Same Day Service - Old Journals

June 1, 2002 @ Whole Foods in Austin, TX
Dog Wash Day Benefit
We played at 11:15am...definitely the earliest show ever, if you don't count 4am on the public access channel. Because of the way the stage was set up, we basically played to a parking lot full of cars...except for Lisa's sister Julie who sat right in front of us. It was fun anyway, we played well, and I think a lot of people were listening even though they weren't watching...we had a couple "good shows" from people that i didn't see until we were done...plus we got some tasty spring roles out the deal. Thanks to Julie for sacrificing her eardrums so we'd feel like we had an audience, and Jace for his neverending support.

May 22, 2002 @ Antone's in Austin, TX
101X Homegrown show w/ Manatee and Cruiserweight
I love it when we have really great show...it reminds me why I love being in this band, and why it's worth it for practically everything in my life to revolve around SDS. Let me back up alittle and start with this morning. Maggie and I did an interview and played an acoustic version of "New York" on the morning show on 101X. I think it went pretty well. I was kinda nervous about playing the acoustic guitar...my fingers aren't used to it, but Lisa(who was listening at work) said it sounded fine...either way our first(if you don't count The WIRE) radio interview was a piece of cake. Anyway, we showed up at Antone's around 8pm to load-in, and there were already a bunch of kids there...I think this is always a sign of a good show. By the time Manatee started, Antone's was packed...and it's a big place. I'd never seen Manatee, but I'd heard good things about them. They didn't disappoint. I thought they were really good, as did the crowd. They had a couple of sing-alongs...which I love. It's so cool to hear the crowd singing, instead of just seeing lips move. We played second. It was so much fun. In the middle of the set, some boys kept yelling for "Summer Boys"... a song we haven't played in forever...so I busted into an impromtu version of the song. Lisa said she tried to join in, but couldn't remember how it went...which was fine, because I only played two lines. Cruiserweight played last and they always rock. In fact, they rocked so hard that Urny broke his guitar strap and had to play half the set with no strap. Lisa tried to go fix it while he was playing(it worked for a second), and has now decided that she wants to be a guitar tech...so anyone in need of a tech, get in touch. Anyway, we've been talking about playing a show with CW for a long time, so it was rad to finally get to. This is cheesy but I love them because everyone in the crowd always has a big smile on their face for the entire set...myself included. Like I said this was a really great show. Thanks to 101X for supporting local bands, Urny and the Cruisers for helping us get on the show, and everyone that came out and rocked with us!

May 16, 2002 @ The Backroom in Austin, TX
w/ Racketbox and Left of the Dial
Racketbox was cool...they kinda reminded me of Blink-182...not really their sound, but the way they looked and acted. They put on a fun show. Left of the Dial was good too. Their bass player played some cool stuff. I kept thinking there were two guitars, but really it was the bass. That's about it...nothing too exciting, but definitely a fun show.

May 11, 2002 @ Beerland in Austin, TX
Benefit for Bust Magazine
Lisa was pretty excited to play this show because she's been reading Bust since the very first issue...I was kind of indifferent, but I ended up having a pretty good time, as did everyone else in attendance...at least it looked like it. We were the first band to play, but there were plenty of people there by the time we started....especially because we started alittle late....I had a horrible time finding a parking spot for the van, so by the time I got back to the club, I pretty much had to jump on stage and start rockin'...no prep-time at all!!
After we finished, we stuck around and watched the Regrettes...it was one of their last shows, so we couldn't miss it, but then we had to leave because there were some other bands playing down at Emo's that we really wanted to see. From what I hear, the rest of the show went well... I think the most exciting part of the night was Pink(the singer) was hanging out at Emo's...I didn't actually see her, just heard she was there.
Thanks to Anna for setting up the show, and Jared for being our roadie(don't worry Nomi, you haven't been replaced.)

May 1, 2002 @ The Backroom in Austin, TX
w/ Face to Face, Midtown, Thrice and The Movielife
What more can I say about this show, other than it was AWESOME. It was so cool to share the bill with these bands...I listen to all of them, and owned at least one album for each band...after playing, I own more. They all rocked, and I'm happy to say, I think we held our own.
Of course, no show is perfect and the bad part of this one was someone's inability to open the doors on time(they were supposed to open at 6:30, didn't open until about 6:55, and we had to start at 7:00), therefore making friends that were at the end of the 30 minute line have to listen to our set from outside the club. I also have a hard time understanding why there always have to be problems with guestlists...I think once a band hands their list to the club, it should be the club's responsibility to make sure the guests get in....not Maggie's, and certainly not the headlining bands. Even with the problems, the show was still one of the best I've played
Random Facts about the show: Lisa and a guy from The Movielife wore matching Recover shirts(not on purpose), it was awesome to finally see Face to Face, plus they were super-nice guys, and the space we played in was so small that when Lisa moved she knocked over the bass drum mic.
Thanks to Maria for selling our merch...although I hear she was more busy being a smart-ass than actually selling, and of course thanks to Face to Face for asking us to play!

The Soda Fountains and Hardwood Floors Tour
April 15-28, 2002
I'm posting these journals alittle differently than I have in the past. Usually, I list the show that is most recent at the top. However, I also have always been able to update the journals throughout the tour. Since, I wasn't able to this time, and I actually kept up with the journals, I'm going to write them just like they are in my notebook...for those of you that are regular readers, you probably know that I tend to ramble and this will be no exception...so feel free to skim, or read half now, and half later...whatever it takes!

April 15, 2002 (drive day)
We are finally leaving Austin for our tour of the midwest. We always seem to get a late start, but I guess it doesn't really matter since we are just driving to Oklahoma tonight. We just ate at Subway...we are attempting to do the Subway diet on this tour. We'll see how that goes.

April 16, 2002 @ The OU Union Food Court in Norman, OK
w/Special Disaster Team
We were in charge of picking up and setting up the PA, so we showed up early at the Union and started loading stuff in. Let me just say how happy I am that I don't have to load a PA in and out at every show. We all ended up having these weird bruises on our forearms from carrying the PA speakers.
Anyway, Special Disaster Team showed up and set up their stuff. A lot of kids started arriving...it's always cool when there are a lot people at show right from the start. We decided not to charge at the door for this show, but before the music started Maggie got up on stage and asked that people give $1 donation...I was really impressed with how many people came over to the merch table and stuffed money into the donation cup...what nice kids in Norman. SDT finally started their set, and I was reminded why I love playing with these guys. I'm normally not a huge ska fan but these guys always have so much energy and are a lot of fun, not to mention they are really good. The crowd dance to their entire set.
We were up next. I was actually alittle nervous playing for the hometown crowd...plus our old guitar player Kristen was there and I always get kinda nervous playing my variations of solos she wrote. All my worries were erased however, when after the first song, one of the SDT boys yelled at us and asked if we'd please give him the formula for rock! The show ended up being very cool, even though I messed up every single one of my lead parts! Plus it's always awesome to play for a crowd full of friends and familiar faces.
While I was playing, I saw a lot of people in the crowd that I didn't get a chance to say hi to...so I'm saying say hi now to: the L-town kids and the boys from Ninja Finja....next time you guys better hang out and say hello! Thanks to Nancy at the UPB for helping us set up the show, Quentin for the PA, Kyle for helping carry stuff and sell merch, and of course Naomi for being the best roadie ever .

April 19, 2002 @ Indienet in Nashville, TN
w/ Monday Pickle, Kreis and Julius Seizure
This morning was the best Subway ever...we all ordered the Kids Pak, which is definitely the best deal. Just enough food and it's cheap. But, they ended up being out of deli-style bread, so we all got 6 inch subs, plus she threw in 2 cookies, and gave us big drinks(this is only our second Subway so far...since my parents were paying for food in Norman we ignored the diet!)
We spent last night right outside of Memphis in KOA campground, under the neon glow of a giant Super8 sign. We fell asleep to the roar of semi's driving by on the highway bridge that was practically right over us. Our new tent rocks, and I'm ready to take a real camping trip...maybe when we get back from tour.
Right now we are stuck in a traffic jam 37 miles outside of Nashville. I just saw a sign that says we are on the Music Highway. I wonder how many bands have stopped to take their picture under that sign.
......Later That Night.....
Got to Nashville, went downtown, walked around, checked out country record stores, boughtsouvenirs.. The coolest part was that at 2:30 in the afternoon, all the bars are open and have live music. So, we stopped in one and listened to a cowboy named Bart sing for awhile. Went to our first soda fountain of the tour and ate burgers and banana splits...so long Subway. After that we headed down to Indienet for the show.
Monday Pickle played first. These kids were pretty young I think, and they havedefinitee potential to be rockers. They played a good set...kind of the old punkrock sound. The best part was they had a friend with a mohawk who'd cut a whole in his baseball hat, so the mohawk could stick out. Kreis was up next. These guys had their drummer quit 2 hours for the show. They managed to find a friend to fill in on drums and were able to still play. The singer's mom was there and she rocked out for the whole show.
We were third...our favorite slot to play. It was a really fun set...kinda reminded me of a show we played in Bakersfield, CA last year. The crowd was really energetic and they danced through the whole set. We all got sweaty and tired which is always a sign of a good show.
Julius Seizure played last. Fun, pop-punk with good harmonies. The singer was very entertaining to watch...he kinda reminded me of the singer from Grade, with all his pelvic thrusting.
Once we found out where we going to stay the night, Lisa started praying to the baby jesus that the house wouldn't have hardwood floors...no such luck, thus starting the hardwood floors part of the tour. Thanks to Aaron for setting up the show and giving us a place to sleep, Emily for the cake, and the neighborhood boys for showing us their dance moves.

April 20, 2002 @ Sudsy Malone's in Cincinnati, OH
w/ Amy
Stopped in Louisville for lunch. Ate pork BBQ(which was a treat since in TX, there is only beef), sweet tea and burgoo(also called road-kill stew). It was all delicious. Louisville seemed really cool and I wish we could have stayed and played a show there....hopefully next time.
Showed up at Sudsy Malone's(a cool bar/laundomat), loaded in, then sat around forever. Someone had told us the area we were in was cool, but alittle shady, so we didn't really feel like wandering around. Turns out, one block over was the University and I think we would have been perfectly safe venturing out of Sudsy's. The opening band canceled, so Sudsy's brought in this girl Amy to play. It was just her and her keyboard. She did covers of top-40 pop songs, even did an accapella version of Shakira. I think it might have been her first show, so she seemed alittle nervous...although I have to say, I can't blame her. It definitely takes guts to get up on stage all by yourself, with no band to cover up mistakes.
We finally played. There weren't many people there, so it was a pretty intimate show...we even went around the bar and asked everyone's names, and waited for people to return from the bathroom before we started the next. We finished the set with intention of playing another one later, but when it was time to play again we didn't really feel like it, so we packed up.
Thanks to Pope, Chris and Felicia from Sudsy's, and to Quincy and "Dilly"(Fred) for a place to sleep...even though it was hardwood floors(no thanks to the baby jesus). Hint to touring bands...don't play laundromat/bars on Saturdays... no one does their laundry on a Saturday night.

April 21, 2002 @ Subterranean Records in Ft. Wayne, IN
w/ Fat Ass
Cruised to Ft. Wayne today. Stopped in Decatur at this cool Rock n' Roll soda fountain. We weren't even that hungry but when we saw it, we turned around and went back. Lisa had a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich...she said it was good, but I thought it tasted alittle weird.
Made it to the record store...no thanks to Mapquest. Played a good show. When I was playing, I looked out in the crowd and saw a few people singing along that I didn't recognize...it's always strange to be in a town you've never been to and see people singing along to your songs. Turns out it was this girl that had mail-ordered merch from us. She lives in Ohio and her parents drove her and her friend down for the show. It was pretty cool.
Fat Ass tried to play next, but during every song they would blow the power. They sounded good from the 3 songs I heard before they decided to quit. After they were done, Maggie came up and told me one of the guys in Fat Ass had offered us a place to stay. He had hardwood floors, but he said he'd give us the bed and the couch, and he'd take the floor...plus he said he had a clean shower. Dan, the guy that set up the show, said he would put us up in a motel, but we decided to just stay at the house...might be more fun. We get to the house, which turns out to be an efficiency apartment, where the shower is basically in the living room, and I think you might have been able to see into from the bedroom loft.
No big deal...we'll just go another day without bathing. Anyway, we sit around talking for awhile, then Sal(the guy who'd promised us a bed) gets up, climbs the ladder to the loft, and gets in bed. Lisa, Maggie and I think at first that he's just getting nightclothes, or some pillows, but we quickly realize that he's not coming back down....and we get the floor again! I lucked out and got the couch. Maggie and Lisa tried to make little pallets out of cushions, but from what I hear it didn't work to well. So, the moral to this story is never ever turn down a free motel room. Thanks to Dan for setting up the show, the Eldred cousins for coming to the show and Sal for more hardwood floors...we given up on praying.

April 22, 2002 @ Tazzma's Rock o' Rama in Lafayette, IN
w/ The RunnAmucks, Fallout and Greaser's Palace
Drove to Lafayette, walked around Purdue campus, slept in the Union for awhile, went to the Triple X to eat but couldn't take more greasy diner food so we ate Jimmy John's instead, showed up at venue...Tazzma's Rock o' Rama, with a name like that it's gotta be cool.
We played first...lots of fun. This guy Mikey, who happened to be Lafayette's self-proclaimed best dancer and a little person, danced to our entire set...it was awesome. Next was Fallout...I think it was only their first or second show. They were pretty good and I think once they get some more shows under their belts and are more comfortable performing, they'll rock. The RunAmucks from Florida were next. They were nearing the end of a 5-week tour. They were really tight, and put on a good show...I could tell they'd been playing almost every night for the past month. Last was Greaser's Palace. From the name, I expected rockabilly...which they were not. I'm not sure how to describe them, but they did a Britney Spears cover, which I thought was cool.
Taz, the owner of the club said we could stay the night there, so we ended up having a slumber party with The RunnAmucks Ordered pizza, played pool and slept on the carpet-covered cement. The next morning we washed our hair in the industrial sized sink(that was filled with turpentine covered paint supplies)...clean hair never felt so good.
Thanks to Taz and Laurie...especially the cupcakes.

April 24, 2002 @ Fireside Bowl in Chicago, IL
w/ Punching Grey, Fallout Boy and Motion City Soundtrack
Yesterday we had the day off, so we decided to drive back to Cincinnati to see the Face to Face sho. It was fun!. Thrice put on a rockin show as always. The Movielife and Midtown were also really good. Of course, Face to Face was awesome. Maggie had seen them once before, a few years ago in San Francisco, and has always said it was one of the best shows ever. They played lots of old songs, and the new ones were all pretty good too. We are opening for this show when we get back to Austin. Seeing it made us really excited, but also kinda nervous...there were a ton of kids there...even for the opening band.
After the show, we decided to start driving to Chicago. We're cruising along, I'm in the backseat singing to myself, when all of a sudden Maggie and Lisa scream, then there is a thump...silence...thump,thump. Turns out a big bird(hawk, owl, something like that) rose out the grass next to the highway and flew right into the van. I think it hit the grill first and the wind held it there for a second, then it fell to the road where we proceeded to run over it. It was amazingly loud for a bird.
We decided to get a hotel halfway to Chicago. It was very nice to have beds, clean showers, and a few minutes of MTV before we went to sleep.
Anyway, today we played at The Fireside Bowl in Chicago. We've played here before, so it was cool to actually be returning to a place on tour...it seems like we are always going someplace new. We had to load-in in the rain which sucked, especially because it quit raining as soon as we were done.
We played second out of four bands. First was Punching Grey..they were pretty excited to just be playing Fireside. They said they'd been going to shows there for a decade and they were honored to finally be playing there. We were next. I think as far as playing, this was a best show so far. Motion City Soundtrack was third. These guys were great. I can't wait to listen to their CD. Fallout Boy played last. I also liked these guys alot. Kind of a pop-emo sound.
Overall, Chicago was pretty cool. Everyone at Fireside was nice, and I found the new Millencolin CD for $8.99...what a steal.

April 25, 2002 @ The Theta Beta Potata House in Iowa City, IA
w/ Kathryn and Oh Jesus
Slept in the van last night...wasn't too bad, just alittle cold. Driving to Iowa City in the morning, we stopped at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop. It was definitely big!
Got to town about 10am, found campus and the "cool" part of town. Ate some really good breakfast wraps. I'm usually not a big fan of wraps, but these were exceptionally good...must have been the Iowa bacon. After that, we walked around, found the Information Arcade(computer lab), ate some ice cream, Lisa passed out handbills for the show, got the oil changed, took a nap in the van, etc...
We finally went over to the house where the show was supposed to happen, and were informed by Ross, one of the roommates of the guy that had booked the show, that the opening band had canceled, there hadn't been much promotion, and the show might not be happening. Turns out the guy who booked the show was in a band that was playing at a local bar and they were waiting to see if we could be added to the bill. We were given the option of continuing to wait to see if we were added to the bill(everyone said the bar kinda sucked), or trying to pull something together and still have the house show. We didn't really care either way, but since everyone said the bar was lame, we decided just to keep the show at the house...good thing since the bar ended up saying they wouldn't add us anyway. So...Ross called a bunch of people, made a party that was happening down the street move to his house, and found a couple other of bands to play...all in about 20 minutes!
Despite all the confusion, the show ended up being really fun. It was very laid-back...more like a party than a show. Kathryn, a girl and her guitar, played first. She was so good. Her voice was really cool and the lyrics to her songs were great. We played next(since it was getting late, and people weren't sure if the cops would come and shut it down.) Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, including one lady who had some really weird dance moves. After we were done, someone told Maggie that we were the first "happy" band to ever play there. Last was Oh Jesus. These guys were good too, although I wish I could have heard the vocals better...I didn't realize until too late that I was standing behind the PA speakers. They were also all hot boys...I kinda felt like I was in the middle of an Abecrombie ad...cute boys always add to the appeal of a band(unless they just totally suck!). When they were done, people just hung out and jammed, danced, etc... until a cop was spotted down the street. It was really fun.
Thanks to Ross for all his help, John for giving a place to sleep(we all had couches..woohoo!) and all the kids in Iowa City for being so nice.

April 26, 2002 @ Hyde Park in Wichita, KS
w/ Christine and Ernie's Meter Repair
Don't feel like writing, so here's a quick summary of the day:
Long drive to Wichita, (so long we were almost late) Lisa drove forever and I slept forever.
Played Wichita about a year 1/2 ago and it was a lot of fun...kids have been writing asking us to play again since then, so here we are.
Christine played first. Good show...singer's cowboy boots were especially cool. Ernie's Meter Repair was second. They were funny...reminded me of very early Blink-182. We headlined...good show, kids singing along, old SDS shirts in the crowd.
Show over by 10pm, went to eat with Christine, Maggie and Lisa ate "chicken nubbins", drove to Norman, OK and slept at my mom and dad's house. Thanks to Eric for setting up the show.
April 27, 2002 @ ESPN X-Trials Invitational in Grand Prairie, TX @ GPX Skatepark
w/ Mortal Treason
Got up early so we could make it to the contest in time to see the bmx flatland finals, but we got there just as they were announcing the winners. Shoulda slept late! Hung out at the contest all day, saw friends that we don't see very often which was cool, tried to get in touch with the girl that booked us, but we never did. So, around the time we thought we should load-in, we drove the van around to the espn compound. We'd been told security would know we were coming, but of course they didn't. Alittle bit of drama as they tried to figure out what to do, finally told is just to unload from where we were. No big deal, but I definitely think it was the farthest I've ever had to carry my equipment.
We ended up playing after the contest was over for the day...this kind of sucked because by the time we started a lot of the spectators were already gone. It wasn't too bad though..there were still a few stragglers that stuck around, plus a lot of the athletes and people involved with espn were still there. Turns out we were playing during the bike street practice. They turned off the music that usually plays, so everyone had to ride to us. Good show to end the tour with. Thanks to Chris C. for helping us get it. After we were done, Mortal Treason played. I didn't hear too much of them, because I was busy making the trek back to the van to load our stuff. From what I heard, they kinda sounded like christian death metal...I'm not really into that kind of music, but they sounded pretty good. They told Maggie it was their first show with that line-up, so I was impressed.
After the show, we went back to the hotel. Ate some free food, hung out with some friends at the cowboy bar in the hotel where Maggie and Lisa went wild on the dance floor. Finally went to sleep(thanks Ike), and after 30 min. the fire alarm went off, so we all had to go outside(thanks Ike, again)...it was not fun.
On Sunday, we jumped in the hotel pool instead of taking showers....I think it worked pretty well, except later someone told us we smelled like chlorine..I guess that's better than smelling like funk. Ate McDonalds breakfast(our first of tour), hung out at contest, went to dinner with friends, drove a very long 3 hours home to Austin. TOUR OVER.

April 12, 2002 @ The Rock Against Racism Benefit at Lake Bryan in Bryan, TX
w/ Pavlov's Dogs, Skate Around Chippy, Canvas, Groceries, Mr. Body, Thanks for the Update,
TwoSpy and We Talked About Murder Not much of turnout, which really sucked because there was potential for an awesome show. We had a good time anyway though...watched other bands, swam in the lake, ate some DQ, and played a good set. Even though there weren't many people there, all the bands looked like they were having fun. Props to Brooke for all her hard work, and to Bryan, Sam and Myeva for showing up a day late!

March 30, 2002 @ Big Pauly's in College Station
w/ Naptown Amplifier Co.

Our first time in College Station was alittle weird, but fun. We played with Naptown Amplifier Co. a couple weeks ago at Flamingo Cantina, and they mentioned playing with them in College Station. They actually came through with the show...so with my parents in tow(they were in town visiting for Easter) we drove up to College Station to show them Aggies what SDS is all about.
The club was small, but seemed pretty cool....the only problem was that it is a pizza place too...which normally would be awesome, except they were out of cheese...so no pizza. It was just a big tease. Anyway, NACo played first. They sounded good and looked like they were having fun, although I really wanted their bass player to sing some background harmonies. The drummer smiled through the whole set, which always makes me smile too...yah, I know, it's cheesy, but it's true.
We played next, and it was crazy. There were a bunch of people from Ft. Hood(the military base) there, and they were awesome!! They danced, jumped around, stuck SDS stickers on there arms....basically just had a really good time. We weren't charging a cover, so we had a tip jar set up on stage. One of the girls saw it sitting there, grabbed it and ran around the room collecting tips for us. She kept running back up to the stage to show me how full it was, and to ask how much more we needed....she ruled!! One guy even tried to stick a dollar in my guitar strings while I was playing. Because there was so much energy in the audience, it made it easy for us to rock out too...I even hit myself in the head with my guitar.
It was a cool show and thanks to NACo for asking us to play...hopefully we'll make it back to College Station soon.
Also props to everyone from Ft. Hood!!

March 27, 2002 @ The Backroom
w/ Misguided Lemming
Even though it was aWednesdayy night, our first time to play at The Backroom was really fun. I was pretty excited because The Backroom was the first club I saw a show at in Austin...way back before I lived here. We showed up for load-in, and found out the first band had canceled. Fortunately, we didn't have to start any earlier...which was good since we'd told all our friends we were playing at a certain time. Because we had plenty of time, we got to do a full-fledged soundcheck. The best part was the guys from Misguided Lemming dancing during our soundcheck song. By the time we got up on stage to play, a decent-sized crowd had shown up...and we were ready to rock.
For those of you that have never been to The Backroom...it's pretty big. Big stage, big room, big sound, big lights, etc... When we got up on stage, they turned all the lights off and gave us an introduction, then I guess expected us to just start playing. However, we weren't quite ready, and Lisa was just looking at me, whispering "I can't see anything". Finally, after standing there for a couple seconds, Maggie says into her mic "Uh...Lisa can't see". So, they had to turn a few lights on for us...so much for a dramatic start!
The show went really well. Lots of running around on the giant stage, and no major mistakes. We even tried a not-quite-finished new song, and I think it went over pretty well. The guys from Misguided Lemming kept dancing throughout the show right in front of the stage, which was cool. The best part was on "Punk Anthem" when we told everyone to jump, and our friend Jace jumped through the entire song. I kept looking over at him and he just kept bouncing away. Misguided Lemming played a good show too. Those guys have a ton of energy and the crowd seemed like theywererreallyy getting into it.
After we were done, we hung out at the merch table, where everyone admired and tried on the beanies that we sell. Just so you know...YES, we(as in SDS) make the beanies ourselves...they do not come from an "all-you-can-grab beanie bin", like some people thought! So that said...I'll conclude this journal with thanking Mike and The Backroom, and all the rockers that came out to the show.

March 14, 2002 @ Flamingo Cantina
w/ One Fifth Griffith, Stellary and more
This show took place during the week of SXSW...so there were tons of people in town. It wasn't actually a SXSW showcase, but a lot of the clubs have shows during the day...that's what this was. The afternoon b/4 the show, Maggie, Lisa and I walked around and passed out flyers to all the important or cool looking people we could find. I'm not sure how much good this actually did, but I think I did see a couple people in the crowd that I'd handed a flyer to.
Anyway, we had an awesome time playing the show. I love playing during the day. For some reason, I feel like I've accomplished more when I'm all hot and sweaty after playing...and this is always the case at a day show. A lot of people came out to see us, and everyone looked like they were having a good time. Flamingo Cantina even gave us free hot dogs!! We didn't really get to see the other bands...just alittle while we were loading in and out.
Thanks to Chris at Flamingo for hooking us up with the show, and all our friends for coming and rockin' out with us!!

Vacation to Canada (Feb. 10 - 14)
Since I don't have any shows to write about, I've decided to tell everyone about our trip to Whistler. I figure since the whole band went, it makes sense to write about it in the show journals.
To tell the story right, I have to start the night before we left. On Saturday night, there was a big Mardi Gras celebration downtown, so Maggie, Lisa and I decided we should go check it out. So, we hopped on our bikes and rode down there. Didn't do anything exciting, just hung out at The Ritz, played some pool, did our normal thing. 2:00 finally rolled around and it was time to go home. We went outside....the streets were totally packed with drunken guys trying to get a peek at girls flashing for beads. We hung out for a little longer, when Maggie and I realized that Lisa was gone. Since there was no way we would find her in the sea of people, we decided we would just ride home....since we still had some packing to do and we had to be at the airport at 6:00AM...and hope she found her way home. Turns out she had gone with some other friends to get something to eat....the bad news is the girl that drove them decided she didn't want to stay and left them at the restaurant. So...Lisa ended up having to ride all the way home in the cold. She didn't get home until about 5:30 and had to finish packing....she was finishing up when our ride to the airport showed up. Maggie and I each got about 30 minutes of sleep.
Since we stayed up the whole night, we all pretty much slept the whole way to Portland. We were all really pissed because we slept through the beverage service on the first flight....if I'm gunna pay for a plane ticket, I at least want my coke and pretzels!! When we got to PDX, our friend Eric picked us up and we started the drive to Canada...Maggie and I continued to sleep pretty much the whole way to the border.
When we pulled up to the border, the canadian border patrol says "I need proof of citizenship....driver's licenses don't work...either a birth certificate or passport". Of course none of us had thought to bring anything more than our DLs. We've all been to Canada before and had no trouble getting in, but it was before Sept. 11, so I guess that makes a difference. Anyway, the guy starts asking us all kinds of questions...the best was when he asked if we had any weapons on us, and what kind of personal protection we use in the US....Eric answered with "fast sneakers". I think this witty comment won the guy over, and he let us through, but not without warning us that we'd get a big lecture from the US border patrol when we came back.
We drove on to Vancouver, where we'd planned on staying that night.... it was much cheaper than the condo in Whistler. Maggie and I had prepared in advance, and we'd booked a room at The Dufferin....a old hotel downtown that sounded pretty cool on the Expedia description. When we pulled up to the hotel, we could already tell it looked a little shady...the big red neon sign outside was our first indication. We decided to check it out anyway, so we parked outside...where the first thing we saw was a big naked guy standing in one of the windows. Maggie and Lisa went in, and were back outside in a matter of minutes. They said when they went in, they first had to walk past the hotel bar, which had a big rainbow flag on the window and was called The Back Door. They went into the lobby, which was full of drag queens and men. Feeling somewhat out of place, they turned around and walked out without even going up to the desk. Basically, Expedia failed to mention in their description that The Dufferin catered to an alternative lifestyle...which is perfectly fine, but we didn't quite feel comfortable staying there.
So....we decided just to drive to Whistler and hope that there was a condo for us...even though Expedia refused to let us cancel our reservation....so much for planning ahead. The drive to Whistler was fine, except a blizzard started about 20 miles from the mountain. For those of you that don't know, I'm really scared about driving in the snow...due to a couple sliding off the road near-death experiences.....so I pulled out my snowboard helmet and wore it the rest of the way, which made me feel a little better. Anyway, Eric was a champion snow-driver and got us to The Blackcomb Lodge safe and sound.
The rest of our stay in Canada was awesome. Here's a quick summary. There was a room for us at The Lodge, even though it was last minute...and we somehow managed to get a free upgrade for the second night. We ate some delicious meat/potato pies at a restaurant that only served pie...my kinda restaurant. The weather was beautiful...the first day of riding there was so much snow(since it had snowed the night before)...and we got to ride in powder all day long. The mountains are huge, and the runs took forever so we didn't waste much time riding lifts. Lisa took a lesson the first day, and had a really good time(we were all a little worried she wouldn't like it). The second day Maggie and I found a cool run that we could go fast on, and had a couple little kickers so we could practice our jumps. There were cute boys everywhere...although every boy looks cute when he has on a beanie, goggles, and is on a snowboard....haha. Most importantly, no one got hurt...too bad.
We left Canada after the lifts closed the second day...we'd originally planned on riding three days, but Eric's band 800 Octane got a show on the third day we were there, so we had to go back to Portland. It ended up being ok because we were all pretty worn out. After getting the promised lecture at the US border, we stopped in Seattle and stayed the night with a friend of Lisa's. Next day, we finished the drive to Portland, where we hung out at Eric's apartment until the show. We went on our first tour with 800 Octane, so it was cool to get to see them play again...we all wished that SDS could get up and play some songs. The best part was that people kept coming up to us saying "Hey, you're in Same Day Service, right?" or "Are you guys playing a show?"....it was cool because we've only played Portland once, so I guess we made an impression.
Next morning, we were dropped off at the airport. The flight was pretty uneventful...they showed "Heart of Atlantis"...I wouldn't recommend it. Finally got home, rested for a couple of hours, then went downtown to see H2O at Emo's. They rocked...definitely an good ending to an awesome trip.

Feb. 4, 2002 @ Emo's in Austin, TX
w/ Inspection 12, Lust and Near Miss
Wow! What a great show! First off, Slayer and Hatebreed were in town playing a show and after they finished, they came over to Emo's to hang out. We finished a little early, so I don't think Slayer actually saw us play, but it was still pretty cool to be kickin' it in the same bar as them. Second, it was our first real time to headline at Emo's, and it didn't disappoint.
Plus, the show itself was really fun. Inspection 12 from Florida played first. They were really good. They had some amazing harmonies...plus they covered Kokomo by the Beach Boys. They played it just like the Beach Boys and I was really wishing after the first verse they would break into a punk rock version. It would have been so cool, but they didn't. It was good anyway though, and if you get a chance to check them out, you should.
Next were our friends Lust from Atlanta, GA. Two gals and two guys dressed up in sailor suits rockin' out are always entertaining. The girls kept making comments about being hookers and trying to get some action on tour...it was pretty funny.
Third was Near Miss. Supposedly, this was only their third show but I wouldn't have known it if they hadn't told me. They were fast and catchy, and had their stuff together. I'm glad these guys are from Austin because I definitely want to see them again.
We played last. We had alittle longer to play than usual, so we threw in some songs that we don't play very often...like Sound Check and Lucky. We also debuted our new song "nyc". I think it went over pretty well. I was alittle nervous, so I don't think I played it quite as well as I had been in practice, but it still sounded pretty good...plus the boy it was written for liked it, so that's what counts, right? Also, mine and Maggie's birthday started right before we played, and Lisa surprised us by playing Happy Birthday on the bass. She said she was gunna sing and try to get the crowd sing too... which would have been cool...but she chickened out b/c she was afraid she'd be the only one singing.
Anyway, we all had a great time. Thanks to all of our friends for coming out on a Monday night...especially the underage ones that had to pay more, and thanks to Emo's for letting us rock.

Jan. 11, 2002 @ Klub Phenomenon in Freeport, IL
w/ Face First, Mutual Disrespect, The Supermints and Dexter

We'd originally planned on starting the drive back to Oklahoma today, but our buddies in Face First were able to hook us up with this show in Freeport. So, we got up, went to eat some breakfast with our friend Amy(not pizza), then took off for the show.
We pulled into Freeport about an hour before load-in, so we decided to check out downtown...that took about 5 minutes. Found a used CD store...I got a Lonestar CD and a No Fun At All CD. There was only one place to eat...it was called something like JR's Fryhouse. Basically, it was a little hole in the wall with a refrigerator and a deep-fryer. Naomi and I had fried hot-dogs, Maggie had chicken fingers and french fries, and Lisa had a hamburger and mozzarella sticks. It tasted alright, but I learned a valuable lesson about eating fried foods before I play...don't do it!
Anyway, we found out about 10 minutes before the show was supposed to start that we were opening. We'd been told that we were playing third originally...but I guess there was some miscommunication somewhere. So, we quickly set up our stuff, got the PA working and started the show. I was amazed by the crowd in Freeport...first of all, it's a pretty small town, so the fact they have shows there is really cool. A lot of kids came out, they danced and cheered and basically were an awesome crowd to play for. Plus, people in Freeport snowboard, so we actually had some appreciation for "Gunna Ride".
Next up was Mutual Disrespect. These kids rocked. I'm not sure how old these guys were, but they were young! I'm guessing in the 13-15 age range. If they keep it up, they will be awesome in a few years. The best part was the singer bought one of out shirts and played the show in it. If you ever get a chance to see them, definitely check them out.
TheSupermints weres also really good. They were catchy pop-punk from Wisconsin. When the guitar playe broke a string, the singe rpicked up an acoustic guitar and played a pretty love song...no dead air...always a good thing.
Fourth was Face First. Their set was insane. I guess they have played Freeport before and they have a bunch of girl fans there. A group of girls showed up with homemade FaceFirst wifebeaters, and during the show I thought I was at a Blink-182 concert with all the high-pitched screaming going on. They played really well, and they even dedicated their cover of "SOS" to us(which was awesome because I love that song).
Last was a local band called Dexter. More pop-punk, which was a surprise because for some reason I thought they were going to be metal. The drummer lit his cymbals on fire which was definitely a good finale to a very fun show!
Thanks to Jarrett and Face First for hooking us up with the show, and Chris for giving us a place to crash that night.

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