Tragedies and puppies

Man it's tough to keep up with these TorBlogz...

We ate corn at Cafe Habana in NYC (it looks nasty, it's not)...



We've stayed in more crappy hotels (it looks nasty, it is)...



Dave played on a Eulogies song at Johnny Brenda's in Philly (backstage practicing)...



AND big marketing news...Tragedy finally struck! "Coincidentally" it happened at the Beggars office...



I fell over this big ball they had in the office. I knew they were up to something when they had "In Rainbows" playing on the stereo in the office.

Speaking of, I heard something about only about half of the people that bought "In Rainbows" online from Radiohead actually payed something for it. It doesn't seem far off that instead of album prices being fixed there will be a "suggested" price based on what other fans paid for the album. The ultimate album review.




And speaking of, a few days ago we received a message from a fan on MySpace that said "How can I find your music for free, I'm broke!" This isn't the first message we've gotten like this. Isn't there some unspoken rule that you're not supposed to ask a band how to find their music for free? I guess why hide the obvious. Consumers are trying to figure out whether music should be free or not, and it sure seems to be heading the way of free. What's the rule about downloading music? Do you download the album for free, then buy the CD if you like it? Or download the music then go to the show and buy a tshirt? What if the tshirt is a shitty design?

I KNOW I KNOW... bands are supposed to just be grateful anyone wants to listen to their music... Why can't these selfish musicians just be happy to have their music be distributed and enjoyed??

And why can't every in rainbow end in a pot of gold??

PS: We have this pic of some cute PUPPIES from our stay at James' parent's place... aaaawwwWWWW!

TorBlogz are sooo 2004

Ah, trying to score that elusive Pitchfork headline, not an easy task. You know it's tough out there when your label posts a blog that they hope your blog will reveal some tour tragedy to get press:

http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/blog/

Let's make one thing clear: we're on board with the new marketing plan!

We had a back-tire blowout on the drive from San Francisco to Austin, does that help?

It's rough right now being a label in a post "In Rainbows" world, but since we're in this together and finger-stirring the brainpool, we've come up with some compelling ideas to get the actual label some attention:

- Release the Devendra/Chan sex tape on YouTube.

- Set fire to the entire Beggars inventory (yes, fires still make headlines after all these centuries). If people want it, you can repress it. If not, take the insurance money and open a coffee shop.

And don't forget the basics:

- Reinvent your image. Get some new press shots and a new look, but don't cut that hair! (long hair is in again)

- MySpace is a great way to get in touch with the youth: showcase the label's personality with photos and wacky backgrounds, and work on getting a feature.


Also, we don't want to tell you how to run the business, but have you noticed fucked up female celebs are hot right now? Unify the movement and create a talent division for these girls! Pioneer members should include Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears (tip: Hannah Montana has potential with some creative development).


Soooo back to us, just yesterday our sound engineer Scott, in a moment of drug-induced lucidity, described our music as "a polar bear in the frickin' Milky Way." Surely we can find a way to use this.


PS: If you can build a cool $20k gear replacement fee into our budget maybe we can arrange for "another exciting thing to happen."
(....easy dude, I'm kidding)


OH AND...

A message to the guy in the front last night who was pissed about the video cameras and yelling "Do you want to play for us or YouTube?".... We didn't know the people videotaping the show. And most of the time we couldn't see them. Suggestion: instead of yelling at us, say something to them about it. Or move closer to the stage so they can't get in front of you. We know how frustrating it can be to have people in front of you videotaping, but yelling at us will only get you on YouTube with an unflattering title.

Thanks to fans in DC, Chapel Hill and Philadelphia who came to the shows! CYA TONIGHT IN NYC BITCHES!

Backstage at The Earl in Atlanta

This was one of the best shows we've had on tour so far, thanks to all Atlantans who made it so -- superrad.

the last few hours

oye.

the last few days

the south:

the suck:

the sucker:


Thanks to our fans who came out to the Austin Emo's show and Dallas Cavern show, in particular the guys in front at the Cavern show who were losing their minds during our set, even for the slow stuff.

Pretty amazing scene on the street outside the Cavern after the show -- felt like being in a Snoop video. Why do I take pics of sweet tea signs and miss the short shorts? I'll make up for it in the next blog.

Finally got to play a set with Experimental Aircraft, who I've seen 3 or 4 times in Austin over the years, but never with Rachel playing the Omnichord -- sick omnichord work. Kids: listen to this band and rip off their tones and you will do well.

Dug Red Monroe in Dallas as well. Amazing this band is from Dallas.

We've logged about 50 hours so far in the van on this tour. Here's what we're learning from commercial radio:

* Diamonds and gold are great substitutes for affection and sex

* Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Boston are the hottest rock acts in the states right now

* There are more commercials on the radio than ever, I guess because stations don't get as much revenue from each ad. Damn internet.

Unhappy cows come from CA

One more "highlight" from the west coast -- "Cowschwitz" at Harris Ranch on I-5. Not a great photo from the car, but those little colored blocks are cows. People who have driven this road know a photo doesn't really do the stench and overcrowded cattle pens and unbearable summer heat justice. Definitely not the happy talking cows strolling on open green pastures like in those commercials, but let's not dirty up our pretty fantasy world.

Magic spinach pies

We're in the van again, driving down the 5, AGAIN. I know every cotton field, every orange orchard and every Magic Mountain on this interstate. We're just about in LA, which means nothing since we have to drive to Austin, about 28 van hours from SF where we just played.

Here are some highlights of the tour so far:

-- We did a daytime VIP show for KEXP (who is also presenting the tour!) at the Triple Door in Seattle which was pretty rad. To listen to the show, go to www.kexp.org, click "streaming archive" on the left and then request 10/10/07 at 4:30 pm PT.

-- We've played a couple Amoeba instores, here are pics from the Los Angeles Amoeba show.

-- We did a two day video shoot in Portland with big brain James Sumner. In true scattered genius fashion, he had duck tape holding his glasses together. The video should be done in a month or so, we're excited to see what he comes up with. Here's a little hint on the video: THE DUDE does Disney.









During the shoot we went to dinner at Nichol's. Sumner ordered 3 spinach pies (2 for dinner, one to go).




-- In SF Dave was offered two weed cookies at one show and a joint at another. Must be the hair.

-- We played for the first time in Sacramento, even though we lived only 90 miles from the city for about 6 years. Red Host and Eulogies both sounded great, fun show.

-- We were informed at our SF show that we're big in Johannesburg by someone visiting from there.


Thanks to our fans who have come out to the shows in Costa Mesa, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco -- great seeing everyone. We're feeling a lot of energy at our shows and fan-love right now.

Ulrich ist rad

Our first show of the tour was with Ulrich Schnauss at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, CA. If you haven't heard his music yet go buy "Goodbye". Giant, beautiful and longing. Also, he had probably the second best use of live show video I've seen (the first being a Godspeed show I saw a few years ago at the Fillmore). A long-haired Spicoli looking dude turned to me half-way through Ulrich's set and said something about the "biscuit kickin'-in." Sweet. Great first show and I really enjoyed playing there as well.

We hit the road early the next morning of the 8th. 16 hours later we arrived in Portland, which was around midnight last night. We rushed to get up here to start shooting a video at 10:30am. It's 3pm now, I think we might begin around 4:30 or so, we'll see.

It's gloomy outside.

So we are on tour, finally. I was looking up at these trees at a rest area in Southern Oregon. The tree trunks reminded me of being in Mexico years ago and staggering drunk down a street with a German girl I met in a bar. She was drunk too and had a thing for Americans, in particular Jim Morrison. She said I should be more like him -- "free and wild." That's when I took my shirt off and climbed into the tree. -geebee