this tour was very rewarding and positive in general.
ABQ, NM had us playing in a pickle cellar, with our film projected onto a sheet in front of us. the basement vibes made for a good rendition of the two compositions. next night in the outskirts of tempe, AZ, we were playing through a $5,000 P.A. system in a thoroughly sound-proofed living room that turned into a brick cube with a loud set of speakers in it. had the pleasure of meeting derek/ purity of essence/ unseen forces, jess from marshstepper, and the body of light people, who played as lithotripsy. tempe was muggy from the 14 inches of rain that had just evaporated off the earth during that day alone. that is how dry it is out there. arizona had never seen that kind of rain before.
we made a good choice in taking a detour to the salton sea, which is located near indio, california. i’m going to film a movie here at some point. burnt out trailer houses next to a rotting, toxic sea lined by the carcasses of millions of dead fish. we had to leave after 20 minutes because of the intensity of the smell. check one off the ‘bucket list’.
L.A. always has more charm when you’re not driving in its rush-hour traffic at 4PM. It was a pleasure to play MATA, run by Maria/concrete shiva and Patrick/sssisters, and only three bands on the bill, no DJ, quality sets from Shane Stritesky and Vortal Curb(ex- Human Hands)… that’s how i like it.
a night off in san fran to play pinball, wander bookstores, eat japanese ramen, and collect sand dollars at the beach. oakland was another three-band bill, Riververb and Relay for Death sharing the bill. Relay for Death played a dark sound collage off sampler and 4-track while the Brakhage equivalent of a gay pornography film played. Terminal is always good times.
Long drive up to Eugene, a sleepy college town hidden in the woods. Great sets from Juice Machine, [view], and Thigh Gap. had a blast hanging with andrew/regosphere, one of those folk i’ve been trading for with for 5 years, but don’t spend much time with in person.
Next two nights in Portland were varied atmospheres/bills. Self-Shadowing Prey, Householed, and Contact all played great sets. Great hang-out/BBQ feel to the whole night. Next night at Alice Coltrane Memorial Museum was with A Minority of One, whom I’d looked forward to finally see a live performance. nice to see todd/soup purse, james, and justice there.
we camped in the olympic national forest for a night after dropping joe off in olympia.