Surfin' Sandy: Day 10 - Macomb, IL

There I was, half naked on stage again. My shirt had come off and I had a slight headache. I thought maybe I was hungover from Friday in St. Louis but I think I forgot to drink coffee. A cute girl in the front of the crowd asked me what I'd do for $10.. The possibilities were endless. Ol' Blue was getting such questionable gas mileage this run I figured I'd take what I could for cheap tricks. I should have asked someone for Advil but I wasn't in the mood to be personal.

That's where the energy was in the Cafe this evening. There was a recklessness and careless feeling throughout the room. Propositions would be made, some were obliged. The trusting kind we are.

We had started our day in St. Louis and decided to stop in Alton, IL at a Cajun restaurant. We had Bloody Mary's. I wish they tasted as good as they looked.

Vincent Joseph toast Kevin and I to a great run.

We rolled into Macomb and met our old friend Doug for dinner and drinks at Magnolia's. Doug would later open this show for under the name NARP. Doug is formerly of  "Henderson". He took the trip from Indianapolis to come loosen up the crowd for us.

"NARP". Real Deal Holyfield.

He was truly a one man show this evening. He played to a backing track he recorded at home. He played drums live and sang. It was a lot of fun watching him do his thing.

We steamrolled through all three sets, playing new numbers and crowd favorites. Opted on playing any slow numbers as I fear we may have been booed if we should the slightest shift from our abandon. The show was eclipsed by me stabbing my guitar multiple times through a floor Tom. After the first two puncture wounds, the drum fell over in defeat. An excited fan ran to the stage and grabbed the drum to hold it for me so I could continue my massacre. It wasn't until after the show that I realized how close I must've come to smashing them in the face with the body of my Telecaster.

Thankfully no one was hurt but I did quite a number on the drum and later found a tuning peg from my guitar bouncing around the shell.

Weak Sword.

Better off Dead.

It was good to come to a familiar place to finish the tour.

Back into the studio we shall go.

Thanks for Reading.

Stephen Francis

The Road, My Birthday and an Impressive Photo Bomb

Things have been going great. Life is great. The road is as wonderful as ever. We have amazing fans (yes, YOU!). We got to spend some of the final days of our final dates of touring in 2011 in a few of our favorite cities.


Speaking on behalf of all of us, Burlington, IA has developed into a home away from home. The fans, atmosphere and city itself is awesome! We couldn't have done this year in Burlington without the support of Mike Savage and KQ92. The station has consistently spun tracks off of Dreams & Bones and every show we see more fans dancing and singing along. It’s been a great ride for us so far!


If you're ever traveling through I highly suggest you stop in Burlington and at the very least visit Mr. Moto's and Weird Harold's. You'll thank me later. Look at this pic of some Strangeloves... sexy staches!

Loving the photo bomb

What can I say about Macomb, IL?  Well, it's a college town, it rocks and it’s crawling with Strangeloves. That's certainly one reason we keep returning.  We have amazing fans there and Guy, manager of The Cafe, is like the Father we never had. He heavily influences us to drink Jameson and calls us derogatory names if we don't consume enough, ha!  But really, we actually played at The Cafe 7 times this year and every show was something different.  Acoustic sets, bringing friends on stage to sing along, diving into drums...it has been a wonderful year for us there and we look forward to what Macomb has to offer in 2012.

Another Macomb Strangelove shows off her I <3 Moustache nails.

And finally this past weekend we celebrated my birthday just as I would've liked, by playing music with two of my best friends.  We rocked with our good friends’ bands, Red City and Blue Eyed Jesus.  City Limits has always been a great place for us to play and we look forward to seeing you at a show there in the future.

"Operator" - 11/24/2011

Finally after 70 odd shows and a whole lot of traveling we are devoting the Winter to completing some new tracks. It’s been too long since we released anything. This year the road became a vacuum, this Winter the studio will become our home.

:{) -Kevin James

Wet Dreams and Big Boners?!?

It’s 2:45 in the morning on Sunday Nov. 6 and the owner of the Café, ‘Shadow’, walks up to me and hands me an envelope with our evenings wages. We share a laugh when I look down at the envelope to see how he has marked it up. I thank him, we exchange thoughts about shows for the Spring semester and I get back to loading up the trailer.


We had been slotted for the duration of the night at the Café in the desolate yet charming Macomb, IL. Macomb is home to many but mostly the crowd is made up of WIU students many of whom have started frequenting Model Stranger shows when we make the 250 mile journey due Southwest.

Our set for Saturday evening had begun shortly after 9 pm and wrapped up around 1:30 Sunday morning just before last call. It was an enjoyable evening that was unfortunately cut a tad bit short due to an unseen attack of the killer migraine.


Shadow decorates our payment envelope.. hmmm.

  Needless to say this is how we do it in when we are in Macomb. It is an all night affair every time. Although it is a taxing endeavor to take on the undeniable amounts of free alcohol and lengthy set obligations, we are tested in different ways then with a normal 45 minute set.



We remind ourselves at the onset of the night that these are marathons not sprints.

The night before we had performed in Springfield on our way down. This gig we also performed 4 hour set. Following our performance we drove to Macomb and arrived at 4 am. We parked in the Walmart parking lot and took a nice rest in preparation of the nights festivites. It was chilly in the van and I woke up with a nasty headache that later would develop into one of the worst migraines I have ever had.

The majority of our Saturday day was spent inventorying and reorganizing our Model Stranger Merchandise in the parking lot of the local Walmart. We now have this extensive selection of Model Stranger tees since we back filled our older designs. Also added some hoodies to our arsenal this time around!

Taken from the back of the van.. Blurry, we know.

The first 2 sets were great and were highlighted by the debut of some new Model Stranger songs. Many patrons crowded the dance floor and showed us how to do the twist. Wish I had more pictures of that but I was busy rocking.  Other highlights included the Fressos' sending us a Jameson shot nearly every 4 songs. Biggest regret of the night.. not drinking a Quaalude.

It was during the 3rd set of the evening that I was attacked by the previously mentioned killer migraine. Singing with a migraine would be enjoyable if I was a deranged masochist who loved bringing pain to myself by singing to others… Although I guess it is better than bringing pain to others by singing to myself. Every beat of the drum, line of a verse, strum of my guitar and the the thumping of the bass was a nauseating trigger that eventually caused us to end the show 2 songs early. My oh my. What a night.

We are rounding up some dates and planning a healthy and valiant return in the Spring! Thank you to all our fans in Macomb for a fantastic semester and a load of great memories!


 

 

 





Starting 'Rocktober' On Our Backs

October started off so hot that I am going to rename it to Rocktober. We kicked off opening weekend to ‘Rocktober’ with two very exciting shows. On Friday Model Stranger had a chance to play the inagural Southside Oktoberfest in Bridgeview just outside of Toyota Park. This show was some of the most fun we had during this festival season. For starters we were playing at night for the first time at a festival and it was during a carnival of sorts. To add to the awesomeness of playing in the middle of a bunch of amusement rides, the crowd was enthusiastic and interactive throughout the night. The stage was ginormous and the weather was perfect. Kevin and I had no problem using it up. At one point I bummed a smoke from a man in the front row. He tossed it into the air and the wind took it well over my head. Without hesitation I turned and ran after it, simultaneously leaving my feet I dove and caught it shortly before crashing to the ground. It was a good cigarette.



1:28 am The Café Macomb, IL Oct. 2nd Kamikaze mission failed. Drummer still breathing.

 In the morning we made our way to the Qualude Mecca of the world… The Café in Macomb, IL. Qualudes are a drink that they serve at the Café. We indulge heavily on this fine concotion when we stroll through town. Macomb doesn’t come off as anything special at a first glance but like most smaller towns it is the crowd and energy that really defines our experience when we perform here. Macomb has been a home away from home for us this year. The fans keep growing and getting wilder and wilder with every visit.


These shows we are left sometimes at our wits end to fill a four hour slot. We dig deep into our catalouge and play some really interesting covers to achieve this and it is always a martathon. The last set always yields the most energy. The show attendees are usually mouthing off and dancing their asses off by this time. I love being mouthed off to. This particular visit our last set climaxed with launching myself into the drumset, as you can see from the pic above. Battlewounds on our bodies are present but the equipment made it out unscathed. We return to the Café on Nov. 6th to close out our appearances for this semester. Can’t wait to get back.


In the meantime Model Stranger will be putting final touches on their music video for “Where do We From Here?” and playing some shows in the Chicagoland area.

Thanks for Reading!

Stephen Francis