Mammoth Life crossing over from Arizona to Southern California on 8/17 {pictured above}; on our way to San Diego!!
We arrived in California after being stuck in the SouthWest for a few days longer than we originally anticipated, which was a pleasant change. Dealing w/ 115 degree weather there, and then getting 80 - 85 degrees in Southern California... we felt as though we hit the promiseland; which ended up in fact, being quite true.
First up 8/17 at Soda Bar in San Diego w/ Kids & Black Oak Hymnal. The evening was marvelous for reasons other than the actual show to be honest, primarily because it was spent catching up with some great Lawrence friends. Jeffrey Isom of Pre Sense Form was in attendance and we caught quite the after party rage together. MidWest kids representin in the west coast; I like it!
On the morning of 8/18 we made an enjoyable visit to the beach in Delmar {pictured below} w/ Elizabeth's old high school bestie, April while heading North up the coast to LA.
That evening we had a show on Melrose at a small "wet behind the ears" DIY venue called AMPLYFi. The space was great, but the management was totally "LA." Two parents, who are in the midst of priming their 19 year old daughter for the entertainment music business big time, founded this venue. As per the requirement to play AMPLYFi, one must sell X amount of tickets in advance. ML was not told that we could not play should we not meet our "pre-sale" requirement until 5 minutes before we were supposed to play... that of course ment that we had loaded on, geared up in ML Apparel, plus drove the entire way to LA only to find out admist the sound check of our actual performance that we should tear down and move out. I guess it was news to the mother that sometimes one does not make money in the entertainment business; for us thankfully, we are in the "labor of love" category of the music business, so this small greedy detail came as no surprise to us... ML has not made any money playing at some shows in the past before. This hurdle has yet to stop us... We calmed the money hungry beast within her, to have long enough to perform our 30 minute set. Which we are so glad we were able to as we met some really fucking rad people that night as a result. Scott Silletta {formerly of Plankeye} was one of the openers at the show, playing new solo material, which is stellar. A really throaty and raspy vocal delivery, arranged w/ folk-pop instrumentation; one could recall the finest of Iron & Wine in this seasoned veteran. Look for another cameo from him a little later on in this blog. Also worrth noting was the band 1518 w/ Mandie Bee, they were fantastic. Mandie (not only a lead vocalist in 1518, but also a designer and founder of the LA clothing line Heartbreaker Fashion) ended up putting us up that evening. We got to know each other a bit in line at the famous LA hotdog stand, Pink's. The following morning we got an archery lesson from her boyfriend Robert. Check out that form!! {Elizabeth pictured below}.
8/19, ML played in Long Beach at Viento y Agua Coffee House {before that we recorded a live acoustic version of "Making Moves" in Long Beach - currently on the ML (dot) com homepage!!). Following that performance we ended up reconvening w/ Scott Silletta in Orange County at his home w/ his wife Jenny and daughter Gianna. There we were also able to catch his super rad in home studio, Orange Crush Studio. Scott understands and gets how it is to be a young indie/ DIY touring band... and as a result we were given some of the finest hospitality one can be offered. Scott, bless you buddy. Stay on your grind my man. We'll see you soon on the west coast, I'm sure of it.
From there ML found some camping on the evening of 8/20... after getting the best California has to offer, we really got lost that night. Here's the best I have admist the rage of a century {pictured below}...
From 8/21 - 8/25 we spent a considerable amount of time in San Francisco sifting through multiple neighborhoods including Inner Sunset, the Mission District, North Beach, Fisherman's Warf, Haight Ashbury, etc. Elizabeth and I are moving Mammoth Life to San Fran in October following our tour and we had to find the neighbordhood that works best for us... here we are in Inner Sunset... pretty sure this is the one for us {pictured below}! We also hit The Golden Gate Park... that was a major selling point for that neighborhood as well. Oh, it's right next to UCSF; got the college town feel in that neighborhood fo-show! Sound familiar?
During that time spent in SF, we also spent a considerable amount of time figuring out the public transportation system... including the Muni and The Bart, plus the old F style Trolly Cars {pictured below on the Bart}.
Elizabeth and I have decided that it is time to move ML to a big city. We have been to a number of them over the past few years, and of them... we feel San Fran is one in a million. The character and spirit of the city is unrivaled... this is the one for us. "Brang it. Brang it." - Kix Mead in regards to the challenges and hurdles faced by living in a big city. That said... we are ready to face new adventures and we feel SF is the place to have them.
While we were there, we also hit up Amoeba Music on Haight {pictured below}... needed to pick up the new Matt & Kim release; it is so bonafide.
On 8/23 ML had our San Fran show at El Rio down in the Mission District w/ The Dull Richards. The show was a moment and one that we will cherish as our SF debut. In attendance was Marcus and Megan of the San Fran husband & wife duo, The Music Wrong. Great friends of ours who go back with us a couple years to Kansas in the days of Marcus' original group, The Paper Airplanes (Wichita, KS). We crashed with Marcus & Megan while there for a night in their rad studio in The Mission and spent great time together not just there, but at El Rio as well... getting our first shot of Fernet... we feel so "San Fran." Looking forward to seeing you guys soon; we'll be Cali-kids in no time!! Thanks Marcus and Megan!
On 8/24 Neil had to fly back to Lawrence as he is starting his final year at KU. We really enjoyed his traveling w/ us for 3 weeks during this tour from Chicago all the way to San Francisco. We love this kid; catch ya in the MidWest soon homie {pictured below}
Our next Bay Area show was on 8/25 in Berkeley at The Starry Plough w/ The 21st Century & Buckeye Knoll. The item of note that evening had to be the unbelievable show that the 9 piece band, The 21st Century put on. In the same vein of Talking Heads live documentary, Stop Making Sense, the charismatic lead vocalist Bevan Herbekian lead the band through a blistering hour long set that included many different set changes w/ some songs revolving around the 9 piece, other times it being stripped all the way down to only an upright bass and him singing while playing guitar, to later on just having the rhythm section backing him, etc. This band is one to watch for, and certainly one we'll reconvene w/ upon our move out there. Check em pictured below!!
On 8/26, ML hit up The Naked Lounge in Sacramento. There we found another unbelievable California group by the name of Musical Charis. We not only shared this show w/ them at Naked Lounge that night, but they also gave us a slot on a block party bill w/ them on 8/27. We had somewhere to sleep both nights w/ some of the band members (thanks Jeremy, Kelly, Isabel, Blake, and Jessie). The evening of 8/27 we really bonded w/ the male & female front of Musical Charis, Blake and Jessie, as they reminded us alot of ourselves. Young and ambitious, it is a prime example of "rock n' roll kid" meets "musical theory keyboard/ vocalist, financial adviser extraodanair"... we really bonded. We hit up a quaint pre-game rager at their home/ art space/ studio, ie Beatnik Studios the evneing of 8/27 w/ a roof top social space, followed by a visit to the super slick local bar/ venue Shady Lady. We had quite a time. Such a bitchin time, we plan on reuiniting w/ them for many more social/ musical escapades in the future upon our Bay Area move in the fall. Thanks you guys, see you soon!!
We are currently in Southern Oregon, hitting up our last leg of the tour. 8/30 - Cottage Groe, 8/31 - Portland, 9/1 - Seattle, 9/3 - Denver up next; see you there!!
