St. Louis has been a growing market of ours for almost two years now. We have never encountered foul people here, but this is based on the few kind souls we have collided with during our travels. This time around we had a much better/denser crowd and still the sweetness was in the air.
The Crack Fox is a really hip joint with some of the sweetest staff you'll ever find in downtown St. Louis. Remarkable still shots cover the walls; any pictures I could have taken would not do them justice. All the stills are in a burlesque-vain with beautiful women in beautiful poses; creates a great atmosphere for Rock n' Roll... and rock we did.
We were the last of 3 bands and seemed to capture the crowd quite well (Where's The Chief? and Living Room Lava were the first two)... but to be completely honest I did not notice the crowd while we were playing. It was just one of those majestic nights where I could feel the music through my bones and the band was all on the same page; speaking through our instruments and completely one with what we were producing. Stephen had a great solo during, "Balance" and we shared a great push-pull momentum during that outro. Kevin and I were a completely synced rhythm-section laying the ground work for the set which consisted of a lot of our darker, Stranger, tunes. It seems we pour our souls into every set we play, this one was just plain evidence of that concept.
Of all the cities we hit during the Surfin' Sandy tour Louisville is the
one I could most see myself relocating to. In my opinion, it is the
Austin of Kentucky. They have everything I need: music, bourbon, good
food and a lot of weird. On par for us, we hit another brewery before
load-in, Bluegrass Brewing Company. The best part of the brewery for
me... Vegan BBQ wings, flippin' delicious.
This was our second trip through Louisville and our reception was
superb. The staff and patrons of The Hideaway Saloon were beyond kind
our first time through and more than exceeded our expectations this
second pass. It is very easy to play music and feel at-ease when you are
playing to a room filled with music lovers whom love to dance... Simply
awesome. The club has a great bohemian vibe with the crowd to match.
My favorite part of the evening was sharing the stage with The
Pranksters. We have shared the stage with a lot of acts, however, these
guys in particular were a VERY talented bunch and couldn't have been any
sweeter. Tom Browning, their guitarist, was a phenomenal player and was
the one kind enough to let us share the evening with them. He has
played with the likes of Bo Diddly, players of The Grateful Dead, Stevie
Winder and many more (it was obvious after seeing them play); Grade-A
awesome.
Hideaway gives the touring bands a house to stay at; so we microwaved ourselves some grilled cheeses and got a good nights rest. The day after the show we had some time to kill so we wandered over to
our favorite local leather shop, Leatherheads. This is a slice of heaven
for me; kickass cowboy boots, belts, cowboy shirts and custom guitar
straps. Nick, the master leather worker there, has a patented design for
a guitar strap that takes the stress off of guitar players' back and
trapezoid muscles.
He has sold these straps to many folks including: Dan
Auerbach (The Black Keys), My Morning Jacket, The Rolling Stones,
Johnny Depp and more. We saw this spectacular strap our last trip
through Louisville and Stephen was even fitted for one. This time
through we pulled the trigger and bought Stephen and Kevin an early
birthday/Christmas gift. Nick, then had me draw our Model Stranger logo
next to Kevin and Stephen signature on his own personal straps that he
keeps in the shop. It's cool to see their names surrounded with some of
our idols... I dig it.
All-in-all, Louisville will always have a piece of my heart and I can't wait to get back.
We have grown quite fond of Columbus ever since The Moustache Bar Crawl brought us there in 2011. It is a quaint, yet progressive, oasis in Buckeye-Country chalk full of boutique bars, music clubs and (my favorite) great vegetarian-friendly fare.
Columbus had a lot to live up to after having a successful night in Muncie; and I didn't want my romanticized idea for the city to flicker out like a dull flame in the wind... It did not.
We were lucky enough to get into town a bit early and relax at a friends' posh digs while watching "Street Thief" (a great mock-u-mentary about a burglar in Chicago) before heading to the club for load in.
I knew I was going to have a great evening as soon as I walked into Circus. The walls were lined with vintage-esque sideshow posters and circus themed regalia... My favorite. The staff was extremely kind, as well.
We were billed with a good band from Columbus called Emily and The Complexes; I highly recommend checking them out. One song in particular that I enjoyed was ”I Don't Want To Brush My Teeth," awful title but great track. The turnout for our first show in Columbus was good, the response of the crowd was great. We couldn't ask for much more from a new market and the second day of Surfin' Sandy.
About 4 years ago I decided not to eat any red meat in order to maintain a healthier-lifestyle. I thought I would make the job as easy as possible so I set a list of guidelines. To make it easier, I decided Sunday would be my "cheat" day and I would only be able to consume red-meat on that day; the rest of the week I would eat healthy fare and limit my total meat intake to chicken or fish once-a-week, otherwise, no meat. Well I have ADD and forgot to eat chicken during the week and/or "cheat" on Sundays. So here I am today, I will eat fish about once or twice a month, however, no meat of any kind enters my body. Some call it an altered vegetarian, some call it being a pescatarian, I call myself a Vince-atarian. However, eating no meat and traveling frequently can be taxing if you don't know all of your options.
Tips for Life on the Go
Always plan ahead. The majority of my friends (and my entire family) eat meat. This might be difficult for some people to continue a healthy lifestyle around, however, the first thing you will learn is to plan ahead. I always bring along healthy vegetarian snacks so that if meat-alternatives are not available I am not left out of the feasting traditions. I highly recommend Cliff Bars; they are high in protein, vitamins and are made of all healthy-natural ingredients not to mention they are super tasty :) I recommend the "Blueberry Crisp" or "Peanut Butter Toffee." Hummus; also very high protein content as well as a good supply of lean fat and oil (simply mashed garbanzo-beans/chick-peas with garlic, lemon and a key ingredient (my favorite is the roasted red-pepper) compose this spread or dip-type food) and it can be placed in pita-bread, on sandwiches, in salads or bring along some veggie sticks to dip into the hummus for a healthy and quick snack. Crackers, mixed nuts or peanut butter spread on apples are other wonderful ways to collect nutrients through healthy snacks while being mobile. There are also websites to help you get a plan-of-attack on the road.
Keep an Eye Out For
Visit the Happy Cow website. The helpful website lists vegetarian and vegan resources; including restaurants by locality. Before your hitting the road, spend some time researching the various vegetarian places to eat on the road so you'll be prepared when hunger strikes. Otherwise, most cities have Natural Food Markets (i.e. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc.) and/or coops that supply fresh fruit, veggies and other tasty delights for those of us who have nixed meat from our diet. If you are in an even bigger rush for fast healthy, or at least, meat-free food, you still have some really good options.
Burger King. Believe it or not I have eaten a lot of Burger King on the road. They offer a veggie burger which I pair with some onion rings and a drink (I also recommend asking for "Zesty Sauce" it has changed my life) for a very-fast, affordable, meat-free meal. Subway has been my savior for quite some time now, I love Subway. You can snag a Veggie-Delight (I prefer mine w/ lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, green pepper, banana pepper, giardiniera peppers, sweet-onion sauce, light-mayo on honey-oat bread) and they even have protein patty's if you'd like; the patty's are composed of soy beans & veggies and look/taste like a chicken patty. Other options can be found at Quizno's, Taco Bell, Blimpie's, however, these options are not as healthy (more preservatives) and I recommend these (and Burger King) in dispersed moderation. Otherwise, there's always the ethnic restaurants.
Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian and Italian restaurants always have good vegetarian cuisine and help to recharge those batteries. Mexican: grab a quesadilla with some mushrooms followed by a chile-rellenos (stuffed with rice, cheese and veggies) for a good meal. Chinese: I'm a sucker for Kung Pao tofu with rice. Thai: I could eat anything from a Thai place like Pad Thai, Pad Se Ewe, Crazy Noodles, etc. They always have a lengthy and tasty menu for those of you looking for good meals that do not contain meat. Indian: peas paneer are my favorite paired with curried tofu. Italian: pasta, pizza and eggplant are great avenues at these restaurants. So if you really choose to embrace this lifestyle it is indeed possible to find tasty-healthy options anywhere.
Ask Around
I prefer to find one-of-a-kind restaurants and eateries along the road that aren't franchised out. You can always find a good diner or grill that will serve of fresh food and allow you to maintain your regimen. You should also talk with the locals and find a good place for your diet. While Model Stranger was in Lawrence, KS I spoke with a very nice man and women in their store, 3rd Planet; they referred me to Dempsey's Irish Pub. I know, this doesn't sound like vegetarian friendly place, but it was and all of Model Stranger agreed it was the best burger (or veggie-burger) that they have had. These tasty burger were paired with delicious fries that had been tossed in truffle-butter and parmesan cheese; it also didn't hurt that they had a nice beer selection :) You can read my full review of Dempsey's and other restaurants at Model Stranger's Yelp! page HERE.
Don't Try To Change Your Friends - Just Share With Them
Eating as a Vince-atarian I try to not impose my views or lifestyle onto anyone else, however, if they ask me about it I will inform them of the extreme health benefits and overall lifestyle improvements that come along with this diet. I have more energy, I have a clean and healthy body, I VERY rarely get sick, and it even affects my mental health and gives a positive outlook on life. I even got Kevin James to enjoy some hummus & avocado spread with me and I got Stephen Francis hooked on Veggie-delights from Subway & Sesame-Seaweed Balls from Trader Joes. However, this diet is not for everyone, some people just love their meat :) But whether you eat meat or not, we should all be concerned with maintaining a healthy diet. Especially while traveling!
I woke up in the back of the van in a dreamy panic. I had fallen asleep on the mattress we had in the back. I woke up to an explosion and a very intense vibration under the right side of my face... Luckily for me it wasn't one of my bandmates. During a routine overnight drive home from Bloomington where we had performed the night before at the Illinois Brewing Company with The Branded and Cavalry, we were greeted with our first ever tire blowout. As it usually goes we were only 13 miles from home. The clock ironically read 4:20 and we didn't have a spare. Thankfully we have a friend who knows somebody who knows somebody who drove Vincent and I 97 miles round trip in a little over an hour. To put it simply... we were protected and served.
Our friend Gavin later said "Thats the road picking a fight with you". He wasn't kidding. We had been half way across the country and drove just over 3,000 miles roundtrip and during that time performed 17 shows in 17 days. Outside of the back passenger side door breaking (doesn't open from the inside any longer) we had virtually no van problems. That is if you don't want to count the "check engine light" that came on from our brand new engine 10 miles into it's 100,000 mile warranty that we purchased right before tour. Or the battery that was shorting on us while we were doing 75 mph into Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming and EVERY other state we played. In actuality, none of those problems would keep us from getting from point A to point M.
With the friendly officer's assistance we were able to retrieve our spare from our rehearsal spot. When we arrived back at the van we found that we didn't have the correct pieces for our jack. It ended up taking us nearly an hour of using a wrench to manually prop the jack up high enough to change the tire. So here we are, sweating whiskey in our rock gear on the side of the road at dawn taking turns getting jacking the van up. The tire was demolished and we were lucky the trailer stabilized us. By the time we were finished it was 7:30 am and we finally had the spare on. We had to still unload the trailer, load back up the van with our equipment, inventory the refill order of shirts and 7" vinyl records that arrived in our absence, shower, and somewhere in there rest before the biggest show of our tour....
The homecoming record release show!
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Thank her holy body of music that tours aren't defined on how many things go wrong or right. I don't even think in the end they are about how many records and tee shirts you sell or how many people that like you. It is much more about getting up in the first place to put yourself in a position to be liked and to sell more records and tee shirts. Are you hearing me? So your tire blows out and you had 12 people at your last gig you start feeling a bit down...the next show there is a bad electric ground that continuously shocks you every time your lip touches the mic. The 'sound engineer' is bobbing his head while you perform and suddenly your internal dialouge reads words that bounce in your skull like with the pounding of the bass drum behind you - staggered - "I would like to shove this guitar up that guys tiny arse hole for his club's shitty ground and these crappy monitors". Then you wake up, and despite drinking 5 gallons of water you are still dizzy from the elevation and your poor drummer just can't get seem to get a working monitor so your all your vocal cues have to be accompanied by an obnoxious "stare of death" that he claims is serious but is only there as a 'just in case reminder'. OR perhaps you have 1 night left before the biggest show of the tour and the club you are playing literally has NO monitors and you are slotted to sing for 1.5 hours. Your only hope is to catch your pitch is from the reverberations off the back wall and as you start your set you wonder if you will have a problem performing the next day "when it matters".
As I get my miles in this is where I feel the focus needs to be if I plan on doing this for a long time. I am not going to get weighed down and bitch about it too much. I am on the road touring with my band, meeting people and playing rock and roll. I am going to focus on getting up and doing that!
Let me tell you that every day matters. You just can't get up and do a half ass job just because you did a half ass job promoting or had a half ass club owner whom didn't put up your posters or a half ass local act that bumped you because you were the touring act. Basically, everything I focused on in this exactly the type of nonsense you have to deal with every day when you tour on this indpendent level. Part of me thinks that some of it, but not all of it goes away. This too will eventually pass and I will look back and love this shit.
Our first few tours were exciting just because we were touring and the last few were more exciting because we were touring smarter (thank you Martin Atkins - buy his book HERE) but this tour was more challenging than the others. It was longer, with longer sets, and more traveling.
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The van was loaded up, cooler was cleaned out and it took me under an hour to get home. It was now 10:30am and I still hadn't had any sleep. The checklist of "things to do" still had some lines that weren't crossed out and I was so exhausted that my fight/flight response wasn't functioning correctly. I had crossed that point of exhaustion and there wer only 8 hours left until load in for the album release show. I ended up laying down and catching 4 hours of rest. When the alarm went off I popped up, hit the most heavenly shower, grabbed my clothes and went to the show.
When we arrived at the Cubby Bear the anticipation for us was brewing in the air. The room was vibrant and even at an early onset I could tell it was going to be a great night.
This release show was the finish line to an expedition that started as far back as December when Vincent, Kevin, and I sat down and laid out a calender to map our game plan for this record and tour out. It took us 3
months to record "Dreams & Bones" and book this tour that ate up most of April. This homecoming was a glorious end to a rewarding adventure.
As the lights on the stage dimmed and the production manager told us it was time to go, we crossed our personal finish line. The second Model Stranger took the stage that night we were already doing our personal victory lap.
Stephen Francis
P.S. I want to give my deepest gratitude to our manager and everyone else that took extra time out of their lives to contribute to this record, tour, promotion, and attendance. A special thanks to the bands 20 Mark Helga, Verona Red, Cavalry, The Flavor Savers and every other band whom performed with us along the way. And a special nod needs to go out to Julia Ciaccio and Neil Danaher for their brilliant contribution to the artwork and design of our merchandise and album covers.
Plans for a fall tour are underway.
To anyone that caught us on tour or made the release show - Any highlights or places you would like us to return or visit to?
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Interested in picking up some Model Stranger merchandise?
Visit http://www.modelstranger.bandcamp.com/ to pick up a copy of the debut release "Dreams and Bones", the Limited Edition 7" vinyl "What you are Looking For", or a brand new line of Tee shirts and Tote Bags!
Ahhhh! 2010 has arrived. I cannot believe that 2009 is over. It was such a long year. A few months back we did a year in review and I would have never imagined (since most of it was unplanned and we planned on stopping) that things would have changed so much between September and December. New Rule - Never under any circumstances in your career say the word LAST. No LAST shows of 2009, no LAST line up changes.
Although unplanned, the show at the Metro with our friends Lucid Ground and Minus the Girl was a great night! Opening for Our Lady Peace with Tom and Aaron's band Bullet Called Life = really memorable evening. Growing up listening to those guys and being able to share a stage and taste their crowd was really awesome! Not a week later the Elbo Room asked us to play New Years Eve - It was the perfect way to end the year, and start the year - PLAYING MUSIC.
A LOOK AHEAD Model Stranger has so much already lined up for 2010. With a new record (which we are tracking in the next few weeks) and a Spring tour being booked, I personally am looking forward to hitting the ground running . A majority of our shows this year will be on the road. Chicago is one of our favorite places to play but after putting in 28 days on the road last year, Model Stranger has a new addiction. We make so many fans and learn so much every time we hit the road. Why stay home for long?
In addition to the new record we will be releasing a whole bunch of new merch including some interesting tracks like early demos and outtakes from Reverieland and first renditions of new material being released on the new record. The record is scheduled to be released April 24th.
Thanks for reading! Photos from our show and some other important Model Stranger information below.
PHOTOS FROM SOLD OUT CUBBY BEAR SHOW WITH OUR LADY PEACE
If you are on Facebook or MySpace click HERE to view them.
These photos were shot by the wonderfully talented Mike Hari and Christie LaMountain. Their names link to their websites. Check them out. Hire them.
OUR MUSIC FEATURED:
So a few months ago, some students from Flashpoint Academy contacted our manager Coate wanting to do a piece on him and Model Stranger for a TV Production class they were in. Coate obliged and brought the students up to our practice space to meet us one night. Impressed by their work and professionalism he later asked if they might be interested in doing some video work for him which eventually led to them wanting to be involved in filming us playing a live set. As it turned out, we had just picked up our December Metro and Cubby Bear shows (those link to photo albums of the shows by the way) so the students came out to film both sets for us in glorious HD. We haven't seen the footage yet, but we're quite excited.
Separately, a man named Tim Jahn reached out to Coate via Twitter to inquire about using our song "Sound The Sirens" as background music for a video he was doing for his website, Beyond The Pedway. On the site, Tim seeks to learn about the people behind Chicago's creative companies, what they do, and why they do it in Chicago. A song from a local Chicago band is featured in each video.
Tim sent us an email the other day letting us know he had just posted the video with our song, and much to our pleasant surprise, the company he profiled was none other than Flashpoint Academy! You should watch the piece (we've posted it below...or for those of you reading on Facebook or MySpace HERE), not just because our music is featured, but because Flashpoint is a pretty fantastic establishment!
Please Help us Broaden Our Reach!!!
If everything (or anything) that you read above excites you, we want you to know that you play a large role in Model Stranger getting further down this path. For it is only through the constant support of families, friends, and fans that we have been able to accomplish what we have - and only with the continued support from you can we reach the goals we've set before us. You have all been WONDERFUL in offering all sorts support such as kinds words, attending our shows and just being there in general. As of now we have a few very specific ways you can help us out using the fantastic resources the Internet provides. Sound good? Okay!
Here's what we need:
FACEBOOK
Invite your own family, friends and coworkers to become a fan of us on Facebook. Follow up! Let them know why you like us and why you think they should know all about us as well. Listen to our tunes on the "MyBand" tab on our fan page or our personal profiles. This is important in helping us gain exposure on the site that we'll explain next!
REVERBNATION
This site might be the most useful tool out there for artists like ourselves! It has TONS of tools that allow us to not only create a cool profile but to help us promote. Of those tools are these nifty little thing called "widgets". We have a few of them on THIS SITE along the side bar (the music player, show schedule and fan collector, etc) and our current music player on our MySpace page is a ReverbNation widget. How these work is that they provide cool ways to share information about us very easily. For all of you with blogs it's incredibly easy to add them and ReverbNation tracks our reach. The more widgets we have posted in more places viewed by more unique people - the better for us (both in general and in the rankings on the site)! Below we've placed a very easy tool that you can take these widgets from and post them on your MySpace pages, blogs, websites, etc! If you're viewing this on Facebook or MySpace CLICK HERE to see the original post and what we're talking about.
