I’m midway through a fantastic tour! First Wave Hello, Charlotte Martin, and Ken Andrews. It’s a GREAT night of music, every night. As always, if you want to come to the show, let me know …

Sun. Sept. 23 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
Mon. Sept. 24 OFF
Tues. Sept. 25 Austin, TX The Parish Room
Weds. Sept. 26 New Orleans, LA The Parish
Thurs. Sept. 27 Nashville, TN Exit/In
Fri. Sept. 28 Atlanta, GA The Loft
Sat. Sept. 29 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
Sun. Sept. 30 Orlando, FL The Social
Mon. Oct. 1 OFF
Tues. Oct. 2 Washington, DC Black Cat
Weds. Oct. 3 New York City, NY Knitting Factory
Thurs. Oct. 4 Buffalo, NY Broadway Joe’s
Fri. Oct. 5 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
Sat. Oct. 6 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
Sun. Oct. 7 OFF
Mon. Oct. 8 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
Tues. Oct. 9 Chicago, IL Double Door
Weds. Oct. 10 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
Thurs. Oct. 11 OFF
Fri. Oct. 12 Denver, CO The Walnut Room
Sat. Oct. 13 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Sun. Oct. 14 Boise, ID The Bouquet
Mon. Oct. 15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
Tues. Oct. 16 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
Weds. Oct. 17 OFF
Thurs. Oct. 18 San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
Fri. Oct. 19 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
Sat. Oct. 20 OFF
Sun. Oct. 21 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour

I forgot to mention, but I got hired to mix three Modular Australia bands at Summersonic! I got flown to Tokyo yesterday. Last night I did a club gig with Muscles, and then today was a day off before tomorrow’s big festival day. So, I figured out the trains and went to a Japanese baseball game in Yokohama. SO MUCH FUN!!

The fans were on their feet, screaming, ALL THE TIME. I walked in midway through the first inning and the energy level was similar to a tied game at Fenway in the 9th inning.

They have songs – not simplistic chants, but lengthy songs with multiple parts and rhythmically complex clapping interludes – for every situation you might encounter when your team is at bat. As far as I could tell, there is a song for:

– When your team is behind in runs
– When your team is ahead in runs
– When your batter is behind on the count
– When a rally is needed
– When a batter has just gotten a base hit
– When a batter has just gotten a home run

At least. There may be more. You only sing and clap when your team is at bat – when the other team is at bat, it’s the other fans’ turn to sing and clap.

Relatively few people wear team hats. But easily 70% of the people there were wearing team jerseys – including the small children and toddlers, of which there were TONS, just toddling around. And probably 90% of the people there had official team-branded plastic noisemakers.

It was a continuously deafening, celebratory experience, easily more manic than any of the 100+ baseball games I’ve been to.

In other news, I had a meeting today with a Japanese indie label that’s expressed interest in licensing Shannon’s material for a Japanese release in early 2008. Neither the A&R guy nor I spoke each other’s language, so we had a translator!

The gist of the conversation was that they think Shannon’s songs and voice and physical appearance would be marketable in Japan, but they want to overdub the songs with Japanese musicians to make it fit in better with the local sound. Haha! I’m really tempted to do it, just to see how it would turn out.

Tomorrow I mix three bands in a row at the Summersonic festival, with only line checks, from 1:30 to 4:30 in the morning. Oh. My. God!

Anyway, that’s what I’m up to. I can’t believe I get paid to do this stuff :-)

Are You The One (excerpt)

The lighting engineer at this show was great!

… I’ve been Rocking it!

:-)

I leave Monday for two months in Europe with The Presets! Here is where I’ll be:

Thursday 14 June – Barcelona – Sonar-Nitsa
Sunday 17 June – Ibiza – Space
Wednesday 20 June – Rome – Circolo Degli Artisti
Thursday 21 June – Florence – Tape Club
Friday 22 June – Milan – Plastic
Saturday 23 June – Berlin – Christopher Street Parade and then Sage Club
Thursday 28 June – Norway – Hove Festival
Friday 29 June – Stockholm – Accelerator Festival
Saturday 30 – Birmingham – Rootsville

Thursday 5 July – Hamburg – Neidklub
Friday 6 July – Belgium – Brussels – Les Ardentes Festival
Saturday 7 July – Spain – Monegros Festival
Saturday 14 July – Gräfenhainichen, Germany – Melt Fesitval
Sunday 15 July – Glasgow – Indian Summer
Tuesday 17 July – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Valkhof Affaire
Wednesday 18 July – Amsterdam – Paradiso
Friday 20 July – Spain – Valencia – Benecassim
Saturday 21 July – London – Lovebox
Sunday 22 July – London – Lovebox
Monday 23 July – Ghent – 10 Days Off
Wednesday 25 July – Vienna – Pling-Plong Klub
Friday 27 July – Stratford-Upon-Avon – Global Gathering
Saturday 28 July – Berlin – Poststadium Berlin-Mitte
Monday 30 July – Paris – Festival Quartier d’Ete

Our larger chunks of days off will be spent in Prenzlauer Berg, East Berlin, where apartments have been rented for us.

As always, if you’re around, come say hi! :-)