Adventure #22: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 7)

Adventure #22: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 7)

The drive from Harrisburg, PA to Indianapolis is long. Really really really long. And flat. And boring. It is not a drive I will ever make again without a stop or two in between. I passed through the entirety of Ohio, which was about as beautiful as I had always expected. Their strip malls and chain restaurants are second to none. I pulled into Indianapolis slightly stir crazy from the drive, and hungry. When I got to the venue, no-one was there yet, so I decided to head off in search of food. This is Pen Pen trying to pick the lock to no avail.

I drove down College Ave (where the Dojo is located) hoping to find some sort of small cafe where I could get a sandwich and maybe a little internet. At the intersection of College Ave and Massachusetts Ave, I parked and started looking for a place. My thought process was this: “you know what usually has cheap sandwiches? Colleges. And you know where also has a lot of cheap sandwiches? Massachusetts. This is perfect.” It was not perfect. It turns out Mass Ave is where all the night clubs are. It's Indianapolis' equivalent of Landsdowne St. in Boston, or Manhattan. I saw a sign that said “Frozen Yoghurt and Coffee” and decided that was the most realistic contender. The barista had that sort of Midwestern effervescence that makes me slightly uncomfortable. I don't understand it, so I'm powerless against it. Somehow I ended up without a sandwich, but with a small pumpkin frozen yoghurt instead. She was right, it was delicious. Why can't Midwesterners just be bitter and angry like normal people? This is Pen Pen pretty sure that the frozen yoghurt with blackberries counts as at least 2 food groups, and is therefore an acceptable dinner.

After “dinner” I headed back to the venue which was starting to bubble with people. It's another small DIY affair, basically a storefront. Literally a storefront, if you want to be technical about it. I played totally unplugged again after 3 local acoustic acts. The group before me, From the Rooftop had some killer harmonies, and haircuts that made mine feel totally inadequate. Damon, their guitarist, looks almost exactly like Julian from The Mighty Boosh. Although no-one was there to see me specifically, most of the people stuck around for my set, and bought CDs. After the show, one person compared me to Tim Kasher (specifically from his stuff in the Good Life) and another to Dylan. Usually I find artist comparisons annoying, but if I'm going to be compared to anyone, it might as well be to 2 of my all time heroes. Although, for future reference, if comparisons are necessary, I would like to be described as “like Donovan with drum machines” because Donovan is awesome. This is Pen Pen admiring the carefully hand caligraphied signs at the venue.

After the show I went over to the Piradical house where the guys who booked the show live (or just hang out a lot, I couldn't really tell.) They were an awesome bunch, if gratuitously obsessed with Kim Possible (Christy, your fans are nuts. Sorry...). They're watching a horror movie every night in October, also celebrating Octobeard by growing out their beards. So we watched Shutter Island all bearded and such. I fell asleep about 2/3rds of the way through, but woke up just in time for the big twist before passing out for good. I liked the movie, but I think it was better when they remade it as Inception, although Ellen Page's character was totally extraneous. This is Pen Pen admiring the collection of posters for shows they've thrown holy crap they booked The Casualties! Also Westbound Train's CD release show

This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.

Letters, Postcards, Telegrams by nathanleigh