Throughout my time on the road, I've been exposed to a wide range of lifestyles and communities, from Colorado, the Southwest and the Midwest. It seems that there is something sweeping this country and businesses are taking note. If you've watched t.v. lately, you've probably seen a car commercial. Some cars tout luxury, others claim to be the most rugged. One subject that is never absent from a car commercial is the all important "mpg" or how it may be "the most fuel efficient in its class." Subaru has a "zero landfill plant status," which means nothing from their factory goes to a landfill, and they don't let you forget it. Shoes are beginning to be manufactured with renewable resources and non-toxic, non-petrol based materials. Cleaning products, organic foods, organic clothing, wind energy, and the very current issue of off-shore drilling all tie into "the green factor."
I think the appearance of the hybrid car in concert with rising gas prices was the beginning of the thrust of "green lifestyle" into the public eye. Obviously there are other factors, but when your wallet starts getting hit and you can do something about it that has more far reaching benefits than your bank account, that seems like a win win situation to me. So, I think we're in an ironically beautiful spot right now. Our planet is starting to show real signs of wear and tear from constant abuse since the industrial revolution. Yet, recent technological advancements show potential to help us ween ourselves from this abusive relationship.
With that said, I must say I feel like a hypocrite. All of this time I'm traveling around in a seriously less-than-fuel-efficient vehicle loaded with 5 guys pulling a heavy trailer full of equipment. But here's the rub, we either stop touring and abandon our dreams or continue doing what we're doing while contributing to the environmental and economic issues of our time. Needless to say, if we had the option of touring in an eco-friendly vehicle, we would, in a heartbeat. We would like to acquire a diesel vehicle, and convert it to run on vegetable oil. Unfortunately at the moment, we are recovering from having to replace the transmission on our beloved gas guzzler.
National and international touring acts have been quick to adopt enviornmentally sound methods of touring. Radiohead, for example, has consolidated their stage and equipment to fit on just 5 semi trucks, plus buses for personell. In comparison, a tour like Kanye West's travels with 17 semis plus buses for personell. Radiohead has taken it a step further and had enormous batteries designed that are capable of running an entire show from load in-performance-load out on one charge. Their system allows them to do this at one show, then use gas powered generators at the next show while recharging the batteries with the venue's power supply. In any rate, they have cut their consumption during shows in half. Acts like Dave Mathews Band and Willy Nelson have also made efforts to stay green by touring in low emissions vehicles or offsetting their carbon emmissions with credits. Here are a couple interesting links on that: Sustainable Touring , Comments on Radiohead's Eco-Touring
And most importantly, Radiohead's blog further detailing what I mentioned above.
I sincerely hope that in the near future Frogs Gone Fishin' is able to adopt even a small bit of what bands like Radiohead are doing. I believe we are in a pivotal time in the existance of life on Earth and must work everyday to reduce our 'footprint' on the planet. If you're interested in doing something different today help change your world, this link might give you some ideas.
Until next time...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
#2 - Minneapolis to Chicago
After leaving Dubuque, we returned to Minneapolis on July 30th to play at the Fine Line Music Café. The Fine Line is one of the larger venues we’ve played; the largest this summer. The stage is big, the sound is loud, and the lights are bright...a nice change from the small, dark dive bars that we love so much. One thing that the smaller rooms offer us that a venue like the Fine Line doesn't, is a more intimate setting to connect with an audience. Besides being on a stage elevated above the audience, the bright stage lights make it almost impossible to see the crowd. As a drummer I like to watch the crowd ebb and flow with the beat. Having a visual representation of my snare and bass falling with dancing feet makes the whole experience seem more communal and fulfilling for me. We'll see how this experience evolves as we begin to play large stages on a more regular basis.
Two girls from Dubuque, Abi and Allie, decided to follow us back to Minneapolis to see the show and ended up staying until Chicago. I don't really know what to think about it, but I definitely didn't expect anyone to be "touring" with us at this point, considering we usually don't even know where we're sleeping. I never travelled in their car, so I didn't see them unless we were playing a show. Trevor was a regular in their car and according to him, lets just say it wasn't exactly a calm, relaxing atmosphere. A good friend of the band, Adam Saper (Went to school with Trevor at Tulane), joined us in Minneapolis as well. So, that makes 5 in the band, the 2 Dubuquers, and Saper...8 people, a lot harder to organize than 5 guys in 1 car. For example, 8 people couldn't stay in our friend Karl's place in Minneapolis, so we had to pitch our 5 person tent on a small patch of grass in front of his house. Like I said, I didn't worry about it too much, but Trevor seemed lose some sleep over the whole thing, especially in Chicago. All in all, it's awesome that people are willing to put everything on hold and hop on the road with us; the more the merrier, right?
We left Minneapolis on Thursday morning for Sheboygan, WI where we played an early show at a nice little joint called the Paradigm Coffeehouse. Right after loading out we headed for Chicago, about 2.5 hours drive. Driving into Chicago late at night is definitely the way to go, although 2:00 a.m. on a Chicago highway feels like noon on a smaller city's highway. We were headed to the heart of downtown, a block away from Grant Park where we would be staying with friends from Nashville. We had plans to go to the massive Lollapalooza festival on Friday, which is held every year in Grant Park...yeah, we totally lucked out with where we were staying.
In case you're unfamiliar with Lollapalooza, here's a general synopsis. Lollapalooza: A 3-day outdoor music festival on the shores of Lake Michigan attended by more than 200,000 people featuring roughly 40 bands. The headliners included Kanye West, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead. I only saw the Friday night show, but was completely stoked that Radiohead was playing a 2 hour set on the main stage. I don't know how to put my experience into words, but I will say that it met or exceeded any expectations I had. Here is a link to pictures from the show so you can see for yourself, I was at Day 1. What made Friday different from the other nights was that Radiohead was the sole headlining act. This meant that the roughly 90,000 people there that day were at this one stage instead of being divided between two stages like the following two nights at the festival. Sea of sweaty people. I decided to miss another one of my favorites, The Raconteurs (playing from 6-8 on a different stage) so I could get closer for the Radiohead show which started at 8. Even after arriving 2.5 hours before their set began, I could only squeeze my way to about 40 yards from the stage. I've never experienced anything like this before. For over 4 hours I didn't even have enough room to bend and touch my feet. It was hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, worth it. I saw three people pass out, one of which had to be crowd surfed out above everyones heads. I can't even imagine what would have happened if there was some sort of an emergency, and don't want to.
Saturday night we played Curly's Bar in Glen Ellyn, a suburb of the city. Similar to Dubuque and other shows this summer, I was blown away at how friendly and supportive the local people were. Although we love selling merchandise, gathering emails to facilitate our efforts in growing a fan base is the most important thing for us. We're not quite sure how well this tactic works yet, but we hope it will bring people out when we return to their cities.
Sunday was spent wandering around Chicago. I'm always impressed at the aesthetic beauty of the city. The architecture, art, fountains, public transportation, river, etc., all contribute to the city's amazing vibe. The giant metallic bean was especially cool. I walked underneath the bean and took some trippy pics on my phone. I left Monday morning on a 6:00 a.m. flight to Boston. Unlike in Boston, I was able to take public transportation to the airport at 2:30 a.m. (the start/end of a really long day). I arrived in Boston at 2:00 p.m. after a long layover at JFK in New York. I'm currently writing from Espresso Royal Cafe in my old college neighborhood. Good to be back in Boston seeing friendly, familiar faces. I return to Colorado on Friday to resume shows with Frogs Gone Fishin' on Saturday.
Until next time...
Two girls from Dubuque, Abi and Allie, decided to follow us back to Minneapolis to see the show and ended up staying until Chicago. I don't really know what to think about it, but I definitely didn't expect anyone to be "touring" with us at this point, considering we usually don't even know where we're sleeping. I never travelled in their car, so I didn't see them unless we were playing a show. Trevor was a regular in their car and according to him, lets just say it wasn't exactly a calm, relaxing atmosphere. A good friend of the band, Adam Saper (Went to school with Trevor at Tulane), joined us in Minneapolis as well. So, that makes 5 in the band, the 2 Dubuquers, and Saper...8 people, a lot harder to organize than 5 guys in 1 car. For example, 8 people couldn't stay in our friend Karl's place in Minneapolis, so we had to pitch our 5 person tent on a small patch of grass in front of his house. Like I said, I didn't worry about it too much, but Trevor seemed lose some sleep over the whole thing, especially in Chicago. All in all, it's awesome that people are willing to put everything on hold and hop on the road with us; the more the merrier, right?
We left Minneapolis on Thursday morning for Sheboygan, WI where we played an early show at a nice little joint called the Paradigm Coffeehouse. Right after loading out we headed for Chicago, about 2.5 hours drive. Driving into Chicago late at night is definitely the way to go, although 2:00 a.m. on a Chicago highway feels like noon on a smaller city's highway. We were headed to the heart of downtown, a block away from Grant Park where we would be staying with friends from Nashville. We had plans to go to the massive Lollapalooza festival on Friday, which is held every year in Grant Park...yeah, we totally lucked out with where we were staying.
In case you're unfamiliar with Lollapalooza, here's a general synopsis. Lollapalooza: A 3-day outdoor music festival on the shores of Lake Michigan attended by more than 200,000 people featuring roughly 40 bands. The headliners included Kanye West, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead. I only saw the Friday night show, but was completely stoked that Radiohead was playing a 2 hour set on the main stage. I don't know how to put my experience into words, but I will say that it met or exceeded any expectations I had. Here is a link to pictures from the show so you can see for yourself, I was at Day 1. What made Friday different from the other nights was that Radiohead was the sole headlining act. This meant that the roughly 90,000 people there that day were at this one stage instead of being divided between two stages like the following two nights at the festival. Sea of sweaty people. I decided to miss another one of my favorites, The Raconteurs (playing from 6-8 on a different stage) so I could get closer for the Radiohead show which started at 8. Even after arriving 2.5 hours before their set began, I could only squeeze my way to about 40 yards from the stage. I've never experienced anything like this before. For over 4 hours I didn't even have enough room to bend and touch my feet. It was hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, worth it. I saw three people pass out, one of which had to be crowd surfed out above everyones heads. I can't even imagine what would have happened if there was some sort of an emergency, and don't want to.
Saturday night we played Curly's Bar in Glen Ellyn, a suburb of the city. Similar to Dubuque and other shows this summer, I was blown away at how friendly and supportive the local people were. Although we love selling merchandise, gathering emails to facilitate our efforts in growing a fan base is the most important thing for us. We're not quite sure how well this tactic works yet, but we hope it will bring people out when we return to their cities.
Sunday was spent wandering around Chicago. I'm always impressed at the aesthetic beauty of the city. The architecture, art, fountains, public transportation, river, etc., all contribute to the city's amazing vibe. The giant metallic bean was especially cool. I walked underneath the bean and took some trippy pics on my phone. I left Monday morning on a 6:00 a.m. flight to Boston. Unlike in Boston, I was able to take public transportation to the airport at 2:30 a.m. (the start/end of a really long day). I arrived in Boston at 2:00 p.m. after a long layover at JFK in New York. I'm currently writing from Espresso Royal Cafe in my old college neighborhood. Good to be back in Boston seeing friendly, familiar faces. I return to Colorado on Friday to resume shows with Frogs Gone Fishin' on Saturday.
Until next time...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
#1 - Dubuque, IA
Last night, Frogs Gone Fishin' played The Busted Lift in Dubuque, IA. We arrived after driving about 6 hours from Minnetonka, MN (water, water, everywhere) where we were staying with some college buddies of one of my bandmates. The drive from MN to Dubuque, IA was long, straight, and surrounded with corn, lots of corn. Although the absence of buildings or towns may at first have you labeling this space as "open", there isn't an open acre in sight! There's food growing everywhere. So much food and so many hungry people in the world, it doesn't quite make sense to me.
Once we arrived in Dubuque we went straight downtown to the club, The Busted Lift, which is about 50 yards from the Mississippi river, complete with a river boat parked at it's banks. Dubuque is small, rustic, quiet. The vast majority of buildings downtown look like they were built around the turn of the century. It makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. I'm not really sure what I feel nostalgic about, but I like it. Lots of character and history here makes for a rich experience.
Everyone we met seemed to be kind and sincere; enthusiastic about seeing live music. Through all of my travels with the band, I've found that the people make the scene and the scene reflects the people. The Busted Lift was a nice spot to fall into. I give Dubuque, and The Busted Lift two thumbs up for my first visit.
After our show, we were taken by Sam DeGree to his brother, Jordan's warehouse space which is the home of Brick Oven Studio. Brick oven studio is a work space for artists, concert venue, art gallery, and of course (for us), late night hang spot. If you're interested, www.brickovenstudio.com can give you more info. Talking to some locals, I found that Dubuque has a burgeoning cultural scene. Enthusiasm for live music, visual arts, and good people make for a healthy creative environment. We look forward to our next opportunity to play Dubuque.
Just before dawn, we walked two blocks to the Mississippi to watch the sun rise. It was a clear, crisp morning. After a sluggish walk back to the warehouse, we found some spots to rest our heads and slept until the sun was high in the sky. Tonight we're guests at the DeGree's home about 10 miles outside of the city in a secluded hillside spot. I can smell the corn and burgers, so this is where I sign off. Ah, what a life.
Until next time...
Once we arrived in Dubuque we went straight downtown to the club, The Busted Lift, which is about 50 yards from the Mississippi river, complete with a river boat parked at it's banks. Dubuque is small, rustic, quiet. The vast majority of buildings downtown look like they were built around the turn of the century. It makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. I'm not really sure what I feel nostalgic about, but I like it. Lots of character and history here makes for a rich experience.
Everyone we met seemed to be kind and sincere; enthusiastic about seeing live music. Through all of my travels with the band, I've found that the people make the scene and the scene reflects the people. The Busted Lift was a nice spot to fall into. I give Dubuque, and The Busted Lift two thumbs up for my first visit.
After our show, we were taken by Sam DeGree to his brother, Jordan's warehouse space which is the home of Brick Oven Studio. Brick oven studio is a work space for artists, concert venue, art gallery, and of course (for us), late night hang spot. If you're interested, www.brickovenstudio.com can give you more info. Talking to some locals, I found that Dubuque has a burgeoning cultural scene. Enthusiasm for live music, visual arts, and good people make for a healthy creative environment. We look forward to our next opportunity to play Dubuque.
Just before dawn, we walked two blocks to the Mississippi to watch the sun rise. It was a clear, crisp morning. After a sluggish walk back to the warehouse, we found some spots to rest our heads and slept until the sun was high in the sky. Tonight we're guests at the DeGree's home about 10 miles outside of the city in a secluded hillside spot. I can smell the corn and burgers, so this is where I sign off. Ah, what a life.
Until next time...
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