Ha Ha Tonka Tour Blog

Our last day with Langhorne Slim. Sad? Of course. Do we feel as if this is the last time we’ll see them? No. I mean, we certainly hope that our keen ability to be completely cool and irresistible will carry over for months or years to come, and when we come a – knockin’ to get on another L.S. tour, they’ll be killing people to make sure we’re on the bill. Okay, that may be a little extreme, but we do hope this is far from the last actual show, as we’ve had a complete blast.

We drove into Minneapolis and pulled up to the Varsity Theater, which is bar none one of the coolest/swankiest venue’s I’ve ever been in. As B described it, you can’t quite tell if it’s part of Aladdin’s Castle or a giant Hookah Bar. They have a disco ball, so I guess it could swing either way. There’s couches everywhere, lush carpet, chandeliers… who wouldn’t want to play here? The chairs/couches did have me worried. As I said before, seating can make it tough for the openers… but we were prepared for anything.

I was able to spend a little time with David Moore (Keys/Banjo for Langhorne) chatting about music. I’m always interested in what other sort of musical projects band members have. David’s is a minimalist/ambient project made of acoustic instrumentation called “Bing and Ruth”. I’ve been listening to the stuff, and it’s so worth checking out. My only complaint is that we never got to talking about this stuff sooner than the last night, as minimalist and ambient music has become a small obsession of mine over the last 6 to 8 months. Seldom do I get the chance to chat with somebody who creates this style of music.

Anyway. We played the show to a rowdy set of folks ready to party. I’m not sure that it was our cleanest performance, but it was still an absolute blast. Last shows of tours always hold some sentimental value for me. When I’m on stage for those nights there’s a different kind of energy, sort of a reminder of why we continue to do this. Not only because of the people we get to play for, but for the people we get to share the stage with. We continue to learn and grow from every band we play with, and have been so fortunate to share the stage with some amazing people and musicians. The last night I tend to reflect on what I’ve taken in, and try to express that the best that I can, and even when things go awry I’m usually able to let it slide a bit more on those nights. I know there are many people that would love to be in the position that we’re in, and I feel very lucky to be the person that I am.

After the show we kicked it over to the Kitty Kat Club for our last round of drinks and goodbye’s before we went our separate ways. All of our best to Sean, Mal, David, Jeff and of course Momma. We’ll miss them.

LB/HHT – Finished opening for the LST

Got up, slowly. Showered. Poker. Ahh… it’s a day off.

Called up Mal to see what the LHC (Langhorne Crew) was up to. They just happened to be going to grab some food, so Luke and I met up with them at Beans and Barley for an amazing veggie sweet potato burrito and some pasta. After foods we headed back up to Mark’s apt. where Chance was working on some music, Brett was still on the virtual felts and everyone else had split to hit up the Brewer’s game.

Fast forward to post Brewer’s game. Everyone jumps in the van and we head off to Oshkosh to visit the home of Momma and Daddy Mentele. Momma and Daddy are out of town, but have been gracious enough to let us ransack their place while they’re away. Ransack we did, but in a very nice sort of way. We did some grilling, took the bikes out to the lake, enjoyed some “What About Bob?” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” all while keeping the place fairly tidy. I’ve said it before, we’re great house guests. Gotta keep the rep up if we want to keep getting places to stay.

We all ended with our own respective space/beds. Now that’s a rarity when you’re rolling 7 deep… and it always feels amazing. Rest we did, with visions of the Twin Cities dancing in our heads.

- LB/HHT opening for the LST

Apparently July 24th is national tequila day. I learned this from Malachi’s mom, who also happens to be my new twitter friend. She invited us over to the DeLorenzo abode following the show… which sounded like a wonderful plan. Not only is Mal’s mom a incredibly nice person and avid tweeter, but his dad also happens to be a founding member of the Violent Femme’s, as well as a super swell gent.

We played the beautiful Turner Hall in Milwaukee. Gorgeous room with an extremely nice staff. They cooked us an amazing meal, complete with vegan Jumbalaya. No sound check for us due to time constraints, but we roll with the punches.

Saw a handful of Chicago natives make their way in to root us on. Very kind of you all. Something we’ve been battling this tour is venues with chairs. Ahhh, the cursed chair… a rock bands nightmare. They especially don’t go over well when you’re the opener, but it seemed like Milwaukee could have been a turn around for us. It felt like we got some people up and ready for what Langhorne and Co. was there to do. Felt good.

Afterward we made our way over to cassa DeLorenzo. I always feel like a tour really comes together when you have those times to be around everyone when they’re allowed to be themselves. Not having to talk to fans. Not having to think about the performance. Just being them. We call it the “Bro-Down Session”. This was one of those nights. A fire pit in the back yard, drinks in the house, everyone chatting and getting to know one another. The Langhorne crew did manage to “Ice” us as their way of saying they’ve enjoyed touring with us. If you’re unfamiliar with being “Iced”, it involves the “Icer” handing the “Icee” a Smirnoff Ice. Unless the “Icee” already has one in hand, he/she then has to chug the Ice. If he/she has one in hand already, the Ice can then be deflected. It’s an interesting game, and this happened to be my first encounter. It did make me chuckle. Apparently David spearheaded the attack. Kudo’s to him.

Unfortunately we had to leave before the party ended since we were staying with Matt’s brother. He had to get up early, and as supreme house guests we didn’t want to storm in too late. Got in the van, checked the GPS, and realized that we were only a block away from Mark’s house. Classic. So, we drove aaaaaalllllll the way there, set up shop and hit the sack. Wish all the nights were this fun.

- LB/HHT opening for the LST

A Hot One In Chi-Boogie

Over the course of the last few years we’ve started to think of Chicago as our second home. Our label is from here, our booking agent is from here, we must be from here, right? And as far as booking agents go, this is to be Matt’s last day in the van with us. I have reason to believe he’s not the least bit sad… though it wasn’t until we got ready to leave this morning that he started showing any real signs of us getting on his nerves, so he’s done well. Usually Matt can only make it 3 solid days with the Tonk before he starts to get his crabby pants on. I take it back, he’s actually done very well.

Getting out of Detroit proved to be a royal pain in our ass, and luckily getting into Chicago wasn’t nearly as bad as it has been. This whole tour has been riddled with terrible traffic situations. Luckily everyone’s pretty laid back on the tour, so us being a touch late a few times hasn’t been that big of a deal. We made it to Lincoln Hall and loaded in just as Langhorne started to do their check.

We made the decision to sound check an old tune and a new tune. The old tune didn’t sound so hot. The new tune (“Dead Mans Hand”) however sounded pretty good, so we put it on the list. The new guy lends Brett’s vocal as the lead and leaves Brian and I to some pretty spectacular “oooo’s”… if I do say so myself. After soundcheck B and I re-recorded an interview with ourvinyl.com to make up for poor audio from our last interview attempt when we were here with Murder By Death. Check it off the list.

We had some amazing mac and cheese, caught up with the folks at Bloodshot as well as some old and new friends, and played what was probably my favorite show of the tour. Maybe second favorite. Cape Cod is still pretty far up on the list. The crowd was amazing, as Chicago crowds tend to be. Well, all but one guy who felt the need to make sure I wasn’t a communist because of the shirt I was wearing. He tried to let it slide after I was blatantly offended by avoiding an apology and offering to buy me a beer. Beer refused, douche bag noted.

We loaded out in the pouring rain, and made our way back to Matt’s place for the duration of the evening/morning. I’m guessing he’ll be really sick of us soon.

LB/HHT opening for the LST

We made it back into the States with no problems at all. Amazing. We think it was because we were blaring terrible country music just before we hit the border. I had almost forgot how bad mainstream country has become.

Ah, Detroit Rock City. Founder of the Motown Era, Grunge Rock… man, this town has some history behind it.

We played the Magic Stick for the first time, a very cool and very large club located close to downtown. I had a pretty good veggie sub and enjoyed a great outdoor patio with the Langhorne crew. Jeff (Bass for L.S.) clued us in on some of his more interesting stories. One included an inflatable clown costume and a bunch of thugs he was rolling with in downtown Philly. Classic.

We were joined for the first time by the band “Young Man”. Chicago based indie rock.

The show turned out to be a great time. I felt like we won over some people, and Langhorne pulled out a “story time” that knocked out all “story times”. Their banjo went out, so Shaun and Jeff immediately went unplugged for the duration of the tune and the whole thing went off without a hitch. Once again I was blown away by how quickly these guys act on their feet during their performances, bringing the most energy possible night after night.

After the gig we went and met up with our friend Katie Grace who offered up her home for the night. Just like grandma’s place, it was exactly what we needed.

Tomorrow = Chicago.

- LB/HHT opening for the LST

Riding the Rocket

Nothing too extravagant as far as stories go for today. Chance and I woke up at Lindsey’s place. She cooked us a great breakfast with all the veggie trimmings. Lovely. We made our way into the city, met up with the fellows and then split off to do our individual computing, emailing, etc.

Brett got me to jump back on the poker wagon, so we did our respective online gambling between coffee and load in. Luke has invested $100 into Brett’s bankroll with a 100% money back guarantee as well as a share of 50% of any profits made. This should get interesting.

The show was at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern. Everybody’s played there from Wilco to The Band to Willie Nelson. Now, the Tonk. Langhorne loaded in and sound checked, we sound checked and met up with the birthday crew from the night before, had a beer and took the stage. The crowd size easily surpassed our previous attendance of around 3, so of course it felt really good to actually play in front of some people.

After the show we did the usual meet and greet with some more outstanding Canadians, loaded in the van and made our way back to Lindseys, this time with all 7 of us in tow. Toasty in our beds, we all rested up nicely for our venture back to the homeland. Canada, you’ve been good to us.

-LB/HHT opening for the LST

Sidewalk Near Our Canadian Hotel.

We crossed the border into Canada today with ease… something that we’re growing more proud of with each success, this of course being our whole second attempt. Ahem, second success. Our adventures in Canada started with a drive by tourist stop/roll through Niagara Falls. It’s amazing how beautiful it is, even from the road. None of us got out of the van of course, that being the point of a drive by tourist stop. We do many of these.

We then drove into Toronto, arriving about 9pm to the hotel that Matt had booked for us. It was to be another blissful and restful evening, all 7 of us crammed into the one room. As soon as we saw the joint it was pretty apparent that wasn’t going to be the case. The hotel was a small apartment like building tucked away at the far side of a  dead end. We parked the van, and as soon as Matt told the desk clerk that we only had three people, his security camera said otherwise as he could see us all strewn about the alleyway. He corrected Matt and we had to re-asses the situation.

We chose to grab some food and try to look for another hotel room on the cheap. A random woman overheard us chatting about our situation and immediately offered up her place as an option. Canadians are too kind! We decide to enjoy our night in Toronto at the oldest pub in the city where a few people happened to be holding a birthday get together. We wished Christine a happy birthday per request from her friends, which then gets us into a conversation aboot the legal drinking age in Canada. It turns out to be 19. 18 in other parts. Fascinating. At any rate, a few of us slide over to their table for some more America vs. Canada banter, they buy us a couple of rounds and turn out to be more friendly Canadians. Lindsey, a producer for CBC’s hit show “Dragon’s Den” offers up her place as a sleeping option as well. To split the crowd up a bit, Chance and I take her up on it. We end up hanging out and chatting about Canadia and the States, what it takes to become a citizen over here, etc. She turned out to be extremely knowledgeable aboot her country, and a helluva host.

CB and I crashed on the odd little Canadian pull out couches and chalked it up to just another night on the road. Sort of. These sorts of nights when there’s no show and we still end up meeting awesome people turn out to be some of my favorites when we’re touring. Just good people being good people. Canada has some really good people.

- LB/HHT opening for the LST

We’re all packed in the van (the four of us, plus James Dean, Matt Mentelle and Chance Bone) in route to a hotel just passed Albany, NY. It’s 11:30p. We’ve been on the road about an hour, and we’ve already played a show. I think it’s safe to say that the math adds up to an early one. We were out of the venue in time for the 10 o’clock news… which is not necessarily a bad thing since we have an 8 hour drive to Canada spread over tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight was the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA, a quaint little establishment with a kind staff and some great veggie lasagna. The crowd was probably a touch over 100 strong, which is a far cry from a bad show for a Monday, and despite the fact that all of the audience members were seated, I’ll have to cut them some slack and say they were at least a toe tappin’ little crew. Very polite and attentive, welcoming and gracious. All in all a good evening. Nothing too terribly exciting, but sometimes that’s a good change of pace when you’re on the road. Then again, we’ve still got to check seven people into one hotel room…excitement, you still have a chance.

…and the tour rolls on.

-LB/HHT opening for the LST

After the show in Cape Cod, we ended up staying with some of the locals at an amazing beach house just a little ways from the venue. This of course left us with a choice on our day off. Do we go back to the mansion, or do we continue to kick it on the cape? Decisions can be tough on the road, so we had a band meeting, made our arguments, and chose the cape.

It was a good choice.

We met up with the Langhorne guys in P-Town and had our first opportunity for some bro-down. It was awesome. Margarita’s on the water, some frisbee and back to the beach house for a BBQ with the local crew. A little jam session, some yard games, harvested some oysters straight out of the water, and just enjoyed some of the most beautiful country in these united states. Not a bad day off, and all with our shirts off… well, mostly with our shirts off.

… and the tour rolls on.

LB/HHT opening for the LST

NOTE – The phrase “Day off, shirts off” must be credited to Will Pepple, TM and Soundman for Murder By Death.

Cape Cod! It’s as beautiful as you could imagine. The venue is a rockus little joint RIGHT on the beach. So nice that even the bitchy bartenders couldn’t get me down from this view. We all went out on the sand after an amazing meal and ended up catching a glimpse of a seal making his way up and down the coastline. One of the locals said the great white’s have been coming in after the seals recently. I was dead set on making that happen, but alas… no go. I left my chum back in MO, so there was nothing I could do.

Our first clue that this show had potential was when Luke got labeled “Best Buns” by a bachelorette party before we even hit a note. We were right. Let’s just say that this one has some serious odds to go down as one of the nastiest of the tour, if not THE nastiest. By the time we were halfway through the set the crowd had kicked it into overdrive and everybody seemed to be shakin’ it, and having a great time. I love nights like this. So many thanks to the people of Cape Cod for making us feel so welcome. The cape could be to the east what Emporia, KS is to the midwest. I know, that was a bold statement…

Langhorne of course killed it again… and the tour rolled on.

LB/HHT opening for the LST