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Summer 2002: August 11, 2002 I actually thought I had written a closing entry for this diary. Sorry. Here's how it all ended: We did another hell-drive (Minn to KC) and got to town around 3:00. I went to a record store, got some rekkids (the new Flaming Lips and the much-maligned new Marah -I like it) and went with Dan to the hotel. I was flying home the next day to hit the road again with Caitlin Cary for a ten-day tour and set about getting an early morning shuttle to the airport. You can imagine my shock when I found out I would be meeting the driver at 4:08 AM. As the Motorhead album title states: NO SLEEP AT ALL. The Uptown Theater in KC was pretty darn cool. I was excited to learn that it was the same place where a live Iggy album I bought with money from my 15th birthday was recorded (oops, I guess I just lapsed into 'The Music Scholar' for a second). The bands exchanged gifts (mostly alcohol-related) and TGUK went about their family duties. I cannot for the life of me remember where we ate. The show was uneventful except for the massive barrier (at least 7 yards between audience and stage) and the fact that we did "The Train From Kansas City" for the first time in about a decade. All I could think about at this point was that I would be getting a solid 2 hours of sleep if I was lucky. Post-show was pretty low-key and TGUK seemed pretty burnt. I don't blame 'em. They had already toured a bunch for this record and had just been told that their upcoming week of rest would be cut short due to a just-announced Conan O'Brien appearance that Friday. Next up for them would be a trip to Japan and then to Europe. They'll be hitting the US again this fall. Uggh. So back to the hotel it was. I had to gather up all the drum stuff I'd need and jam it into my suitcase. By 2:00 AM I was ready for bed. As I lay there listening to Dan's (God love him) wall-rattling snores I knew it was never going to happen. I checked out the new CDs, put my clothes on and headed down to the lobby. The service picked me up and I chatted with a woman in her mid-forties who flew to KC from Michigan to see Cher earlier that night. Got home hours later and hit the road again. I'm happy to say that Lucy is still with us and doing great. So, was it worth it? I'd say yeah. We may not have gone down a storm with all of the kids but I think I would have regretted it had we not tried it. It was great to play big places to big crowds and try something different. Most importantly it was good to finally get to take my son out on the road and spend some quality time with him.
Peace out! Jon
July 16, 2002 One more to go! Kind of a weird night in that we were onstage 6:25. Maybe the earliest 'night time show' we've ever done. Pretty good response and Jim said he sold some stuff out front. Not quite sure if he meant band merch or personal. Either way the kids win, right? We had to drive a hundred miles or so afterwards so we missed out on the big Vince Neil/Skid Row show at First Ave. Our loss or gain? Your call. Another hella drive tomorrow so this will be short with a more extensive wrap up to come. If I don't get to it right away I would like to just say this: Many many thanks to everyone involved in this tour. We were treated nothing short of fabulously by The Get Up Kids, Hot Rod Circuit and their crews. Special hat tips to tour manager Alex and stage manager Brett for going and beyond the call of duty. Pray for us on closing night. Who knows what looms ahead? July 15, 2002 Good one last night. Had fun and saw Danzig' s black bus. It's 7:30 am right now and we gotta heinous drive ahead of us. Tomorrow too. See you in da cities. XO. July 14, 2002 Just got up and I am surprised how ok I feel. Last evening was the last big blow-out night and although I did go wild (three citations -one for something called "public raucousness"), I kept my wits about me and didn't get hurt or lose my wallet or cell phone. Earlier in the day Laura, Angie and I were taken to a swingin' hot dog stand by Chad, Jamie and Ed from Touch and Go. Hot Doug's was packed but we were lucky to find a table and get down to business. I try my best not to eat meat but I made an exception and got a regular dog to go along with my "Howard Devoto" (Hot Doug's veggie link). Everyone else ate exotic duck dogs and sausages and Laura was in heaven due to her being a hot dog connoisseur. Next up was a stop for Argentinean Ice Cream. The stuff was great but the real treat was the sign on the counter which announced, "Try our new 'Milk Shake.'" Wonder if they applied for a trade mark for that concoction. The show was actually pretty good. Andy, Jay and Matt helped out again and we played "Pink Clouds" for the first time in years. There seemed to be a good # of people who knew what we were about and I spotted a few long-time fans, specifically a guy named Mike who has been coming out since 1992. I didn't go out to the T-shirt both and thus missed seeing Keith from the great Milwaukee band Die Kreuzen. Maybe he'll read this and drop me a line (or send me some chocolates). Went out for dinner after the show and came back to the House of Blues to hook up with TGUK. It was pretty late and the house band was playing some sort of St. Elmo's Fire-style blues so we called it a night. As we walked back to the hotel with Rebecca Gates we noticed a bunch of cyclists with numbers pinned to their chests. Turns out there was a 25-mile 'Midnight Ride' starting at 1:30 AM which was expected to draw 10,000 people. Gates --bike in tow-- was intrigued and was seriously considering joining in. I guess we'll find out all bout it tonight at the show unless she is at home icing down her calves. July 13, 2002 Sorry for the lost day. Didn't have time to write anything in Pontiac. The show there was at a club called Clutch Cargo and it appeared to have been a church in a former life. Lost a key part of my bass drum pedal and used my breathing skills to overcome the urge to storm around in a rage. Found the part wedged between two parts of one of my floor toms and rejoiced. Watched HRC play and was amazed at how many kids new their songs. Guess what happened when we played? Mmmm hmmmm. Mac's voice was pretty shredded from a combination of illness and too many shows in a row. I think we've played more consecutive shows on this journey (9) than any other and it can really wear you down. I'm jacked up on 'roids most of the time so it doesn't affect me too much. Andy and Jay from HRC helped out wonderfully and sang lead on some songs. Their presence served as an icebreaker of sorts between an audience of Chunk virgins and us guys. On to Chicago. Weird to do the Metro after ten years of headlining there and play an opening set. We've probably had our biggest and most appreciative audiences in that club --and that's what made last night's show feel so strange. We came out and were met with the bored stares of TGUK' s die hard fans. At one point I actually got into a yawning match with a young girl positioned directly in front of me. I'm sorry to say this but from time to time on this tour I have engaged in "stare wars" with some kids. We're up there playing our hearts out, and although there are pockets of people who are digging it and jumping around, my eyes are somehow drawn to the most uninterested person in the building. This person is usually in the front row --a result of having waited in line since 3:00. I then look directly into their eyes and see how long it takes them to look away. It usually doesn't take more than five seconds and the end result is usually light head-bopping and polite clapping when the song is over. Karma?: In 1994 I attended a Paul Westerberg show at Raleigh's tiny Brewery club. I really loved the show and decided to go see him the next night in Richmond, VA. I got there kind of early and staked out a good spot close to the stage. He was touring with an opening band called School of Fish. Although they were solid and had catchy songs, I just did not really care for them. I was getting really bored during their set (having seen them the night before) and was just standing there staring at them and most likely wondering if my car would make it home. At the height of my boredom I looked up at the drummer and our eyes met. I'm sure I still had a blank look on my face when he smiled and questioningly mouthed the word "Superchunk?" Guess what I did? Yep, I started bopping my head. Then I applauded. The wheel turns. So back to Chicago. Mac's voice was pretty shredded by song # four and he was doing his best to maintain. I should say that there were more people there for us last night than any of the other shows and their encouragement helped us enormously. Things took a turn for the better when the HRC and TGUK gang came out and delivered a cake to birthday boy Mac. Matt (TGUK) announced that it was his 50th birthday and the entire room sang to him. Miss Rebecca Gates came out and sang a splendid version of "Iron On." This was incredibly impressive due to the fact that she did it without ever rehearsing with us. Had a tough decision after the show. Stay for The White Stripes or go eat food. Chose food and had a great Japanese dinner with Angie, the band, Gates and the fine folks from Touch and Go. July 11, 2002 Not a whole lot to report today. Had a nice drive through the Ohio countryside and arrived at Bogart's in Cincy in time to hear of the horrors of the previous night's Danzig show. Paid tribute to the man's previous band by doing an acoustic duet of "Astro Zombies" with Matt from TGUK. Mac is getting a little sick and we ended up having to cut a song from the set. Ended the show with the drum intro to "Gentlemen" by hometown heroes The Afghan Whigs. Jim might have been the only one in the building who got it and his smile wiped away all the negative tension that has existed between us all these years. Just kidding, Jim's like a bandmate to me. :) Met a guy after the show who drove an hour and a half just to see us and was about to drive back home. That's some dedication! But why didn't he bring us some space cakes? July 10, 2002 Had a good visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday. Actually got a little teary when I read the Westerberg-scrawled lyrics to "Here Comes A Regular" while the song played over the in-house sound system. Got thrown out when I got behind John Bonham's IV-era kit and tried to beat out the intro to "Rock and Roll." Snuck back in and got tossed again for trying on Freddie Mercury's Jazz-era leotard. Now I can say I played Cleveland's world famous Agora Theater. I enjoyed walking around the venue and checking out all the old show reviews. My favorite was a review of an early '80s Ramones show where the writer just didn't quite get it. He said something like, "Then they did a song called "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" that sounded just like all their other songs." Jim from TGUK took me up into their dressing room (I won't allow myself to imagine what horrible things Gene Simmons has done in that room) and showed me one of the greatest bits of backstage graffiti I've ever seen. The message --it was more of a diatribe-- was from my boy Violent J. of the tuneful yet funky Insane Clown Posse and was apparently aimed at any and all bands who have the good fortune of headlining the Agora. I can't recall word-for-word what it says but the gist is that said headliners should "stay as big as they are now" and "do three shows here" instead of going up to an arena-sized venue. The message also says that "there are just as many girls who want to f*ck you outside the club waiting to get in as there are anywhere else." The best part is when J. states that the only thing that is different for them compared to other big groups is that they "don't get invited to Hugh Heffner's partys (sic)." He then points out that "Fine Young Cannibals and Arrested Development used to get invited and where are they now?" I can hazard a guess that wherever they are they're most likely not wearing clown white make-up over their beards and spraying Faygo on 13-year-old boys. July 9, 2002 First things first: I would like to apologize for referring to Rochester as "Crapchester." I was only joking --I've actually only ever been there once before. I should mention that the previous time (early '98, I believe) was at the Bug Jar --a cool bar that unfortunately features the worst stage I have ever set my drums upon. The middle portion of the stage (it opens onto the street) is so shallow that the drummer has to set up on one side and the rest of the band on the other. From what I remember there is some sort of sight blockage and I don't think I ever saw the others for the duration of the show. We did have fun hanging out in the bar portion of the club afterwards. We were planning on having a big dinner with TGUK tonight (July 8th). Things went pear-shaped after the show last night when TGUK' s bus broke down. It's 8:30 pm and we're still awaiting their arrival in Cleveland. Now it's the morning of the 9th. I think I had my final drink-out of the tour. We went to a nice Italian place and were eventually met by TGUK and crew. I can't say I remember all that much of what happened but one incident is clear in my mind. We ended up going to a bar called Becky's that was hopping with a real cross-section of people. I was crouching over looking at the juke box when I felt a light kick in the seat of my pants. I turned around expecting to see one of our party but I didn't. There behind me stood a scruffy, short, 30-ish- looking guy wearing a painter's cap. He was smiling and said something about me blocking the way to the restroom. He disappeared and I went back to looking at the jukebox. A couple seconds later TGUK tour manager Alex and guitar tech Joey came over and asked what happened. I told them that the guy just needed to get by and he didn't seem to be an asshole. They weren't so sure and were ready to tussle if need be. From where they sat it looked like the dude was looking for trouble. That got wondering me if the guy was in fact being a dick. As I was weighing that he taps me on the shoulder, shakes my hand, and gives me a full apology. That kind of thing happens to me fairly often, believe it or not. Ugh, I really feel like I might throw up. I in no way want this to happen because it would put an end to my 15-year vomitless streak. I'll keep you posted. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, here we come. July 8, 200 Sitting now in a corner of the stuffy backstage area of tonight's club. I honestly don't know the name of the venue I'm sitting in here in Rochester. This is not quite as bad as finding out this morning that we did not in fact play New Haven on Friday night. We actually played in Hartford. I spent the entire day under the impression we were in a whole 'nother city. Kinda made me feel like a real rock star. The story goes that many bands have to put the name of the city on their monitors so when the singer says "Awright (insert city name here)!" he doesn't get heckled. On a similar note : Rags to riches to rags to riches rockers Aerosmith, at the height of their drug usage, used to close with their cover of the Rock and Roll Trio's "The Train Kept A Rollin'." One night they decided to open with it instead. They were so chemically fogged that they actually walked offstage when they finished the song. They thought the show was over!!! And speaking of "The Train Kept A Rollin'," the previously mentioned Psychotic Norman once tried to work up a version with little luck. We gave up when we realized our singer Ted was singing "She was a hampster" instead of "She was a hipster." Looking back it was actually a pretty nice visual. Jim from TGUK told a funny story today. We were both saying how we barely graduated high school and comparing notes on how we got by. He said his graduation hinged on a good grade on a report. The only requirement was that the topic had to be something English. I was certain he was going to say his subject was the Beatles. When he told me it was actually Oasis I realized how out of our sphere of reference we are on this tour! That's cool though --I secretly revel in reading interviews with the Gallagher brothers. I especially like when they say stuff like "Yeah, it's like Thom Yorke innit? 'I've written the greatest fooking song in the world, but the only way you'll fooking get to hear it is if you're in between my fooking ears, mate.'" In regards to my high school career, all I can say is I just didn't care all that much. I'm not proud of that but I can honestly say I'm now doing exactly what I hoped I'd be doing when I was10 years old. I remember a conversation with my mother during the summer between 11th and 12th grade. My grades from the final semester arrived in the mail and my mother --a teacher-- was not impressed. I think I had gotten mostly C's. She asked me if I cared about school and I had to honestly say that I didn't. I knew I would most likely never go to college and if I did I'd just be thinking about how much I wanted to be making records and touring in a band. As I sit here wedged between a water heater and a box of used guitar strings after playing a set to a mostly disinterested crowd of 17-year-olds I know I made the right choice. I'm just kidding. I bet I'm the only one in my graduating class who got to meet the first singer of Iron Maiden in a hotel in Brazil or eat fish ball soup in a Taiwanese restaurant where the doorless restroom was located just feet from my plate. It really is a trade-off. July 7, 2002 Was July 6th declared National Muscle Car Rally Day or what? Greasers gathered today in L.A., Winston-Salem, NC and Worcester, Mass (site of tonight's gig) and God knows where else to compare tattoos, drink suds and peel out. The gathering in Worcester took place just blocks from tonight's venue and we got more than our fill of the sweet smell of freshly burned rubber. I think Dan is a closet gearhead because he seemed genuinely excited to checkout the custom rides. I was too scared that I would get beaten up by the "property" of some of the toughs. The show was a bit of a struggle tonight. We broke out some oldies ("Ribbon" and "Tower") we maybe should have run through a couple more times before playing. It's fun to dig deep into the catalog but it can be unnerving when you're playing in front of 2,000 people and you really don't know what the next part of the song is. Kids seemed somewhat into it but there were a lot of blank stares. I can't tell if these people really don't like us or if they're so tired from waiting in line all day to get a good spot that all they want to do is see TGUK and go home. Forgot to mention a funny sign that hung on the wall of last night's circus peanut-scented dressing room. It read: PLEASE DON'T WRITE ON THE PANELED WALE. I guess the main question would be, "How unaware/uncaring does someone have to be to write such a message, see it on their computer screen, push the print button, take the paper and tape it on the wall?" The second question is, "Why does the sign still hang when a quick look around the dressing room reveals a plethora of graffiti lampooning said sign?" My favororite one incorporated Moby Dick. On to Crapchester!
July 6, 2002 I am not meant to do laundry in Mystic. Went across the street to the laundromat when we arrived here yesterday and found it was closed. Got up early today (the 5th) and headed over there and discovered the power was down in the whole complex. I'm thinking about going to a nearby creek and washing my stuff on a rock like they did in the '60s. The following bit of hilarity came in the mail this morning courtesy of one our our supporters at the Philly show. The guy and his friends stopped at a convenience store after the gig and noticed a girl holding a drumstick:
We are loved! Now near Northhampton, Mass. We're staying at our booking agent's place and it's a killer old pad. His little kitty is walking around and he's in pretty bad shape with cancer. I'm trying to send him positive vibes to aid in his (unfortunately) impending crossover. Been doing a lot of reading of metaphysical books this past year and have many times come across the idea that while humans and animals are of the same source, our four-legged (and winged and finned) friends are more automatic in what happens to them after leaving the earth plane. Please don't roll your eyes. The show last night in New Haven was really great. Most appreciative audience of the tour by a long shot, for us. Sounded great too. I've been pleasantly surprised by the sound of my drums on this tour. For some reason I decided to reinstate a bunch of my old tubs for this haul. I've been using an amalgam of different ones I used on the On The Mouth (the big 28" bass drum) and Here's Where The Strings Come In records. Speaking of drums, it's been great to get to watch and be inspired by Mike (Hot Rot Circuit) and Ryan (TGUK) on this tour. They're both awesome and it has totally been worth the 100 bucks I pay their soundmen every night to make sure their drums sound quieter than mine. Extra special thanks to Tony for the gifts and for making it to the last five or six shows. Your presence, while disturbing to many (just kidding!), is enjoyed greatly by us. Scharpling gave me the good news yesterday that Monk, the USA show he's been writing for will not only have a character in a future episode named "Jon Wurster" but he will be played by SNL alum Kevin Nealon! But wait. What if this thing gets huge? What if there's a whole marketing campaign based around my name? What if his character gets spun-off onto a show of his own? I know I'm going to end up getting screwed on this. I love Tom but this is business. I'm going to have to get my paralegal neighbor Blake to go up to Toronto and shut down the set until this can be ironed out. Been getting ribbed for yesterday's soap boxing on the creative process. I can take it, I grew up with Mennonites. July 5, 2002 Had lunch today (July 4th) at a diner in New Jersey. My latest passion (and latest annoyance to my traveling companions) is perfecting the Philadelphia/SE New Jersey accent. I was given a masters class by our waitress. In case you haven't come across it, the Philly/SENJ accent resembles that of Baltimoreans but with subtle nuances. The most dramatic flavor is what I call the 'rounded I' where a word like "flight" becomes "floyt." But there are many other characteristics. A typical query like "Would you all like some water with those sandwiches" becomes "Would yoose guyz loyk some wudder with nem nair hoagies?" I never get tired of it. Wonder if there's much of that in the new M. Night Shamalangadindong movie. Saw a review of the new Get Up Kids album posted on our bbs last night. The review was incredibly mean-spirited and ended up making me feel a little sorry for the writer. A few years ago I had a revelation regarding music/art/writing, the gist of which is this: PEOPLE GENERALLY DO NOT MAKE RECORDS/FILMS/BOOKS/ART WITH THE INTENT OF ANNOYING/IRRITATING OTHERS. THEY MAKE THEM BECAUSE THEY WANT TO AND BECAUSE THEY ENJOY THE CREATIVE PROCESS. For years I was one of those people who griped about so and so's new album or film and bemoaned what I considered the undeserved popularity of whomever. Making a few records of your own will quickly change that kind of attitude. Not everybody is going to like and praise what you do and that's just the way it is. We've seen our share of negative reviews but life goes on and you realize you ultimately create stuff to please yourself. Mr. reviewer man might want to put his own stuff out there and get himself a taste. (later) We're in Mystic, CT (boyhood home of Mr. Wilbur) and just returned from seeing Minority Report. It was fun and went by pretty quickly. Didn't love it but it was the movie those guys wanted to make so that'll have to be good enough for me, ok? July 4, 2002 Finally some funny stuff to report. Where to begin? Maybe I'll start with the show and then get to the good stuff. I gotta say the Roseland show was one of the most enjoyable ones I've ever done. 3,200 folks is definitely the largest audience we've ever played to indoors. Saw lots of our NYC friends out there. We even got through "Say My Name" without a hitch. Humorous high-point # 1 came when Dan and I stopped at a rest stop in Maryland for gas. I got out of the van and noticed a young dude asleep in the mini-van next us. What made this scene funny was the fact that the most offensive death metal this side of Oslo was shaking the insides of his ride the whole time. Maybe he was preparing to sleep through WWIII. #2. The funniest line I heard backstage was delivered by Becky's friend Amelia who proofreads Harlequin romances for her day gig. She was describing the three formulas that most writers follow when conceiving a fanciful new romance story. The first two were pretty standard but the third was quite interesting in that it "usually involves an Indian with a weird rock or something." Guess the Indian uses the weird rock to summon magical breast-heaving energy. #3. As we stood outside of last night's Tai restaurant we couldn't help but notice the cuddly cats sitting in the window of the pet shop next door. A gothish looking man came up to the cages and started cleaning them out. Jim said, "Hey, that guy has a Siouxie and the Banshees shirt on and he's cleaning out cat cages." Mac took one look in the window and in absolute horror exclaimed, "Oh my god, that's my college roommate!" It was too. A truly Seinfeldian moment. #4. As Mac and I waited for a cab this morning we came upon an apparently empty trolley sitting on the side of the street. Then Mac noticed some liquid dripping out of one of the side doors. "Is there somebody in there?" he asked. It soon became apparent: the driver was taking a leak in the door well of the trolley and it was spilling out into the street. Very disgusting but I can't say it's the first time I've heard of this. Vancouver punk pioneers D.O.A. were early proponents of this 'van as toilet' philosophy. #5. I hope I'm not speaking out of school here on this one and I apologize to the concerned unnamed parties in advance. Heard a mind-blowing tale of two guys who wanted to go see a big baseball game and did the unthinkable to get in. They came upon the idea of having one of them pose as handicapped to get special close-to-the field seats. The guys rented a wheelchair and got their tickets. They were excited but they were also beginning to feel the twinges of guilt when they decided to take two extra tickets to a veterans hospital and give them to the first baseball fan they saw. They went to the game and were enjoying themselves but then something unexpected happened. The one in the wheelchair found he had to go to the bathroom. The other one had to wheel him to the crowded restroom and slide him into a stall in front of everybody. It was at this point that the guys had had enough. They realized they could no longer keep the charade up and never returned to their ill-gotten perfect seats. Life's lessons come in all shapes and sizes. Sitting now in the only air-conditioned area of the Electric Factory in my old hometown of Philadelphia. That's not exactly true. I come from a small farming community northwest of here but this is where I cut my musical teeth performing in the legendary Psychotic Norman. Wait, you've never heard our single "Man Meets Fish?" You never saw us play one of our blistering sets at Abe's Steaks --the only venue in America where you could get an authentic Philly cheese steak, walk two feet into the next room and get your face blasted by the hardcore sounds of The Sadistic Exploits? Your loss. Now back at the hotel in New Jersey. The club was so hot that it was hard to enjoy anything. I think you really have to be a kid to withstand that sort of swelter and still hang around for your favorite band. I can't really think of anybody I'd do that for at this point in my life. The low point of the day came when Laura, Jim, Roman (Spoon) and I were walking back from a post-show meal. The Get Up Kids had finished and there was a long line of cars waiting to get out of the area. I made eye contact with a teenage girl in one of the cars. I could tell she was telling the driver that Superchunk were walking by. I smiled at her and she smiled at me. We got about six feet past them when she yelled, "Should be Supersuck, not Superchunk!" I turned and charged at her. She shrieked and I stopped short of her door and smiled at her again. Teenagers, I hate 'em. Just kidding, they make great movie ushers. July 2, 2002 DC gig # 2 is history. We've been trying not to duplicate too many songs and had to dig deep for a couple tonight. "On The Mouth" was played and I for one just barely got through it. I have said before that that one has never been a favorite of mine; so much so that I may have blocked its layout from my memory. "Let It Go" presented a similar problem last night. I don't think we'd played that live in years. Laura had trouble with Sunday's set opener "What Do I" and announced after the show that she had fired herself. Apparently some kids have been heckling us during some of the shows. I'm ready to start dispensing spankings. We've really been enjoying getting to know The Get Up Kids and their crew. Everybody has been incredibly kind to us. I had never heard the Kids before leaving for this tour and I am really surprised by the comparisons to our band. I know they name us as an influence but outside of a few stray chord patterns I don't really hear that much of a similarity. They're much tighter than we are!! Jim reminded us of a funny story tonight. While working a Sunday local band showcase show at the Cat's Cradle night club in Chapel Hill, Jim was privy to the following sound check hilarity: Teenage Guitarist (to soundman): Is my amp too loud? Do you want me to go down on my amp? (pause) Should I go down on my amp? Wish he had taped it. Man, I am just not seeing many ironic t-shirts. What happened? Is that "so very 2001" or what?
July 1, 2002 A rare morning in! Nice to be able to sleep as long as possible. Just got back from lunch with an old friend from back home. Brad and I played briefly in Whiskeytown in mid '98 and he is currently playing in the Ryan Adams solo get-down. Fun to hear of his world travels and jams with Sir Elton. Had a minor flashback on the way to the hotel when a farmer-ish looking dude (or was he alt.country? Farrar, what have you wrought?!) stuck his head out of his car window and started singing "Whip It" at me. Back in the very early eighties yelling "Devo" at somebody was a major put down and I wonder if this guy was doing his part to keep the punk/new wave vs. hard rock war alive. At least I didn't end up getting punched in the stomach like I did when I was a freshman in high school for the offense of wearing a Plasmatics button on my sweat jacket. Can you believe I used to wear sweat jackets? Show was good last night. DC has always been one of our strongholds and it seemed like some of our people were there. We played a chronicological set for the first time. We started with the first single and then played a song from each record in the order they were released. We ended with our take on Destiny's Child's "Say My Name." Don't ask.
June 28-29, 2002 Good to be home last night, if only for several hours. I think our show in Raleigh (haven't played there since '95) marks the first time (as far as I can remember) we've ever rocked the triangle in the middle of a tour. Usually we start or end there. Unusual being home and knowing you've got to be somewhere else the next day. Dogs are good and got to say goodbye to my neighbor Tim who's moving away this weekend. We listened to a CD Henry and Garth gave me of prank calls and weird audio oddities on the drive up to Norfolk this afternoon. My favorite track has to be "Daddy's Curses," a recording a child made of his hot-headed father trying to fix a piano. Profanity flies like nobody's business for minutes on end but there are several points where daddy, still fuming, does his best to curb his blue language. I don't know if the son has come back into the room or what but he immediately goes from "you motherf**ing scumbag" to "gosh darn it" and "phooey." A wonderful peek into one man's rage and his bid to hide it. Can the stories of The Who's tour continuing in the wake of John Entwistle's death be true? The way I heard it is they cancelled the first four days and then they will go on. I figure the only way they could get someone so quickly is to snag a guy from a Who tribute band. The chances of one of their legendary bass playing friends knowing all their tunes well enough to jump into something like this would be slim. Speaking of tribute bands, do everything in your power to see the documentary Tribute. I was fortunate to see it at this year's SXSW and it is incredible. The film spotlights the highs and lows of portraying famous rock stars and concentrates on five bands: Sheer Heart Attack (Queen), Larger Than Life (Kiss); Missing Links (Monkees); a Judas Priest band; and a Journey tribute act. The drama going on in each group is so great an entire movie could have been made on each of them. There was a short 20 minute film shown before Tribute called Aces High --the story of a band that only plays Ace Frehley songs. Each member dresses as the spaceman circa different eras. One guy is the '74 Ace, one the '75. The other two are '76 and '77. They make their poorly treated roadie ("No roadie has ever done more than one show with us," says one of the Aces) wear the make-up of Ace's replacement Vinnie Vincent. It's early in the morning now. The post-show festivities consisted of a minor shalom session (see previous diaries for explanation) and 3 minutes worth of the new Eminem album on TGUK's bus.. As we were leaving two young girls tried to kidnap TGUK' s drummer Ryan and take him to the beach. I asked if I could go and they said "Eeeew, what are you like old enough to be our uncle?" I had similar luck earlier in the night when I asked one of the band's young female friends if she wanted to sit with me in the club's backstage hot tub. She said she didn't want to be in there if I had a heart attack. The show was good with the exception of the small gang of dissatisfied kids who gave us the finger during "Like A Fool." Mac shut them down by implying they were from Virginia Beach (not a too happening town). Many thanks to the kind folks at the Norva.
June 27, 2002 Now sitting in the glorious confines of Atlanta's Masquerade club. We have not played at this three-storied, three-themed (first floor is 'hell', top floor is 'heaven', not sure what the middle one is --'earth' maybe? I think it's actually 'purgatory') since around 1994. Hasn't changed at all. Still a dump. And I mean that in the best way possible. Wait, no I don't. Man, I can't believe how little there is to report so far. When you do one of these professional tours where the headliners have a full road crew and you're playing 'upscale' venues (today's excluded) everything runs really smooth, hence there are very few chances for things to go horribly awry. Last night's show was actually on the Disney World grounds in Orlando. I was fortunate to have missed out on the interview Mac and Jim did with a young lass whose knowledge of independent rock and roll was, um, lacking. They said the high point was when they brought up Dinosaur Jr. and she drew a blank and said that was a cute name for a band. It really is weird being around so many young people at these shows (the average age seems to be around 18). One of the guys from TGUK remarked that their audience keeps getting younger. I think there were a few more Chunk fans at the show last night than the previous gig (that's rock slang for 'concert'). Lots of blank stares but pretty good over all. We've been playing 11-12 songs a night on this tour and I really like the fact that we have to come out guns a-blazin' and keep it going for 45 minutes. Had to leave the painting from Boynton behind for Mickey and his friends. The paint was still wet and it got all over luggage and instrument cases in the cargo van. Back at the hotel across from the fabulous Fox Theater. It's around 2:00 am and another long drive looms. Had a rough soundcheck ---things were going haywire (guess I spoke too soon earlier) but the dudes took care of it. Had a lovely home cooked dinner courtesy of Chunklet magazine publisher Henry Owings and his friend Garth. Nice to get away and go to somebody's crib for a little while. Many thanks guys. Returned to the club and was met with the news that the Ox has passed on. Apparently John Entwistle died in his hotel room just a day before the Who's big U.S. tour was to roll. Major bummer. We tipped our hats by playing "Won't Get Fooled Again" over the PA before we went on. Our old buddy Dewitt Burton was on the seen and reminded me of a funny Entwistle story: Entwistle is hanging out down at Sammy Hagar's island club Cabo Wabo (the story comes courtesy of a soundman who worked at the club). Hagar and the Ox are walking through the VIP area when Sammy turns to Entwistle and says, "Here we are John, just a couple of rock legends." Entwistle turns to Sam and grumbles, "No, I'm a rock legend....you're Sammy Hagar." I leave you with that. June 26, 2002 (2:00 am) Way too long a drive tomorrow to get into the day's events right now. More to come. June 25, 2002 Gig number one is in the record books. I am pleased to relay that both The Get Up Kids and Hot Rod Circuit are nice dudes and treated us like the gods we are. Just kidding...about them being cool. Just kidding again. Huh? The venue was in a strip mall. It was hard to tell whether or not the owners are in the rock biz for the long haul (they just had Danzig there -- click to read of my encounter with the dark dude of rock a few weeks ago). A removable vinyl sign hung over the main entrance. Inside, Ovations was indistinguishable from any other large rock venue: a dark big boomy room with two bars on either end. Hot Rod Circuit played first and people really went nuts for them --lots of kids singing along to songs. I wish I could say the same for us. We did have some supporters but overall I would say that we were an unknown quantity to these kids. At one point we noticed a young man making his way through the crowd holding a large painting. It was somewhat abstract but the word 'Superchunk' was clearly visible. He came backstage while we were loading out and it was then that we realized the painting was still wet. I think Mac got a bunch of it on himself. The fellow was intent on receiving stickers in return. I couldn't get through to him that "we don't' have no stickers no more." Ate at a sushi place while the Kids were playing (we didn't get to eat before we played). The waitress was really animated and Laura somehow picked up her Japanese accent and actually said "sank you" at one point. I think the other bands are going to friend's places and strip clubs. I'm already beginning to feel out of place here. My days of post- show strip club visits ended weeks ago. Maybe I can find an all-night wheat grass shot dispensary. Goodnight y'all. June 24, 2002 Just got back from dinner here in Daytona, Fla. We ate at Buca Di Beppo, a Midwest-based family-style Italian chain restaurant. 'Family-style' can best be interpreted as "portions of food so massive that upon meal's completion you will vow to never eat here again." I feel like I have a small village in my stomach. The ride down here was surprisingly quick. I spent most of it asleep (big surprise there). When awake I worked on finishing Lexicon Devil, the recently published oral history of Darby Crash and the Germs. Man, things were wild in L.A. in the late seventies and early eighties! Drugs, sex and debauchery all around. I can certainly relate, having smoked several joints and having seen the film Bolero more than once during the course of my 35 years of fast times. More to come. Thanks for your kind wishes for Lucy. June 23, 2002 I'm sitting here the day before the tour wondering what it will be like opening for the Get Up Kids. Who will we meet? What will we see? The first thing that pops into my head is the playful phrase that serves as the title of this diary. It's actually taken from a recent Onion article about a Yo La Tengo concert that ended in disaster. I know I probably sound like a crabby Appleton but laughs are important and I need to get 'em somehow, right? There has been a fair amount of ballyhoo in the indie rock community as to why we are opening for the Kids. Some say it's sacrilege that we must bear the "humiliation" of opening for these "young whippersnappers." Spin even weighed in on the matter suggesting that we might want to call it a day. I've enjoyed reading the volley of opinions thrown up on our bulletin board in the same way I would enjoy a heated debate over who is the biggest band in Delaware. But this kind of thing (somewhat credible band opens for larger band who through no fault of their own have become quite popular) is in no way unprecedented. Sonic Youth did tours with Pearl Jam and R.E.M. not that long ago. Not that I'm in any way equating us with Sonic Youth. They travel in a tour bus and we're riding in 'Wind Warrior 1' --a milk truck/dune buggy hybrid that Jim's cousin Roger "invented" when he dropped out of society back in 1998. Anyway, The Get Up Kids kindly asked us to do the tour and we said ''yes." We're looking forward to playing to unfamiliar faces and seeing if we can sell them a T-shirt or two. I'm just kidding, it's not about selling stuff. It's about the prospect of answering a young heckler with a zinger like, "Hey, I was watching Alf when you were belching up strained carrots, sonny/young lady." We are pleased to have T-shirt lady Becky out with us once again. Our old buddy Dan Mapp will be our tour manager and sound dude. Can I ask you all to direct your kind thoughts to our longtime dog Lucy? Lucy has been with my girlfriend Angie for 16 years and she just got through major surgery. She's doing well now but the vet said she might not be with us too much longer. Been trying to get quality time with her before I leave.
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