Midwest

Upon arriving at The Basement in Columbus, Ohio, we loaded in, sound checked, and dispersed for dinner items. "Shiv" from Cincinnati's WOXY.com came to suprise the band with his presence. He's a long time friend of Ra Ra Riot from their many performances and interviews at the station. I've heard his voice and seen pictures many times, so it was cool to meet him.

Our next show was in Cleveland at a Case Western University Lounge/Bar attached to a dining hall. The room had a small little stage, low ceilings, ample PA, some lights. It reminded me a lot of Schine Underground actually at Syracuse University (for those of you who know it). About 200 students came, which was great given the size of the room.

We then trekked to Chicago, where we were invited to stop by the Threadless office/warehouse (Threadless.com, the t-shirt company). It was a pretty wild, extravagant, fun place with crazy murals, ping pong, deer hunter arcade game, a photo booth, and tons of people hanging out. Reminded me of an MTV Real World house. They let us raid the warehouse, free of charge. Snagged some cool hoodies and t's.

The show at Subterranean was perhaps the largest venue yet on the tour. Pepi Ginsberg joined us starting this show as support before Walter Meego (the tour's main support). I tracked Walter Meego's performance on my 8-channel firewire interface to my laptop and came up with a great mix. Here's a sample:

Walter Meego - Lost (Live @ Subterranean)

After a damn long drive up to minneapolis, we loaded into what would become our favorite venue so far on the tour: "7th Street Entry," the sister, sub-venue of the large "First Avenue" venue. The stage is intimate, clean, and interestingly shaped. The PA was well tuned and the lights were exciting. I brought a few par cans along with a mini fogger and small controller; which I've been setting up on the floor in the backline. They've been a nice compliment to the in house lighting systems; which are often limited in their control. Here's a great video someone posted of St. Peter's Day Festival:



Come the morning after the incredible show, they played a quick performance at the Univeristy of Minneapolis' radio station and did a little interview. It should be available somewhere within Radio K soon.

Two days ago we drove ALL DAY to Lawrence, KS. And here I am at a hotel. Which is very humid because the centerpiece of the facility is an indoor pool. Mat and I also had a friendly chat (which was actually just a series of veiled, sarcastic attacks from both parties) with some totally bro'd out, drunk, kansas dudes on our way into the hotel, whom embodied every stereotype demonstrated in that RV scene in the Borat movie. They "liked" our jeans, asked me if I was straight, twice, and referred to allie, becca, and elise as anything but "girls" or "females." I think you catch my drift. It was somewhat amusing. Lawrence is a cool town though. Its pretty homey. Westward!