Caspian Spring Tour 2007

~Slow This Bird Down~

2007-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

This might end up being the last tour blog for this Spring Tour of 2007.
Maybe not though, who knows.

Right now we're in Richmond, Virginia. There's a great mediteranean restuarant here across the street from the venue and boy is it tasty. Havent eaten a thing in 24 hours so it tasted like paradise.
The venue (Hyperlink) looks LEGIT, guy. Woah. Cant wait to play here with our friends Tulsa Drone tonight. They're awesome. This show is going to kick ass. Last night in Greenville, NC was a total surprise. A crapload of kids showed up and turned it into a massive party. It was amazing. This tour has been incredible.

When you get to the end of tours like this its impossible to make sense of everything that has happened. I keep trying to put it all together and stuff it in a little box up in my brain but the fact is experiences like this dont belong up in the brain, they end up being the most comfortable in the spirit, or soul, or heart. or taint. Whatever. Its hard to explain. We've met so many beautiful, special people out here this time and re-connected in new, more improved ways with old ones. Here are some random pics from our trip through the South.

This is us with our homeboys in Tennessee. We've known these dudes for a year now and this time we went and played in a park in their hometown on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Hanging with these dudes and their families was one of the most memorable tour experiences we've had yet. Plus some of these guys started a band called REST that made their debut performance happen that afternoon as well. They OWNED it. Watch out for them.

Back at their folks house, these dudes have a rehearsal space/recording room and we spent the better part of the day jamming with them. Too bad we didnt end up recording some of these sessions, they sounded awesome.

Something about this pic captures the good natured, inviting hospitality of the South to me. After our show in Chatanooga, TN with our friends from Ours To Alibi we went back to their friends house and kicked until late in the evening. Spending quality time with people that we care about is what makes long ass tours like this bearable. Without houses like this to chill in we'd surely go insane.

Tender Tennessee

2007-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

We've made it to TN at the casa of our friends Tim and Clay. They've been trying to get us here forever and this time we made good. It just so happens that this place is palatial. Huge fields, an enormous garage with tools to fix our gear, practice space to jam, beds, internet, laundry, big grill to cook food, it goes on and on. Its something else.

The show in Baton Rouge was pretty sick. There were 200 or so people there and we played outside at midnight. The vibe was as hot as the steaming humidity. After getting some late night breakfast with our friend Dorian we hit the road at 3:30am to make it up here for the afternoon show. After the sweaty 8 hr. drive we got here, took showers and went over to the show. This tour has definately been the tour of excessive driving. There is only one semi-long drive left and for the next few shows we'll be rolling a lot easier from show to show. The show yesterday was outdoors in a huge park. The weather was PERFECT and though we were tired (I hadnt slept in 35 hours) we played the best we could and played LONG. The atmosphere was really casual and layed back with friends and family kicking it with each other all afternoon. It was a welcome break from the standard bar show.

Hard to believe that in a week we will be back in Massachusetts. Seems like forever ago that we left even though its only been 3 little weeks. Thats how tour goes. This one will be the hardest one to forget for a million different reasons - almost all of them amazing ones. I'm starting to get nostalgic and we still have a week left. Shucks.

Lone Star State

2007-05-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Word. I'm pretty friggin bored right now I wont lie. I always forget that tour is a jam packed rollercoaster of travelling, playing hanging, and loading gear punctuated by long stretches of sitting around waiting at clubs or in cars doing nothing. While you're sitting around drifting off into space you get a good chance to watch people do their thing. Right now I'm sitting on a nice leather couch in the lovely air conditioning of the proletariat in Houston watching our friend Nathan run the door and collect cash for tonights show. I'm right near the door and everytime someone comes in a gust of HOT STICKY AIR comes rushing like a smelly dog into the room. Its rank but this is the south and thats just how they roll down here.

Joe and I ate a disgusting slice of pizza earlier that we both have promised to forget ever happened. That slice was the stuff of nightmares. In fact I'll probably have raging dreams of that foul place haunt me until I make it back to Boston and have a decent slice. The opening band just started and they sound pretty cool. Some nice guitar licks streaming over here from the stage.

Did a radio interview at Rice University this afternoon. The mics were off for the first half of the interview. We laughed it off and it was all good. Trying to sum up what we think the The Four Trees is about in a few sentences on a radio show is tough for me and I should stop trying to do it. But I blabber on anyway. We get to play with Loren Dent tonight again which is great. He is like Stars of the Lid except even denser and more engaging. Cant wait. The other thing I forget about touring is all of the amazing bands you see pop out of the woodwork. If people tell you that music "these days really sucks" have them get in a van and go on tour. They may just change their mind.

Trying to pick setlists every night is tough. I wish we had an hour and a half every night and could pack it all in.

I left my doc martens at The Living Room in Tucson. R.I.P. my chocolate rubber soled champs.

Got a show everynight until this is done. "Sweet".

My brain is turning to mush from Joe's perverted jokes. "Blumpkin".

Its hard to tell if people are really digging the shows or not sometimes. Gotta let it go.

Damn its hot outside.

Chris is somehow sleeping in the van right now in the heat.

Erin is wandering around somewhere.

Joe is drinking a red bull on the couch here. "Taint".

Tonight it'll be: Moksha, Quovis, Further Up, Further In, Crawlspace, ASA, Brombie, Sycamore I have decided.

VERY NAICE.

One Love-
P
and
C

Tempe Arizona - a NIGHT of pure quality

2007-05-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Caspian, Beware of Safety, and North at the Space Gallery. Tempe, Arizona. May 6, 2007

EAST.

2007-05-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Heya. Dont have the camera on me so I cant upload new pics (there are tons) but Ill get to that in the next few days no doubt. We made it out of L.A. alive - barely - and now its a direct shot east and up the coast back to Boston. L.A. was actually much more easy going and chill than the last few tours which was nice but there were some moments of insanity for sure. A lot of the good spirits had to do with the great people we met up with out there. The Cocaine show was indeed awesome.

The shows have been going splendidly. In fact last night in Tempe, AZ was probably the most fun we've had playing ever. The room had an incredible vibe, all of the bands sounded INSANE and we got to play more than the standard 35 minute set. There was something special going on inside there. We parted ways with Beware of Safety this morning...Sadness. Those guys are the greatest and our time with them from Seattle all the way to Arizona was inspiring and refreshing. Nothing but love. Last night after the show we all went to a "Boston Bar" in Tempe that they opened up just for us! We kicked it by ourselves there amidst the Red Sox banners and such drinking and eating pizza for a couple hours. It capped off maybe the best day of tour Caspian has had yet. Hard to explain. We'll miss those dudes and all that came with this west coast adventure.

To people that have been coming out to the shows - THANK YOU. We're looking forward to the last 2 weeks and to making it back alive.

Ill put up pictures soon.
WORD

The Green Monster Nearly R.I.P.

2007-05-02T16:08:00.001-07:00

Hello good peoples.

Here's a nice pic we took yesterday in San Fran to offset the bad news forthcoming:

Beautiful eh? Thats just California. Probably the most beautiful state in the entire country and perhaps the world.

So, Yesterday we made it over to San Fransisco and the transmission on the van started to seriously fall apart. Went up a hill in the Muir Woods and an ugly sound echoed through the car that made our collective hearts sink and or total cash earnings thus far dissapear ($1300 and then some). We made the show in Redwood City and then got back in the car and limped it to L.A. around 7am this morning. Made it safely to our friend Steve's house (of beware of safety). He hooked us up with an amazing generous mechanic in West L.A. around 9am that is, as we speak, tearing the transmission out of the mighty beast and putting in a new one he found at a junkyard. Should be done by 10am tommorow which means we can hit up the UCLA radio interview and the show without a problem which is a huge relief.

We had to take our gear out of the back and throw in one of their corners at the shop. Here's a pic!

This all means we had to bail out of our ultimate favorite drive we planned on doing today on the highway 1 which runs down the california coast. This drive is sacred and this time we cant make it. We also had a sweet dinner set up for us at our friend Rachel's house in Santa Barbara that we have to bail on. We'll have revenge next tour for sure and it'll be that much better.

Other than this current setback things are going well. The whole northwest weekend in Seattle/Portland was one of the all time best era's of any tour we've ever done. Everything about it was incredible. Go to iamserio.us and you can download both the Seattle and Portland sets. BoS came out and helped us drum out the end of the new song. 6 drummers on stage slammin away. Brian Connolly made it happen with the recordings, again, and he remains the man.

We'll have a story or two to share after our L.A. weekend Im sure so stay posted. Lots happening in this city after all. Hope you all are doing well. Talk soon.

ALSO - we got new tshirts today so merchandise is back on track.

~Caspian.

Portland Venue...

2007-04-29T20:54:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to shout out to the Someday Lounge here in Portland, OR. Probably one of the most pro venues we've ever showed up at. The door guy is even letting me sneak in some underage kids who drove out for the show. Rock and Roll. Got a backstage with a shower and had a nice long soundcheck. This kicks ass all around.

AWAKE IN SEATTLE

2007-04-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

Headed south to Portland for the show tonight... Had an unbelievably inspiring and beautiful time in Seattle. This is the first time we got to hang out and that city is truly special. Went to the fish markets and walked around capitol hill and downtown. Perfect sunny weather, big green trees everywhere... The whole place was slammin. We'll put up some more pics soon. Hope everyone is well!

34 HOURS

2007-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Finally have some time to rest now. Its hard to explain how rough the last 2 days have been drive wise so I'll refrain from doing so. Basically we just drove from Kansas City, MO to Seattle, WA straight. Its like going from Boston to Orlando Florida. We stopped to play a show in Denver along the way and picked up our friend Matt Miller. The show was cool but, Damn. The drive from KC to Denver was 10 hours and then Denver to Seattle was about 24 in the van. We showd up here last night around 1am all messed up, went to gas works park (legendary) and decided to bite the bullet and get a room here at La Quinta Inn or something. Recovering slowly... Vickers is wicked sick. Slept on floors again. Oh the joys. Looking forward to heading down the coast all the way to Los Angeles from here. And the show tonight promises to be a good one if we can get it together.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Chilling with Giants and their crew at a Perkins in Iowa. Good times. And the waitress split the bills into individual ones which was genius.

This thing scares the crap out of me everytime I see it. Its just plain wrong. Located at a rest stop in Limon, CO, Im thinking the owners of this rest stop must worship the dark crystal (the movie). Ever heard of it? Its a "childrens movie" that should be banned from public viewing due to its disturbing nature and content. The Dark Crystal sucks, and so does this thing.

We didnt put that sign up - it was already there. Cute.

After driving through the flat disgusting boredom of southern Idaho, this was a welcome relief. I think its near La Grande Oregon. The northwest is always supremely beautiful and this sight greeted us into the area. Very naice.

Kansas City - The Record Bar

2007-04-25T23:23:00.001-07:00

Hello, this is Philip. I swear to you on all that is holy I just saw the most unbelievable concert I've seen in forever. Our friends - Actors & Actresses - who we've played with 3 times in a year here in Kansas City just friggin crushed every single inch of me. I feel completely pummeled by the biggest wall of dense rich sound I've ever sat in front of. Like, Holy SHIT. Taken. Ok. time to pack up and go to bed.

Cedar Falls Rock City.

2007-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

One of the most enjoyable shows...ever? Possibly.

CORN. FIELDS. FOREVER.

2007-04-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hello. We are in Cedar Falls Iowa right now. The drive took 5 hours because I got lost like a chump. We stayed up pretty late last night in Chicago with the boys from Junius and other random Chicago peoples. It was good times all around that involved drop kicking the head of a manikin (sp?) down the st at 3am and other shenanigans. The show at the Note in Chicago was alright. We got a strict 30 minutes set and we messed up some things but all in all it wasnt so bad. It was another big stage with a big soundsystem and for the first time the sound people seemed like they actually wanted to use it instead of turn it off and let our amps take over. That was nice. The venue tonight is 100% on the other end of the spectrum and just as, if not more, enjoyable. Nice performance space in the back of an art gallery. Great acoustics, but its going to be ridiculously loud and pummeling which has me worried about complaints from neighbors and such. And ruptured ear drums from poor innocent bystanders. Joe is eating a sugar cookie here with me at this weirdly normal coffee house. Free wi-fi = always a hit.
Lots of LONG DRIVES AHEAD in the coming week = scared!
Philip

The 'Burgh: Round 4

2007-04-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

Ever since we left The North Shore the weather has been absolutely perfect. Here in Pittsburgh Im sitting on a street curb and its a glowng 70 degrees and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. The show last night at modernformations was awesome. Lots of friendly faces and a great vibe all around. On stage it felt like a sauna and during the last song I smashed my cable in the guitar and lost all sound so I faked it for the last few minutes and rode out a noise session with the metalzone and line 6. It was all good in the end. We stayed with Hilary Brown again for the 4th time this year. she is so kind to us and everyone here knows her. Like, everyone. The brake calipers are dying and the van is going to need some serious work unfortunately. Luckily we have been making some decent cash so getting it fixed is going to be alright. Gonna hit the road to sandusky Ohioh this afternoon and then onto Chicago where we get to play with Junius! Cant wait as they are probably one of the best bands alive today. Hope everyone is well back home. Thanks to all the people for coming out to the shows so far - we've been pleasantly surprised by the turnouts and are giving %100 to every second of every set in return.
Bye.

LIT

2007-04-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Manhattan outside of the Lit Lounge.
After some twists and turns, and wasted $ on overpriced tolls, we made it for show #1.
Soundcheck/Load-In in 2 hours so we're going to kill sometime somehow.
Its beautiful out. Crisp upper 50's. Sun.
A welcome change from the torrential hell of Mass. the last week.
Vickers is going to buy a camera so we can post pics.
New macbook is the bomb.
NYC gets cooler and cooler everytime you visit it.
Starting to feel like a nice place to be more than just sometimes.
We get a 30 minute set tonight - that aint much.
We'll be back here in a month.
Lots to come between now and the next time we roll into this city.
Philip

FINAL PREP.

2007-04-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

We've got 4 days left and then we're outta here. NYC to NYC with 11,000 miles in between. Couldnt get the AC fixed in the van ($1,000+) so the South is going to be harsh but oh well. New sweet merch - great shows lined up - the works. Feeling like this tour is going be the best yet.

We're going to go practice with Erin tonight again. We've got all the songs we wanted to play this tour covered, now its just a matter of making sure all of the smaller details and subtelties in each of them are solid. I think 5 out of 7 nights a week we'll have places to crash but on those other nights we'll do what it takes. On the previous 2 tours we've been fine.

Two impossibly long drives:
1) Denver to Seattle
-Our friend Matt Miller is flying out to Denver and meeting up with us and driving to Seattle in the van. This is going to be a tough stretch but its possible. Want to make it to Seattle in good form as the show up there is one of the best bills on the entire tour.
2) Tucson to Austin
-Chris seems to enjoy this drive so its left to him again.