Oct 23 - Amigos Show

The Amigos show is under our belts and it was great! I believe the door count was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 180, and every one of those 180 people were great. Thanks to friends, family, and well-wishers that came out and saw our set, and also to Amgios and ChimpanA to ChimpanZ for letting us open. One of the Chimps commented, "These must all be friends of yours, we don't know anybody". While modest, he did speak the truth. As soon as we finished our set and looked around, I realized there were people everywhere that I knew. Thank you.

We have a few photos up in the Glamour section (thanks, Sean) and if anybody happens to have more photos, I'd love to add them to the collection. Also, we did record the show, proving for once and for all that the mix through the board is a mistake. The only blemish on a fantastic evening. If there is a song that we can salvage, though, I will put it in the Phono section for sure.

So what's next? We don't have any more shows booked at the moment. We hope to have a show or two in November, just to keep working on the live end of things. We also have several new songs that we will be adding to our live setlists, perhaps a few of the other older ones that we didn't play this time, and maybe a cover or two as well.

Once we get everything polished to where we'd like, it will be time to find ourselves in a studio to record them properly. And then picking and choosing the songs that make the cut for the album or EP. And then a tour. It all seems unlikely right now, but there was a time when I never would've imagined we'd be playing a show at Amigos. So who knows what the future holds?

Anyway, that's all dreaming. I hope that all in attendance had a great time at the show. Thanks again.

Setlist: This Is The Way Life Grows, Regions & Markers, Rhythm of Life, Pinstripe Gin, Death of the Glorious Future, Silver City Surf, A-Line, A Scattershot Genius, The Latest Age, Sincerest Element, Serenade.

Getting ready for friends

As you may or may not know, we have a show at Amigos coming up Sat. Oct 23, opening for local banana nuts ChimpanA to ChimpanZ. That's 10 days away, and we have a lot to do to get ready for our Amigos show. As the last two blogs detailed, we have lost a Todd and gained a Brett. We've played together I believe three or four times now. Yes, that's right.

But we're going to be getting together and working like crazy to get him up to speed and tighten the songs up for ourselves, too. We have a practice Thurs night and then probably all day Sat and Sun as well as several times next week, depending on what everyone has available.

So far with Brett, we've played Regions & Markers, Serenade, This Is The Way Life Grows, A Scattershot Genius, Silver City Surf, and A-Line, as well as some newer ones that probably won't be ready in time for the show (Lotus Shoes, A Dip in the Light, 'Space', ...). I don't know that anyone besides the band reads these, but if you have a song you'd like to hear (even among one of the ones listed above), then by all means leave a comment and let us know.

Hello Brett

After almost weeks of searching for a new drummer, the task has ended. I was sitting at work last Monday thinking to myself, "Who do I know that plays drums?" and suddenly remembered that I had told a friend who I admittedly don't see much of but have known since elementary school that we'd get together and jam. You might've guessed it - he plays the skins.

He showed up early (a good sign) and him and I set up and he was adjusting the setup and testing as he went, and when he hit it right and was testing the kit as a whole, my jaw just dropped. Seriously. He was that good. Mike showed up a little later, and the Dutch later still, and we had a really great jam session. He - his name is Brett Marcoux, by the way - is a very talented drummer and musician with a really good ear for what's called for, what's coming, and what's needed. Mike's crash was also MIA for that session, and about halfway through our session (probably an hour or two in), Mike commented, "I just realized you've been playing without a crash this whole time." You'd never have noticed it.

We got together again on Sunday and sealed the deal. I don't think it'll take long to get him up to speed on the older material. We've played A-Line through a few times, and we tried A Scattershot Genius and This Is The Way Life Grows yesterday. But, perhaps more excitingly, we have a whole backlog of new material that Mike & I worked on yesterday, and then again with the band last night.

There's Regions & Markers, which, to be fair, we had already started working out with Todd. It is pretty much done. There's a new song with a ripping bassline Mike came up with, and we actually tacked on another song I had kicking around for over a year as an outro. There's Lotus Shoes, which isn't ready for the whole band yet, but is getting closer. There's a spacey track that is very triptastic. And between Mike & I, there are a lot more that aren't quite ready but are assuredly close.

So while we probably won't be in the studio for Thanksgiving, we'll hopefully have some new stuff for whenever our next live show might be. I imagine towards the end of October - possibly with In Medias Res. Ash gave me a call from Vancouver to let me know they're coming out this way again and are looking for a 19+ show.

Anyway, that's enough blathering for now. Welcome aboard, Brett.