Our buddy Pete Schreiner (Thousand Arrows, The Coke Dares, Magnolia Electric Company, Sam Lowry & The Circumstance) is adding a new gig to his resume as he plays sideman to Scout Niblett on her current tour. Pete is keeping us in the loop of the ups and downs of the road with this tour diary.
Am I even on tour?
Woke up around 7:30 and tried to sleep but failed. Got up and intended to go for a run. Dan had jokingly said that he’d seen many pairs of running shoes come on tour and never leave the van. So on top of wanting to make myself stick to the plan of running every other day on tour, I wanted to make sure Dan’s prophecy did not become reality. However, it was 30 degrees out outside and to pack light I had only brought along shorts and a T shirt to go jogging in, and. So I bailed on that and went for an hour long walk into town instead, and I wanted coffee.
Asked a lady who worked at a diner where the best coffee in town was. She asked, “Are you not from Olympia?” which under the circumstances is a stupid question I think, if those exist. I said I was not and she said I should try Batdorf & Bronson, local roasters, who had “…been around since 1986.” Is that all it takes? ’86 is some kind of watershed year?? ALF is from friggin’ 1986 and he’s up there, with the Armenian Genocide, as one of Humankind’s grossest errors. The place was downtown and you can probably tell by the name that it was posh in a generic fake Starbucks way. Olympia is the capitol so maybe you have to flash some senator-cash to get friendly service, but the coffee was pretty good. Walked around the Occupy Olympia encampment, not many people up. Heading back to the house I saw a seagull with an entire french bread! He was stoked!
I got back, read a while and talked to Calvin—super nice guy. He made a map for the things we needed in town and let us headquarter at the house all day. I really liked the house, good old 317. I forgot to ask when it was built but I’m guessing 1940’s and it hasn’t really been updated much. Feels like a time capsule a little bit. Cool original kitchen and all.
Scout needed to stay at the house so I went to do some errands. Took the van to Les Schwab the West Coast tire giants. They determined that we could get away with just replacing the blown tire and didn’t have to get a matching pair. That was good news and they could get us in immediately. I needed a bagel or something and a few minutes of internet since the history-house was keepin’ it real. I saw a decent-looking bakery cafe a few blocks away. Went in and asked if they had wi-fi and a waitress told me they didn’t but sometimes people picked up a neighboring linksys signal. Nice business plan there. I left and the only place I could see to get-to quick was that damn yuppie coffee shop again. So I went in and ordered a scone from a different unfriendly lady. Now, I fully expected this thing to be half-assed and overpriced but it was the only baked-good in the case that looked like it would retain some nutrition vs. cost value. I’m not getting gouged for a tiny piece of banana bread, you know. But I do feel that it’s right to make a purchase if I’m gonna sit in the place and get online. Even though, I was a little taken aback at the $3.80 price. That’s why these dicks don’t put the pastry prices on the board. I maintain that any business that sells a known product (usually it’s alcohol-related like at Applebee’s or a comedy club), without the prices listed, thinks the customer is an asshole. Especially when the drinks are listed but the prices aren’t. They obviously have the publishing acumen to type and print, so where are the prices? Anyhow I sat by the fake wood fire (real gas fire) and uploaded yesterday’s installment and yes the scone was half-assed.
Got the call from Les Schwab right when I left the joint so I hoofed back there and settled up. The one matching tire & rotation came to $163 and they of course had $670 worth of “recommended” repairs written up in case I was joking when I said we were on a tight budget. One mission down.
Next was finding an arcane high-hat stand part. There was a pretty crucial part of the high hat stand missing—the part that the bottom cymbal sits on. It had either somehow been lost in packing or had not been on the stand previously. I had two places to try in Olympia: The Trading Musician and Music 6000. Both names struck me as not-quite-right. The first one is a couple blocks from the tire repair shop. Nice stoner-type dude didn’t have what I needed but the shop was pretty cool; new & used, respectable guitar selection, lots of good amps & effects packed into a small shop. File it away for next time. Music 6000 was just a ten minute drive away. As big as a Guitar Center but a local-shop. Mostly new stuff but a nice enough place. Drum guy was helpful but they didn’t have the actual part I needed and he wasn’t fully into my cob-job angle. I decided I could gaffer-tape a related little two-dollar plastic part into use and the guy surprised me by saying “it’s on me, Bro.”
I got a half dozen eggs and seagull-inspired mini baguette at Ralph’s. Went back to the house and fried up a couple. Jmo taught me not to salt ’em while they’re cooking ’cause it dries ’em out. I like a lot of pepper though. Had tea with Scout. The four o’clock hour was approaching. We didn’t have to leave until 5:30. Scout went into town to go swimming and I stayed to go for a run. I should’ve gone earlier ’cause it was damn cold again. Mid 30’s and windy. I went anyway but could only handle 20 minutes in my short sleeves. Showered and packed up and Scout came back and we rolled out for Seattle. Realized later that i left my stocking cap at Calvin’s drying on the heat vent. It’s OK, I’ll tell him to pass it on or grab it next time I’m through.
Got coffee, hit traffic but nothing too extreme. Got a call from Dan. His train was stopped in Tacoma indefinitely due to a crash! He could disembark but how was he gonna make it the rest of the way? We happened to be eleven miles south of Tacoma and heading that way so we jumped off the 5 and got him. Worked out perfect and we were at the Comet in Seattle fifteen minutes early. Load-in but no sound check. We were last of four (!), on a week night. Show started late but we did pretty much make our set time of midnight. Will the sound guy was really good. Chris Brokaw first up again–excellent set. He was owning it. Lonesome Shack second. Three piece scrawky blues rock. Good playing all around. Curious Mystery was next and had a great set again I thought. We were a little loose but to a good reception so maybe I’m crazy. I’m not but a little loose is no biggie. Finished set, ate a dank hot dog from the Comet’s stand, served with grilled onions and cream cheese to take it over the top. Nicholas from Curious Mystery hooked up the pad so we drove over and relaxed a bit with the Simpsons. College-type house with all the accouterments entailed therein, from the lack of clean dishes to the weird-smelling vase. But I’m not complaining, I was there to sleep and had no problem doing so. I hadn’t been in Seattle for a long time and it was a pleasure to end my long day there, on the carpeted floor, next to an empty fire place and the pile of bags of junk from somebody’s car.
-Pete
12/4/2011, Santa Monica, CA, Sanctuary
12/5/2011, San Diego, CA, Soda Bar
12/6/2011, Los Angeles, CA, handbag factory
12/7/2011, Oakland, CA, Vitus
12/8/2011, San Francisco, CA, Hemlock Tavern
12/10/2011, Portland, OR, Mississippi Studios
