Top Ten Venues of 2009

The best venues we performed at in 2009, in no particular order.

Sidewalk Cafe - New York, NY
Our favorite place to play, hands down. A laid-back candlelit room, there's someone new and interesting playing there all the time. Great food and staff, and the coolest sound guy ever - who may or may not be named after a famous brand of cookies.

Tammany Hall - Worcester, MA
The biggest stage we've played on to date, the band has never before enjoyed so much freedom to jump, run, spin or headbang. Not to mention the bartender who will teach you the finer points of the beer/glass relationship.

The Local 269 - New York, NY
A small corner of the Lower East Side, its eclectic mix of performers, generous pints of just about everything, and the fact that they will keep your lost equipment under lock and key until you arrive to retrieve it put The Local 269 quickly on this list.

The Blockley Pourhouse - Philadelphia, PA
Second biggest stage we played on this year, and first time we were ever able to watch sports on TV during our set. Thankfully, the Eagles won. And we got to meet The Lights Out. Did I mention it's only a few blocks from where we practice? That was a plus.

The Hellenic Center - Dover, NH
A room so big that if you stood too far in the back, you couldn't hear us play. OK, I exaggerate. We had a fantastic time, mostly because of the really nice staff, hosts, and our lively audience - 200 guests of John and Courtney's wedding. The most fun we had all year - thanks, guys.

Philadelphia Vintage Stores - Philadelphia, PA
Our good friends and fans at Reverie Vintage and The Curiosity Shoppe allowed us to show that we can play without amplifiers just as well as with them. The intimate setting was a great way for us to interact with the audience, and gave us an opportunity to support two fine local businesses. And for Dan to model ladies' coats.

Langdon St. Cafe - Montpelier, VT
As a Pennsylvanian, it's not too often that I can step up to a coffeehouse counter and order a pastry AND a beer. But the Langdon St. cafe has a great combination of hip coffeehouse and cozy bar atmosphere. It allowed us to meet Driftwood, crazy-good musicians and crazy-nice people. Plus, Montpelier is picturesque.

The M Room - Philadelphia, PA
Great food, quality performers, and an awesome sound guy who may or may not be named after a talking car driven by David Hasselhoff. They do a good job of making us feel like we're actually in New York.

Joe Squared - Baltimore, MD
Amazing square pizza, cool stage lighting, and the some of the best indie music to be seen and heard in Baltimore. The best part: it's close enough that we can still drive home and sleep in our own beds after a gig!

Steel City Coffeehouse - Phoenixville, PA
The perfect coffeehouse atmosphere in a hoppin' town. The staff always takes great care of us, and the sound is always phenomenal - thanks to a sound guy who may or may not be named Baron.


Happy New Year!
- Nick

New England Tour Volume 3

We're home again after a long, long drive down from Vermont. We decided to leave right after our gig at the Langdon St. Cafe and drive all night. Thanks to Dan and Josh, we're back in Philadelphia and in one piece, despite the rain, fog, and fatigue. The show in Montpelier was a great time, and Driftwood's set was spectacular. They're awesome people and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them.

But the big event of the day occurred on the way to Montpelier on I-89. For added space in our van, we'd been touring with a roof-mounted cargo container. As we neared the exit for Montpelier, another van signaled us to pull over. The very considerate driver informed us that a black bag had flown out of our Ex-Cargo and onto the highway.

Dan immediately and valiantly tried to recover the bag from the side of the highway, getting soaked by rain and poked by brush in the process. Alas, the bag was never found, which we concluded contained all of our mic cables, microphones, and power strips. Not only that, but when we arrived at the venue, we discovered that Dan's bag of personal possessions had also disappeared from the carrier, and unfortunately contained his only change of pants! After a trip to Wal-Mart for pants and to the hardware store for locks (to hopefully prevent any more ex-cargo), we were able to play the show. Thanks go out to the Langdon St. Cafe for providing us with house mics and house beer.

No true adventure is complete without some hardship, and this was ours. But we're back home now, and overall it was a fun trip. We hope to see everyone in New England again soon - even as soon as this fall. Look out!

- Nick