On tour in Space*, our Ambient Space rock Orchestra. (* denotes America)

Taken from www.myspace.com/joywantseternity without permission.  

Bozeman - First day of tour!

After a grueling 13 hour drive plus a battle with our gps device we finally made it to the Filling Station in Bozeman. A great bar with decor of vintage signs, beer cans, and taxidermy. With only stops for gas, we left at 7 am made it to the venue at 9, just in time. It was a great bill with Ampline from Cincinnati who rocked out with loud / almost instrumental songs, as well as locals the Salamanders. and even improvised beatboxing from Nathan between sets. The sound guy Dean was probably the best sound guy we've had in a long time and it was great that Grant set us up with such short notice. A great start to the tour, and couldn't complain about the free beer. Not only were the locals friendly, a good portion of them had lived in Seattle at a some point. We ended up talking to a couple who originally met working at the old I-Spy in Seattle. Although it started pretty empty, people came in during our set and we ended up playing to a decent sized crowd. We ended up selling a lot of merch and besides losing some cash in the video poker machine, i'd say it was an awesome night overall. We're hanging out at our friend Ginny's place headed to Fargo where we play on Saturday.

Day Two - Half way to Fargo

Currently we're sitting in a hotel room in Dickinson, ND about 350 miles from Fargo drinking Old Crow and Coke's playing FIFA 2006 on X-Box. It's our only night off on tour so we figured we might as well splurge and see what it should be like every night. Here's our day in review: I woke up this morning to the Bozeman Police putting a parking ticket on the van... which we won't be paying. Then I allmost locked the keys in the trailer. Thank god that didn't happen. We had Buffalo sausage for breakfast, then drove around Bozeman to try and find a locksmith to make us spare keys, and an auto parts store so we could fix the wipers and the TV in the van. Spent about 2 hours trying to fix the van before we gave up, found the locksmith, and got the hell out of town. We, actually I, drove about 7 hrs and ended up here at Quality Inn in "Dick-in-son". Tomorrow it's another long drive, but not as bad as these last two. Good news is the van is getting better mileage than we expected towing all this gear. And Michael's sick as hell. Hopefully we don't all catch it. Here is a photo of Dickinson high school homecoming crowding into the local Perkin's restaurant where we got some late night food. See you in Fargo tomorrow night.

Rob

Day Three - Fargo = Awesome

After a well needed day off, and a good amount of driving, we pull up to the Red Raven Espresso, for an all ages bill that Sleeping in Gethsemane set up. After some really cheap food with raffle tickets (sal won a beer), we find out that one band has cancelled, without much notice. Even after that the bill turns out great, and we do better than we would have even in seattle. A huge crowd comes to see Sleeping in Gethsemane, and we were lucky to play before them. The Daleks open the night off with some Black Key inspired rock. We then play to a hot packed room, and Sleeping in Gethsemane blew away everyone ending the night with heavy mathy rock. We ended up crashing at their place exchanging stories about tour, screenprinting and pretty much everything else too. Things like playing in a venue with, literally, a dead clown, and $1200 guarantees in Fargo, and weather. thanks to brandon, brandon, and shane from sig for all the help and good times. Note to self, Fargo = Awesome, we'll be back.

Day Four - The Twin Cities aren’t so similar....
Current mood: hanging out with Giants

We wake up early again,this time to make it to Radio K in minneapolis. We fight bad weather, a half working windshield wiper and the clock trying to make the interview / in studio on time. we play a couple songs there for "now like photographs" and brandon who interviews us asks us some questions. Really nice guy, and its a great time talking to him afterwards. The studios are the nicest weve ever seen, maybe even nicer than KEXP. So, we head to big v's in st paul for the second half of a now like photographs day. we are scheduled to play last on this sunday, and I had a few doubts about the venue as soon as we got there. After watching a ref blow a game (chargers/broncos) and a no-hitter at the sports bar, the bands, and promoters from radio k show up. Both bands played sets and left after their sets (totally lame), leaving us to play to a room of just our friends. One of the bands even interrupted us while we were talking on stage to say bye. The guys in the bands were nice, just didn't think past getting the hell out of there. Derek and Dave from Giants, as well as members from Gospel Gossip stuck it out through our entire set and we love them for it. We're told outside by a stranger that we are crazy to be playing this place, and that there are "three stabbings a night" there. There were definitely a odd bunch of characters throughout the night. The bartender ended up giving us a round of shots, as well as buying our CDs which made the night alright since we didn't make any money at the door. We are lucky that they guys from Giants let us crash there, and we start to retool for Milwaukee.

Day Five - Milwaukee

We spend some time in Minneapolis getting lunch at a retro styled cafe and head on the road. So we get the x box working in the van and now all the drives are shouting soccer matches. We get to Milwaukee just in time, and load in just before 10. The first thing we see is a guy drinking outside the bar which seems very odd. It is a late start and we get the idea that they don't usually have shows in Milwaukee on Mondays. Monday Night Football is on and there is a decent sized crowd to begin with / compete with. Brief Candles opens with some awesome rock / shoegaze. We play a short set, with all around visuals (thanks to Lights Out Asia's projector set up). And Lights Out Asia played a overwhelming set with electronics and layers of sound. It was a great bill, and even for a Monday people stuck around. We hung out and talked to Lights Out Asia, and they hooked us up with a free hotel room in Chicago even. Towards the end of night again someone is outside drinking and the bar gets raided by the cops although nothing was wrong. We load in and Sal ends up buying a beat up Brewers baseball cap from a guy asking for change and telling us about Gary, Indiana. We head off towards Chicago looking for this hotel, but of course GPS failed us again. We ended having to just crash in the van at 4 am, all pretty hungry, but too tired to care. GPS 2 - JWE 0.

Day Six - Chicago

So we are all excited to get out of whereever we are in between Milwaukee / Chicago and find a mom and pops diner. It literally was, with pictures of all the kids, 7 of them, most of them playing soccer. After eating, and a barrage of poop jokes, were headed off to Chicago. We end up meeting up with James from Giants (aka the best people in the world) and take a short tour of the city. He lives a couple blocks from Wrigley, and we take the trains there, where already people crowd the streets with Blue Red and White .. checking out James' photos we are convinced that we need him to do a photoshoot for us. He's got an old camera that takes amazing pictures, and we go outside and do a few shapshots. Then we head off to get hot dogs, and unfortunately see a biker get taken down by a opening taxi car door. We think that he has a broken collarbone, and everyone is dumbfounded. After the medics arive we leave the fiasco, and head downtown to see Millennium Park, the buildings in the Wilco album, and other sites. By the time we get to the venue, Ten Speed is warming up/ jamming. The bar is owned by Ronny who doesn't really seem to want to serve anyone, as he gets up from the slot machines to help us. It really is two rooms split off, the bar, and then a venue that looks like a converted garage. We end up going to the liquor store with a friend Megan (who just moved to Chicago) instead of buying beer there. All the bands were really great, and Panda Riot was kind enough to headline, although we were listed that way. J Rutherford played great folk / fingerpicking tunes. Ten Speed rocked out with catchy and almost mathy songs. We end up talking to most everyone there, as it was an intimate setting. Everyone was limited to a 30 min set, which I thought worked out great. We played possibly our best yet, but it's tough to say since it was so loud. Panda Riot pretty much ruled, and were also the friendliest band of the night. I get the impression that everyone in Chicago is talented. After a long night we head to get some Chicago Pizza and are all ready to crash.... Chicago pretty much is the place to be.

Day Seven - Michigan City/Valparaiso
Thursday morning but might as well be Saturday morning.
Enjoying homemade pancakes and watching Pink Panther cartoons!

The show at Michigan City was cancelled last night. The people at The Creephole did all they could, but house party with an out of town band on a Wednesday night is tough to pull in any kind of town.

But it just so happens that Salo has some old college friends in Valparaiso who came to see us, and as much as we hated not being able to play for them, they still welcomed us to their home and even cooked an amazing late night dinner for us -pork roast, rice and vegetables!

Scott and Mary have a beautiful home and an even more beautiful family. Right now they're watching cartoons and having a pillow fight in the living room, which Emory Salo and Michael are enjoying to the point of regressing to an infant state.

We are so lucky and very grateful to have had this unexpected day of rest. We feel ready for 22 more days of relentless driving and playing. Stay tuned!

Ta!

Day Eight - Akron

Today we head to Annabell's in Akron where we are playing with If These Trees Could Talk and Unlikely Japan (from Pittsburgh). After hanging out with Scott and Mary and the kids, which was a nice break, we are eager to get back to playing. We show up to the venue which has a decent number of people there. They have dollar beers there called "Beer 30" Light and I think we each try one before opting for other more expensive beer. Beer is really cheap and we get a little rambunctious. We move around a few letters on their reader board, and have a photoshoot. It goes a little farther than this, and the owner yells at us. Unlikely Japan plays a set of rock with acoustic guitar with ambient segways. We go on and play to a half empty room. Most everyone is there to drink, and there are a lot of people upstairs and outside. We had a few really awesome fans who ended up sticking around for the entire set. If These Trees Could Talk then filled the place up a bit more with their heavy loud set. It was a decent night, but it ends with mcdonald's after 3:30 am, who only serve breakfast, and a red roof inn. Not the best way to go out, but everyone is tired, and wants a decent place to stay.

Day Nine - Cincinnati

After waking up and heading to Waffle House, which is cheap but not the best food, we are on the road again. We backtrack to Cincinnati, where we hope to have a good show with Johnnytwentythree. We get to the Gypsy Hut at about 6 and there isn't a person around, and we realize that it doesn't till after 10. After headed to Baba's Coffee shop, and talk with the owner, and some locals, it's off to the show. The first thing we find out is a total bummer, as Johnnytwentythree has canceled. Not only that but that their bassist was in a serious motorcycle accident, which we hope will be better soon. The venue itself is really amazing, with several rooms, an upstairs with ping pong, a rooftop area, a patio, a pool table room with pizza kitchen, a bar, and a venue. Unfortunately with this many options, it was hard to keep anyone in the venue. We talk to Steve and Mike from Johnnytwentythree who are there, and talk to them about pretty much everything. A big group was there for the Good Night States set who are from Pittsburgh. They play a great pop / rock set, that has a Wilco feel. We go .. midnight, because of the late start. (no one shows up before 11 there). It is difficult to tell who's watching, but we play to a smallish crowd. It goes pretty well, although we play some songs we haven't in a week and those are tough. Afterwards we talk to Joel and Lindsey from Mylene Sheath (who put out vinyl by Caspian, Beware of Safety, Giants, If These Trees Could Talk, and basically everyone we have shared bills with). These guys are really awesome, and we talk music for a while. So after all this, we get three offers for places to stay, from Johnnytwentythree, Mylene Sheath and Gypsy Hut itself. Britni who books also informed us that the venue has an apartment set aside for travelling bands. She is really nice and also tells us how cheap Cincinnati rent is, probably less than a third of our rent. We and Good Night States follow her to a very bizarre space with carpeted loft upstairs, and paintings and 70's decor and 80's knickknacks everywhere. It is pretty amazing, and we stay up after the other band is asleep. The Good Night States end up being really awesome to hang out with, and it ends up being a fun night.

Day Ten - Pittsburgh

We pack our bags and head off to Washington Chili which has awesome food. The Good Night States are right behind us all the way to Pittsburgh, bumping into them there, and at a rest stop. We again battle the GPS which has at this point turned against us. We pass right through the heart of Pittsburgh and it leads us to the middle of nowhere. I am at the point where I don't trust anything it says. So after calling WTPS where we are supposed to be at at 5:30, We are behind schedule, but then drive 15 miles past it, and then kept calling the station unable to find it. After 2 hours we end up at the station. Although we cancel our in-studio performance, we make the best of it with an interview session with James and Rebecca, who really were great. Already late we head out of the station to get to Garfield Artworks, which is a nice big art space. We miss If These Trees Could Talk and are bummed, Unlikely Japan plays with us again, and Instead of Sleeping play last. We are glad to see the radio station people at our show, kind of surprised even, and our set goes really well. After chatting it up with Unlikely Japan, we talked to Good Night States who are going to let us stay with them again. In an unfortunate event, Steve from the band gets sick, they cancel their set and we aren't able to crash there after all. Best of luck to him. A lot of bad luck so far, but everyone has good intentions. We are on the road right now, where we are battling detour signs, and just trying to get out of Pittsburgh. Tomorrow is Doylestown (just outside Philly), and I am looking forward to a smaller town

day 11 -doylestown

Doylestown is a very small town in Pennsylvania between Philly and Allentown. We show up just in time to load in and watch the Eagles / Steelers game at The Moose Lodge. We were starving when we showed up, and we were lucky enough that the Moose had a $5 buffet of hot dog's, eggplant parmesean, and potato salad, and quesedilla buffet. If you don't know, a Moose Lodge is essentially an old school men's club like an Eagles or Elks club, where old men get together to drink and get away from their wives. Anyhow, the show is somewhat sparse, as the lineup changed 3 times before we got there. It is a nice venue for a diy space, and we are lucky to play an early sunday show there however, loading in up 2 flights of stairs is the least enjoyable load-in of the tour. My friend Jared drove in from Allentown to see us, I hadn't seen him in over 10 years. We went back to his place to stay for the night, and he welcomed us with a keg full of Yuengling, something we can't find back in Seattle. I was tired, but Jared and I ended up staying up almost all night talking, catching up, and philosophizing. It was nice to see an old friend again, and I hope it's not another 10 years before we see each other again.

Rob