I order a new kit today. It’s a Yamaha Oak Custom in Bryce Canyon Brown Oak Gloss Finish (browner, darker and much less drums than in the pictures).
24″ x 17″ Bass Drum
13″ x 10″ Rack Tom
16″ x 14″ Floor Tom
It’s huge! Why the new drum set? Because I have been asked to tour as the drummer for Waking Ashland. My Gretsch kit is way too small for the kind of music they play. I start March 5th and take the tour to Iowa, then a week in Japan. I was offered the gig before but had to turn it down due to having too many bills and conflicts with Harris. I plan on buying some new hardware and a new ride cymbal too. My K Custom Crash Ride just won’t cut it so, I’m looking at a Zildjian Sweet Ride. It’s got enough ping, but it’s washy enough to crash on. I’m not a big “ping” fan, but it’s needed for Waking Ashland. I need to figure what I want for a snare too. I think I might bring some to Harris practice tomorrow for a test run. As for Harris we have been asked to do a 10 day tour across Canada in May. Is an ‘06 tour in Europe asking too much? Hopefully tomorrow I can square away my Passport.
I am going to Japan in March.
I am going to play some awesome shows.
I am ecstatic.
Can’t you tell?
I’m starting a list of trinkets to bring back with me. If you want something let me know now. And no, I will not buy you used girls panties off the streets of Tokyo.
This weekend blew. I had a show on friday in Salem, NH with Will which wasn’t so hott. The turnout was good, but the sound sucked and the performance was sloppy. On Saturday Harris had a show in Bennington, VT. Bennington is 3 hours from Boston. We got there only for the show to be cancelled. Someone crashed into a transformer and knocked out power to most of the city along with a bunch of surrounding towns. The power wasn’t expected to be on close till 9pm. Being an early show the place closed up and cancelled the show. It was expected to be a great show. I don’t think Jesus loves Harris. We were calm about the whole thing for there was nothing we could do. Before driving back we went to a local bar to get some burgers and beers. The burgers were huge and the brews were tasty. It made things a little better. I could think of so many things I could have done with six hours and $40 worth of gas.
On friday night I made a quick appearance at Cindy’s birthday get together in Lowell at Sangrias with Chelsea. I quickly came to the realization that I didn’t know anyone and I was too old. I pounded a beer and went for a walk until last call only to come back to pick up Chelsea. While walking around I thought about how Lowell had moved on (and so had I). It was once a thriving industrial city that has since then become useless and outdated. I walked passed so many business that no longer exist from when I was living up there. It seems so hard to sustain in Lowell, yet people don’t give up. It seems so futile. I walked passed places that reminded me of my time in Lowell.
I walked passed the Double Tree which reminded me of going there one night Freshman year with Labbe and Belmo to be served Long Island iced teas by Labbe’s friend.
I walked past RRRecords which reminded me of my first tour with Will Brierly. We had just come back from New Jersey to play a show at the Sugar Shack and had stopped in to consign some cd’s.
I walked passed the shell of what was Evos. I remembered all the great (and not so great shows I played there). Chromelodeon, Model Sons, The Fever Monument, Scott Pitman’s Birthday Bash band: + with a special performance by the Shods, The Dresden Dolls.
I walked past the Jackson street apartments which reminded me of all the parties the Tides boys would throw. I remember running out the door with Andrew’s Centaur painting at a Christmas party forgetting that the lights around the frame were still plugged in.
I walked passed the Lowell Auditorium which reminded of the Weezer show that I didn’t go to with Ozma and the Getup Kids.
I walked passed Steve Rot and remembered his name, but he’d didn’t remember mine.
I remember a lot more that I can remember that I remembered right now. Remember?
In short: Lowell was good to me. The important word is “was”. It’s the not the same any more, but I do not expect it to be.
When somone asks me who my favorite member of the Beatles is without hesitation I say, “Sir George Martin“. I was listening to the second half or shall I say Side B of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on the ride home from practice tonight. Every time I listen to it, I forget how deep the orchestration is. I’m sure most of that can be credited to Sir Martin. In know way do I knock the Beatles, but George Martin put them over the edge and helped them expand. The strings in ‘She’s Leaving Home’ listen to ‘em man, listen to ‘em. I’ve grown up listening to the Beatles. The songs are ingrained in my memory. From the ages of 12 -15 or so anything my parents listened to, I hated. I constantly had headphones on listening to whatever junk Jam’n 94.5 or Kiss 108 was forcing down my throat. Anything to not hear the lame crap my parents were listening to.
But then when the time in a teenage boy’s life comes when all the classics are cool, (Hendrix, The Doors, Zeppelin, Dylan, Beatles) I ate it all up. Whenever we’d have dinner as a family I would put on the Beatles it would all come rushing back to me like I was born knowing the songs. I had forgetten that at one point in my childhood I knew every lyric, every melody, even the order of songs. And… I don’t remember where I was going with all this.
But yes, Sir George Martin he’s my favorite Beatle.
Top 5 spins for the month of January:
The Long Winters – When I Pretend to Fall
This Week in Tech Podcast
Regina Spektor – Live @ Paradise Lounge 4-1-05
Ben Folds – Songs for Goldfish
All things Ben Gibbard (Death Cab/Postal Service/Styrofoam) *It’s inherent in the cold weather
