If I hear the word 'shoegaze' one more time.....part 2

9-19-05 by Arturo
We finally slept last night in Lancaster, PA. We stayed with new friends EJ and Erin. EJ is the band Highspire, and holds down the fort of the shoegaze capital of PA. I'm not sure how long we slept but it was at least 7 hours. They took great care of us by not only putting us up, but putting up with us! John cooked these wicked omelettes for everybody then we had wine while Cory and I did a video interview with EJ about shoegaze and his band and he played us some new Highspire music. It's so good, and I can't wait to hear some more.
The show in Philly yesterday was alright. Okay, it sucked. We sat around the area for too long, when we could have been out exploring the city and eating cheese steak sandwiches. The band played way too late after being set back, and this was a Sunday night. Only like 5 people were there and we were with 2 of them. For me, the one good thing was that this was the biggest screen I've ever played. It must have been 20x30 feet! Airiel and Hartfield played well, despite being asked to turn it down by the cops. This was the PopNoise Festival, which was organized by Tom from Stellarscope and was held at the University of Pennsylvania. All the other bands were good and the shoegaze t-shirts were out in full force. Cory and I decided we wanted to move to Kentucky based on seeing the cute girls who were with the KY band. After the fest we started the drive out to Lancaster with EJ. Right now, we're on the way out of PA to Long Branch, NJ. PA is totally the nicest state I've ever driven through, though I'm sure there are others. This is a huge country after all.
Key Quotes so far: Cory to Hartfield -"You say 'san', we say 'son!". and Yukari to Philly - "Let's FUN!". So cute.
EJ told us the funniest story about a band in Philly called Muscle Factory. Apparently, it's a cheesy 80's workout themed band. The singer lifts barbells with one hand and has a mic in the other. He's going to send us the link to the "The Spotter" video. I can't wait! The band's Bez is a guy who does aerobics on stage and spots audience members as they use the on-stage weight bench. I think it was a combination of no sleep for 2 days, giddyness, and red wine but Chris and I were in tears with this story. Too fucking funny.

shoegazers on the road, part 1

So here's what I did: i took a black Mead Composition notebook with me on tour. It spent a lot of time tucked into the back pocket of the passenger seat of John's van. The rest of the time I wrote in it. What will follow is a transcription of that with my own added memories or things I forgot. We got home and I didn't finish the summary of all the shows so I'll do that when I get there. Anybody from Airiel or Hartfield reading this can comment and add their part. In fact, please do!
9-17-05 by John. (John wrote the first thing in the van some place in Ohio while Cory drove)
My van is full of people, musical equipment, and a steadily amassing pile of road detrius - empty soda cans, gum wrappers, and the like. I just got finished with a shift driving for 4 hours so I could sit in the back of the van and chart out Hartfield songs for my performance with them later tonight. That's right, I sitll don't know the songs. This should be fun. God, I need a drink.
9-18-05 by Arturo
We got to the practice space at 8am yesterday. I slept like 4 hours the night before after a nice send off at Lava Lounge from my fellow Mexicans. We made it to Pittsburgh by 7:15, home of Andy Warhol and "donn-tonn". It's very hilly and pretty and you gotta love a city with a section called Polish Hill. Awesome. The venue, Shadow Lounge was really cool. It wasn't a rock venue but more of a cool cafe/lounge. There are 2 rooms, one of which reminds me of Rodan. The other had couches, tables, and the stage.
The opening bands were good and we saw Hartfields's 1st US show!!!! The rhythm section was filled out by Cory and John from Airiel. They did a great job and the songs are all poppy and good. Airiel rocked out as always and it was nice to see my new beach video for the first time projected so big. Funny, that was shot 3 days before at North Ave. Beach. now it was being projected for an audience of strangers in Pittsburgh.
Right now, we're over an hour away from Philadelphia where we are going to play the PopNoise Festival. We've had lots of fun so far. John shaved his beard off in a backyard in Pittsburgh by tiki light with a wall mirror being held up by Jeremy as 3 jerks, an American expat, and 2 Japanese musicians looked on.
Last thing I'll mention before I look out the window at all the pretty mountains of PA is Chris. Chris is filling in for the tour since Griff couldn't do it because of work. Chris is now known as PineCone TempSub 1. A baptism of gravy is set to happen in the near future at the Pine Cone Restaurant so he can fully become one of us. He witnessed the last ever Tequila Screamer last night, now all that's left is a meal at the Pine Cone Restaurant.

tour dates

September Tour With Hartfield (From Tokyo, Japan):

When: 17-September-2005
Where: The Shadow Lounge (5972 Baum Blvd. 412-363-8277) - Pittsburgh, PA
With: Hartfield, Sleeping Kings of Iona and Life In Bed
Details: Doors @ 9 PM. 18+

When: 18-September-2005 - The PopNoise Festival
Where: The Rotunda (University of Penn Campus, 4014 Walnut Street. 610-517-4645) - Philadelphia, PA
With: Hartfield, Ceremony (ex-skywave), Project Skyward, Kupei (from Puerto Rico), Stellarscope, The Autumn Thieves, The Color Field Theory and Shade.
Details: FREE! All ages! 12-10PM

When: 19-September-2005
Where: The Brighton Bar (121 Brighton Avenue 732-229-9676 ) - Long Branch, New Jersey
With: Hartfield and TBA
Details: 18+ TBA

When: 21-September-2005
Where: Sin-e (150 Attorney St. 212-388-0077) - New York, NY
With: Hartfield, A Place to Bury Strangers and IfWhen
Details: Doors @ 7:00 21+ $8
**After-party**: Come to Scenic (25 Ave B, New York) after the show to hang out with us and expose your (now ringing) ears to more shoegaze music. Brought to you by the fabulous people from The Loveless Music Group. It's FREE.

When: 22-September-2005
Where: The Warehouse Next Door (1017 7th Street NW. 202-783-3933) - Washington D.C.
With: Hartfield and Alcian Blue
Details: Doors 8:30. Show 9:00. $7. All Ages.

When: 23-September-2005
Where: Relative Theory Records (271 Granby St. 757-962-8052) - Norfolk, VA
With: Hartfield
Details: $5 in advance. $7 at the door. All Ages. Doors at 8:00. Show at 9:00.

When: 24-September-2005
Where: Comet Bar (4579 Hamilton Ave. 513-541-8900) - Cincinnati, OH
With: Hartfield and The Lesser Birds of Paradise
Details: TBA

When: 27-September-2005
Where: Double Door (1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-489-3160) - Chicago, IL
With: Hartfield, The Arks and Only Lovers Left Alive
Details: 21+ Doors 7:30pm / Show 8:30pm