#68 Silverlake Lounge on 10-13-11

This show was planned well in advance and we made a point of getting in touch with the other bands ahead of time to cross promote as much as possible. This made for a great evening of camaraderie. We played with Old Monk (from NY), Small Hours and Worrier. Worrier had a great lighting setup on stage, and were an impressive live act. I spent a lot of time talking to the other bands and it was quite enjoyable. The other amazing part of this show was Jason LaRocca (old band chum of mine, from the Briggs) played keys with us, adding a lush supportive element that really belongs in our music ALL the time.

#67 TAIX on 9-28-11

TAIX is a French restaurant in Silverlake. We were invited by Lost Marauders to play this show. They are a bit of a 'hard rock' trio. Sadly Francis was deathly ill, so he stayed sleeping in the car until the last possible minute. It was a mostly female audience, but could have been more well-attended. It reminded me that there are 10,000 places for a band to play in Los Angeles, and some are better than others. The show went off well, but an inter-personal freak out by one of the women at the show left a bad taste in our mouths.

#66 The Whaler on 9-16-11

photo by Deuce Janisch

We were invited somewhat short notice to play this show. Hello Vegas invited us as they couldn't play themselves, however one of them di some DJing.

The club has a lot of windows and I was told we were playing downstairs, but it doesn't look like a rock venue. Surprisingly, men came in carrying large black pads and began covering all the windows. It was very official. Suddenly it became a dark, enclosed rock cave, ready for bands. I played with glasses, but they fell off early and didn't stay through the set. It was very loud in the room, and an older sailor-looking man danced right in front of me for most of the set. Sweating happened. We tried 'Counting Down Your Life' again in all its drum-track glory, but it didn't work out so well, at least in my mind.

"We thanked Hello Vegas for the invite, and they paid us." We met a fun outspoken 'internet mogul' who was very chatty and refused to let me go without doing a shot with him, but let me get away with a shot of water.

#65 Hard Rock Cafe on 8-25-11

AMAZING. This show set a new standard for how I think shows should be. We played to an audience of dinner patrons from a variety of cities/countries. The stage was SO large, so we all had room to stretch out and perform. I had a headache and felt super nauseous right up to the show, but Wayne told me to shut up and quit bitching. Somewhere into playing our first song I felt elated and didn't feel bad the rest of the evening. It was SUCH a fine show. Strangely, it was supposed to be Wayne's last show (for a variety of reasons) but we made no further mention of it, as I really felt that it was not going to be his last show. We also debuted a new song, "Counting Out Your Life".

#64 Louis Alvarez going away party on 8-20-11

Our chum Louis Alvarez who booked us for Downtown Artwalk decided to move to Portland, and asked us to play a backyard party. I'm always excited about these things as they tend to be really casual and you get to play and then hang out and actually to get to know people. This particular crew was great as they are all cyclists, and a nice mix of people. There was some very nice food at this party in addition to the burgers, like caprese salad. I forgot my bass cab, so we had to have someone race it out to us. It was a fun performance, and the party goers seemed to really enjoy it. Great night.

New Video - It Multiples

Well, here it is. We spent a freezing night in Palmdale, CA in one of the best locations ever making this. Video team Lior Molcho/Danit Sigler brought this to life. The makeup/visual concept was created by photographer Tami Bahat, referencing a photo shoot I did with her called "After Hours". This extended into different looks for each band member, and along with the 'rotted' locale creates a fantastic dark world, a fitting match to this song of infidelity.

#63 The Down and Out on 6-15-11

When we got back from tour we started to book a bunch of shows to keep the momentum going. We quickly withdrew from this plan, looking at the fact we still have an album to finish, the biggest priority. However we had one show booked with the Hangout Group, who had booked our Mezz show.

The Down and Out apparently used to be called Charlie O's, and is on the bottom floor of the Alexandria Hotel. It is very spacious and has pool tables in the middle and booths all along the side. There was a nice amount of people who seemed to just be there for the bar, a 'built-in crowd' if you will.

Bell Ringer opened the show, but it took us forever to get there, so we missed them. We walked in while Backdrifter played. They were an alternative rock trio. Cruz and Wright followed, who were dressed half glitz/half street. playing dirty rock and roll. I met the singer, who was Cruz. He informed me that Wright was no longer with the band, so they would probably be changing their name soon.

Our set was enjoyable, with extra song requests and even some dancing audience members. It felt like a good performance, and for having been a little uncertain about playing again right away, it was worth it and then some. Everyone was on their game.

Now we break for a bit, to finish the record and write some new stuff. And get ready for a video release...