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T.A.Z. in New London CT is one of the best clubs in the world! I'm convinced.
We played there 3 times now and never had a bad time. It's a coffeehouse, no
alcohol is served -- that might be a deterent to the music fan who'd like a beer
with his entertainment -- but we have always gotten quality audiences there. And
there is a pretty decent bar right next door (no cover) if you want to pop in
for a brew between bands. Upstairs is a galery with interesting art on display.
Brooks, the dude who promoted our show, was having a huge fight with his
girlfriend that night, but that did not stop him from having a good time.
The first band that
played were called Lowboy and were the best band I've seen all year. They had a
Sonic Youth type of distortion mixed with a Built to Spill sense of melody. Some
of their songs were poppy, some could be fit into the "emo" file. They played
with bass, guitar, keyboards (organ and synth) and drums. I think you can get
more info on them at http://members.tripod.com/threedollar/. (If not, you can read
about their sister band, Three Dollar Depth Charge.)
Our "biggest fan", Paul Bernardi, showed up with his new wife and a friend
and a camera. He rushed these pictures to us so we'd have them for the page --
what a nice guy! He pulled up a seat right in front of the stage and
sat down to watch our entire set... front row seats! He referred to himself as
our biggest fan, but Rick started calling him our "biggest seated fan." Another
"big" fan of ours brought a cd for us to sign. We don't even have cds yet! But
he made one of his own, on a CD burner, and it looked pretty cool. It
was just our first two 7 inches plus a WKDU radio show and some stuff off the
internet. 
There's a picture of
Paul here with me (I'm making the crazy face).
After the show Rick and Frick crashed at TAZ while I went with Brooks to crash at his place and did my best to not pay attention to his arguments with his girlfriend who actually packed her bags and walked out in the morning, just like in the movies. I felt kind of bad for Brooks, but what can you do?
We took Saturday off -- we had to after that strenuous T.A.Z. show -- and
went to Rick's folks' place in Maine. The next day was Easter. We had a show at
The Elvis Room, a punk rock coffeeshop/bar in Portsmouth NH. We had never played
New Hampshire before, and we don't have any "following" whatsoever here. A
couple people from Portland who saw us there last year came. But, other than
that and Rick's family, the audience consisted of the other bands that played.
The fact that it was Easter might have kept people away too. (I know that I
would have rather been eating a big Easter Dinner myself!) Nevertheless it was a
fun show, and a bit on the LOUD side. The band that played directly before us
were fantastic -- so good that BOTH Rick and Frick bought their cd. They were
called Lustre King ... reminded me a little of Don Caballero and Shellac (and
they also come from Chicago) .. mostly instrumental songs. They played as a
trio, but there are additional musicians, and a dj, on their album (cd, that
is). Not only are they great musicians, they are nice guys too. They actually
stayed to watch us play! 
After our set we headed back to Maine where a delicious hot Easter Dinner was waiting. That was the end of part one of our New England tourette. You still have a chance to catch us on part 2 next weekend! April 10 at Tune Inn in New Haven CT and April 11 at Upstairs at Coney Island High in NYC.
Update 04/12/99 -- You missed your chance. But you can read all about it here now.
