my pictures from the Philly show came out really wonderfully, which is why I took next to no pictures for the rest of the tour - I'd already gotten the shots I wanted, with the exception of Oppenheimer's airhorn solo, which I never did snap up. :\
I'm glad to hear Rachel enjoyed Noho/Faces so much.
It's pretty hard not to like Faces. I, as ever, wanted to buy everything in Essentials (none of which is essential). Like a $40 t-shirt, only because it had the Eiffel Tower and its zip code (75007) printed on it.
Wow. Thank you so much for all the recaps & photos - and for exercising some restraint in describing the new songs. Like most of us, I guess, I'm anxious to hear them for myself without a lot of preconceived notions.
I can't believe you did so many shows in a row, but I understand. I'm glad you got to do this together!
I would like to comment more specifically, but I'm too tired right now. I will say I really enjoy your clever write-ups, Katy!
Wow. Thank you so much for all the recaps & photos - and for exercising some restraint in describing the new songs. Like most of us, I guess, I'm anxious to hear them for myself without a lot of preconceived notions.
I can't believe you did so many shows in a row, but I understand. I'm glad you got to do this together!
I would like to comment more specifically, but I'm too tired right now. I will say I really enjoy your clever write-ups, Katy!
Well, I mean, it's hard to describe a song beyond "it sort of sounds like..." - it's like, what am I gonna' do, "there's 8 eight counts of intro, followed by guitar and synth..."? Which would be sort of silly. That being said, all of the new songs are up on YouTube (I culled them all together for my blog), if anybody actually wants to hear them for themselves. Unlike most concerts where new music is unveiled (wherein I'm usually all, "Blah, boring, play what I know!"), I took to the new stuff immediately because 1) it's good and a good step for them and 2) it's new and I'm bored with the old stuff. (I also had the extreme advantage of being able to listen to it more than once, which means it grew familiar rather quickly.) Normally, however, I wouldn't mind having an idea of what the songs sound like so I'm not swimming in a sea of "what is this?"
I guess the point I'm trying to make is I don't get the "song abstinence." Hearing the songs fully-recorded on the album is still going to be an experience because what is recorded doesn't necessarily translate live. Hearing them played live is going to be an experience as well, because no YouTube video or ripped mp3 will ever replace the crowd, the PA, and the band onstage. There are intricacies that I may never be able to explain to you and that nothing but your own ears may be able to translate. To each her/his own, but I'm not sure I get this idea of treating information as spoilers as you would for a book or movie.
Anywho. Sorry. Yeah, seven shows in eight days is a lot. I wasn't even in one of the bands, and I was so tired. Which actually had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't sleep well all week, but I couldn't imagine doing that AND being part of the tour itself. That being said, I was watching the show in New York - not even the halfway point - and thinking, "I don't want this to end." I don't want to follow OK Go around on tour forever, don't get me wrong; but now I want to know how I can follow/tour with bands and get paid for it because I can't imagine wanting to do anything else right now.
Also, if you're looking for MORE clever write-ups, I wrote a six-part series for That 1 Pop! Gem, which is less "this is what Rachel and I did all day" and more "I write and think about music somewhat objectively, ta da!" I'll post links, if you want. But I did post a lot more information on the new material.
ETA: I also forgot to say "thanks" for saying such nice things about my writing.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is I don't get the "song abstinence." ... To each her/his own, but I'm not sure I get this idea of treating information as spoilers as you would for a book or movie.
After a long absence, I'm finally getting back to respond: It's not that I don't want to hear the new songs, it's that when I do hear them, I don't want anyone else's words or labels rattling around in my head. I want to make my own associations and feel my own emotions and develop my own responses first, that's all.
To illustrate: David Foster Wallace went on a 7-night Caribbean cruise in 1995 for Harper's. Early in the week he read an "essaymercial" in the cruise brochure by professional writer Frank Conroy about his cruise experience in which he eloquently describes, among other things, the "vast lapis lazuli dome of the sky." Wallace says that "after reading Conroy's essay on board, whenever I'd look up at the sky it wouldn't be the sky I was seeing, it was the vast lapis lazuli dome of the sky." See what I mean? In that sense, other people's interpretations or comments, however eloquent or apt, do spoil it for me.
QUOTE (jedi_grrlie @ Mar 28 2009, 12:29 AM)
That being said, I was watching the show in New York - not even the halfway point - and thinking, "I don't want this to end." I don't want to follow OK Go around on tour forever, don't get me wrong; but now I want to know how I can follow/tour with bands and get paid for it because I can't imagine wanting to do anything else right now.
Yes. I believe that there is a way and that you will find it, Katy. There is no better feeling than doing what you love, and clearly you love this. Find it and do it!
Yes. I believe that there is a way and that you will find it, Katy. There is no better feeling than doing what you love, and clearly you love this. Find it and do it!
Comments
So Day Three was "book it back to NYC from MD." Not fun, I can tell you.
-- We left late...again...but still managed to make it to my house in time. And then we made egg sandwiches, which turned out to be a team effort.
-- We got to Music Hall of Williamsburg after doors opened but before sound check was over, which meant we had to sit around downstairs for ages and then we didn’t realize that the floor had opened, and all the tables on the balcony were taken already. Unhappy face. We still scored a superb spot up there.
-- Had to pee about a million times. Got a gin & tonic for $3, though. That's pretty much unheard of in NYC.
-- Shannon was back onstage with Longwave, presumably because it was a home town show and he didn’t have to go very far, so after the third song, we yelled out “WELCOME BACK, SHANNON!” I was worried they wouldn’t hear us from up there, but Steve laughed into the microphone. It was awesome.
-- When I got back to my spot after having gone to the bathroom AGAIN pre-OK Go's set, some dude and his gf had tried to take over, which made me a little angry, but it was okay because he was a big OK Go fan and played the handbells, too. It’s amazing the number of people who I’ve met on this tour who have played bells. It just seems to bring us all together.
-- WE MET Mr. Mr. Jorge, Whom I Adore, Whom I Adore. NO SERIOUSLY IT WAS AWESOME. What a lovely person.
-- The NYC was a notch less good than the two nights before. You wouldn’t have known that had you not been at the Philly and/or Baltimore shows, but we had so we could tell. The whole "not being rockstar!Damian" thing started to wear off a bit, which makes me sad. His explanation pre-"Last Leaf" solo went from being "Guys, can we keep this song? Also, this is totally new for me." to "I'm a sarcastic asshole, so this is new for me." le sigh.
-- ALSO HE TALKED SHIT ABOUT ME ONSTAGE. Please see the beginning of this thread for deets.
-- Oh, plus it was Andy's birthday, so we all sang to him (if you watch the two videos in order, you'll get the whole song, ha):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmJYo3OaZnA&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1QM3UZMuwo&
-- Post-show, we kind of hung around a bit, ran into some people at bars down the street, and then decided to call it a night because man, I was knackered.
Random quotes:
"So when you're husband dies, then what?" - Amy
"PRINGLES!" - Me
"PLAY IT AGAIN!" - random dude
"Did you just yell 'play it again'? I have been heckled in my day, but I have never heard someone yell 'play it again' before." - Damian
Day Four was the designated Day of Rest. Onward, then, to New Haven.
-- Got there shortly after doors had opened. Walked by the pizza place next door to Toad's Place and saw Tim and Dan waiting around with cases, so we popped in to say "hi," and, since we'd noticed bassist Morgan walk in, said "hi" to 3/4 of Longwave as well, who were apparently waiting on spaghetti and meatballs. ("Are you guys eating?" "No, we ate around 5:30." "I did, too, and I’m still getting spaghetti and meatballs.")
-- Toad’s Place is...weird, as they’ve got this barrier set up so that under-21s can’t go in to the area where alcohol is being served. An okay space, though. I wasn’t enamored of it. I didn’t necessarily want to be front row again, but we were, anyway, just far off to the side, stage Andy. I sat in the space on the edge of the stage between his bells and the speakers, actually. It was a pretty plum spot, if I may say so. I didn't have people trying to take my spot all night.
-- Oppenheimer was, as always, excellent, and the crowd really appreciated them. Longwave had a whole mess of sound check issues before they started, including but not limited to Morgan not having a microphone. In the meantime, I yelled, "How was your pizza?" (clearly I forgot they'd gotten pasta) and Morgan was like, "It was so huge! We hardly made a dent in it!" Also, when Steve saw us off to the side, he hopped and clapped. I can’t make this up, kids, he was like a 5-year-old getting a new toy. Their set was good; I liked them more the more I watched them.
-- Umm...OK Go's set went well. I can't think of anything in particular that separated it from the other nights. Other than, when Damian started talking smack about me pre-bells, I suddenly became an airheaded teenager from the Upper East Side, which made me feel insulted at the time, but now I realise that, perhaps, there was another person (presumably a teenage girl from the Upper East Side) who told them off due to technique in Brooklyn. Though I have to say, they'd gotten worlds better at that point. Except Andy, who still played like, "BELL! I HAVE A BELL! LOOK AT THIS BELL!"
-- Post-show, we hung around a bit, and talked about various subjects such as The Avengers no. one, $30,000 Telecasters, Small Venue Snobbery, and such things as that. And then drove 45 minutes back to where we were staying.
The only random quote I can think of:
“I’m sorry to all the lepers on this side..." - either Shaun or Steve, I can't recall as to which, talking to the under-21's who were stuck on the one side of the barrier.
Day Six was the NoHo show, about which I was excited because, yay NoHo!
-- Right, so, left New Haven around midday and stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Holyoke for cheapish pancakes, since pancakes are good and I get 20% off.
-- Went into downtown NoHo, wandered around and shopped a bunch. Rachel decided that she really likes Northampton and is pretty much in love with Faces now, which only further demonstrates why I had to go to school in NoHo after I visited that store. It's magical.
-- Got to Pearl St. just as the show started and, DUDE. Three-quarters of the people who showed up for the night were already there. WTF? I don't EVER remember that having happened at any previous OK Go shows in NoHo. (Then again, those were all pre-HIGA, so.) Also, security has tightened to the point where this chick was literally digging through my purse and opening up my shit. I understand they had to check everything, but I wanted to be like, "Ummm aren't you supposed to ask me to do that?" I was slightly offended.
-- Meg wandered in shortly after we did and then Elle showed up which, hooray! Elle and I were all gabby-gabby-gabby through the whole thing while Meg and Rachel chatted away.
-- The show went well, although, again, I think the Philly and Baltimore shows were the best, so the rest really didn't measure up. Damian talked about being a hippie in an upcoming film, and showed us a picture...on Dan's iPhone. Which wasn't super-effective.
Case in point.
-- And then after the encore, they got the microphone cameras to work and he showed us again:
And then talked about how he'd asked about where his wig came from - Russia, apparently, so he said, "Oh, so all these people are dead or maimed now, right?", or something to that effect, trying to be witty, and the hair lady was like, "NO. NOT AT ALL. *shifty eyes*"
-- He also messed up part of "Last Leaf" which was actually kind of cute.
-- After the show, we hung around a bit and everyone else got to talk to Andy and Tim while I talked to the other dudes in the other bands.
So, um. Yeah. Kind of a boring review. Random quotes:
“I KNEW IT! 700 people from Fredonia!” – Damian, when he announced that the band had been recording outside of Fredonia, NY and everyone screamed
“So, no, we’re not turning into hippies...” – Damian
“No, you’re turning into Cheap Trick.” – Rachel
“So here’s a picture of me looking like a total fucking hippie…” – Damian
“I have black market hair.” – Damian
Day Seven was Boston.
-- Drove out to Cambridge to Rachel's friend Kelly's house. I knew our stay would be awesome when I walked into their apartment and saw a lightsaber and a poster for The Empire Strikes Back hanging up. <3 Both Kelly and her husband, Paul, who is British and very much liked my use of the word "quid" were so so nice and regaled us with things like an incredible home-cooked meal, a comedy show called Look Around You that pokes fun at old science videos they used to show you in school, and a book called MORE Pets With Tourette's, which is a book full of cute animals "saying" naughty things and makes you wonder what in the world went in the FIRST version of the book if all of this stuff is the leftovers.
-- We got to the venue just after doors because somehow the completely wrong address got typed into the GPS and we drove in the wrong direction on Comm Ave for a while. OH MY GOD the Paradise has CHANGED a BUNCH. The old lounge is now the entrance. It's crazy. AND IT'S SO MUCH SMALLER THAN I REMEMBER OMG. I was STUNNED.
-- Anyway. I was not completely taken with the opening band, Hooray For Earth, who were standing in for Longwave that night, but apparently they're friends with Dan, who got them the gig. Speaking of Dan, he came out to watch their set, and inched closer to use to the point where we went up behind Rachel and knocked her knee out from under her. And then he did the same thing to me. And laughed about it. And then he watched the rest of the set with us. I was reveling in the fact that I had members of two of my three favourite bands on either side of me. (Nate: "You are win!") The next day, Rachel had the following conversation with Adam on the phone: "Last night your wife was assaulted by a drummer in a jaunty cap.
...
No, a drummer, not a German."
-- The show ran the same as usual, but it was tonnes of fun having Mike and Nate around to mock the band whenever possible. They also participated in the sole "Run's House" of the tour, barring the one time we did it in Philly, which was great. I sort of expected them to be like, "Um, what?" but they totally got it. We didn't get much of a reaction from the boys, but I suppose that makes sense since they already knew we were there, so. Evs.
-- Didn't stay much after the show, just enough so that Rachel could get people to sign up on a mailing list. Ta da. When we got back to Kelly-and-Paul's place, they'd set up the pull-out bed AND left us little Dairy Milk bars on our pillows, like it was some sort of hotel.
Random quotes:
“PLAY IT AGAIN!” – Nate
“Did you just say ‘play it again’? That’s the second time in three days that somebody has yelled that.” – Damian
“I JUST BLEW YOUR MIND.” – Nate
“I’m going to play a totally earnest love song.” – Damian
“Ernest Goes To Camp.” – Nate
“It’s about him.” – Mike
“YAY CONFETTI!” – Mike and Nate
“I want to request a song, but I don’t want to yell ‘you’re so damn hot’ at Damian.” – Nate
“What did you say?...Wait, she managed to yell something and then all of you are yelling over her…” – Damian
“I LOVE YOU DAMIAN!” – random chick
“Oh, thanks.” – Damian, completely nonchalant
“You never play me this song!” – Jen, VERY LOUDLY, during "Last Leaf," which is a very quiet song which her boyfriend had never heard before in his life.
“That drummer just got all up in my business.” – Me
“That’s ‘cause rockstars want to get all up in your business, Katy.” – Rachel
*weird stares* - Mike and Nate
So...end of the road. Sadness.
-- After stopping in Copley Square to visit Rachel's friend, we drove up to Portland. This was about the time that I figured out how to make the Internet on my computer work. >.<
-- Checked in to our hotel, got ready, left for the show, had a terrible time finding parking.
-- Went to the Subway next door as I was starved, only to have Dan come in five minutes (not even) after us, which was nice 'cause we got to talk to him and he let us in on the prank they were going to pull while Longwave was onstage. Tee hee.
-- Decided to sit in the lounge section instead of standing 'cause we're lazy and we'd been standing all week long.
-- During Longwave's set, OK Go had a pizza delivered to them. While they were onstage. It was SPECTACULAR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2rctIbeIos...player_embedded
Clearly I should never be let in on things because all you can hear in that video is me giggling like an insane person.
-- Oh, and then Damian and Dan joined them onstage during "Life Is Wrong" (question: How is life wrong?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e6senC4Pm4...player_embedded
Please note that the first minute of that video is them trying to get their shit together. It's also a very good example as to why one SHOULDN'T wear all white onstage because you just wind up being all reflective.
-- Partway through OK Go's set (around "White Knuckles"), Steve came over to say "hi" and then he told us how he'd asked the stage manager to shut down the show during the middle of OK Go's set, as a joke, and then how he realised that was a REALLY BAD idea. Thankfully, it didn't happen. Then again, that would have been totally awesome. I'm sort of torn as to how I wished that had played out.
-- During "This Too Shall Pass," I kind of said, "FUCK IT!" and just danced like a nut, which wouldn't have been noticeable at all had we been on the floor, but we weren't, so Damian just kind of stared at us a bit. At the end of the set, he was like, "Thanks for knowing the words to our songs better than I do," which I thought was riotously funny at first and now I'm just really sort of embarrassed about it. :S
-- Andy came over to talk to us after the show and was like, "You did it!" Well. Did you doubt us?
The only quotes I can think of:
"Why are you dressed like Jesus?" - Me
"...am I?" - Steve
"You're just really reflective. It's like you've got an aura around you." - Me
“I think it’s kind of bougie-hippie.” – Tim re: listening to NPR
Kelly lives in Newtown, CT with her husband Rob and their 2-year-old Daniel. MEGAN lives in Cambridge with her British husband Paul who loves Star Wars, Dairy Milk, and Look Around You. Dan did not assault me. He Accosted me. Also, re: what I said in Boston, it was “That’s ‘cause all rockstars want to get all up in your business, Katy.” As Queen of Hyperbole ™, I'll admit that it was a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit.
Katy left out that in Portland, Andy joined in on one of our patented "Katy/Rachel Camwhoring Pictures". I'll post it, I promise. I just have other things to do. But to be completely honest, you can't tell that we took it ourselves. So if you're in on it you know he's camwhoring with us, but otherwise it just looks like a fairly well-framed close-up.
Oh man, Bougie-Hippy. That was hilarious. I forgot all about that.
Kelly lives in Newtown, CT with her husband Rob and their 2-year-old Daniel. MEGAN lives in Cambridge with her British husband Paul who loves Star Wars, Dairy Milk, and Look Around You. Dan did not assault me. He Accosted me.
Oh man I am fail at the name game. :S And the funny thing is, every other time I've referenced her in my head, I've thought "Megan." I don't know what happened there. Except that I wrote that at 1 am with a wicked headache.
Assaulted, accosted, whatever. It's like, the same. Dan came up behind you, knocked your knee out and then laughed about it.
Here are my best pictures from the shows:
This was an accident.
Because Rachel's busy, I'll post it. We have a million more camwhore shots, believe me...
And some more, because the Boards won't let me post more than 10 per post:
http://photos-d.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...811_2614251.jpg
http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...3829_202709.jpg
http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...836_4946410.jpg
http://photos-h.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...847_2793491.jpg
http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...3852_141102.jpg
^^Argyle socks.
http://photos-a.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...856_5253171.jpg
http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...861_8337570.jpg
^^Stripping onstage!
http://photos-g.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-...862_2935579.jpg
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc...482_4691479.jpg
^^Emily, your dad's here.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc...490_4069423.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc...739_2111612.jpg
^^Ad infini-Tim. Har har I'm so clever.
Thank you so much, this is just really really beautiful to read! And that mouth-open pic of Damian is incredible!
Thank you so much, this is just really really beautiful to read! And that mouth-open pic of Damian is incredible!
Aww, thanks. A majority of my pictures from the Philly show came out really wonderfully, which is why I took next to no pictures for the rest of the tour - I'd already gotten the shots I wanted, with the exception of Oppenheimer's airhorn solo, which I never did snap up. :\
Philadelphia: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2175...mp;l=6a79a4e7b2
Towson: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2175...mp;l=c168f514d9
Brooklyn: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2177...mp;l=b5716905bd
New Haven: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2178...mp;l=0edd4eadab
Northampton: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2178...mp;l=007de8034e
Boston: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2178...mp;l=fdb38a65c0
Portland: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2179...mp;l=5dd5c84695
Enjoy, ladies (and Pandy and Joe too)!
I'm glad to hear Rachel enjoyed Noho/Faces so much.
It's pretty hard not to like Faces. I, as ever, wanted to buy everything in Essentials (none of which is essential). Like a $40 t-shirt, only because it had the Eiffel Tower and its zip code (75007) printed on it.
I can't believe you did so many shows in a row, but I understand. I'm glad you got to do this together!
I would like to comment more specifically, but I'm too tired right now. I will say I really enjoy your clever write-ups, Katy!
I can't believe you did so many shows in a row, but I understand. I'm glad you got to do this together!
I would like to comment more specifically, but I'm too tired right now. I will say I really enjoy your clever write-ups, Katy!
Well, I mean, it's hard to describe a song beyond "it sort of sounds like..." - it's like, what am I gonna' do, "there's 8 eight counts of intro, followed by guitar and synth..."? Which would be sort of silly. That being said, all of the new songs are up on YouTube (I culled them all together for my blog), if anybody actually wants to hear them for themselves. Unlike most concerts where new music is unveiled (wherein I'm usually all, "Blah, boring, play what I know!"), I took to the new stuff immediately because 1) it's good and a good step for them and 2) it's new and I'm bored with the old stuff. (I also had the extreme advantage of being able to listen to it more than once, which means it grew familiar rather quickly.) Normally, however, I wouldn't mind having an idea of what the songs sound like so I'm not swimming in a sea of "what is this?"
I guess the point I'm trying to make is I don't get the "song abstinence." Hearing the songs fully-recorded on the album is still going to be an experience because what is recorded doesn't necessarily translate live. Hearing them played live is going to be an experience as well, because no YouTube video or ripped mp3 will ever replace the crowd, the PA, and the band onstage. There are intricacies that I may never be able to explain to you and that nothing but your own ears may be able to translate. To each her/his own, but I'm not sure I get this idea of treating information as spoilers as you would for a book or movie.
Anywho. Sorry. Yeah, seven shows in eight days is a lot. I wasn't even in one of the bands, and I was so tired. Which actually had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't sleep well all week, but I couldn't imagine doing that AND being part of the tour itself. That being said, I was watching the show in New York - not even the halfway point - and thinking, "I don't want this to end." I don't want to follow OK Go around on tour forever, don't get me wrong; but now I want to know how I can follow/tour with bands and get paid for it because I can't imagine wanting to do anything else right now.
Also, if you're looking for MORE clever write-ups, I wrote a six-part series for That 1 Pop! Gem, which is less "this is what Rachel and I did all day" and more "I write and think about music somewhat objectively, ta da!" I'll post links, if you want. But I did post a lot more information on the new material.
ETA: I also forgot to say "thanks" for saying such nice things about my writing.
After a long absence, I'm finally getting back to respond:
It's not that I don't want to hear the new songs, it's that when I do hear them, I don't want anyone else's words or labels rattling around in my head. I want to make my own associations and feel my own emotions and develop my own responses first, that's all.
To illustrate: David Foster Wallace went on a 7-night Caribbean cruise in 1995 for Harper's. Early in the week he read an "essaymercial" in the cruise brochure by professional writer Frank Conroy about his cruise experience in which he eloquently describes, among other things, the "vast lapis lazuli dome of the sky." Wallace says that "after reading Conroy's essay on board, whenever I'd look up at the sky it wouldn't be the sky I was seeing, it was the vast lapis lazuli dome of the sky." See what I mean? In that sense, other people's interpretations or comments, however eloquent or apt, do spoil it for me.
Yes. I believe that there is a way and that you will find it, Katy. There is no better feeling than doing what you love, and clearly you love this. Find it and do it!
I'm trying! But so far it's not working.