From the monthly archives: "January 2005"

Tour Journal:

This turned out to be a surprisingly ok show. Although we were on time, we had to wait quite a while for the venue to open, in the freezing streets of Michigan. Everyone was ready for the worst, but for New Years Day, a fair amount of people came out.

The LSDudes shared the bill with us, and we must say… were totally rad. Very well done video collages of odd and rare movie clips as well as old video games, all scored by 3 adept …dudes… on a variety of instruments (mostly doing electro dancey stuff). The whole trippy-gimmicky thing turned out to be tounge in cheek and was hilarious as well as visually entrancing. We definitely plan on returning to this venue, and doing more shows with that band as well.

Kudos to the Ohio and Detroit people who came out to this show, as well as a few from The Shizz! We hope to meet most of you from coast to coast this month.

Photos:

Tour Journal:

Today we stopped in chicago, had to drop Christy Brand (of the ECC) off at the airport… Mark of ECC will be performing solo on the tour with us from here on out. We’ve flyered the streets a bit for our show in this city on Jan 4th @ Buddyspace.

Happy birthday Dino!!!!!!

Tour Journal:

WARNING! Our show in Milwaukee @ Bucketworks has been cancelled… to be honest however, it wasn’t cancelled so much as flubbed by the people at the venue/artspace, as much as we love the place. They never set the date down for a show even though we were in touch since early novemeber, and didnt promote it whatsoever, so in lieu of not wasting 3 hours of gas money (our van is a friggin tank), we’ve decided to stay here in Chicago.

We’re spending the day further promoting our show in Chicago which takes place tomorrow (tuesday)….

UPDATE!

Both groups will be performing and promoting our tour live on 88.3 WZRD Chicago tonight! Roughly from 930pm-midnight.

Tour Journal:

Definitely the best show on the tour so far! Our last minute legwork and radio appearance (which went well) must have helped. Was good to see and get some last minute help from Edmar (of Lumpen). Thanks to all our new friends we stayed with…

Hopefully soon we’ll upload the ridiculous photos of us post-show…. doing “MadDog” shots (thank you tradeMark G of ECC, who brought the formula back from Poland), and another christmas tree incident with Pearce!

The next couple of days promise possibly the best shows, and definitely the worst drives. Wish us luck…

Photos:

Unmastered tracks: FLAC (zipped) – 74.2 MB – MP3 (zipped) – 22.8 MB

  1. One [4:43]
  2. Five (excerpt) [3:10]
  3. Six [3:21]

“Bass Heavy” alternate master: FLAC (zipped) – 218 MB – MP3 (zipped) – 57.4 MB

  1. One [4:43]
  2. Two [5:22]
  3. Three [6:43]
  4. Four [4:00]
  5. Five [5:39]
  6. Six [3:21]

Chiptune Tracks:

Sequenced drum track [30:38] – FLAC – 156 MB – MP3 – 50.6 MB

*these files were recovered from damaged CD-Rs and have some irreparable glitches. 

Tour Journal:

We awoke to a snowstorm covering the entire midwest… we spent 9 hours driving in complete and constant downpour of snow and rain to get to the show… the crowd was hindered by the bad weather stretching all these hundreds of miles. Apparently The Faint and Bright Eyes and other acts have come through this same spot (there is even a sauna).

We finally have both our new albums. Its been a mess, and its not over, but at least we’re finally selling what we are touring in support of…

We have to leave soon (around 4am) to make it to Denver in time. With no sleep, but fresh laundry. Gas money is getting a bit tight in lieu of the next 2 days of driving we’ve got to tackle.

Tour Journal:

we finally have some pictures up! these are from our insane time at Buddy (Chicago)

check out the link for the pics, plus some vague descriptions:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v617/chromelodeon/

Here’s our favorites so far….

Mark, Pearce, and some of Chromelodeon sharing Mark’s Poland-imported shot “The Maddog” to celebrate Dino’s birthday

Denny got flyered post show. Sparks did him in.

Pearce shows the sparks christmas tree a good time.

Audio:

Video:

Youtube:

Tour Journal:

Denver pulls through again! This is the new best show of the tour thus far… we are always pretty impressed (surprized!) by the community in this city. Josh and his girlfriend are some of the nicest people we’ve encountered on the road (sweeeeeet!). Amazing turnout, and we enjoyed the bill (which was pretty filled). By now between Dino’s cellphone and Mark (ECC)’s PDA we have random clips of bands we liked as well as bizzare loses of sanity in the tourvan, and other strange ambience. We’ll try to load those somehow by the end of the tour. Ah, and we met the semi-famous “cuss kid”.

We stocked up at a local all-night taco joint (15 people in the drive thru on foot), in the freezing cold. We’ve got an extremely long drive to Phoenix, and we’ve got to leave in the middle of the night without sleep… or clean laundry… or showers… or sparks…

Flyers:

Tour Journal:

Ok, here’s the story many of you probally have heard already about our accident….

We almost made it to Phoenix, but about 2 1/2 hours away (right outside of Flagstaff AZ) heading west on route 40 we got into a terrible accident. Apparently, with all the bad weather our country is currently getting, AZ is getting the worst of it…. we hit a 20 mile stretch of black ice that dozens other of accidents were on. We were one of them, eventually to wait forever on a virtual “emergency aid” list of police and tow trucks.

We started slipping on the highway somewhere in the mid evening (not going more than 45 or 50 mph), and were unable to control the car because the trailer was twisting unpredictably, and drifted offroad off a ditch and into the snowy dessert. Most of us were half asleep and braced for explosion or worse (particularly because we’re all sitting in every corner of the tourvan, having almost a dozen people in it, and cant see out of any window). Fortunately, our van careened safely in the dirt with no damage. Unfortunately, our trailer ripped off the hitch and flipped all over in the brush. The trailer was rendered completely useless… tires, axles, rims, siding, door…. pretty much everything. Some of our equipment had spilled out, but as fate would have it, our tetris-to-the-door ultra filled packing saved the day and 95% of our equipment. We actually ended up starting a bonfire with the busted pieces (bum style with the bass drum), on a police officer’s suggestion (he said make a fire to keep warm, not to burn the equipment that is). We used tumbleweeds and comic books for kindling.

So we were stranded in the pitch black freezing cold AZ wilderness, having originally waiting to reach this state with sunny and warm expectations. Almost immediately, the other accidents started happening. A couple of sedans just spun out on the side of the road and were ok, an 18 wheeler sailed across the opposite lane and into the far end of the ditch, and right before our eyes only a hundred or so feet away a truck totally flew through the desert wildly and was totaled as it smashed into a billboard sign. Thankfully, as far as we know, no one else was hurt. However, as some of us rushed to try to aid the truck, we ran into a hidden barb wire fence in the dark, and got caught (Mark from ECC looked like a scared calf). That was when the absurdity of the situation began to set it. We really couldn’t believe the carnage surrounding us (it seriously was carnage, as much as we’ve experienced at least).

Thanks in advance to everyone we called (there was a lot of you). Your potential help and support was appreciated, even if we were rushed and glib over the phone. We ended up staying with Phil from the band I Hate You When You’re Pregnant, in Flagstaff. We had to get a flatbed utility truck to haul our trailer (hastily rigged shut with our equipment back in it). That smashed trailer is now sitting in an abandoned parking lot near his house, its junkyard fate to be determined still (thats a whole different story).

Below are some pictures of the whole ordeal. Note that the damage looked a LOT worse in person, and if we are smiling, its probally because we are freezing cold/delerious.

OUR NEW PRESS PHOTO

TRYING TO KEEP DELERIOUSLY WARM (there are comic books as kindling in there)

TRAILER = DESTROYED

There are lots more pics of the accident on the following link:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v617/chromelodeon/tourvan%20accident/

Wish us luck and support if you can. We’ve shelled out a bunch of money, and also picked up a Uhaul, and having missed only the Phoenix show, our US tour with The Evolution Control Committee continues!

Photos:

Tour Journal:

This show was something of a victory for us… the last show we played on our 1st national tour was at this venue, and we couldn’t wait to return. After the accident in Arizona, there was doubt about making it to the Smell, or even making it to the rest of the tour. The turnout was pretty good (except for that handful of over-excited acid heads during Mark’s set). Jim at the Smell has always been a decent fellow in all aspects, so we feel pretty confident in continuing our tour from this point on!

*Also, this show marked the departure of our friend and roadie Pearce “I look like a 5 day coke binge” Combest, who traveled from Louisville with us. He is seeing friends in the area and flying back on his own…

Setlist:

  1. Chaosium Sword [2:09]
  2. No End Darkness [3:57]
  3. The Parasprinter [2:33]
  4. Ashtar [2:03]
  5. Finale [2:26]
  6. One [4:37]
  7. Three [6:07]
  8. Four [3:31]
  9. Five [5:16]
  10. Six [3:12]
  11. Jesus Carp, Son of Cod (featuring the Evolution Control Committee) [4:15]

Audio:

Tour Journal:

We spent today recording a “semi live” set at KXLU Los Angeles… most all of the day in fact.

The set will be aired at 5pm tomorrow (monday). Tune in if you’re in the broadcast radius. We’ll get a copy and maybe get it streamed for our website.

CHROMELODEON PUSH UP CHALLENGE RESULTS

First Place: Mike Patek, 40+
Second Place: Chris Singer, 33 crunches
Honorable Mention: Denny Barron, 1 (one)

Tour Journal:

Apparently the sunny San Diego gets only two days of rain per year, and following the trend with the tour so far, we hit one of those days of heavy rain! Thankfully, the show turned out pretty well, and Jess took care of us with tons of food from the kitchen of the co-op. Too bad we couldn’t stay longer. We’re spending the rest of the week in the Northern CA area….

Tour Journal:

We spent today getting to the Bay area, and then donating several hundred dollars to the warehouse-sized store known as Amoeba Records. Staying with some relatives in Petaluma, eating some real food for once…

Tour Journal:

This was our last show for our tour with THE EVOLUTION CONTROL COMMITTEE… Mark now officially lives in the Bay area, and is staying behind as we play around CA more and head back east. For the last show, it definitely could have gone better, but it was nice to see WAVE THEORY coming around for the second time. We’ll definitely meet up with ECC on our next tour, its been weird getting to know him, and he admitted to enjoying himself in spite of the few downers we’ve had. Such is life on the road for DIY touring. He still reminds us of Doc Brown from Back To The Future, though.

Tour Journal:

This was a decent waypoint for traveling from the Bay Area to the upper west coast (to Seattle, perhaps). Kids came out thanks to some word of mouth from the positive kids running the place, although for a friday night it could have been better… however, there was problems with the bill up until 2 days before the show. We really liked the area (it was on a penninsula, and near a killer late night sandwich shop), and unfortunately couldnt stay longer to see the nearby strange geological formations and that drive-thru tree trunk deal.

Tour Journal:

We ended up not playing the convention, it was never really solid to begin with… Dino attended it as originally planned, and the rest of us tried to rest and get better (a second wave of sickness has spread in the van). Fell asleep at the movies and the like.

Tour Journal:

Not much more to say than a long overnight driving trip from San Jose CA to Salt Lake City UT. We stopped in Sacramento to visit an old friend, and drove endless hours in the dark fog.

Tour Journal:

Despite the friendly vibes, this show coughed up zero funds for us… which is of special concern, since we have a steady gas leak in the van that we neither have time nor money to fix, and a 20 hour drive to Missouri tomorrow. We’re trying to get back to Philadelphia in time for a new hometown tour return show on friday. If you ever wanted to donate via paypal, now’s the time! NOTE= our paypal account is soloby(at)temple.edu, not chromelodeon(at)hotmail.com!

Our destroyed trailer is still sitting in Arizona somewhere rotting away.

Stayed with our friends at the BOING house… awesome collective to check out if you’re ever going through this oddly calming city.
http://boing.vegcrew.net

Tour Journal:

Again in our typical tour fashion, we run short of time to return home, and have to drive long stretches between shows… wouldn’t be as bad if 5 of us weren’t so sick. Winter weather has proven to take its toll, although we’ve been lucky to dodge some storms in the last week since we reached the northern CA area.

Here’s some upcoming show info to keep you entertained in the meantime..

Jan 21st
@ Williamstown VFW
w/ The Early November
NOTE: home area tour return show!

Feb 10th
@ Northstar Bar
Philadelphia PA

Feb 21st
@ TBA
w/ Need New Body

April 1st
@ MACROCK FESTIVAL (www.macrock.org)
Harrisonburg VA

April 9th
@ SlutFest (www.madisonslutfest.com)
Madison WI

Tour Journal:

All things considered, this was a fantastic final touch to the tour. Mig50 of the Shizz really came through in the end, when we were pretty broke and beaten down. Show had a good crowd, and we earned a good chunk to provide return-trip gas money (although our tank is still leaking). Buffet and bar-hopping as well. Thankfully Cameron lived only 2 blocks away…. and took a billion awesome pictures (trying to get them soon)…

Videos:

Youtube:

Photos:

Tour Journal:

Left Missouri around 3pm after a fair amount of sleep… we’ll need it, because we have a good 24hr drive back to Philly. Just worked out that way, with timing and when everyone needed to be back.

A long, terrible drive awaits us…

Tour Journal:
Late this evening we returned to our city, with everything and everyone pretty much intact. Those who are sick have pretty much recovered, and other localized vices have been satiated. The biohazard (tourvan) is a filthy wreck inside and out and deserves a rest.

Extra special thanks to everyone who helped out nightly in the last month. Staying with friends (new and old) has always been better than being isolated in some random motel (to quote one clerk that we had to bribe… “you have too many people in your room!”). The first 3/4 of the month opening for The Evolution Control Committee was very weird and fun (strange sitting in the car with “tradeMark G” all the time, who we formerly looked up to). All our fans and friends from the Shizz really surprized us across the country, and Aaron of the Minibosses and Phil from I Hate You When You’re Pregnant came through during the whole trailer accident. That alone kept us going.

We’ve got random people sending us pictures, and disposable cameras being developed, so check in next week for some final updates and thoughts.