Adventure #40: Summer Tour 2012 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Well I finally found my limit. I spent the whole day after the Chicago show feeling totally drained. Thankfully Milwaukee is only a short drive from Chicago so I was able to lay low for a bit. The Milwaukee show at the Art Bar was plagued by problems from the start. There were some massively confusing miscommunications that basically resulted in the local headliner not knowing they were supposed to headline and me having to scramble to find a local with 48 hours notice. Because letting this stuff fall to the touring artist is the best way to make sure it gets solved. But the venue was really cool about the whole thing, and actually quite accommodating. This is my lung being too tired to deal with this crap.

Despite everything, the show ended up being actually kind of fun. The audience participated during all the audience participation parts and there was some really rad back and forth about Scott Walker when I played “Thank You America.” One audience member reminded me (while I was trying to explain exactly that) that Wisconsin pretty much invented Occupy. (George Soros, Obama, the CIA, The Loch Ness Monster, and Ben, but not Jerry, didn't get involved until after the Madison protests last year, as we all know.)

So not the worst show I'd ever played. Far from the best, but you know, a show will have to really work at it to be worse than the time I got a knife pulled on me in New Jersey in the middle of a song when I was 19. Life lesson: when the metalheads at the dive bar heckle you for playing a sad girl song don't heckle back. No good can come of it. So, thankfully unstabbed, we finished the unremarkable show and drove to Madison to stay with an old friend of Joshua's. It looks like the similarly unnecessarily dramatic show in Des Moines is falling apart, so we're now deciding over a feast of pancakes and mimosas whether to take a day off or not. This is Pen Pen being all classy and junk.

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

Adventure #25: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 10)

Adventure #25: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 10)

I slept through most of the morning (including the complimentary continental breakfast. Sad face.) but was determined to see some of Milwaukee. At the suggestion of Cassandra, Edwin from The Commuter Exit's wife, I headed down to the waterfront. I crossed a river near, the Pabst Theatre where Darius Rucker will be assaulting the unsuspecting denizen's of the city that beer built with his greatest hit later in the week. I parked and went down to the river where there was a life sized bronze statue of one of my childhood heroes: Arthur Fonzarelli. This is Pen Pen coining a new term by jumping the Fonz.

I headed down to the lake and watched the sail boats, wishing I had could rent one and sail around the lake for a bit. Before heading out of town, I remembered that Jesse had told me to try their frozen custard, so I stopped at the first place I saw with a sign for it: an Omega Burger. I'm certain going to Milwaukee and getting frozen custard at a fast food place is the equivalent of going to Brooklyn and getting a bagel at Dunkin Donuts, but it was tasty nonetheless. This is Pen Pen enjoying Milwaukee's greatest delicacy that's not cheap beer.

The drive to Chicago was painless and short, but when I got in, I noticed something leaking from my car. Danger, Will Robinson. It was too late to get it looked at, so I resolved to get it taken care of first thing in the morning. Cars are expensive. Next time I'm just going to steal one. That seems like it'd be easier, although I'll have to learn how to hotwire. It can't be that hard, right? I had a few hours to kill, and also a few hours of work to do, so I holed up in a little coffee shop for a bit and tried to be productive. This is Pen Pen mixing some hot beats, or, you know, tasteful guitar and cello duets.

I met up with Brennan before the show and picked up some empanadas. We hung out for a bit before heading over to the venue. Monday nights are usually the hardest night to get people out to a show, so it wasn't surprising that it wasn't the best attended event in the history of mankind. I was mostly just happy to see some old friends and not have to drive 8 hours for once. But there were enough people there, all of whom seemed to have a good time and genuinely enjoy it. The bartender and the door guy were pretty awesome and asked me to come back next time I'm coming through Chicago, so I definitely will probably. Brandon came up and sang a few songs with me, though my attempts to cajole him into singing Hound Dog were unsuccessful. After the show we went back to Brandon and John's place and hung out for a while playing Halo. Like Rochester, this maybe wasn't the best show of all time, but it was still a really fun night. This is Pen Pen taking over the Olbow Room and running the bar.

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

Selling Your Soul by nathanleigh

Adventure #24: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 9)

Adventure #24: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 9)

I woke up before the camp opened again (Apparently you need to check in to camp there. And register your car and camping spot. And pay...). I decided as soon as I got to Milwaukee I'd break down and get a hotel room for the night. And take a nap. After about 2 hours, I passed a sign for “Ronald Reagan Birthplace.” I couldn't resist. I followed the signs to Tampico, IL, which much like Springfield, had converted itself into a shrine to its' favorite son. This is Pen Pen hoping there's less cholera and snake bites on the Ronald Reagan Trail than on the Oregan Trail.

I followed the trail for a few miles, hoping to find his actual birth home. Maybe some sort of museum. At the very least, a 30 foot tall statue. After about 15 minutes of seeing nothing other than more signs for the Ronald Reagan Trail, I got bored, and turned around. The opportunity to annoy the anointed clerics who keep whatever shrine there is that lies at the end of the trail, wasn't really worth driving miles into farm country with poorly marked streets. There was a detour on the way back that forced me into what could only charitably be described as the Middle of Nowhere. I finally found my way back to the highway after about an hour and a half, and resolved that as soon as I get to a city, I'll buy a GPS. So I lost two hours, and never found much more than a plaque and a mural. I think Saint Ronnie would be proud to know that even 6 years after he died, he's still making life hard on poor people. This is Pen Pen paying tribute to the greatest Republican actor to ever star in a movie about chimps, who's not Charlton Heston.

The Days Inn was just outside of Milwaukee near the airport. It was the closest hotel to the venue that I could reasonably afford, and all things considered was pretty nice. I checked in around 3 and promptly proceeded to indulge in the official comfort food of travel: Law and Order reruns on TNT. I'm not sure exactly when I fell asleep, but I woke up disoriented and confused with about 20 minutes left to get to the venue. So much for exploring Milwaukee. This is Pen Pen just prior to totally trashing the hotel room like the rock star he is.

The venue is a little divey place that reminds me a lot of All Asia and O'Brien's in Boston. The guys from The Commuter Exit were already there when I showed up. White Elephant showed up shortly thereafter. But no word from the acoustic act who was supposed to open. We agreed that if he didn't show up by 10:30 or so, we'd just get started. I spent most of then night hanging out with The Commuter Exit guys, who are generally awesome. They reminded me a lot of Placebo circa Sleeping With Ghosts. The show was fun, but I was pretty beat from the 3 hour set the night before, and the general lack of sleep in between, so it maybe wasn't my best performance. But people seemed to enjoy it, and Edwin from The Commuter Exit said next time I'm in town he'd try to set something up. Next up: The Elbo Room in Chicago. This is Pen Pen playing a short set of Screaming Jay Hawkins covers.

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

The Record Goes On by nathanleigh