Surin' Sandy Tour - Day: 4 and 5 - New York, New York

We left Maryland promptly after our show at Guido's Speakeasy.

Having never taken a trailer into New York City I was quite anxious to arrive at a time when traffic wasn't very high. The drive was just about 4.5 hours. We spent the evening listening to Jazz and sharing stories, talking fashion and playing pretend. We made sure to grab gas before we hit the turnpike. We were warned about the gas shortages throughout the state. After 60.50 in tolls into New York we pulled into Greenpoint around 6:16 am and to our surprise found parking right across from where we would be residing for the next few days.

I've heard nightmare stories from bands and gear gone missin' while in New York so I was particularly grateful to be able to stick my head out the window of my friend's apartment and check on the trailer at will.

Having driven over night we decided to take a good slumber but plans for rest were quickly interrupted as 1 PM drew near. Just because we were touring doesn't mean we should miss the Bears.

We spent a majority of our day at a Bar in the back corner cheering on our team with fellow transplants from the Windy City. After the game we took a brief rest before heading out to Cameos in Williamsburg.

At first we were confused because we couldn't find the club. This of course is probably nothing new for people that have never made the trip there as the club is really a back room in another club. The kind of place that looks like it would be perfect for a private party or a rave.

The recent hurricane had disabled most transportation from Manhattan to Brooklyn so the promoter and New York bands weren't expecting a huge night. We had anticipated this and were mostly grateful that the show was still happening. Although it wasn't the night the bands had hoped for the crowd that came was plentiful and stuck around for all four bands.

The night was opened by Shayna Sands, a very talented female who rocks the guitar quite well. We took the stage second. We were followed by "The Reckless Collected" which is really a band that had been assembled just a few weeks prior for this show. You'd never be able to tell that. Connor Grant assembled a stellar cast of musicians. Connor plays a mean guitar. Lastly, The Dharma Project, a project manned by Jason Boner, an exceptional singer and ambient musician closed the night.

I'm Analog.

Our set was highlighted by trying out some newer songs and interviewing the crowd from stage about them when I realized that no one really cares if a song is old or new. If I wrote it yesterday or today.. I mumbled into the mic.. "Like anyone fucking cares when I wrote this." The crowd had a giggle as I realized the truth in that.

After the show we took up our friend Connor's offer to empty the trailer into his loft as we had an off day the following day and wouldn't have to worry. We took up his offer and spent the night listening to R and B tracks, shooting pool and drinking PBR.  We stumbled into the New York streets to greet the sun and I took advantage of a 24 hour Deli on the corner.

Day 5 

Our off day was slightly wasted as we slept into the afternoon. When we awoke we made a quick decision to hop a ferry and make the trip to Manhattan.

Nice day for a Ferry Ride. Not really. It was cold.

We paid our respects to Mr. Lennon as we took a late night stroll through Central Park. Afterwards we stopped at Mc Sorely's and enjoyed some cheese and crackers. We capped our night at Downtown Pub and Grill, which Kevin had been hoping to do since we booked New York.

Respect.

Women weren't allowed here until the late 70's.

Our visit was the perfect mix of Rock and Roll and quality time with friends. Of course we would've loved to visit under different circumstances but we actually were quite lucky considering the timeline of the storm patterns. Unfortunately they got hit with another storm the day after we left.

Our best wishes to the city and the great people there. We look forward to making the trip again.

Goodbye New York

Thanks for reading.

Stephen Francis

Surfin’ Sandy Tour – Day 3: Frederick, MD @ Guido’s Speakeasy – 11/3

This was a last minute fill in which we were lucky enough to get.  Our friends in Vinny Vegas hooked us up with their friend John who runs his own promotion company.  This was our first time through Frederick so we didn’t know what to expect.  We were greeted quite kindly by John and his wife and they accommodated us in any way that they could which included great beer (the Flying Dog Brewery is in Frederick) and tasty food.  Before our set we were approached by a gentleman who was a diehard Local H fan and after seeing we have opened for them a couple of times he decided to come check us out.   We hit the stage around 11:30 and played a set of pretty much nothing but straight rockers.  The crowd really enjoyed us and bought us some rounds of shots after picking up some Model Stranger gear.  We got to talk with John before we left and he assured us we will be booked again in Frederick as well as Baltimore so we look forward to heading through again.

Surfin' Sandy Tour - Day 2: Columbus, OH

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.

-Vinny Fresh

Surfin’ Sandy Tour – Day 1: Muncie, IN @ Be Here Now – 11/1

Who would’ve thought Muncie, IN would be such a cool place to play?!  We’ve played there a couple of times now and made sure to kick off the Surfin’ Sandy Tour right which Muncie was perfect for.  We got into town a little early, Kevin stopped at the same craft beer store he goes to every time for some choice picks, had some dinner with the owner Whitney, who is a super human being, along with some Strangeloves and headed back to Be Here Now to play.  The energy was right for a Thursday night and the crowd danced and enjoyed our set and stuck around to chat with us after the set.  Some students at Ball State are putting together a documentary on the Muncie music scene and stopped in to interview us and get our opinions on Be Here Now.  Once we were done and all loaded out we wandered over to Whitney’s where he let us hangout, have some late night conversation and crash for the evening.  After getting solid rest we hit the road again to head on over to Columbus, OH for our next gig.  All in all Muncie was a great start to the tour.