Tuesday July 7: Minneapolis, MN to Aurora, IL
Driving day.
Today is Valerie's 22nd birthday! However, last night it was still my birthday, with Val's on deck. Everyone was riding in high spirits for lots of reasons as we arrived at the Triple Rock -birthdays, plus a reunion for Meghan with one of her favorite cities and the friends therein, plus just another night of being on a sweet tour, you know?
Hm. It's rather difficult to put into words, frankly, how incredibly hospitable everyone we interacted with was. But I'll try. First of all, we met Kermit. Kermit is a big man with a big beard and bigheart. He works at the Triple Rock, and I came to understand that he also fronts Puppies and Trains, the headlining band. He's the man who put this show together with Meghan, and he immediately set all of us at ease with his affable, helpful attitude.
The opening band was a local act called Landspeeder, who played early Replacements-esque Midwestern punk rock. They were fast and loud and laying down wiry songs and drinking beer. (Beer on stage! Wowsers mama we ain't in Washington State no more!) I hate to say it, considering how much I (we) liked them, but they were almost a cliche (in my mind) in terms of what the local opener at a show in Minneapolis would probably sound like. Really liked em. The drummer left several large chunks of his cymbals on the stage after the show.
Connecticut Four were up next, and I'll be damned if they weren't as good as I've ever seen them. That is to say, they were on farking fire, dudes. The energy was high and the vocals were spot-on. It was truly awesome. It didn't hurt that the sound in there was so terrific. Damn.
The room is about the size of the old Sit n' Spin, if you remember it, or maybe the old Croc prior to the renovation. The reputation of the place is similar to the Croc for Seattle, too. But it's a Monday night. There's about 20 people in the room, counting other bands; you get the idea.
During their set, the band informs the audience it's my birthday, and encourages people to hug me, particularly large, sweaty dudes. This led to minor confusion about my sexual preferences between Kermit in the audience and Cristina on stage, with him asking if I was a "cub" which led to Meghan saying are you talking baseball now dude?, before Cristina finally realized what was going on and told the "single ladies in the room to give Matt a hug with their legs."
I am not making this up.
I got a lot of hugs, people. Many many hugs. I was lifted off the ground, gently. We sold a stack of merch and ran out of the shirts. (Admittedly, the band only had 7 shirts left from their previous run. We're talking about making more on the road with fabric paint, stencils, and blank tees.)
That's when I met Billy Morrisette referenced in a previous post.. He offered to buy me a birthday drink, but since I don't imbibe he brought me a Red Bull instead. I had no idea who he was, but he was friendly, just like everyone else.
My birthday was coming to a close, and Valerie's was approaching. Kermit's band Puppies and Trains took the stage, and there followed a set of uptempo crunchy post-rock-slash-pop songs that were, quite honestly, astonishingly good. I loved it, I think we all loved it.
Meghan was near-ecstatic to be there. During the set, because perhaps the room was mostly populated by his friends, Kermit's banter was wry and rambling. He glanced down and saw the CT4 set list, and a lengthy exchange between Kermit and CT4 ensued about the meaning of the song "If We Were Robots" ensued. Kermit apparently hates robots, and doesn't really understand why you'd want to be one. Cristina, literally raising her voice from the merch table over the heads of the gathered patrons, tried to explain the meaning of the song to Kermit.. Which you'll have to ask her to do yourself, I'm afraid. Blahblahblah there was a confusing moment when Cristina and Valerie shouted Wall-E is a rapist! and Kermit eventually moved on, as am I.
This is Kermit:
This is Puppies and Trains:
When Meghan was a college student in St. Paul, her favorite band was Kermit's other outfit Superhopper. She never got to see them live because they always played bar shows back then, but tonight she got her wish. The guys in Puppies and Trains split, and Superhopper's members stepped up. We were treated to about a half-dozen songs, which sounded similar to Kermit's newer band, but were more abrasive and punk. Fucking kickass. We saw a ton of good music that night..
Val did not pay for a single drink, but managed to get into a very good mood with the help of Patron. After giving us a brief tour of the Mill Ruins area, Billy navigated us to his place, where we unloaded our stuff. He and Val went to meet Billy's girlfriend at a neighborhood bar, and when they returned about an hour later, a certain mayhem ensued.
- A Japanese robot toilet seat, featuring a warm-seat setting, along with bidet features!
- A metal-guy roommate who likes to share.
- A constant desire to photograph everything happening.
- A dance party that at points was reduced to tears and beyond when the Jackson 5 came on, but shouting jubilance when That Dog's "Minneapolis" was played.
- A lightsabre fight.
- A separate room with an air mattress for sleeping, and shelves of Billy's vinyl collection.
- A neighboring deck with duders to talk to.
- "Get me a paper towel; I just want to party. THANK you."
- "AshleyandMeghanfladnyet!"
- Shirtless, enormous D4 guitarist showing off numerous, elaborate tattoos.
- Apparently someone Valerie met in the neighborhood bar was promised a mention in the Official Tour Blog. To whomever that was, hello. This is about you. Val says to call her.
Guess who took this one?
We got to sleep around 4amish.
This morning we packed up and bid Billy and Ashley farewell, took a picture on the deck, and headed back into Minneapolis for Meghan to show us around one of her favorite cities anywhere. We went to St. Paul Cathedral and were quietly humbled by passionate human endeavor and homophobia. We saw the First Ave/Seventh St. Entry, the campuses of the University of St. Thomas and Macalester College, the tony Summitt Avenue neighborhood, and lots of sunshine.
In the early afternoon we got back on the road, and drove south to Aurora, Illinois. Meghan's cousin Emily lives there with her husband Adam in a big beautiful house. We arrived very late, around 3am, but they took us in, showed us around, and made us very comfortable. We should have just passed out, but the excitement of being in such a nice home was inspiring; we were up til the sky began to lighten.
7
St. Paul Cathedral:
vast and yawning testament
to human passion.
8
So, string theory is
unification and can
never be proven.
9
Never thought I'd be
grateful for the rain, but look
at the windshield. Clean!
10
The battle for sleep
is becoming more intense,
day after day.
