Novermber 25, Detroit Michigan
Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:15 am
Hey everybody. We're about to wrap up this tour. 2 more dates.
Everyone is waiting on my down in the lobby so I have to hurry. We just
downloaded rough cuts of the Marvelous Things video and gave it a look.
I don't have time to comment or whatever...later.
The show last night was...mediocre, the crowd was mediocre, the
experience was mediocre... Got to meet Matt from the forum and talk to
some cool people, so that always makes it seem ok. I'll have to check in
later. Just wanted to say hello and I'll follow up.
On to OH - HI - OH.
Boyd
----------------------------
HEY. I'm back. Well...I'm not really back...I'm sitting on the first bench of
our van watching Daniel drive and listening to a bootleg of Guster
that...was it Tom?... gave me from Phoenix. So far, we've listened to the
new Muse record - which, I must say - sounds like Muse. My new favorite
new record is The new Deathcab record. But that's not just me - you can
ask the same question to Stacy, Sherri, Daniel and others in the van. We
met those guys at the Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge... or rather, some
of them...the ones who knocked on Eisley's dressing room door to meet
them. Super nice guys.
Anyway, let's carefully talk about Detroit if we can. I'm not sure I can...or
should. We came with no pre-conceived ideas. Everything went ok. There
was no real downside...but for the sake of journaling, I'll download my
thoughts - First off, there were more beggars per square block than any
place I've ever been on the planet. I felt bad for them, so I emptied out
my pockets so many times that throughout the night, I finally started
saying, "dude, I already gave to all the other guys before you...you're
late...sorry". Some of them would cuss you if you didn't give; and
somebody told me they almost got pulled into an alley and mugged.
There was a guy who could barely talk helping us unload - who I thought
worked for the venue. Later Daniel found out he didn't and was
demanding money.
Inside it was much warmer - i dunno...everyone had the same reaction
from dealing with the security and venue crew; they were sorta rude and
sharp with us, while running us in and out like cattle, never a smile or a
kind word...they just barked at us; there was never a contact or a
connection with anyone. Everything is NO in most of these venues. I
understand, it's just a job and they probably hate their jobs, but...I still
find no reason for existence if you can't love the people you come in
contact every day...no matter who they are. So, we tried to spread our
cheer in a cold, ruff place; I just don't think it was received.
The college radio station guys were awesome, and fans were awesome...
Matt Rowell was awesome. The guy I gave my coat to outside was
awesome. (he got kicked out because he and friends were trying to move
up closer to the stage and one of the security guards yelled and
screamed at them; after turning around, he muttered the "b" word
(wups), thinking she didn't hear him...and got kicked out in the cold. We
tried to get him back in, officially and unofficially, but they yelled and
screamed at us and him...and the 2 girly-men security guards thought
the whole thing was funny. I pleaded his case to no avail. Since he was
freezing and was an eisley/brand new fan and he helped us load out, I
gave him my coat so he wouldn't die. 
I'm rambling...and I sure don't want to diss Detroit. Somebody told me
that MnM filmed some of his movie in the bathroom at this venue - which
I had the pleasure of being in for a brief moment. I dunno...maybe it was
just the weather, or maybe because eisley's mix wasn't so great and the
crowd felt it; maybe it was because they only sold 45 cd's, or maybe
because just a handful of people came to talk to them afterward... It
wasn't like the band didn't sound good. Sherri said she had some vocal
trouble, but overall, it was good; I just don't think it was a very
productive night for the band....and for the first time in a while, I kept
pushing back the feeling: "what are we doing on this tour?" Matt said
there were hecklers all around him. That sucks. It's not their fault really,
they came to see rock with testosterone. oh well.
After the show, we checked in to some far too luxurious hotel with a suite
and quickly darted back into the night over to the venue, then to Brand
New's bus to hook up with everyone who was hungry. We all ended up at
some greek place not too far away (Brand New, Hot Rod, Straylight and
some x-tra's) and returned with Jesse back to our rooms where much
noise making and fun went on for way too long. I worked on posting
Lawrence, Kansas pics and crashed at 5:00am.
This morning, I downloaded the first rough edit of Marvelous Things
(video). It's ok. The band looks awesome, the song is good, it's basically
just a performance video outside in a back yard with a few simple
vignettes that don't really add much or subtract much. It's nothing
anyone is going to get excited about, but it'll give peeps a chance to see
the band. It's not very defining - creatively. It really says nothing about
the band - other than, they look great and write great songs. I can only
imagine that many might think they didn't play their parts and there was
much pitch bending. You guys know different.
Sleepy on the road. We passed through Indiana and now we're in Ohio.
Sold out show tonight. cheers.
boyd
-------------------
We made it to Cincinnati early so I had time to run up to the room, stab
the phone chord in, dial up aol only to find the hotel uses 90+ for local
calls instead of everyone else on the planet who uses 9+.
Anyway, it's great to be here on time for one of the few times on this
our. Mostly we arrive just a tad late - enough not to piss anyone off, but
to stress us out. So....I'm uploading the Lawerence, Kansas pics right
now in case anyone wants to see them. Gotta go. Boydout.
p.s. I miss Kim and Collin. Be home soon.
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