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Published: November 21st 2006
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Brian and Edward
...hanging at the sound board 11/20/2006 12:08 PM
We made it to Cedar Rapids by 6pm but it was close. The first thing we noticed as we pulled into town was that the place smelled of oatmeal. Edward joked about there being an oatmeal plant here. As we neared the center of town there it was…oatmeal central. A huge Quaker Oats plant lit up the interstate.
We found the venue and located Jason the promoter and started to get set up. He introduced us to the opener, Cold Mercy, and a few of the staff. Our green room was actually green, which always amuses me for some reason. They set our room up with beer, juice, water, and a homemade dinner made by Gayle from Nexxus. She made it vegan and included a side of beef to add to it for the rest of us. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not what I had expected from a small mid-western town. No surprise that the people were super friendly and super helpful.
Sound check went fairly well once half an hour was spent chasing a big hum. Brian was behind the board for a 4 hour sound check. The crowd was a bit
Martin
sound check of an unusual mix due to there being a rave next door. Kids kept coming into the room with those twirly glow stick things and all sweaty from dancing. We finally got set and it sounded pretty good. Edward and I took turns taping with the video camera and Martin tapped into the board with his mini-disc recorder (just listened to it a minute ago and it sounds pretty good). As Attrition went on Martin was presented a birthday cake and Laurie sang Happy Birthday.
As the show ended we barely got off the stage and the room got rushed with DJs and ravers . The lights went out and the blacklights came on. We hurried to get out of the room while we could still see our equipment. Packing into the bus has been difficult to say the least. Between us we are carrying 8 plastic tubs of merch, equipment for 2 bands, and bags for 5 people to last a month. Its tight in here. When we stop we generally spend a lot of time waiting for each other to move out the way. Loading in the cold and dark, Brian was getting increasingly annoyed after having
Brian...
...trying to find the Hummmmmmmmmmm being hit in the head repeatedly by shifting gear. The nightly game of Tetris is getting old rather quickly. Tetris in the cargo bay. Tetris with our bags. Tetris with each other as we shift the cabin about. It all somehow works out well until someone needs to pee and there is a bunch of bags or computer cables or just a bunch of shit sitting in the aisle. I somehow expect that we are all going to morph into coloured blocks by the end of this tour. Even watching the GPS gets dull now that we are in the Midwest. “Hey look…we’re still following that strait line going west!- Wait check it out!...it keeps going west!”
Following the gig we tailed Jason to Gayle’s house where they put us up for the night. We sat at the kitchen table looking at each other…tired from the 10 hour drive and 8 hour production. Martin and I crashed in the back room, Edward didn’t make it out of the chair in the living room, Laurie hit the couch, and Brian chose the bus.
In the morning we slept in and started the search for Vegoil. Gayle made us 4
Me...
...going crazy on the bus pots of coffee and I think we ate all of her bread. Then there was the shower….mmm…shower. I realized that we had all taken on some sort of fragrance, a combination of smoke, sweat, alcohol, diesel/Vegoil exhaust, and just generally smelled like ass. Apparently before we arrived at the house a squirrel found its way down the chimney and was running around the basement causing a bit of confusion. They called animal control and they were going to take care of it.
Jason located a Chinese restaurant that said it would be okay if we took their oil so we set off for oil. Backing out of their driveway was a bit difficult in that there were trees right next to the one side. As Brian backed out to the road Jason exited his car a ran up to tell us to slide over a bit because we just ran into their mailbox. None of us heard anything but upon inspection it was definitely…broken. It was on a wooden post, split down the middle with the mailbox laying on the ground.
On our arrival to the Eggroll House we sat and had some lunch while we waited for
Me...
cheap new glasses the return of the owner. Edward, Jason, and I sat a chatted while Brian filled up and Laurie filmed the process. We didn’t get much in the way of oil because it was getting really cold out and the pump was having a hard time pulling the thickening grease. After about an hour and a half Brian decided to say fuck it and head back to Gayle’s house.
We started back to Gayle’s house with its broken mailbox and AWOL squirrel. We got a bit lost on the way but found ourselves in front of a DIY car wash that was big enough to fit the Nebuchadnezzar so Brian decided to give it a badly needed bath. Martin and I celebrated by having a beer. The mailbox was fixed by the time we returned and right as we left the bus to go to the door, it opened and out came the squirrel, wrapped in a towel running for cover under a car. We picked up the few things we had forgotten at the house, said our good-byes, and started out for Kansas City. About 100 miles down the road we found a rest area with Wi-Fi and pulled
MMmmm...Internet
What we do when we can...I was actually writing this blog in this picture in. Brian researched a quicker filter for the end of the pick up hose and we sat around and drank Martins beer until we fell asleep.
Now we are in Missouri nearing KC. I think we are all looking forward to playing this show tonight. We have a few friends there from past tours and it will feel a little more like home.
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fabre
non-member comment
wow
You guys are awesome, no doubt about it