Never use a cruelty when a joke will do in its place

Well, sort of.

We decided as a group that it was time to put the American School of Warsaw that you know (and maybe love) to bed.

The show this weekend will be the last time we play much, if not all, of our existing catalog.

After this show, we're not going to play again for a long time. We'll still make music, but it's not going to sound like any of the old stuff. At least that's the goal.

So if you've never gotten around to seeing us do what we do, this is your last chance.

This Saturdee. Blue Moon in the U District. Juhu Beach opens, then ASOW, then the Oswald Effect. Music starts at 10, I think. It's free, so what do you have to lose?

I had a lot of fun last night. The Croc wasn't nearly as hot as I thought it would be, but that didn't prevent me from sweating off about 5 lbs. over the course of the night. The other bands were cool - the Love Lights were kinda Stones-y, but augmented with a horn section, and Invention had some sort of Interpol vibe going. Well, their coordinated vests-and-ties did anyway. And we made a little scrilla while we were at it.

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I'm starting to freak a little about Rock Lottery. I want it to be really good, you know?

The Stranger did a big article about it. My favorite quote: "It makes sense that they call this thing the Rock Lottery—for the musicians in it, the odds are terrible." Ha!

I'm deadlining the Comet tonight. We will probably be drunk by the time we play, so you should definitely come and see. Also, Magneto is really good.


American School of Warsaw
Magneto
Japan Air Transfer

Comet Tavern
922 E Pike St.
Seattle

9:00 PM/21+/$ low

( see poster )

The TIG Imaginary Wedding thinger last night was a hoot. Supposedly all of the ASOW boys were on the list. Turns out only Sean was on the list - but he was too hungover to go, so I pretended to be him and got in for free anyway. veganguy and his chica and Frida all came too. And as an added bonus, original ASOW bassist Larry & his lady Tiffany were in the house. I caught the last song by Math and Physics Club, who seemed...I dunno. It was a cover, so I have no idea what they actually sound like. I somehow managed to miss Pleasurecraft, which is too bad, 'cuz they were awesome at the Guns N' Roses tribute night a while back. The Jeunes were awesome, and I think they and Key Note would play nicely together. And their bass player was hot in a tall, intimidating librarian sort of way. They were all tall. Weird. We didn't last for Tennis Pro, but KNS is playing with them in a few weeks, so we'll make up for it then.

I'm at work today to make a little extra cash, but it's so nice outside, I think I'm going to leave early. Oh, and I got here two hours later than normal. Slack attack!!

I realized that I forgot to post about my show last Friday. Me an' the boys ventured up to the cultural center of Whatcom County, Bellingham, for our big show at the legendary 3B Tavern. (Anyone familiar with Estrus Records has probably been there or at least heard of it.) Traffic heading up there sucked assx0rs, and I managed to burn my leg - a leaking Zippo in my left front pocket allowed a decent amount of lighter fluid to leech into my skin, causing a pretty nasty welt, and the bizarre sensation of my skin being on fire when it wasn't. Anyhoo, skin lesions aside, we got up there, and per the usual, had to wait around for several hours before the action began.

The downtime wasn't without its advantages, however. It gave us time to imbibe several of the free band beers, and to chat with the folks from the other bands. I had heard varying reports on the demeanor of one Kim Warnick (of Fastbacks fame), but truth is she's probably one of the nicest people (in a band) I've ever met. She's been road tested and fan approved, and was totally cool. Ben, Visqueen's drummist, was also a very nice fella. I didn't get to meet Rachel, as she didn't even show up until showtime.

The Alien Crime Syndicate guys showed up a little before we went on, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my homeslice Mike is now playing gee-tar for them. (I bought an amp from the shop where Mike used to work, and then about a week later, our bands ended up playing at the Capitol Hill Block Party. Then he got a job at my work. Koo-koo!) So, we all shot the shiz for a while until it was time to start.

We were on first, and despite a couple of technical difficulties, we wrecked the place. Seriously. We were firing on all cylendars. I was bleeding from the fingers by the time we stopped. It was our last show with Jesse from Flowmotion filling in on bass, and it was a fitting exit.

ACS was on next, and they totally won me over with their stage presence. They are consummate showmen, and have the rock star thing down.

Finally, Visqueen took the stage, and bowled everyone over with a wave of pop (in a good way) rawk. Rachel had the crowd in the palm of her hand. Totally awesome.

Hopefully we'll get to play with these folks again. We're going to check out Orbit Audio tomorrow. Orbit is the place co-operated by Joe from ACS, and there's been some talk of having us record some material there. We'll see about that...

Went to the Lava last night, as sillyape was DJing his little heart out (thanks for the School of Warsaw spin, holmes). Got to see lots o' peeps (Tasha, the Hippie, Jenna, Scott, et al). T'was awesome, but I had to split early.

Today I'm playing in Port Orchard at J.A. Michaels (as I understand it, the premiere [read: only] nightspot in Port Orchard). Kitsap represent. Or something.

Oh yeah. I turned 27 today. Shit.

On Tuesday, 12/2, the merry minstrels of the American School of Warsaw and I will be performing at thee Chop Suey (1325 E. Madison), along with braksandwich's group The Senate Arcade, and Post-Stardom Depression. It's $6.00, show starts at 9:00 (we're opening), 21+, all the usual stuff. It's going to be an absolutely smokin' show. Be there.

I'm back from California. Hoo boy, whadda trip. I'll be posting a tour journal in the ASOW lj as soon as I finish writing it.

I'm excited to be home. I'm not excited about being at work.

Hoo rah.

I guess I haven't posted in awhile. Haven't been in a sharing mood, I s'pose.

Read a bunch of books lately: Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, all five books of the Prydain Chronicles (book two being The Black Cauldron), and the better part of Lies My Teacher Told Me, a book I've picked up and put down countless times but could never manage to get all the way through.

My band just finished recording a bunch of songs at Mount Analogue to be released as singles, or maybe an EP or something. We're prepping for a jaunt down the coast to California to do some gigs there. The new material sounds pretty awesome (you can hear the drums this time!), and it was an overall more pleasant recording experience.

I've also been putting in time on the ol' 4-string with a band called Coriander (featuring veganguy on the skins). I've played one show with them - at a grocery store. It was awesome. We have another show coming up here on the 17th at the Rendezvous. Rocktastic!

Work is still work. And that's that. And I have a beard now. A full beard. Never tried to grow one before. I decided there needed to be at least one scary-lookin'-guy-with-a-beard in my band, so there you go. Mountain man chic is all the rage, I hear.

How are you?

The show last night was awesome. I was in a less than excited mood before the show, due to my ongoing amplifier difficulties. The amp I ordered last weekend had only made it as far as Illinois and wont show up here until Monday or Tuesday. The amp I was going to borrow as a backup was being used by its owner, which left me in a lurch. Dave and I conspired to borrow one of the Hollowpoints' amps, but due to some dilligent phone calling on Elizabeth's part, and Ziggy's generosity, I got to play through a pristine Marshall JCM900. That thing sounds like buttah. O. M. G. It's amazing what reliable, good sounding equipment can do for one's mood and confidence.

We played first, and we only had half and hour to do our thing. And we did it. The songs in order (I think) were:

A Machine
Suicide Mailbox
Gray Sky
End Of The World
Break It Down
Long Story Short
Insect

So yeah, short set, half new songs and half old ones. The soundguy made a CD-R of the show for us. I'll get to hear it later today.

It was kind of an oddball bill. The Malinks played next. I'm not entirely sure how to describe them - a little bit power pop, but in a weird, noisy way (not in a saccharine, Posies sort of way). Their guitarist played through the same amp that I have that died. I wonder if his has given him as much trouble.

I watched the Hollowpoints from the VIP area above the soundguy's booth. They were about to embark on a tour, and came back from Spokane just to play this show. They were loud, fast, and outta control. And the guitarist has a rilly, rilly nice Gretsch. Bastard.

Lastly the Amazombies played. Again, loud and fast, but then the drummer took all his clothes off. I just kept wondering what would happen if he blew a fill and ended up whacking himself with a drumstick. Eeek. Nice folks, they were. At least the guitarist was. She was the only one who talked to any of us, I think.

Anyhow, I'm tired of typing and you're probably tired of reading. Dave and Sean and I are doing a little acoustic thingamabobber tonight. Should be fabu.