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WE DID IT!
oooh, where do I begin? I'm not entirely sure where I even left off... the last four months have been somewhat of a blur- the timeline lost its linear arrangement and more closely resembles something from my "puzzle narratives in post modern film" class. Okay, maybe it isn't quite that extreme... but spending four months in a van with the same group of people really makes one lose their sense of days, time, and place. Asking "did that happen in Florida or Seattle? Was it last week or last month?" would be commonplace. Right now, I'm just excited to be sleeping on something that isn't rumbling down the highway at 60 miles per hour. I'm excited to open a dresser drawer to get a clean shirt or pair of socks, instead of turning to my under-sized suitcase where things always emerge wrinkly and it's usually difficult to distinguish that which is clean, from that which isn't. But aside from getting robed blind in Montreal, getting stuck in the middle of a blizzard in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon (literally, on the Oregon Trail: "Your Family is dying of starvation" or whatever), having to pay over $5 for a gallon of gas in some places, and encountering an alligator during my morning run, it has all been strangely enlivening. Okay, the alligator wasn't even that big, and there was no way it was going to inflict injury on me... I could have totally out run it, at least for a short distance. But for serious, the last lap around the country was perhaps the most adventurous- meaning, we stayed in hotels more frequently than we ever had before (sometimes that mysterious smell in the van makes it difficult to accept it as your bedroom) or maybe we were just in a daze- like zombies feasting on the brains of the living, we played show after show (after show, after show, after show, after show…) and drove (ourselves) roughly 17,000 miles (sorry, Earth). To counteract the van rot from which we were all suffering, we even started making use of the hotels' pool and fitness rooms (when available), and even coordinated The Vegetarian Challenge- which consisted of a whole set of rules and regulations that were subsequently forgotten about. Also, on this tour we made a habit of seeking out Whole Foods in cities, and thus eating food that doesn’t make you feel completely sorry for yourself. Sorry, Subway- we’re over you. As for our visit to the northwestern part of this country, it was like a breath of fresh air. Actually, it was a breath of fresh air, both literally and figuratively. We even got to spend another night/day in one of our favorite place ever which I think we’ve all agreed is pretty much the ideal place to simultaneously work and relax. It was our fourth or fifth time in Seattle, but it was the first time we’ve ever had any free time to spend walking around downtown. Four of us were lucky enough to go to the library (which is amazing) and the pike street market. As if Seattle isn’t warm and sunny enough as it is, we also met with our friends at Barsuk to give the day a little extra sprinkle of happiness... and to pick up some vitamin waters. During that meeting we agreed upon working together, which is very, very exciting. Further down the coast we were lucky enough to get to catch The Dodos (whose CD we’ve been listening to pretty regularly in the van over the past couple months) at an in-store performance at Amoeba. It was awesome.
A couple days later, we were sipping celebratory mojitos and Coronas at Brian’s for finishing up such a behemoth tour, which most recently included six weeks with The Little Ones (who are all awesome, as people and as musicians- we will miss them!) Brian, who is probably the best host ever, also cooked us delicious food, which we packed our bodies full of in order to prepare ourselves for the 2,800-mile journey home.
The drive back was exhausting, although we did get to see the Grand Canyon… which, as the name implies, was… pretty grand.
posted by: Milo at 5/25/2008 3:19 PM | link here | comments (15)
Comments
Beautiful. Can't wait for you to return to the UK, I wonder if your UK blog would have the same romance, and grandeur. Here's hoping
posted by: Neil Fox at 6/9/2008 5:15 PM
Hey, i watch you guys at summer fest a little bit ago and wanted to say awesome job, hopefully ill cya guys back in wisconsin sometime soon
posted by: Rick Allen at 7/10/2008 4:48 PM
Haha... as I was traveling around South Dakota with Habitat I had the Oregon Trail song stuck in my head. True true, it was a totally different place.
Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you for your appearance in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Hurrah!
posted by: Sandy X at 8/14/2008 9:48 PM
Milo,
It's nice to know that someone with musical ability has put it to good use. You're father (Tom) had great abilities also, but took another path.
I like your music, and hope that you come down to GA again, as it appears that you've already played in Athens. I would gladly come to watch. I'm on your mailing list as "bobonach@aol.com" so I expect a notice about any gig here in GA.
Good luck, Milo, and I'll be watching when you're on Conan O'Brien.
cuz Steve & Rae Bonacci in Covington, GA
posted by: Steve Bonacci at 8/18/2008 1:24 AM
I bought the album Tuesday and I've listened to it at least 5 times already, and it's great. Great job, guys. Congrats on all the press from Rolling Stone and Spin, too. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys at Subterranean when you come to Chicago. I'll be representing 'cuse. Good luck and see ya then.
posted by: CuseSteve at 8/21/2008 12:06 AM
Just want to let you know that I bought the new album on Tuesday and I've listened to it over 5 times already. It's great...great job, guys. Congrats on all the coverage in Rolling Stone and Spin, too. I'm awaiting to see you guys at Subterranean when you visit Chicago and help represent 'cuse.
posted by: Steve Sulak at 8/21/2008 2:25 PM
So...is it true you're gonna be on Conan O'Brien Sept 7th? I can't wait until you're here in Atlanta on Oct 10th. If you have time, contact me. I'm in the book.
posted by: Steve Bonacci at 8/29/2008 1:25 AM
Hey Guys,
I just heard you guys on the radio in Flemington NJ.... after seeing you at Virgin records in September in Ny, let alone all the shows at school, congrats!
posted by: Jackie from Syracuse at 10/9/2008 9:09 AM
Knock knock ... we're here
posted by: KarmaPolice at 10/21/2008 3:02 PM
Just discovered you guys.. Nice work. Come to Canada. You'll be well received!
posted by: evan at 10/27/2008 9:18 PM
Come to Miami! Or Florida in fact, I will travel any damn where.
posted by: VC at 11/21/2008 1:11 AM
I had your album Rhumb Line playing this morning while making coffee. My wife comes down and starts dancing to it, "this is nice, who is it?" she wants to know. I think you have a sound that could cut across generations.
Especially like Alexandra's contributions, hopefully she'll get to stretch out a little in concert.
-- Phil Hirschi(cellist with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 1970's.)
posted by: Phil at 2/11/2009 10:35 AM
I love your album, really a great on! Hope to see you in Italy or at least somewhere else in Europe soon!
posted by: alice at 2/26/2009 7:18 AM
You guys were awesome last night! (The Orpheum in Memphis) - keep it up!!!
posted by: Ethan at 4/12/2009 4:05 PM
Saw you guys in San Diego a few weeks ago. I went to see Death Cab for Cutie and ended up finding another band to add to my small (so far) library. Amazing music, really.
Another new fan who's hungry for more.
-Brett
posted by: Brett at 5/21/2009 1:49 AM
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