Summer Tour- Part 1

Hey faithful brick mower blog checker-uppers. Yup, that is the official name of the club you're apart of. Betcha didn't know that.  Neither did I until about 20 seconds ago when I typed it.

It's been a while since I posted anything about the band on here, mainly due to the fact that I was away from a computer for about a month on our summer tour with Black Wine.  Just got back Saturday, still adjusting to home life, and starting to plan the next trek out.  

I'm gonna go through some brief rundowns on the tour and all the fun, freakin' stuff that happened to us.  2 things that did not happen... a) we did not die  b) we did not break down .  I consider every tour a success when these 2 things happen, in that order specifically.  Without any further ado...  here's the first week of tour.

(IN PRESENT DAY BAND NEWS FOR A SEC):
We're playing I Got Brains! Fest coming up the weekend of August 10th and 11th in Blacksburg, VA.  We also have several shows coming up in August which we posted on the side of the blog.  In addition, we've added a link of our past shows we've played in case you wanna see the history and read every band we've ever played with ever in all eternity. 

Also, LP release date and info coming soon.

TOUR STATS:
Miles Traveled:  9,466
Shows played: 29
States played: 19
New states for Brick Mower: 11
Vehicles used: 2 (red Ford mini-van and 4 door Dodge sedan, the world's least cool tour vehicle)
Broken strings: who the hell knows after the 3rd show?
Broken eyeglasses or Broken windshields: 0!
Canceled shows: 0!
Places we showed up to that didn't know about our show: 2
Number of cars cut off in NM with Connecticut license plates that followed brick mower for 90 more miles: 1
Coolest tour stop:  City Museum- St. Louis, MO
Best bands we played with for first time: Big Crux, Spitting Image, Cash Crop, Autonomy

Day 1- Columbus, OH-   Drove 9 hours from NJ to play at Zeno's in Columbus OH.  Sat in Pep Boys 2 hours before take off, stressing out about the broken a/c in the car as the country fell into the clutches of a cross-country, record breaking heatwave.  "A/C might die by the time you hit PA.  You should replace the whole unit for $1,700," says the salesman.  "Are you MAD!," I say, as I almost crap my pants. "Please patch it up for $200 and I'll be on my way."*   We were on our way.  Near tornado, possible flash nor'easter on the way to Columbus turns into one of the top 5 scariest moments of my life.  We all survive, and get to play the show!  Thanks Matt O'Conke!
* dialogue may be exaggerated.  maybe? 

Day 2- Chicago, IL-  Drive all day to one of my favorite cities in the US.  Stayed with Seth and Annie from This Is My Fist for the next 2 nights.  Played This Is My Fist's last show at The Empty Bottle in Chicago.  Fantastic show.  Great band.  Steve's kick-pedal mallet flew off during the second to last song.  It was rib-ticklingly unfunny at the time, and now mildly amusing.

This Is My Fist

Day 3- Chicago, IL-  Played an early, heavily loaded show at Township in Chicago.  5 bands. Great times.  Vito is a great person, and a valuable asset to Chicago's booking racket.  Lipreader played with us again. Those guys are saints too.  Buy them beers and tell them Brick Mower says hello.

Lipreader

Day 4- Hammond, IN-  I wake up at 7 am, and drag the band an hour west of Chicago to our buddy Jason Duarte's apt in Lisle, IL.  Jason is the dude who drew these stickers....

I drop the band off at his place, while me and Jason head over to see his dad, or should I say Doctor Dad (coming to CBS this fall?).   Jason's Doctor Dad gave me a free chiropractic exam.  Popped my pelvic bone back into place and told me I have a bulging disc!   Other than that, spent the day sleeping like bums in Jason's radically a/c'd apartment and played a great semi-last minute show in  Hammond, IN.  Thanks Mike Duda for hooking it up like a nylon line to a prize winning trout.

Day 5- Minneapolis, MN-  All day drive through Wisconsin, right after Illinois' tollways took all of our money. C'mon, Illinios! I like ya. John Hughes liked ya. The Blues Brothers liked ya, but go easy on our band fund, and the common man.We are not on a mission from God and can't afford all this garbage. Deep breath folks. So anyways, Minneapolis was stuck in a record heat wave, of course.  Our air conditioner is still holding up fine.  Bought some great cheese in Wisconsin.  Kristin cut my hair by a scenic lake before the show. So long moppy mullet!  It was rad. Show was a killer basement show brought to you by Nato Coles himself.  Already missin' Minneapolis and hope to see it sooner than later.

Black Wine in Minnesota. Playin' a song from Hallow Earth, I'm sure. Buy it. 

Day 6-  Minot, ND- We decided to drive through the night to Minot, Steve and I switching off driving duties at 3 am.  Arrived in Minot at 9 am on rapid heart beats and heavy eyelids.  Luckily, Chris Darling and his wife Maria let us in their house early where we proceed to sleep erratically, hang out with their awesome son Oliver, and get to smell Maria's amazing cooking for the 4th of July house show about to ensue.   Best Independence Day since we defeated the aliens back in '96!   Accidentally almost blew Kristin's face off with a roman candle.  Man, be safe everyone. I wasn't. You let your guard down for a second...   Next thing you know... charred bass player face.     Other than that, great day, with adverted injury  Even Roscoe the dog got to hang out in a bathtub!

Day 7- Rapid City, SD-  Leaving Minot, I bought the band a $5 Little Caesars pizza at a K-Mart. Fine dining on the road at its best!  Driving into South Dakota from Minot is like driving on the moon, if the moon had gravity, some general stores, and antelope. SPACE ANTELOPE!  Played at The Hall Inn in Rapid City thanks to Megan and Skullets booking.  On top of fun time, they also got us.... 5 Little Caesars pizzas!  I ate 9 slices of L.C. quality pizza that day. I'm not a proud man.  Due to some shoddy planning, we miss seeing Mt. Rushmore, only 25 miles south.  We suck at things sometimes.

Somewhere in South Dakota. 

Somewhere in South Dakota. 

Somewhere in South Dakota............  Rapid City to be exact. 

To Be Continued......


-Eric