#56 Mr. T's Bowl on 5-20-11

photo by Tami Bahat

What a show! This was extremely successful, shockingly in our home town. The event was put on by Mishito Presents who did an incredible job putting it together. Tonight we played with bands that really worked well with us musically, which hasn't been the case for a LONG time.

I was asked to play from an old associate who knew me from early Briggs days. His band is the Oddfaces, and the singer is the head of Mishito Presents. She had a great voice, and danced for almost all of the other bands.

The dreamy soundscapes of Family Tree Analog opened the show, and also playing were the Violet Shades and The Knots. The Knots were kind enough to switch slots with us so we could be not dead when we played.

We had a great time, and even brought out Michael's spinning club light, a rare treat.

#55 Ruby Room on 5-18-11

This show had been planned but then accidentally booked on the 17th, so we had to switch dates and I think the show suffered for it. Ruby Room is a great club in San Diego, tucked in behind a bar and grill. The neighborhood is very commercial and reminded some of us of Pasadena.

As opposed to Doll Hut, this had a very nice sound system, and a lot of space. There were quite a few people there as well. I'm pretty sure this is a college town, so this is "where the kids hang."

We missed Elephant Project, but Arms Entwined were a rock trio who at times had touches of 90s alternative/postpunk. Up next were Maul Shoppe. College students(?) (looked 16!) who were a blend of different musical styles, poppy and had a bit of a No Doubt informality to them. The singer constantly referenced drinking and being drunk, but looked like a sad lush rather than a cool party girl.

After they played the place cleared out, just in time for our set. We had a lot of fun as Bell Ringer watched us. So we stayed and watched them, and even started and Active Set mosh pit.

And we still got paid.

#54 Doll Hut 0n 5-17-11

This was the first show of our tour. Doll Hut used to be Linda's Doll Hut and is a bit legendary, particularly for punk rock bands. I'm trying to think if this is the first time we've actually played Orange County.

This is a small place with access to the stage from front and side, so you could have a very nice packed 'surround sound' audience. We did not unfortunately, as there were no local bands put on the bill. (LA, LA and SF) The men's bathroom had a toilet seat hanging from the wall instead of on the toilet, which was amusing.

Tonight we played with Bell Ringer, who are 3 members of the defunct Cola Cola. They are nice people, and we actually get to play 3 tour shows with them. We also played with Speedgoat, who are a bluesy/metallish power trio from SF. They had a giant stuffed bear 'mascot' (not a goat) who sat in front of the stage during their set. 

The performance was a decent start to this tour.

t-shirt

(Is it a 't-shirt' because it's shaped like a 'T'? As opposed to what? A k-shirt? A p-shirt?)

We have the first Active Set t-shirt now available in a range of sizes. One of the earliest associations I had for the name 'Active Set' was people playing tennis, so Michael Castro ran with this and found us a great vintage shirt design, which we modified, color-schemed and voila! 

Buy one today.

The Active Set, ON TOUR.

Yes, we have booked a very nice tour up and down California. It originally had Portland as its northernmost destination, but Portland proved very difficult to book a show in. Over saturation of indie rock is our guess, so we'll have to visit another time.

The tour (appropriately christened the "It Multiplies Tour") will include the following dates:

May 17 - Anaheim - Doll Hut

May 18 - San Diego - Ruby Room

May 20 - Los Angeles - Mr. T's Bowl

May 21 - Visalia - Cellar Door

May 22 - Santa Cruz - Metavinyl

May 23 - San Francisco - Brick & Mortar Music

May 24 - Sacramento - Naked Lounge

May 25 - Redding - Maxwell's

May 26 - Eureka - Little Red Lion

May 28 - San Francisco - Brainwash Cafe

May 29 - Fresno - Tokyo Garden

We have some special surprises planned, so those interested in seeing a 'different side' of the Active Set should definitely come out to some of the shows.

#53 The Airliner on 3-5-2011

(photo by Amber McCandless)

We had this show planned for quite a while, and were happy to be playing the nicer stage upstairs. When we arrived, we discovered that there was live music happening on both stages, and therefore 413 different bands were playing that night. (That is an exaggeration.)

We lugged our gear up the staircase and set it to the side. The band was about to play. I wandered outside to greet some of the people who came to see us. The band played for what seemed like over an hour, and I was antsy to play. We started to move our gear to the stage and a gentleman siad, "Oh, we're on next. That first band was supposed to be on at 8." It was now around 10.

This was unfortunate, as some people who came to see us couldn't stay. However, we had a good time with those who did, and the next band were very polite and even offered to cut their set short. I declined. We finally hit the stage and as we played, the front row came alive. A core group of audience members seemed to hang on every note, and cheered us on continually. They kept asking question and shouting nice supportive things. It felt incredible. 

One of them swore they weren't intoxicated, and I saw x's on the hands of another so it may have been the truth. Our eager 'merch girl' made the rounds and collected more e-mail addresses we've ever got at a show. The audience was so receptive, it made me feel like I was in a different city. Fantastic.

Someone who watched the set said, "You guys are too good to be playing the Airliner." 

Fair enough.

Photo Shoot, doubled.

We did another photo shoot with Tami Bahat. This was my concept, and she executed it well. It fits rather nicely with the dark theme of It Multiplies.