wed aug 27 - did a photo shoot at the Driskel Hotel in Austin for the article on Sounds Under Radio that came out in the Austin American Statesman on Sunday. Almost took some shots in front of a longhorn mounted above a fireplace in the hotel bar... but decided against it. We went with the more passive 'leather couch' look.
thurs aug 28- The .dB Initiative played a show... it rocked in the most spacy of ways. We were all there.
friday aug 29- Drove to Laredo for a show at Average Joes. It rained almost the entire time we drove... and this wasn't just any normal rain... this was the "once every 5 years in south texas" kinda rain... it was nuts. Stopped for an early dinner at a Loves truck stop (thats all there really was for miles) and i somehow got us turned around going North (where we should have been going south) on the access road to I35... there was no turn around for 7.5 miles. Ridiculous. I felt like a damn idiot.
Finally got to Average Joes after a quick stop by HEB for rations... loaded in, said hello to our good friends Alpha Rev who we were co billed with.
Laredo is a very interesting place... we've been there 4 times in the past 8 months and it has just now started to get good. It just takes time for people to get to you know you... first time not so great of a crowd, next time was better but still not good, next time was actually quite good, and this last trip the crowd was great. Near sold out room.
When we got there we found out that the venue was also hosting the official after party for some boxing match that had occured that afternoon... the champ came, he was given his belt, it was great.
We played a really good show... thanks to all that came out in Laredo. Caught Alpha Rev's set (first of a 3 day stint together)... they were amazing as always.
2:30am we were all loaded out, and we hit the road... decided to drive home and grab some z's in our own beds since we were playing so close to near austin the next night. made it home around daybreak (7:30am). Pulled in to the drive, I got in my car to go get some breakfast, came home and passed out. Van sleep is not real sleep. Even if you crash out for hours in the van is like you were only sorta napping... not true rest.
sat aug 30
rouse the troops around 4... every still sleepily gets in the van at 5, drive and load in to Merkaba Lounge in Pflugerville at 6pm. This is a another show with Alpha Rev. Load in, backline the stage, get merch set up, hand with Richard and Ian from Merkaba... great peeps over there. By the time we all get settled the night begins with the Ars Supernova, we hit stage afterwards... do our thing. Props to Ian Lee for sticking over on the light console. He looked like he was about to lose his lunch the entire evening (i think he has the flu), but he ran a great light show... Ian knows all the songs from Cinematica so he always rocks the cues. We love playing there. Alpha Rev played another amazing set. I jumped up on stage mid set for an impromptu duo vocal performance of the beatles "nothings gonna change my world" with Casey from Alpha Rev. He played piano and sang lead... i floated some harmonies on top. It was great fun.
2:30am we were loaded up and headed out to get a bit of shut eye before the follow days afternoon sweat fest.
sunday aug 31 BATFEST in Austin... the annual outdoor festival on the south first street bridge in Austin... well its generally on the S. Congress St bridge, but because of some odd politics it had to be moved this year. Regardless... it was a bridge, it was outdoors, it was hot, tons of people, it was awesome.
We arrived for load in at 2:30pm right as The Feds (a band from Dallas) hit stage. i've always been a fan of The Feds... and I must say, they absolutely stomped ass. Got a chance to hang with the guys after the show... could not be any nicer of fellas really. Hope to do more shows with them in the future. They really were fantastic. The Feds end at 3:30, we load on stage line check and go start downing water... its hot... i mean really hot. By showtime at 4:30 it was 100+ degrees outside, the crowd began really closing in on the stage... to it was great, but man was it warm. Played the show with as much energy as we could... felt like we were playing in slow motion toward the last 2 songs of the set. the quote of the day, which I don't even remember saying to the audience... but was recounted to be by numerous people was, "its so hot out here that my feet are getting sunburned... through my shoes." I really did feel that way though... my feet felt like they were melting. Anyway... we had a handful of small technical difficulties during the show, but we soldiered through and I don't think anyone knew.
So thanks to all the folks that came and soldiered in the heat with us.
Following us were Alpha Rev... caught part of their set from the merch booth and the other part from our trailer whilst loading up our gear.
Chatted with the boys from Ludo for a bit... hadn't seen them since we played with them in Omaha during our winter tour... then it was literally -10degrees... drastically different from that day. Anyway... great guys, great band. Fantastic to get to reconnect... hoping to see them out on the road again. They had just wrapped a stint on Warped Tour and said that this show was hotter than anything they experienced the entire time they were on that tour. That says a lot.
So around 9pm we departed... navigated the odd downtown traffic of the festival and some 10k run that was happening. It was intense.
more later
LAng
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