goldengram

i have had the best

i have had the best several weeks of my entire life with several of my most favorite-est people ever.
touring is what i should be doing. it is what i am best at. what i am called to do.
every concert was awesome. i met someone rad or something amazing happened at each place that uplifted me and i think, our whole group. we were a little family and i am saddened to leave it after the el paso concert. mates of state, rogue wave and da hawnay troof will play concerts together again. you can be sure of that.
el paso. it was rad to be back in texas. even if it seems more like texico when compared to dallas, austin, or houston.
pat and i were walking down the street in front of the venue after we played and 2 guys in a pickup truck yelled "faggots" at us as they drove by. it was hilarious. especially since we were kinda strutting along singing some dumb michael mcdonald song.
it definitely made me feel like i was back in texas. not that it doesn't happen everywhere, because it does happen in every state when outside big cities, but because my experiences with that kind of ignorance all happened in texas. you don't get much of that in the bay area. thats a big reason why i am here now.
home, after 3 weeks. sitting in front of my computer watching the hours tick until i have to go back to work.
my job is alright. i will do it until i can't anymore. that is all i can ask of myself for now.
anyway, el paso was rad. i even found a valentine. we were a little worried, weak PA, weak turn out at first, some trouble locating the promoter, pat's mic cord broke right before we played. but then, the sound guy fixed the cord and a few songs in, the kids started digging it and came up closer from all over the pizza place. i feel like we slowly won over the crowd cuz we weren't beating them over the head with anything. for me it happens every nite, a few songs in to the set, everything feels ok. everything else falls away except being with these people in this room, making something positive happen that we can all feel. we were enjoying our last nite playing with our friends, joking with everyone, turning half of the 15 TVs off at various stages of the set to keep them from distracting us and the crowd. we were being ourselves and encouraging others to do the same.
zach got to tell his restaurant on the moon joke. and they liked my how many kids with ADD does it take to change a lightbulb joke.
things always take off when da hawnay troof comes on. i think this is how our tour routine went:
first, rogue wave comes on and massages you. we get you warmed up with some deceptively sweet pop, some fiery blasts of rock and big harmonies, and then the troof comes on and roughs you up. mad breakneck hip hop tech beats, sing along choruses, and super positive uplifting on stage banter gets you feeling all sexy to where you just about can't stand it cuz you feel so good and dirty. you're just about to climax,
AND THEN the mates come on and consummate the whole thing. they finish you off with some love. i know they don't exactly love the love tag, but we've gotten stuck with it too, and it fits. people like to watch people loving to play music on stage with people they love. ain't nothin' wrong with that. it's not rocket science, doctor. would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs?
the mates rock. i get sick of people talking about how sweet they are. sure, the harmonies are nice and pretty, but they are freaking LOUD! they are belting it out and getting all sweaty from the rock. when you stand on stage next to jason you truly realize how hard he hits. they rarely even need to mic his kit. and kori is always dancing and smiling even if her voice is about to go. those kids give it their all.
by the end of their set, everyone from all the bands was on stage, plus curt (c-donkey) the merch guy and a few enthusiastic audience members. we were singing and dancing and shaking whatever percussion we could find.
we are all singing at the top of our lungs even if some folks don't know all the words. it didn't matter.
the crowd was amazing, there was no division between the bands and the kids, we were all music fans together for a while.
it was beautiful. i had tears in my eyes.
AND THEN!!! the DJs ted and esme tore us new assholes with a super v-day 2k4 dance party. kelis, the rapture, yeah yeah yeahs, berlin, outkast, fanny pack.... the jamz were definitely kicked out and i loved every minute of it.
once we finally said goodbye and left, it was late and there were no rooms in any of the hotels. so pat drove us on while i played i-tunes dj and helped navigate. we must have tried 10 hotels from el paso to las cruces. somehow pat got us all the way to deming where we finally found a room and checked in so late that we didn't even have to be out by noon. we didn't have to be out until the NEXT friggin day. how is that for rock & roll?
as strange as it feels to say this, i am glad to be home. i imagine things are going to start happening even faster than i expect. so i am just going to lean into the wind and enjoy the ride.

love each other,

golden gram