Tour Diary

Lemonwilde - The Space Race Tour

Once upon a time, a drummer moved to L.A. from Boston to pursue music, touring, and the riches of the road.  Within two months of the move, he found plenty of music, plenty of touring, and plenty of…ok…not so much of the money stuff…but, to sound completely cliche, he found much more.  Whether it was finding great new friends, getting stiffed by the owner of a club, learning what "overdrawn" means, finding new favorite places, or even being robbed, it all holds a special place in his heart.  Performer Mag may one day call this the "feel good story of the last three months of the decade," or something like that.   This story is that of Lemonwilde -- Ter Dines (Keys, Programming), Joseph Murray (Vocals, Guitar), and Damion Sanchez (Drums, Vocals) -- a small indy band with big dreams, taking on a Fall tour of the Northeast U.S. and Canada.  We invite you to laugh at any misfortunes described in our tour diary, and PLEASE learn from them!  Most importantly, check out some of the places we played and definitely look into any bands mentioned herein.  We couldn't have done it without them!



Part One - Diving In Head First (…Off The Wrong Foot)

LAX - Los Angeles, CA - 10/21/09, 6:00 a.m.
ME:  So we are all set with the drumset?  I don't need to bring anything?
TER:  Yes, we have a drumset waiting for us in Pittsburgh.  My buddy says it's totally cool to use it for the next three months.
ME:  Awesome.

Ter's Home Base - Pittsburgh, PA - 10/21/09, 8:00 p.m.
ME:  Cool.  So now that we are all here, when are we picking up that drumset?
(Completely Well-Intentioned) TER:  Umm…my buddy just called.  He loaned it to a guy a couple weeks ago and I am not lying when I tell you that this guy sold it for drug money.
ME:  O….K…..  Soooo…..

A day later I bought a Slingerland Radio King 4-piece drumset off of Craigslist in Pittsburgh for $650.  Score!  However, it didn't come with hardware or cymbals, so in the end I paid $1850…pretty rough when I expected no drum expenses, except for heads and sticks. 

Over the next week, we practiced in Ter's hometown house, polishing our set and tying up any loose ends for our tour.  One of those loose ends was making sure our new van, a 1990 Chevy G20 conversion van dubbed "Mothball" (the previous owner was intent on preserving this thing…holy smell), was good to go.  Next, the road!





Part Two -- Back on the Good Foot

The Rex – Pittsburgh, PA – 10/24/09, 7:00 p.m.
The sound guy remarks, “ooh, those are pretty,” and we agree, feeling good about the opportunity to be testing out a set of new Blue (www.bluemic.com) performance microphones on stage.  Blue is letting Lemonwilde test the enCORE 100 and 200 series microphones, marketed to dethrone Shure's SM series as the go-to, all-purpose performance mic.  We have a long tour ahead of us, so we will see if these babies hold up.  So far, so good! 

The Rex is huge and it sounds great, especially as people start filing through the door.  It's an old, converted movie theater, so the floor angles down towards the stage a bit.  Due to its "enormous box" shape, there can be some some unforgiving reverb.  Bring ear plugs!

Caleb Lovely opened the show with a high-energy acoustic set that made us wish that he hadn’t been filling in on such short notice.  It truly would have been great to see his whole band, but apparently they were all tied up tonight.  Up next was Ben Hardt & His Orchestra.  They were simply phenomenal, and they convinced us that we badly need a cello player (let’s face it…bass players are so last century).  They were so good, in fact, that I felt weird about following them.  Bottom line…if you are in the Pittsburgh area, go see Caleb or Ben whenever they are playing…you will not be disappointed.

Johnny Dee’s Café – Pittsburgh, PA – 10/24/09, 11:00 p.m.
We hung out at Johnny Dee’s post-show.  It’s a decent hang for the whole crew, but if you are used to the smoking ban in most coastal cities prepare to dress your lungs in retro black.  Good times were had by all at this “no-tap” establishment, as canned Guiness was aplenty.  On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many football and hockey jerseys worn out at one time.  And they weren’t just hometown favorites.  There were opposing jerseys as well (Vikings and Devils).  People absolutely love their sports in this town, and it was perhaps most apparent by the abundance of Penguin jerseys (yes, that’s right…there are in fact people who watch hockey in the U.S…75% of them are female and they all live in Pittsburgh). 

Matinee – Akron, OH – 10/29/09
Tried out background vox from behind the kit for the first time in my life…first time legitimately anyways.  The gig went pretty well, but we had some feedback issues with the enCORE 200 on lead vocals.  Not sure what was going on here, but the stage was pretty small (crowded with just three of us up there) and it may have been more the sound guy’s problem, as he was also tending bar and didn’t really care a whole heck of a lot.  They are amazing looking mics and turning out to be extremely comparable to the Shure SM series.  They did have Magic Hat #9 on tap, a rarity for me these days!  Highlight of the show was watching Dali’s Ghost absolutely tear it up!  They are one great band…if you are in Buffalo, their hometown, do yourself a favor and check these talented dudes out!

The Loft and WCVF/WDVL – Buffalo, NY – 10/30/09
The day started with a "High Noon" performance at SUNY Fredonia's student run WCVF/WDVL (www.fredoniaradio.com).  We were all a little groggy from about two hours of sleep the night before, but the performance went well.  We left for Buffalo immediately afterwards, fighting the urge to sleep behind the wheel.

The Loft absolutely rules!  This is probably my favorite spot so far (I know…the tour just started…)!  Buffalo is a great looking city with cool people and an artist-centric vibe!  The Loft  is located just a few blocks from where the Sabres play and right across the street from Town Ballroom (681 Main St.).  It is literally an artist loft…rented out by some new friends of ours.  They have a great set up…huge space, with an extra room for merch/chilling. 

We played with Dali’s Ghost once again, and their guitarist, Tyler, joined us for a couple tracks…on trumpet!  The sound was a bit of an issue tonight, with tons of feedback for all bands, but the guy was brand new to the space so we forgive him (my ears, however, are still holding a grudge…haha).  The lighting was awesome, with christmas lights resembling a blanket of stars overhead.  The show was well promoted and hardly anybody showed up without a Holloween costume!  The huge crowd had a blast, and the lineup was solid.  We tried a raffle for T-shirts from all three bands.  Apparently, everyone was too drunk to notice, and the three bands split the massive $3 pot.  I hope we play this place again!  We had a lot of fun!

Sheetz Gas Station – PA, OH – 10/21/09 through 11/1/09
A "must mention," Sheetz is easily one of my favorite sub shops in the country, and luckily, you can find it everywhere in PA (and some parts of eastern OH).  Come to think of it, it’s actually more of a bummer that you can’t find these anywhere but in PA.  “Pennsylvania…come for the trees, rolling hills, and Sheetz.”  $1.99 for a 6-inch, and $3.99 for a footlong ($4.65 if you want to add cheese).  Can you tell I like this place?

Nobody’s – Buffalo, NY – 11/2/09
I'm not sure who runs this place, but our contacts were our friends Cortney, who triple dutied as bartender, hula-hoop-ist (word?), and drum circle leader; as well as Ian, your "fun-time drummer extraordinaire, bartender, and stand-up comedian."  Nobody’s is the upstairs of a house and features local artists both on stage and on the wall (all of which is for sale).  The Buffalo art scene is very supportive and we were lucky enough to tap into a small sample of it.

The stage is very large…perhaps 20’ x 12’…sitting on a platform raised 4” from the main floor/dance area.  Very intimate, and extremely comfortable!  Jeff ran sound for us (and doubled as a drummer/DJ act, definitely worth checking out) and he had a kick-ass PA that was just right for our 3-piece.  The mixer is on-stage and requires minimal tweaking during the show.  Drinks were cheap and the Triscuit/veggie/cheese plate was awesome!

Stix Sports Bar – Barrie, ON – 11/3/09
We crossed the Canadian border around 3 p.m., and we were pulled over along with Dan Deacon and his "Cool Bus."  They questioned Lemonwilde on why we had so much equipment, but I think they questioned Dan because of how weird his whole set up looked.  A rainbow-colored school bus holding about 25 people as well as gear, towing an old car that simply housed four barrels of oil/fuel (there's no way that thing ran…it was just a cool gas tank!).

We got to Stix on time and got to grab a bite to eat beforehand.  The stage at Stix is deep, but narrow, and about eight inches higher than the rest of the floor, so it’s a pretty intimate atmosphere.  It is pretty boxy, so microphones can be sensitive in here.  Good luck getting a big group up there unless you want to play in a straight line.  I would say four people, maximum, could fit on stage.  The mixing console is set up off-stage, almost in front of you, so I found it odd that I was often looking at him while rocking out.  At least he dug it!

The crowd was pretty receptive, though awfully reserved.  Half of them watched from the bar, which put them at a safe distance of approximately 20 meters (we are in Canada)…I mean, you never know when we might projectile vomit, so I understand their taking precautions.  Those in front of the stage consisted of high schoolers (that had to leave 3 songs into our set), their chaperone, and a drunk guy that claimed it was his bachelor party…yes, it was just him.

Jen, the owner is very hospitable.  Drinks and food are not free for talent and not cheap ($55 tab…ouch!), but the Red Hickory Smoked Wings are phenomenal…crunchy skin on large, meaty wings, and a sauce that reminds me of KFC’s BBQ, a good thing in my eyes.  Ter recommends the steak sandwich (“It was REALLY…AWESOME…").

Thanks to Deb and her father, Gary, who gave us a place to stay in Barrie.  We found them through Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org just might be the best thing for a band to keep touring costs absolutely minimal…PLEASE check it out).  The house had two beds and a couch for all three of us.  We stayed up talking about our favorite books (Deb’s an English teacher for grades 7 – 9) and slept beautifully all night…nothing but quiet out there.  In the morning, we were treated to coffee, banana bread, and some friendly company from her dog, Willow.  Great stay!

The Boathouse – Kitchener, ON – 11/4/09
We were a little worried when we heard people say “I think that’s just a blues bar,” (Lemonwilde is often described as "not blues") but once we got to The Boathouse, we felt great about the place.  The bar is built adjacent to an actual lake dock in Kitchener.  The owner – Kevin, the cook – Pattie (a.k.a. Patrick…a.k.a. Dave Grohl…I'm serious…spitting image), and Maureen all made us feel right at home there.  Kevin used to run his own radio station at a local college, so he definitely was able to handle the PA at The Boathouse in addition to his tending the bar.  He threw us a few Guiness, as well as a couple excellent burgers, and we ended up closing the place down with him after the show.  He’s extremely down to earth and treats the talent very well.

The stage is pretty big and deep as well, so we could have added a small string section and still fit up there.  The only thing that was funky was the lighting…there was a cool sound-triggered colored light, but it was almost completely overpowered by a main, white light that washes out the whole stage.  Not a huge issue, but it felt like sitting in a dark room with a 13" color TV on in front of us, right alongside one of those lights used for shining deer.  Either way, we all highly recommend checking this place out sometime.  It was a predominantly college crowd, and the food was great!  I saw a few people with poutin (that's fries drenched with gravy, cheese, chili, or pretty much whatever you want), and I can tell you that the burgers have some of the best flavor I've ever tasted.  The variety of bands was also great, with some U2 flavor, some folk flavor, some hard rock, and us.  I can’t wait to play this place again…thanks to Kevin!

EVAC (East Village Arts Center), Grooves, & CHRW – London, ON – 11/5/09
Very cool place to play!  It was an art gallery up front, and performance space in the rear.  Located just east of London proper, EVAC is a great little place looking to host new and upcoming bands.  They definitely know their music and will chat with you for hours on end about the great music coming out of London (I loved everything I heard except for the “noise” sound that apparently was born around the area).  The artists that were featured from the area were incredible and inspired us to raise the bar a bit when playing in the converted garage (the sound guy actually corrected me when I said “converted,” saying instead, “no…it’s not converted…it’s definitely still a garage”).  Bring all your winter clothes if you come to London in November…this college town will provide you with a lot of warm and friendly people, but the weather wasn’t so accommodating!

During the day, we played at Grooves Record Store (353 Clarence St.), a local record shop that had an amazing collection of vinyl.  You don’t find many of those anymore!  Unfortunately, I’m totally broke…otherwise, I could see myself starting to collect vinyl again with a shop like that around.  I don’t recall seeing any record shops quite as cool in Boston in the 10 years I was there.  After Grooves, we did a quick appearance at 94.9 CHRW, playing a couple tracks minus the drums.  The usual engineer for the program was not around, so setting up drums for the performance was going to be difficult.  Ter and Joe ultimately performed "Danse," "9 to 5," and "79" while I sat in the room and tried to make them laugh. 

The Silver Dollar – Toronto, ON – 11/6/09
We played with Modern Boys Modern Girls last night at The Silver Dollar in Toronto.  The club was close to Toronto’s “Chinatown” and seemed like a great place to want to explore for days.  Unfortunately, we had just one night, and we spent most of it at the club and at a house party with MBMG until 7 a.m.  So, exploring Toronto will have to wait until next time…
The guys in MBMG were great performers and I really dug their cover of Nirvana’s Aneurysm!  Totally killer!  I haven’t heard that song in years, and they pulled it off perfectly!  The Silver Dollar had great sound, however, the space was a little odd.  The stage is right in the middle of the room, about ten feet straight across from the bar.  The room is really long…so, you basically have a long, shallow room, and if you want to sit down, you can only do so directly to the left or right of the stage.  I know that description doesn’t make sense…cool place though!  Oh, and one last thing to say about Toronto…expensive!

Marcello’s – Streetsville, ON – 11/7/09
This show was a pleasant surprise!  The community seems VERY wealthy for such a “small town” appearance.  I’ve never seen block, after block, after block, after mile of mansion-sized domiciles!  We were afraid that there wouldn’t be much turn out as the owner was pretty nonchalant about everything and told us “ah…we haven’t even started setting anything up yet…” for about 2 straight hours.  Eventually, we set up and played our asses off despite some technical difficulties (everybody thinks I’m miking my snare…I’m not, I swear).  The crowd had a great time, as did we in the end, and we talked to several locals for a few hours afterward.  I definitely wanted to thank Earl from The Imports for letting Joe and I stay on his couches last night, and for letting us get a sneak preview of DJ Hero (a future purchase for me, I’m sure).  One of these nights, I hope to get more than 4 hours of sleep…

Algonquin College – Ottawa, ON – 11/10/09
Algonquin College was a very cool place to play!  It definitely treats its bands right…we had a green room, complete with Molson and a huge veggie platter (we gotta stay healthy, you know!).  The stage was very deep and pretty wide, which was a nice change of scenery for us.  The sound was great and the students there were very cool!  If you are going to eat in their cafeteria, I recommend the footlong steak and cheese!  We got to visit with quite a few of the students at the merch table afterwards, and it pretty much solidified all of Ontario for us…KICK ASS! 

Our Couchsurfing friends made their way out to see us, even though Ter accidentally gave them directions to our hotel…hmm.  Modern Boys Modern Girls rocked it again tonight and even got a few people dancing up front…something that we are always down for.  The night ended at the hotel, with all of us enjoying the premium-ness (word?) of Molson and a lot of broccoli/cauliflower of course.
 

Part III - When Life Hands You Lemons...

Robbed – Montreal, QC – 11/11/09
We drove by the venue, called Greenroom…it looked cool…but our van was unfortunately robbed in broad daylight a couple hours later…so we had to cancel the show and head back across the border (two of us now without passports) to try and recollect ourselves.  No more computers, no more cameras, and a big hit to our souls.  I still love that city, but I’ll be extra careful there from now on.

Charlie O’s – Montpelier, VT – 11/12/09
We are staying in Burlington for about four days, and using it as our hub for the next few shows.  Ross, our Couchsurfing host, is way too kind to have us for such an extended period.  As it turns out, we aren't the only ones taking advantage of his generosity, as he has another three house guests besides us.  Yes, that makes six of us in a room together!  It makes for a good laugh.  Ter bought a computer from Best Buy to start rebuilding Reason tracks that we lost in the robbery.  I started a list for my MetLife Home Insurance claim (which reminds me, ALWAYS buy home/renters insurance and put your instruments on it…they are covered even if your car is broken into).  Joe weeped, mostly because he didn't have renters insurance.  We lost over $8000 worth of stuff the day before, but we will lose even more if we don't play the rest of the shows while we are in the area. 

Charlie O’s was not far away from Burlington and was a lot of fun.  Becky, the bartender, was super helpful, and she had the Bruins game on…which was something that I realized I sorely missed!!!  I love NESN!!!  We played with another super talented band, Osage Orange, which had a great "Americana" vibe.  I think this was the perfect “first gig back in the U.S.” for us, playing in front of a small town crowd, at a bar that’s one of the oldest around…a very “home” kind of feel to it all.  The PA at Charlie O’s was under the floor on which the band performs, so we were in charge of bringing it up and running our own sound.  They never have a sound guy, so keep that in mind if you decide to play there.  Great beers on tap…almost all local!

Monkey House – Burlington, VT – 11/13/09
This gig was right down the street from our Couchsurfing host.  The Monkey House is located on the outskirts of Burlington, along Riverside Drive just before you hit 89.  It’s on that roundabout thing, which, by the way, are all too common out here on the east coast.  The 5th Business and Brother Through Glass were on the bill with us, spicing things up with covers by Miley Cyrus and Tool, respectively. 

The 5th Business let us crash at their pad, since we were getting done so late.  We watched something called “The Life & Times of Tim” while at their place, and it was funny as hell.  Pretty much an animated Jason Schwartzman kinda thing…totally hilarious!  The Monkey House was really a great room, with a good sound guy, and if you can play with these two bands, do it!  They were uber-generous and great musicians!  We had a blast!

Matterhorn – Stowe, VT – 11/14/09
I had been to this place after snowboarding last year, so I was excited to get back to Stowe and rock this place.  We showed up and there was no snow, but rather a hard rain, which was quite a bummer.  Also, the huge sign outside proclaimed "TONIGHT, Lemonwilde and 3 Warmup Bands."  We all said "oh crap," since we were the ones that put the show together.  Luckily, the other bands (Peanut Brittle Satellite, Ethan Snyder Project, and Dali's Ghost) all thought it was hilarious.  The place ended up getting some great traffic for such bleak weather conditions, and the owner thanked us repeatedly for "bringing the scene."  I highly recommend playing this place, as the crowd is always cool and the talent is treated to some great food and drinks.

Red Square (almost) – Albany, NY – 11/18/09
Before we got robbed, we intended on playing every single show we had booked, regardless of the possibility of going in the hole in order to do so.  We were hellbent on establishing a face in each one of these venues and gaining as many fans as possible.  After getting robbed, we had long talks about whether we could afford to play some places for free anymore, or whether we could even continue the tour at all.  We did decide to continue the tour, but it took the "Montreal slap in the face" to wake us out of our naivety and get us really thinking about cost analysis.  Once we started looking at total costs, including gas, fatigue, sanity, and wear and tear to our vehicle, we actually started making logical decisions on when to "cut our losses."  Unfortunately, Red Square didn't make the cut this time.  We cancelled the show after realizing we would be driving down to Boston for lodging on the 17th, driving to Albany for the show on the 18th, and then driving back to Boston for the next show on the 19th after not knowing where we would be staying in Albany the night before.  Yeah, it was a good decision this time around.

Blackstone Pub – Pawtucket, RI – 11/19/09
This show was a blast for two reasons.  One, it was a mini-homecoming for me, and I had some great friends at the show.  Two, it was a sports bar hosting us during an NFL game, which somewhat allowed us to "practice on stage."  It was one of our better shows, energy-wise, for that reason.  Nothing makes you play harder than people that don't really care.  I'm not sure who won the game, but I know one of the teams was the Dolphins, because I heard a guy at the bar yelling this and that about Ricky Williams every five seconds while we were on stage.

Asiana Fusion – Watertown, MA – 11/20/09
It was next to impossible to find places to play in Boston during the fall.  You have to book that city at least 6 mos. to 1 yr. in advance.  As a result, my hometown show was at Asiana Fusion in Watertown.  This place is fun to play, and the sound guys are pretty good, but beware…the stage is smaller than a breadbox.  Bring your kick, snare, and hi-hat…that's all you'll need. 
The cuisine at this place is asian, go figure, but the atmosphere is confusing.  They have a huge u-shaped bar at the entrance, complete with wall mounted TV's (not that I'm complaining).  But, the rest of the place is filled up with a pool table, buffet table, and many other tables that look like what you would find in your normal sushi joint.  I guess you could say they have something for everyone there.  Anyway, the place has great beers on tap and great service.  Be sure to check out Creepy Jones and Andrew Greene, both of whom shared the bill with us that night and are regulars in the area.

Northeastern University, WRBB 104.9 – Boston, MA – 11/22/09
We played the "Local Distortion" radio show at WRBB, a student run organization at Northeastern University.  This consisted of playing a few songs and about a 45 minute interview with Marshall, the program/music director.  We had a great time chatting about the band and my link to Boston (that's the only reason we got on the show in the first place).  They seemed particularly interested in life after graduating from Northeastern, but I had no answers for them, as here I was…unemployed and tapping on a USPS box during our on-air performance (those radio shows are short on space for drums).

Cousin Larry's – Danbury, CT – 11/24/09
Cousin Larry's looked hard on the outside, complete with bums, graffiti, and creepy eyes outside the venue.  Inside, however, we found the crowd very receptive to touring bands.  We sold a few CD's here, the sound guy bought us a pitcher of beer, and we managed to repay them by messing up our closing song, a cover of Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot."  If anybody noticed, they were kind enough not to rib us.

Thanksgiving – New Jersey/New York/Boston – 11/26/09
Sometimes, you just need space.  This was the time that everybody took advantage of that.  We all realized that we had been hanging out with each other for way longer than any of us could really stand.  Consequently, I went to Boston, Ter stayed with friends in Jersey, and Joe did his thing in NYC.  The only bad thing that came out of this is that Mothball died on Joe while he was in Brooklyn.  This unforeseen expense saw us forking over $600 from the band fund.  It had to be done because we had some big gigs coming up.  If this had been two weeks later, we probably would have left the van in NYC. 

Public Assembly – Brooklyn, NY – 11/27/09
Public Assembly was one of the coolest venues we played all tour.  The supporting bands were amazing (check out Analogue Transit…holy crap!), and the vibe of the place was awesome.  The all brick room has a very old-school feel to it, and for me, that was accentuated by the Slingerland backline kit on-stage.  It was a reissue of the exact kit I was touring with, so I was more than happy!  The beer on tap was decent, the service was great, and the crowd was pretty big.  The surrounding neighborhood was very artsy, and there were a ton of cool coffee shops, street sculptures, etc.  I definitely recommend Public Assembly to any bands out there.  It's in my top three for this tour!  We spent the night on the floor of the guy's place that books for the club.  He had this artist's loft, tucked back in some forgotten alley, along with a few other people.  I wished I could have his apartment, and after spending some time in Brooklyn, it changed my idea of NYC (come on, I'm a Red Sox fan…old habits die hard).

Chaplins The Music Cafe – Spring City, PA – 11/28/09
Chaplins was a high energy show for us.  Located about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia, this music hall has two levels of seating, with the bottom level mostly made up of round cocktail tables and the mezzanine area boasting an amazing pastry counter.  The stage is enormous and features a floor-to-ceiling, dark blue backdrop with small lights sewn in to resemble stars.  Something unique to this cafe is that it is BYOB and all ages.  There were middle school kids ordering sugared drinks from the pastry counter, while others really did bring in their own beer for the occasion.  I've never seen a place with this kind of set up, and it may have inspired all of us. 

This was the second night in a row that we followed an act that most certainly should be selling out very large venues, holding us in complete awe.  On this night, it was the extremely progressive and wickedly talented Infinien.  If you are ever in the Philly area, you MUST go see them!  I think having bands like this go on before your band is most beneficial.  It really raises your game on stage, and I had wished we had booked many more shows with them.

Tortoise & Hare – Arlington, VA – 11/29/09
Tortoise & Hare was a cool experience, and a big place.  I think it's geared more towards featuring solo, acoustic acts, due to the hard, "live" surfaces throughout.  The bar/restaurant is known for two things in the D.C. area. -- Pittsburgh Steelers and Wisconsin Badger football.  As a former Badger, I was curious about this combination of teams…one from PA and the other from WI.  Apparently, it has been a Steeler bar for years, counting on die-hard fans to pack the place every Sunday.  Rumor also has it that the owner isn't a Badger fan, but he heard that another bar in town was getting obscene amounts of die-hard Badger fans for Saturday games…and, well, he just thought he'd follow suit. 

The food here was just ok, but the beer was better.  There is no sound person to speak of, so you are expected to set up the PA and mix yourself during the show.  The crowd, other than those we invited, and some converts, seemed largely annoyed with having a rock band in the place.  That's OK though, we still had fun, and Ter loved being around his Pittsburgh faithful.  Oh, yeah…that was probably one reason people were annoyed…we went on right after the Steelers lost to the Ravens in a close one.

Club Cafe – Pittsburgh, PA – 12/5/09
Our last show of the "Space Race Tour" was back in Pittsburgh almost a week later.  We had to cancel a shows in Delaware and Baltimore prior to this show, due to increasing fear that Mothball's timing belt may be damaged (it squeaked almost constantly by now).  On the day before Club Cafe, Mothball's timing belt did in fact give out, and we were once again towing the thing to the nearest trusted dealership in Pittsburgh.  We were all just thankful that it happened when it did, as it appears we got lucky.

Club Cafe was a rightful ending to this long haul, with Ter's brother Chris joining us on electric guitar as he did at the Rex.  We had come full circle, having stayed on the road for a little over a month.  Though Club Cafe was a much smaller venue than the Rex, I think it helped our egos to know that so many people watching supported us so much.  It was great to be around familiar faces again!

Did Blue Mics' enCORE series stand up to the test of the tour?

Sure enough, they were about the only thing to do so.  Having established their name with studio microphones such as the "Bottle," Blue has consistently offered not only great sounding microphones, but also carved a niche for themselves through innovative looks that combine old-school curves with new-school sheen, technology, and durability.  These new enCORE performance mics are no different. 
The 100 and 200 are comparable to Shure's SM line mics, namely the 57 and 58's, with regards to price range ($99 - $149) and ruggedness.  What set the enCORE series apart for us was their aural clarity and style.  Whereas the SM-57 can sound muffled at times, the enCORE series mics bring out a fuller range of the voice, with very crisp high ends.  The enCORE mics are also a bit more functional for stage use, offering a nifty grip where the Shure dynamic mics do not. 

Ultimately, the aesthetic beauty of these mics is what grabs both user and audience attention.  The unique, "saturn-esque" shape of the mic screen is what first catches the eye, while the high gloss finish of the Blue logo and copper (200) or silver (100) finish of the mic screen certainly commands attention.  The main differences between the 100 and 200 model are that the 200 is an active dynamic microphone which requires phantom power (the 100 requires none); the 100 has a brushed grey body while the 200 has a brushed black body; and due to the aforementioned circuitry of the two mics, the 200 just plain delivers more consistent, "hotter" levels. 

As a drummer, singing backup vocals, I really enjoyed the sound of the enCORE 100 model.  Joe tried both the 100 and 200, but the 100 seemed to react more favorably with his vocal effects box.  This doesn't mean the 200 did not go unused.  For lower level situations, such as acoustic gigs, the 200 model definitely delivered for both of us.  Check both of these mics out whenever you can.  I think you will be more than pleased.

Tour Wrap Up

At the beginning of this tour, our plans were to test out new material on the road while earning enough money to cut our new record in December.  However, we were a bit naive in our fiscal projections, not accounting for the little things that add up to be HUGE issues (emergency funds, people!).  Thus, we actually lost a bit of money rather than gained, and we were forced to go home with little in our pockets.  We did the best we could, and accomplished most of our goals despite the misfortunes. 
We met many great people, made great contacts in clubs as well as other bands.  This is what ultimately will allow us to keep expenses down and prospects up our next time on the road.  Though it may take a little longer to make that record, none of us regrets the experience.  If offered the chance to do it again, we all would.

-- Damion Sanchez