Last night at the Social I experienced an odd show. The Courtneys, Maria Taylor, and Mates of State. Quite the lineup. Every band was way different, some good, some bad.
The Courtneys (an Orlando local) were up first. They could only be described as the bastard child of Tegan & Sara and Le Tigre. You think that sounds cool? Think again. The vocals left something to be desired (think Mickey Mouse screaming incoherently) and while one gal did have a stack of synths on the stage, the sound patches she was using were downright painful. I really wanted to step up on stage tweak the MicroKorg so it would be listenable. Eh, whatever.
I'm sure they appeal to.... someone. Just not me. Who cares, I'm sure they'd hate my band.

Up second was Maria Taylor. I'd heard some of her tunes online and really enjoyed them. Her band consisted of herself and five other people. The music was rather mellow and everyone on stage just stood there. They looked bored and miserable. Perhaps they should change their name to "Maria Taylor and her Army of Mannequins". Amanda suggested they add a seventh member to the band who just stands on stage and dances.

Up last was Mates of State who were absolutely amazing. They were so tight as a band and sounded exactly like their CDs. Every song was killer. I'm not a diehard fan but I heard a lot of songs I recognized. They rocked out for an hour and had an amazing stage presence for just two people. Maria Taylor's band should watch them more and take notes. Great audience participation and they were really cool about letting the crowd yell out songs for them to play.

Overall a good show, but I would have appreciated a better opening act.
Can't win 'em all.

Tonight: Limbeck.
Twice.

_Wes

I'm drooling on myself.



That is all.

_Wes

My week just got way cool.

In store for tonight is a crazy game night with the band, tomorrow I'll be headed downtown to the Social to see Mates of State with Amanda, and on Thursday evening Doug and I had planned to head over to Park Ave CD's to see Limbeck's in-store performance. But to top it all off, I just got 2 free tickets to the actual Limbeck show at the Social for that same night. It's been about a year since I've seen those guys live so I'm hoping they'll be just as fantastic as they were the last time around (where I was one of 5 people in the crowd).

About time some good luck came my way. I hear the scratch off tickets calling my name...

_Wes

Hey friends, we made it back from Sarasota alive!

We hit the road Saturday afternoon, sat in extensive traffic on I-4 and then regrouped at a gas station in Lakeland after we all got separated in the chaos. We took a whopping three vehicles for this journey as our good friend Tiffany decided to make the trek to come have some fun as well. Doug and I have always joked about taking $5 after every show and spending it on scratch off lottery tickets in an attempt to double our money. Since we were 10 miles ahead of everyone else, we did just that. Since I have the worst luck in the entire world, I really shouldn't have been the one to scratch them, but that's just the way it goes. Out of 5 tickets, all I won was a free ticket. From that free ticket I won a dollar. When I went back into the gas station to redeem it, the aged lady naturally assumed I had a gambling problem and rather than give me the dollar, she gave me another ticket which quickly proved a bad decision since I didn't win anything. Better luck next time.

Once we finally made it Sarasota we checked into a Best Western hotel near the venue grabbed some food and then headed over to the venue which was completely empty and blasting booty-shakin' tunes. I grabbed a beer and chilled out with everyone else and waited for the sound guy to set up the stage. We were told we were opening the night, so we quickly loaded in and started soundchecking. In the middle of the line check, some girl ran up to me to say that she had spent a dollar on the jukebox and we had played over both her songs. She suggested we play the songs she had paid for as compensation. We didn't know the songs so I jokingly dedicated our set to her. I never did see her again. Perhaps she was offended.

We played a good 30 minute set on the tiny stage (and played well) then took some chairs for the second band called aNDY who were really quite good. They mixed some good old rock and roll with some unintentional stand up comedy. Good times. aNDY are good people and we hope to play some shows with them again in the near future. During their set, their energetic guitar player was jumping around like a mad man eventually losing his balance and crashing into his guitar amp and coming close to crashing through a window. Good times.

We were tired and looking forward to a good party so we cut out midway through the 3rd bands set (Sorry guys, we normally don't do that) and headed back to the hotel where we quickly realized that every plan we had to supplement fun was shot down. Couldn't hook up our videogames to the hotel TV, couldn't get any decent television stations, and the one dollar deck of playing cars JoAnna had purchased earlier in the evening turned out be made specifically for Pinochle and only had a quarter of the deck necessary to play any other game ever invented. We entertained oursevles with silly conversation, terrible jokes, and general mischeif which we won't get into just in case a representative from that Best Western happens to come by this blog. Bert had to work early in the morning the following day so took off for Orlando around 2am.

The night was plagued by a temperamental car alarm and sharing a bed with Doug didn't help me to fall asleep any quicker.

I awoke to find Douglas gone, and no money on the nightstand so I hunted him down via telephone only to find out he was just outside the door. Crafty fellow. After a quick breakfast stop at Bob Evan's we hopped back on the road to Orlando.
The high point of the drive home was pulling up behind a van that read "Jumbo: The Magic Clown" and upon pulling up alongside the vehicle we were greeted with a disgruntled looking fellow actually dressed up in clown garb. I'm telling you, it doesn't get much weirder than that.
Got home. Slept. All in all, a great experience. I'm sure you guys will see some crazy video from it all one day.



Next stop: Daytona Beach on Friday, April 14th.

_Wes

We'll be on the road to Sarasota in just a few hours now, so hopefully it's a smooth trip and no one gets too crazy from being stuck in the car for an extended period of time.

At recent shows people have been telling me more and more that they read this crazy blog of ours. So thanks for taking a peek inside our minds. Scary place, eh?
Now that I can use this as a forum to reach more people I wanted to ask a favor of everyone. If you own a copy of our EP "Sarcasm is Your Friend" what would really help us out is if you could take a few minutes and write a review of the disc for iTunes, cdbaby.com, or both.
That would be helpful to us, so we know what you think, but also for people who are thinking of maybe purchasing the CD. It only takes a few minutes and we'd love it if you helped us out with this.

Have a great weekend.
After we're done rocking at The Clubhouse Tavern tonight, we'll be shacking up in a hotel near the beach enjoying cold beverages, crazy antics, and terribly lame jokes.

All the best.

_Wes

This Sunday Moog Music will be unveiling their new analog Synthesizer. It'll be the first instrument released by the company since Dr. Moog's death. For the last 3 weeks there has been speculation on what it could be, but now the tech specs have been released.
It's gonna be freakin' sweet.
I'm counting the pennies.
Expect to see me rocking out on one as soon as they are released and sounding better than ever.

I'm such a dork.

_wes

As much as I hate doing so, I'll admit when I'm wrong.

If you're a frequent reader of this blog then you know that Doug and I like to talk up certain bands. In the past, I've made mention of a spectacular band from Cherry Hill, New Jersey known as The Progress. We first met them at a festival we played in Ocala, Florida at the end of 2004. They were amazing. I picked up a copy of the 5 song EP they were supporting called "Golden State".

Clocking in around 15 minutes, it was such a solid disc but always left me wanting more. A few months later, I ordered of a copy of their very first (and now out of print) self titled EP. It was also solid. When I saw that they were planning a summer tour in July of 2005 I was quick to help them out with a Florida show that sadly didn't go off so well. However since the guys are super nice we offered them a place to stay for the night and Bert and myself stayed up most the evening just talking to them and picking their brains about the life of a touring band. They had just signed to the label Negative Progression and were soon going to be recording their debut LP.

It's now about 7 months later and their LP entitled "Merit" is going to be hitting stores all over the country on April 25th. They've been releasing a song a week on PureVolume to preview the album. When I initially started listening to these tracks when they started posting them a month or so ago I was not impressed. Golden State was full of hooks and clever lyrics whereas these newer tunes didn't grab me on the first listen like the previous albums. However (this is the part where I admit that I am wrong) after listening to the songs each night after work, they have officially grown on me and now I am eagerly anticipating the release of the album.

If you are not familiar with the band, please check them out on MySpace (www.myspace.com/theprogress) to familiarize yourself with 2 of their older tracks that initially reeled me in, then cruise over to www.purevolume.com/theprogress and preview half of the tracks on Merit.

Please please please support this band. Next time they venture through Florida, we hope we will be sharing the stage with them again. Great guys, great music, great things ahead.

Thanks!

_wes

Craziness all over the place.

First, Doug chops off most of his hair. Next, we find out that Bert has to work at 6am Sunday morning and we're playing in Sarasota the night before. We had a hotel room rented out to have an after show party extraordinaire, but it looks like we'll be having it Bert-less. His birthday is coming up so we'll make it up to him then. Of course, he'll be out of town for his birthday, so we'll make it up to him eventually. Come to think of it, my birthday is coming up in just 2 weeks.
Interesting ENY tidbit: Bert has a birthday the day before mine (he's April 3rd, I'm April 4th), however he is one year younger, so for one day each year, we're the same age. That's pretty cool, right? ....Right?

Bert is turning the big old 21. He's gonna get a new lease on life. I sure did when I turned 21. You actually feel like a human being. A registered member of society. You get a free membership to the Blackout Club. Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him so that he doesn't get too crazy.
I'm turning 22. Finally, age no longer matters, I can now coast through the rest of my days and look forward to the depression I will likely suffer when I turn 50.

And the best news of all? I've got pieces of 4 new songs that I'm currently messing around with. Based on past experience, it's likely that none of them will ever become finished product, let alone demos, so don't hold your breath. I think it's funny how I really draw a lot of song material from personal experience, but then when I actually have a lot of stuff happening I can't actually focus enough to write about it. It always ends up with me looking back and writing retrospecively. That works just as well in my opinion.

We're trying to design new tshirts. Got any ideas? JoAnna has a design that's pretty killer and will hopefully appear on mobile apparel as soon as we work out the kinks.

We've played every weekend for about the last month. It's almost like we're a real band or something.
Anyone selling a van? This 2 car thing is getting ridiculous.

I always take personal shots at people in my blogs. Not this time. I've above that. And no bad jokes either. Not until I get some new material.

MySpace is the ultimate time waster. I've never read so much stuff I didn't care about until I discovered that website. I don't think I need that window into my friends minds. I feel like I'm spying in. I might as well just sit in the tree outside their windows with a microphone aimed at their window. At least there's a challenge that way.

So, who's getting sick of our EP? No one? Good. That thing's gotta last you a while.

Ever have a cell phone against your head for so long that your ear starts to burn? As long as the conversation's good, you never feel it until you hang up.
I can talk for hours about nothing and everything all at once.

_Wes

Yesterday we packed up the cars and took a trip over to Edgewater near Daytona to play a show at a birthday party. Yes, we do parties. Our friend Tiffany's brother, Mike, who is a big ENY fan is in the military and will be headed back to Germany before his actual birthday so we decided to crash it so he'd actually be able to see us play.
We played on a big deck beside a canal for his friends and family and had a blast.
I almost didn't make it on time since someone didn't bother to make sure I was awake when the alarm went off :)
Regardless, I got to the meeting point on 3 hours of sleep and we took the hour and a half drive (not 30 minutes like we were originally told) out towards the coast.

Their family took great care of us, supplied plenty of food and drinks and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Hopefully Mike won't soon forget his 20th birthday.



That's how far we're willing to go for our friends.

Speaking of friends, ever notice how sometimes you tend to torture and aggravate the people you love the most? I'm pretty much the master at that. I never mean to do it, and never realize it until I've gone too far. Then I have to backpedal and hope that the damage isn't permanent. Just remember, never let the little stuff get in the way of the big picture. Focus on the positive. Solve your own issues and don't try to blame them on anyone else.

And on that prudent note, have a spectacular week. See you in Sarasota.

-Wes

I'm sitting at work with nothing to do so I figured this might kill 5 minutes.

Here's what's happening...
Next Saturday, March 25 we'll be headed down to Sarasota, FL for the first time. If you live in that area let us know. Chances are that we'll be spending the night down there after the show at The Clubhouse Tavern and need to know where to go to have a good time.

Attention Daytona friends and fans... We'll be headed back our your way on Friday, April 14th to play at the Coffee Connection for a show on the My Getaway/Sleepaway tour. Pathway to Providence will also be playing. You wanted us back, so we're coming back. Please don't miss out.

Attention Ocala friends and fans... we'll be back at the K&K Concert Hall on Saturday, April 22nd. Also appearing on stage will be Rosedale and Central vine, so it's almost the exact same show as last time, and that's fine with us. So, you know, come say hello and bring some friends (and Doug requests more edibles). We need all the support possible at this show. Mark it on the calendar. Tell a friend. Tell two friends. Bring your parents. Whatever you have to do, we just have to make this great.

More dates coming for April. Keep an eye on the old MySpace.

Speaking of MySpace, I used to think it was the most evil website ever created by man, but now I spend way too much time on it. From a band's perspective, it's probably the best internet resource ever created.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I think that's all I need to say about that.

On Saturday I believe we're playing a party somewhere in in the vicinity of Edgewater, FL. We'll see how that goes.

Last night Doug and I hashed out the route for our summer tour and hunted down lots of cool venues. Come July, Southeast USA is in for a real treat. More on that as it develops.

Listen to Words Now Heard

Over and outsies.

-Wes

There's a reason that we always say Ocala rocks and last night was proof.
To any of you Ocala kids who may be reading this... You guys & gals are amazing. A big hug with words to everyone who came out to support us 8 months after our last show there. To everyone who brought us cookies, said nice things to us, clapped, sang along, and danced liked there was no tomorrow, we can't thank you enough.

We'll be back soon. No more long periods of waiting. We'll return and have another amazing time. Hit up the Slocala boards and request us back. That'll help us tons. Tell your friends, send them links, wear those shirts. We're basically planning to just take over your town. But that's okay, right?

The 'Sarcasm' CD's sold in large quantities last night so we hope to see even more people the next time around. If anyone has pics or video from the show, send them our way. That's one show we want to keep in our memories for years to come.

Kudos to the other bands who played as well. Good show all around.

Despite the bad traffic and getting lost on the way to the venue it was the most fun I've had at a show in a long time.

Special thanks to the Wendy's crew. You know who you are.

-Wes

Hey peeps.

Remember when I used to write in this all the time? Yeah. I got busy. Oops.
I actually just wanted to talk a little about the show we played this past Satruday at the Island Oasis in Winter Park. First off, it was our first time playing that venue, and I actually kind of like it. For whatever reason, I always enjoy playing in dive bars. This was a dive.
Once in a blue moon we play shows where all of the bands are amazing. This was one of those shows. I definitely would've liked to have seen more familiar faces, but the small group we had was quite supportive. We kicked off the night after waiting and waiting for the sound guy whose car broke down on the way to the venue. After us, The Starrs took the stage and sounded amazing. Bert picked up a copy of their CD "Silhouette" and I've really been enjoying it. Up second were The 1985 Bears who were also fantastic. Closing out the show was Orlando's own Words Now Heard. WNH is a one man show featuring the talents of Chris Martin who was a very energetic and outgoing guy. He's a lot of fun.
When it was his turn to take the stage he got up there with an acoustic guitar and I was holding my breath hoping not to hear another Dashboard knockoff. However, even though he played everything acoustic, he put on a great show. The man has an amazing stage presence and even though he was the only one on stage, it felt like I was watching a full band show.
I'm really hoping we get a chance to share the stage with him again in the near future. If he plays near you, please go see him. I picked up a copy of his new CD called "Loud and Clear". Highly recommended.

We met so many people that night, and all of them were super nice. We've played with local bands that were complete ego maniacs, but we've always had pretty good luck when it comes to playing with touring bands that have an overall great attitude.

Ocala this weekend. Playing K&K. I'm really looking forward to this one.
Our Tampa show got cancelled.
My car needs an oil change.
Currently enduring a headache.

Apologies, awkwardness, and taking a stand have been the themes for the week.

Listen to that one band I talked about that one time.

-Wes

Hey all, just writing to let you know of a couple cool shows coming up.
Saves the Day at the Social March 23rd
Alkaline Trio at House of Blues April 9th.


Just kidding. Actually we're playing with some cool bands this coming Saturday March 4th at Island Oasis here in Orlando. Joining us will be Words Now Heard (who I think is the only artist to have played with EVERYONE), and a couple cool bands from the great white north The Starrs and the 1985 Bears (guess where they are from). So if you aren't doing anything on Saturday at 5pm come check us out for a drunken sex fest. Actually it will be a good, clean night of wholesome All Ages type entertainment, but since it's an early show you'll still have time for your drunken sex fests. So come get the best of both worlds Saturday night and hear some great music in the process.

The jury has come in on the Rhett Miller album "The Believer" and the verdict is it's at least half awesome (10 points to anyone who knows the band I referenced there).

Doug