So a week or two ago, I purchased a nice new distortion pedal from Old Town Music called a John Bull Jr. by Toadworks (out of Spokane, WA y’all).
It’s got a nice thick, yet organic sound, and stacks well with my other overdrive pedals…a wise 99 bucks spent. However, after a while of playing I heard a weird ’shorting out’ sound from my Orange, and then…nothing. I turned it off, plugged into different cabs, changed my preamp tubes…nothin. Luckily, I still have the Mesa, so I plugged it in to get some workable tones out of it and…after a minute I got this loud feedback sound and my tone sounded like it was plugged into a tin can (if one could plug into a tin can). FUCK. Two amps dying in the same day (coincidentally, the day before our show at Dunes). I brought the Mesa to repair shop that had just worked on it (they will remain nameless, but I purposefully did not bring my Orange to them if you catch my drift). I brought the Orange to a new shop that just opened up last April (ironically, a few blocks from the ‘other’ shop). I was so impressed by the friendliness, coolness, and customer service of said new shop, I thought I’d give them a partial shout out. They’ll receive my full blessing once I get the amp back, but the guy seemed pretty intent on fixing it within 1.5 weels, and well before our next show (as opposed to the 3 or 4 weeks before ‘other’ shop will even look at the Mesa). They also do custom guitar cabs, luthier work, and repair/build custom pedals. If you need something fixed, or want some custom work done, you should holla at Portland Custom Shop on SE Morrison. Like I said, I’ll give an update when I finally get my amp back. If they do good work, I’ve got several other things I’ll be sending their way.
1. Being a trio is great when the time comes for rocking in a small space
2. The projection of vintage Dungeons & Dragons cartoons was a Fourth Man for us.
3. I was the most nervous I’ve ever been for an Air War show, ever. Completely stricken. I mostly just watched D&D and hoped to play the right notes. I forgot some lyrics too, of course.
4. How did Byron’s amp turn itself down in the middle of a song?
5. It felt like we played for an hour ++, but it was probably closer to 30 minutes.
6. Nasalrod rocked. The Chairman is a highly entertaining front man. His energy was awesome. The band is tight. Germs blast v. Jesus Lizard groove v. DK zany melodic weirdness. Tight.
7. Resin Hits: also Tight. Vocals are good, guttural, thick in it, songs are noisy and anthemic; there is just so much rocking going on.
8. The sound seemed really good for everyone. I wish I could have heard how we sounded in the middle of the room; I might have felt better.
9. Thanks to buds who came and hung out!
10. Dunes: Awesome
MMMSO we are back to the world on Monday ::: DUNES 1905 NE MLK
[Actually there is some cosmic static leading to line-up uncertainty, but as soon as things are hyper-confirmed {{*edit* confirmed}} the almost complete flyer will be pasted up herein. Either way, Nasalrod and Resin Hits will be there fo sho.]
I’m not sure why none of our recordings is mixed and available yet. We’re pretty much a bunch of slackers I guess. We hate singing. But not as much as we hate instrumental bands. SIKE! The first new track that is likely to be finished is our astonishingly brief and briefly breathtaking instrumental number Hands for Clifford. It’s about a real guy. Who likes hands.
I’m still trying to find a use for the extra string on my new bass. Maybe some unison leads with B. Mmmm.
Anyway, time to rub the sleep from our eyes and decamp the cave, yeah?
