tarblackvomit

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

We began the journey on June 1st in San Diego, an easy drive from LA. It's always the best to tour with friends-everything seems so easy and natural. This tour Totimoshi has the opening slot to Melvins' two sets, and are also working as their crew. this means we are busy, busy, busy. From the moment we load in to the club until the moment we leave.. we are setting up and working the stage and the merchandise area in addition to our performance. I am lucky to get a bathroom break some nights.. this means no partying. which is a nice change actually. there is just no time and we take this responsibility seriously. This guys are our heros; The focus is totally on the show and everything that goes along with it.

the So Cal and SW shows were fun and HOT. Lots of our friends came out and the rooms seem to all be pretty packed with a good mixture of guys and girls of all ages. no middle aged sausage fest.

Albuquerque was a night to remember... so far we had been driving long hours, and not really paying attention to getting proper food or sleep. I ended up fainting at the hotel after the show, face first on to PAVEMENT.
I have a history of fainting so am pretty used to it, but this one did some damage. Our tour manager Dave tried to catch my fall but I was in my satin kimono and slipped right through his hands. The sound of my head hitting the pavement was loud, he said. It was total drama as he woke Chris up to help me back into my room.. Tony was so upset when he saw me all bloody and bruised up. He insisted we go to the hospital for a catscan just to make sure there was no internal injuries. everything was fine as I had expected but I was freaked about a number of things:
how much will I have to pay with no health insurance?
how was I going to face everyone all tore up?
why did this happen after years of not fainting?
how could I perform on stage and work merch with my face all battered?

the 14 hour drive to Austin was like a torturous meditation in mind control.
the first place we stopped at was an south western Indian jewelry pit stop. I bought some big sun glasses to hide the eye wound and asked the guy behind the counter to cut off the price tag. and while he was at it, could he please cut off my hospital tag. "just got out?" he said. I was the star in my own horror film.. a la David Lynch.

Finally arrived in Austin. We all had rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn, a really nice hotel where I had time to sleep and prepare to face a crowd of 700 or so at Emo's, one of the biggest shows of the tour. I got help at the merch area (from a tweeker; I found a bag of gak on the ground when she went to the bathroom) but most importantly I was able to play and move around on stage with no real pain other than the throbbing in my head whenever I bent over.

I'm mending incredibly quick thanks to advice from friends, zinc, calendula, Vit E, arnica and ibuprofin.
check it out- one week later

New Orleans

the shows have all been great so far. 2 times Tony and I have had to play behind Chris because the Melvins double drum set takes up the whole stage. Buzz and Jared do this too for their set so if it's ok with them, it's ok with us. Austin and Birmingham were incredibly hot- Jared went topless all night last night. I promise to get some more pics up soon.

Bro Shark · Gypsy Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 595 Location: SF

Stranger than fiction.

Great update Meg, keep em coming.. and rock ass out there..
_________________
sound

Orvenwolf · Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:03 am Post subject:

Awesome while simultaneously unawesome.
No more fainting.

oheim · Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:55 am Post subject:

dragline · Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:18 am Post subject:

Hang in there girl.... See you in Detroit!!! I hope to buy you and tony a shot... 12 more days!!!
_________________
Today is merely yesterdays tomorrow......

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

on east coast time now.. we've hooked up with Isis as of yesterday at the Bonaroo Festival.. even though there were a few heavy hitters playing the fest, it was total hippydom. All the vendors were selling some form of tie dye or hemp products, and 75% of the extremely sunburned audience were in bathing suits and bare feet, many passed out mid day in the hot sun.
Here are a few images from the day:

Pizza

and Doughnuts

King B

Jared got bed bugs in Birmingham. go figure.

I'm enjoying a whole weekend off. Today was bliss in Athens. we have a nice hotel and had the whole pool and jacuzzi to ourselves today. me, Tony, Chris, Dale and Jared took advantage. Indian food for dinner and now watching Lakers lose to the Celtics. 40 Watt tomorrow where we'll get to see our extended Mastofamily.

here is what Melvins are playing on this tour

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

the east coast was a whirlwind.. I can't believe we are already through with that leg of the tour. Isis joined us for a week and we played bigger venues, all of the shows sold out, I think. This is their last tour and they received a very respectful headlining slot, something I think any band would dread having to follow a band like the Melvins. But, Isis held their own and their audience came out in droves to see these last shows. I had no idea how popular they are..

Brian Walsby, the comic artist and long time friend of the Melvins, joined us in Athens to help out with merch and sell his original posters. He'll be with us until Chicago-it's a relief to have him along.. it means I can take breaks from selling and hang with friends for a bit. 3 of the Mastodudes came out to the 40 Watt, and I was especially excited to see the wives and Troy's baby (wearing his Maiden onesie that I bought for him in Scotland).

DC, 9:30 Club. They provide merch folk there so I had the night off from selling which was great since one of my best friends from Boston, Kristen and Adrian were there. Haven't seen them in years it seems, and they recently relocated to the area for his new job with NASA.
Birthday Boy Bill from Suzukiton also made it out to celebrate.
me and Kristen K.

Philly brought out our friends Jucifer, Stinking Liz, and more friends that we haven't seen in AGES. . .

and New York... 2 nights. Webster Hall in Manhattan, a beautiful theater that held 1400 and the Music Hall of Williamsburg which used to be a crappier club called North 6 where we played years ago with Theory of Ruin. Trevor Dunn came to this show armed with more Melvins T's for Buzz. He's one of my bass heros and we got to talk a bit backstage which was cool for me.
My old friend Adina came out.. we were reminiscing about all the old Melvins shows we've seen- the first in Seattle in 92 which we road tripped to from SF.. Dale played drums with Poison Idea that night, and we were tripping balls on window pain. Lorax was pretty fucked up and was playing the wrong song half the time while Buzz yelled at her. it was intense and everyone there seemed burly, ugly and in flannel. Then there was the Atlantic Records private hotel suite gig in NYC during CMJ with Billy Anderson filling in on bass... that was a big night for us cause Nirvana and Fugazi were also in the audience of maybe 75 invited guests. I would not know the Melvins if not for Adina and Billy; they were both working at Razoor's Edge, the recording studio where the Melvins were tracking parts of Houdini. I went to being an admiring fan to friend over the years. Lucky me!

A few of my talented SF friends have relocated to NY:
Jon Zeh- here he is in Brooklyn with the original painting of Milagrosa

and Oran Canfield, who's memoir I recently read, Long Past Stopping. I highly recommend it:

http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2009/11/23/excerpt-long-past-stopping-by-oran-canfield/

2 nights in Boston was not enough for me to soak in my old stomping grounds, especially this time of year with all the students gone. I got to see one of my favorite friends, Priya! A recent SF-Boston transplant, she is settling in nicely from the looks of it. More friends from the Cape and Emerson.. it was a bit of a reunion. And as much as I claim to hate the Boston accent, there is something comforting and familiar in it.. Dale is calling me MAHGRIT. haha..
Tony, Warren, and Kim backstage

meg and jason, merch wizards

some photos my friend Paul took at the Paradise, Boston

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

Tony's special monkey suit while he's Melvins tech

I can't believe no one bought these...

I'm obsessing on these comics right now. especially when he geeks out on his punk rock letter writing correspondences in the 80's. the band depictions are hilarious as well..

Walsby~

Crover and Will from Keelhaul at the Grog Shop, Cleveland

taken by Coady, waiting for load out

the field of bones at Battle of Little Big Horn/Custer's last stand

the drive across Wyoming and Montana in to Canada was truly magnificent. the land is so vast and after visiting this site, I lost myself in visions of Indians roaming, riding, gathering, dancing... the realization that it was only about 100 years ago that this was the case. a culture completely devastated. How ironic that our country, a nation of immigrants essentially, is up in arms about immigration. Let's all draw a line and call this ours. there is no such thing... but I digress.

here's my native boy in Calgary~

and it's Canadian Independence Day.. we get to watch the fireworks from our 12th floor hotel room which was pretty swank:

Canada is a nice change of pace. haven't had a day off since Atlanta. What I thought were days off on the tour were long ass drive days-some 10, 12 hours. Thankfully the hotels we're staying at are pretty sweet for our standards. No Motel 6 on this tour! I'm taking full advantage of some alone time since Melvins aren't selling merch at the Sled Island Festival.
Had a great massage, strolled and shopped Chinatown, and opted to take a night off from the rock. I feel a bit guilty for not seeing the show.. but I found a bottle of Fin du Monde and Sleepy Hollow is on TV. . . now if only I had my pooch with me, it would be a perfect night.

Sled Island show #2-Melvins played the same day/stage as Bronx, Dinosaur Jr., Big Business and No Means No.

those guys are still great!

Dale played guitar on a few Big Biz songs

Jared jams in to the crowd

and I got to watch from onstage and right up front

getting ready to rock Melvins style

Chris gets to set this monster up and play on it (Dale's half)

anyone who longs for the day of Melvins as a 3 piece is insane. I've seen them since they had Lori in the band and with every line up since. that's a lot of line ups! The first time I saw Big Business was years ago at a warehouse show in San Francisco that we also played. I could not stop thinking of how much they reminded me of the Melvins. Not their sound necessarily, but the tone and vibe.. when I found out they joined the Melvins, I knew it was going to be great. what I wasn't prepared for was the depth of the vocal harmonies that would ensue-Jared has one of the strongest voices out there, add that and the double drums- like Crover needed help; he's arguably one of the best drummers on the planet. I do find myself watching Coady a lot.. he's also got an incredible intense style and together it's a fucking powerhouse of synchronicity. And what can I say about Buzz other than he never ceases to inspire me. We are learning so much from them-absorbing the live show every night and watching how they have the touring business down like clockwork; from the amount of merch they bring, to how they travel. I could go on and on.. but I'll stop here.
Vancouver tomorrow. and our hotel has a pool with a water slide. . . Jared's got his eye on it!

dragline · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:18 am Post subject:

Truly one of the best shows I've been to in a long time... Thanks for the Detroit show Meg!! It's was nice to say hi and chat a bit... You are always welcome in Michigan... Mac's Bar wants you back soon!! My brother got his first taste of Totimoshi at the Smalls show.... He leaned over half way through your set and said.... These guys are fucking sweet.... I said I told you so..... He really liked Tony"s guitar sound....

For the record Meg cannot be bribed to play any songs....

Dying to hear Pigs live....

Loved the new songs!!!
_________________
Today is merely yesterdays tomorrow......

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

Detroit was insane. thanks for coming out! glad you got the last Toti bird shirt too.

Today is Chris's birthday..

we'll be celebrating at the Showbox in Seattle tonight!
look out for more Melvins/Totimoshi shows in Sept/Oct. Western States are confirming now!

Powderfinger · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:05 am Post subject:

Damn fine show last night...what I saw of it...Tix said showtime 7:00, so I thought "Hey, I'll show up early and grab a beer and a good spot"...6:45 and you were halfway done with your set...

Anyway, picked up Ladron and the EP, and am now a fan...Hope you make it back this way soon...

megshi · Masta Killa Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

our tour manager/sound guy Dave- (who also happens to play in the Unsane)

the last leg of the tour was awesome.. we hadn't played the Pacific North West in years.. used to do it all the time. And being back on the West Coast feels like home. Seattle was probably one of the best shows of the tour-our performance spot on and the crowd was huge. I really like the Showbox. Really friendly staff, and the location + the space and sound were perfect.
I got mobbed at merch though.. and it didn't let up. Very much looking forward to getting back there. Got to see good friends Dave T and Alison, Jack Endino and Johnny from Candi Coded.. Jared and Dale's whole family came it seemed.
Eugene was an early show, and they had us go on at 6:30.. kinda weird but we got out of there early and got to party and hang with our booking agent Nate C., Aaron from Yob and some other fine folks impeccably dressed at the goth club Speakeasy.. wish I took pics!
San Jose was kind of a bummer for me.. especially for the last night. The stage is so small that Tony and I had to play behind the drum set. There was absolutely no room to move and I felt stifled and pissy.. oh well. Saw our friends in Laudanum.. Jello Biafra was also there and introduced himself to me. I told him we had kind of met in SF, and that I appreciated his post card he and Alt. Tentacles sent Totimoshi (this was pre internet, kids) years ago when he received our demo. I was rather peaved when I saw him leave our dressing room with a whole case of Cliff bars. I live on catering, dammit!

all in all, I can say that this was the most fun and most hard worked tour. Doing the double duty gig plus crew was taxing to say the least, but I'd rather be busy than not. it keeps me outa trouble.

one last photo of Mr. Warren