Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers

West Coast 2003
Los Angeles
The show at Sea Level Records was amazing - so many nice folks turned up and Todd made us really feel at home. At the show we met Paul & David Jansen, who live in LA and are photographers & video guys! They are just truly sweet and lovely guys and had us over the next day for a crazy photo shoot involving four mysterious doors (props from someplace?) in the middle of a dirt lot. The pictures are too many to fit here so CLICK HERE to visit them! 

 This one is of Paul setting up his camera!

 

         


Sea Level Records
Los Angeles
Same night only later we played at Cat Club on the Sunset Strip - very "rock" sort of place. Look at that giant drum kit! Rob got crazy and ran around jumping off furniture making us feel better. Paul & David came to this show and took video of it - maybe someday we'll put it up here - it's hilarious. 


Cat Club
San Diego
Red Pony Clock were great and & the whole night a very funny beach guy was dancing and hooting right up in front of the bands. SO funny and so silly. I know not all southern CA beach town people are like this, but it's so cute to find someone at our little indie show that seems to have lost his way from a Phish concert. Everyone here is quite loveable and the beach is a beauty...I only wish we had time to learn to surf a little.
Rosary Room
Oakland
The Stork Club is a really strangely decorated place and the owner immediately tried to convince Rob that they NEVER booked live music. They also have a really big doll house in the middle of the bar complete with tiny doll furniture and tiny doll people. The owner's second order of business was to try to convince me it had a basement. Oh I liked the place alright. But only a handful of people - our loyal friends, thank you! - showed up. Maybe because we were billed in their press as the mysterious S. H. O. C. T. Wow. 
S.H.O.C.T. at the Stork Club
Eureka
 All along people were warning us that Eureka would be beautiful and in the end it was!  Saffire Rose was a deceptive place! Early evening a country band played while older people sat at tables & ate pricey food. By the time our show was starting though they'd cleared the tables and wow the place filled with the sweetest strangest indie fans. The Lowlights played an absolutely amazing set (you should see them & buy their records.) After the show we went to what we thought would be a tough sort of hick bar (called the Shanty!) all ready to get in a fight, but once inside they were playing the violent femmes and half the kids from the show were there. Including the unforgettable Lewis.
highway views!


saffire rose
Hey, hey Portland. Even before we got to town rumors were flying on the internet that we were thinking of relocating there. Well, it was pretty nice. We visited with Arland & Akina (Kanda) and Chris (Bright Lights) and it DID seem like a great little community of music lovers. Alex set up the show for us as part of a "basement circuit" - and it was a basement alright. Nice and punk. Rob got the biggest shock of his life though (and kept right on with the song) You could actually see the lights dim - what a trooper. Ouch! Portland is worth another trip, I'd say. Jess looks particularly radiant in Portland.
Mason's basement
Olympia! I love it. What can I say.  This was maybe my favorite show of the tour.  Courtney who set up the show was so sweet - we loved the Encyclopedia of Fun who opened for us (they were fun and it turned out nobody kicked them out at 10pm like they were supposed to for being underage.) The kids here have spunk and they weren't afraid to dance. We were dancing too! Afterwards people invited us for a swim in a nearby (freezing) lake to celebrate the equinox. So sad that we were headed to Seattle that night and Rob was coming down with a cold. I'm sure they had fun.
dancing and wearing the tutu
Seattle
We were in Seattle for 2 nights and it was a nice break. We stayed with Rob's friends Brad & Steve who had an amazing hot tub in their amazing garden with an amazing view of downtown lights. Amazing. Oh I am so lucky to have the second hot tub soak of the tour. It's like vacation. Everybody relaxed and did some sightseeing - Jeannine was able to visit with her sister & family who were so nice to let us stay the second night with them. The record store was cool - a genius hovering stage thing was exciting to play on - like we were floating. Jeannine's nieces made us sock puppets for "winners." 
Jessica in Steve & Brad's garden
Sonic Boom records
Oh. Vancouver. Jess had trouble getting into the country with only a driver's license. Wow they gave us a bit of a scare, but we made it with lots of time for sightseeing downtown. Sadly Rob slept in the van all afternoon - he was so sick. The sugar refinery had GOOD food which was so nice - a cute little space. Ashtray Boy really made it special though - they really took care of us. Their new album of songs about the Euro is just amazing. They played a bit of it at the show - each song in a different language corresponding to the EU country, you see. We like these people!!!
oops. No photos from Vancouver! These are the mysterious CA redwoods.
San Francisco
 Last show! Last show! We were all a bit tired after driving like mad back down from Vancouver and Jess was getting sick too. But there's no place like SF and the show was a good one. Summer at Shatter Creek was shockingly good - just himself singing and a fender rhodes. We really rounded out the tour meeting up with Paul & David & Christian again. It felt like we were back home. After the show we went to a kooky diner for gilled cheese with everybody and our gear was almost locked into the club for the night.
Hemlock Tavern