Thursday night...Chicago to Detroit. Andrea hauled ass across the state of Michigan in seven hours, all hopped up on saltines and green tea. Ryan and I crashed in the back. I was dreaming of my Mom's house and all the good eats that we were promised. John did a good job keeping Andrea awake with iPod and conversation.
We arrived at my Mom's house in New Baltimore MI, which is a sleepy little lake town about 30 miles outside the city of Detroit. My Mom was super happy to see us. I was excited to be at my old house, but Andrea and John were exhausted, so they crashed in my old bedroom which is now the guest room, and Ryan and I went out with my family to the local diner to eat huge omelets and pancakes. PANCAKES!!!!!
Then we got back to the house and Ryan and I rode bikes all around my old neighborhood. It was really funny, just like it was when I was a kid, except a lot more fun now cause I'm a grownup person and not a pissed off kid anymore. There were kids selling lemonade on the street and the sky was blue and perfect and sunny.
Back at the house Ryan and I played Mario Brothers One, which is a lot harder than I remember, so we gave up and watched bad TV. Then Ryan took a nap and I read on the porch until the wasps bothered me too much. By this time Andrea and John were starting to get up and Ryan and I were now outside jumping on the ginormous trampoline that is in my Mom's backyard. Soon all four of us were on the trampoline. It is very hard to bounce on a trampoline with four people but we managed to have fun without killing each other.
It was almost dinner time. mom and dad made us steak and twice baked potatoes and corn! It was delicious. Ryan's piece of steak was as big as my head I swear. It was amazing. And he almost finished the whole thing. Even though it was bloody inside.
Around 5 o'clock my cousins showed up to party. We were running the set in my old bedroom, which was pretty surreal, but also one of those "beyond your wildest dreams" moments. When we were done we went to load the car again and mingle with the cousins. I really wanted to hang out at the house and play the show in the garage, but we had to go kick ass at Paychecks, which I've been dying to play since the days of my youth. So off in the car again to rock some more.
]When we got to Paycheck's we unloaded the van in the back. Ah, Hamtramck! The old stomping grounds! Hello urban blight! Hello crackheads! Hello Vernors in a can and everybody smokes like a chimney and I'm smoking even though I quit cause you can smoke ANYWHERE in Michigan.
Paychecks fucking rules. It's an old Polish Bar that is smoky with a pool table and Molson Ice on Draft with this huge ass stage which is as big as Luna Lounge. The sound is great, there is a 20,000 dollar lighting rig and SMOKE MACHINE. Very metal. All we needed was a mini Stonehenge and a bunch of dwarves prancing around it. (If you don't get that, please go rent Spinal Tap, come back and read this again....it will be funny.)
There was a slight misunderstanding about who would go on first but the staff at Paychecks really took care of us, once they heard that we had to drive 10 hours to Philly after the show. So we got to play first! Yay!
My family arrived as we set up. Nine o'clock rolled around, the light show started flashing, the fog machine fired up and we kicked off "Without You." Everyone was a little shy to get up and dance (the crowd consisted mainly of my underage cousins) but soon everyone was up in front rocking out. (Props to Jeff from Wool and Water for dancing and being awesome!)
After the show we managed to mingle, sell merch (with the help of my two lovely cousins Stacy and Stacy) break down, pack the van, take photos and say goodbye in under an hour. We hung out in the back alley of Paychecks with my family, who all seemed really excited and happy. My Mom was nice enough to give us gas money and peanut butter cookies. I got a couple cans of Vernors, one for me and one for Andrew when I got home. If y'all don't know the joy of Michigan ginger ale in a can, you haven't LIVED.
I was sad to leave but happy we could rock here and make such a nice memory. As we pulled away I broke out the homemade cookies and the Vernors. A fantastic way to end a great day.
Set List:
-Without You
-This Happens
-Don't Look Back
-Falling Stars
-Half Here
-Try So Hard
-Consider Me Gone
-Guiltless
-Adaptation
-Stuck In My Head
-Saturday Night
We arrived at my Mom's house in New Baltimore MI, which is a sleepy little lake town about 30 miles outside the city of Detroit. My Mom was super happy to see us. I was excited to be at my old house, but Andrea and John were exhausted, so they crashed in my old bedroom which is now the guest room, and Ryan and I went out with my family to the local diner to eat huge omelets and pancakes. PANCAKES!!!!!
Then we got back to the house and Ryan and I rode bikes all around my old neighborhood. It was really funny, just like it was when I was a kid, except a lot more fun now cause I'm a grownup person and not a pissed off kid anymore. There were kids selling lemonade on the street and the sky was blue and perfect and sunny.
Back at the house Ryan and I played Mario Brothers One, which is a lot harder than I remember, so we gave up and watched bad TV. Then Ryan took a nap and I read on the porch until the wasps bothered me too much. By this time Andrea and John were starting to get up and Ryan and I were now outside jumping on the ginormous trampoline that is in my Mom's backyard. Soon all four of us were on the trampoline. It is very hard to bounce on a trampoline with four people but we managed to have fun without killing each other.
It was almost dinner time. mom and dad made us steak and twice baked potatoes and corn! It was delicious. Ryan's piece of steak was as big as my head I swear. It was amazing. And he almost finished the whole thing. Even though it was bloody inside.
Around 5 o'clock my cousins showed up to party. We were running the set in my old bedroom, which was pretty surreal, but also one of those "beyond your wildest dreams" moments. When we were done we went to load the car again and mingle with the cousins. I really wanted to hang out at the house and play the show in the garage, but we had to go kick ass at Paychecks, which I've been dying to play since the days of my youth. So off in the car again to rock some more.
]When we got to Paycheck's we unloaded the van in the back. Ah, Hamtramck! The old stomping grounds! Hello urban blight! Hello crackheads! Hello Vernors in a can and everybody smokes like a chimney and I'm smoking even though I quit cause you can smoke ANYWHERE in Michigan.
Paychecks fucking rules. It's an old Polish Bar that is smoky with a pool table and Molson Ice on Draft with this huge ass stage which is as big as Luna Lounge. The sound is great, there is a 20,000 dollar lighting rig and SMOKE MACHINE. Very metal. All we needed was a mini Stonehenge and a bunch of dwarves prancing around it. (If you don't get that, please go rent Spinal Tap, come back and read this again....it will be funny.)
There was a slight misunderstanding about who would go on first but the staff at Paychecks really took care of us, once they heard that we had to drive 10 hours to Philly after the show. So we got to play first! Yay!
My family arrived as we set up. Nine o'clock rolled around, the light show started flashing, the fog machine fired up and we kicked off "Without You." Everyone was a little shy to get up and dance (the crowd consisted mainly of my underage cousins) but soon everyone was up in front rocking out. (Props to Jeff from Wool and Water for dancing and being awesome!)
After the show we managed to mingle, sell merch (with the help of my two lovely cousins Stacy and Stacy) break down, pack the van, take photos and say goodbye in under an hour. We hung out in the back alley of Paychecks with my family, who all seemed really excited and happy. My Mom was nice enough to give us gas money and peanut butter cookies. I got a couple cans of Vernors, one for me and one for Andrew when I got home. If y'all don't know the joy of Michigan ginger ale in a can, you haven't LIVED.
I was sad to leave but happy we could rock here and make such a nice memory. As we pulled away I broke out the homemade cookies and the Vernors. A fantastic way to end a great day.
Set List:
-Without You
-This Happens
-Don't Look Back
-Falling Stars
-Half Here
-Try So Hard
-Consider Me Gone
-Guiltless
-Adaptation
-Stuck In My Head
-Saturday Night
