Tour Journal:
Our last ditch effort to pull up anything for San Diego after getting a healthy number of requests has fallen through… the very last promoter never called us back with a confirmation. Apologies, because we enjoyed playing there before at Che Cafe (during one of the two days the city ever gets rain, even).

We actually got stuck in Bakersfield CA… we put our van in for simple brake repair, and they BROKE our drive shaft on the lift and had to keep the van overnight to do repairs (all paid for by them, of course). Ridiculous to say the least. Much thanks to relative Will Tarng for helping us out so much during this sudden tough time.

Tour Journal:

Holy crap was this show rad. As usual, Josh and Monkeymania (and Denver itself) come through. We got to spend some time in the city itself, which impressed us beyond what we had seen previously. The show was pretty decent, and Mr Pacman followed with a killer half karoke set. Too bad no one caught video of the 8 of us drunkenly screaming along/posing to Europe’s The Final Countdown.

We had to leave late that night post-show to get to Missouri in time….

Tour Journal:

An odd location for us to stop at for sure, but turned out great. Jeb, a friend of a friend (Barker, through none other than Walt the Gypsy Scumbag himself), was a stand up dude who provided a decent show to keep us going and a glimpse of the Missisippi nightlife.

However, this is where the bad weather begins…. hurricane “arlene” and its aftereffects on the climate of the general midwest will haunt us for days to come…

Tour Journal:
….. and here lies the dud date of the tour. No show. In fact, no venue. The space was shut down almost two months ago, and the promoters moved to Montana. We found this out after an hour of walking around the area. We (and all other bands/shows) were supposed to be cancelled and notified of the events. We got to sleep in a parking lot instead of the housing/food/money previously promised. The only reason we were so sure of the show otherwise not to check up was based on a great experience last time and false trust… a lesson learned?

Tomorrow we take the day off to do laundry and gather fresh supplies and such.

Tour Journal:
Today we finally reached our favorite break point… the Kings Island Amusement Park (completed with a Paul Hogan themed waterpark). All we can say is… Dave rode The Beast 13 times, we should have used suntan lotion, and Paul Hogan prerecorded ride warning voiceovers are extremely mind numbing.

Worth a weekend trip to anyone interested. High quality times.

We got lucky… went on a monday and it was rainy in the morning…. NO LINES AT ALL!!!!!!!!

Tour Journal:

We weren’t sure what to expect of this show, but it turned out to be a well received ok time. The venue was accomodating, the show provided enough gas wise, and the surrounding city was entertaining enough. Thats more to say than some of the other dates early on in the tour. We’ll definitely return to this area after this first time around…

Special thanks to Carl and his movie theater basement!

Tour Journal:
Unfortunately, this is one of the last events at our favorite venue/artspace in the city. Fortunately, it was unbelievably good, as usual. Plenty of people, some good fans, some crazy partying. Edmar who runs the whole deal and the publication Lumpen (very rad magazine) is one of the funniest people we know in the midwest, and a highlight of meeting on our tours.

We were all geared up to play a second set at 230am, and not 15 minutes beforehand, a squad of police invaded and kicked the whole lot out, attempting to stamp any fine possible. Goes to show why the venue is shutting down, too much pressure from the surrounding community. Humourously, one cop got causually pulled aside and asked “Hey man, did you used to break(dance)?”… to which he gruntingly admitted to. The other (smashed) partygoer was stoked to see an old friend.

Tour Journal:

This was day two of the “Estefest”. We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out surprizingly cool. We were blown away by “Sword Heaven”, and stayed with a new friend who was of equally comparable video game nerdery. No sleep was had thanks to a full Mrs Pacman cabinet set on free play.

Also, if you can find it in Columbus, you must eat at the TACO NINJA. A small ninja themed mexican food stand inside a bar. Even the chips are shaped like throwing stars.

Tour Journal:
This was actually mislisted as being in Cincinnati, which it definitely was not…. more of a segueway between OH and PA. Thankfully we had picked up some steam from the midwestern part of the tour, because the show turned out to be a dud. Not much else to say. More sleeping in the van. Didn’t want to waste any more money on a hotel room (or have to literally sneak people in through the hotel room window).

Tour Journal:
Another coincidental monday night in Pittsburgh…. this time around, things are starting to pick up. We seem to accidentally hit this city on off days, but after enough struggles, we manage to fare ok. Hopefully we can schedule a weekend date next time around. Show was good, and then we realized how close to home we really were… and so….

…Sometime earllllly tuesday morning we rolled into Philadelphia, almost completely delerious. We broke into our own house, screaming and smashing random things within our grasp (the war of 1812 rages on) as the non-band occupants living there awoke with confusion and excitement. Then the landlord came by and told us he wished we never made it back home.

Tour Journal:
Before all the positive things roll out… let us just say…. WHY THE HELL DOES CONNETICUT HAVE SUCH HORRIBLE, NONSTOP TRAFFIC?!?!??! (and gas prices). This fact killed us to and from boston.

In any case, the show turned out to be a FANTASTIC “end of the road” part of the tour. Great to have played with The Parasprinter, members of which we’ve spoken to for some time. Nice folk, and good group. Trying to get them on the bill for Magfest 4 (www.magfest.org). The venue and show itself reminded us of the Ashland Church shows in south jersey we used to attend nearly every friday night growing up, even before we had any sort of band to play in….. Can’t believe that was almost a decade ago.

Tour Journal:

At last, we are home (for real)….. so much needed sleep, laundry, and showers were in order. The van (and our Urkel hoodpiece) may rest easy for a few days. No more sleeping in the van/begging for food. For now.

However, our homecoming show is THIS SUNDAY, JULY 3rd! We’re hitting arguably the best venue our city has to offer once again, the Unitarian Church… with our friends and supreme video game band THE MINIBOSSES! And to top it off, when we met up in Phoenix weeks ago, we worked out some secret nintendo material which we’re going to unveil AS ONE BAND, FOR A DUAL ENCORE!!!

A 12 piece video game orchestra awaits you. Preordering tickets might be wise, or at least showing up early (doors at 730). Ever since we got back, we caught heavy word of how fast the 500 capacity room is filling up. Do so at: www.r5productions.com