The Physics of Meaning are out on the road all over America. Here's an account of what they're up to in the recurring The Physics of Meaning Tour Blog.
tour blog a licious, by wil wright
After a week of mind-numbing silence and isolation in Chapel Hill (because I had no car there and because most people go to "jobs" or have "lives" that take place during the day. Not me) our tour, unofficially titled "physics forever 2009" and officially titled "by the power of dickskull" jumped into gear very abruptly. And not a second too soon. Not that I don't relish an opportunity to sit around and read amazing books and work on my music library and write songs and sleep until 5pm and live in my pajamas...well, actually, I guess it wasn't so bad.
TOUR HAS BEGUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We kicked this bad boy off with a big hometown show, hosted by our lovely and faithful record label, Trekky Records. We played at The Nightlight in Chapel Hill. That place has really, truly come a long way. The times that Senryu has played there, I found it to be very little more than a big room full of books and a couple of mean looking hipsters who wished that we weren't there. But now, the books are gone and this place was relatively packed with the finest looking chicks and dudes that the triangle has to offer.
The opening band for this show was Albina Savoy, our old friends from Greensboro. A.S. is a pretty great band, and much of that is to the credit of their piano/accordion/singing-saw player and occasional singer Crystal Dawn. If this girl ever goes off on her own, she is going to be completely unstoppable. Hopefully, both she and Albina Savoy will continue to grow and put on fabulous shows.
We took over in the middle (AKA "the sweet spot"). For the first time in a very, very long time, I was sorta nervous. We were premiering new songs that we hadn't had much time to practice and we just all in all hadn't gotten much of an opportunity to re-gel with one another musically. Fortunately for us, the show's success relied on our chemistry. And we may not have much going for us, but we DEFINATELY have interpersonal chemistry, and I feel like it really carried us through it, and in the end, led to a pretty satisfying experience for us and for the fine folks who packed in to watch us.
The show was wrapped up by our labelmates Lost In The Trees, who put on a spectacular show with full-strings, brass, double-bells, and a big bag of great songwriting and arranging. The show was really breathtaking, and a perfect way to wrap up show 1.
More than anything, I learned at this show that Martin Anderson (from Trekky Records) brings the party and the funny like nobody's business.
I also heard a fierce debate over Greatful Dead vs. Patti Smith's "Horses" for a Salvia adventure. Is that even an actual contest? I don't think so, Ms. Smith.
Thanks for making us feel at home, Chapel Hill.
In step with show #1, our second outing of tour (the first official, since we finally left the city behind and climbed into our beloved Van!) was crowded and very positive in Greensboro (Dylan Thurston's hometown). We have been trying for a couple of tours to get back to G'boro, unsuccessfully. Well, it was well, well worth the wait. With the first night's cobwebs now out of the way, we were quite prepared to mow the citizen's of the city down with our mighty axe of white-hot adult contemporary pop music (for sissies).
While I was setting up my things for this show, I couldn't keep from over-hearing this dude talking to the door girl. He kept talking about her bone struction, and how because he bones were put together nice she should be his girlfriend, and how he couldn't cross his legs like her's were crossed (implying that he has between regular-giant balls, which was doubtful). I tried so hard to block it out, but it got worse and worse. So, dylan has set up his bells and wind chimes, I have set up my Omnichord, when the same stupid dude (who had been hitting on the doorgirl, but was now watching us set up our instruments) leans over to me. Too close. He leans over, as surely as we are setting up our delicate little operation, and he says "dude, are y'all metal?"
"Fuck you." Whoops.
I had been listening to him, secretly, already, and I had been building up so much animosity for this ass-hat....it just seemed like the only thing to say. DO YOU SEE THIS BELL KIT? DO YOU SEE OUR CUTE LITTLE OUTFITS? FUCK NO, WE AREN'T METAL. It just slipped out, and I kinda felt bad, but I also kind of felt like it was the right thing to say.
Greensboro also marks the beginning of what we like to call "physics family week." It's the BEST part of tour. This week, we stay with Dylan's parents, then Wylie's parents in Easley SC, then my pop in Baton Rouge, and then Daniel's parents in Dallas. There is no time on tour where we will eat better or get treated more lovingly than this week. I wish our families lived at regular intervals on our path, so that we had pockets of care throughout, but it does make for one badass way to start such a long journey. Each family treats the entire band like we're their 4 sons.
It's just so, so, so nice. Dylan's mom and dad met us at the Greensboro show with Subway sandwiches, chips, cookies, bottled waters and a BUNCH of their friends who all came to make sure we were well admired. It was just awesome.
As we were loading out, I noticed through the window of the bar next door that there was a "two-dudes with acoustic guitars" act playing. I thought it might be worth it to try and guess what they were playing before I approached. My guess was "Brown-eyed girl". Boy, was I ever wrong. I saw, before I could hear them, that one of the dudes had a cup-holder on his mic-stand. Good idea, though it acted as a real red flag. Then, I heard it. I only listened to a few seconds before I raced back inside to fetch the other physicists.
It was the chords to "wonderwall" by Oasis, but they were rapping the words to "bring the noise" by Public Enemy. It was like GirlTalk, except that it was the worst. The WORST.
Dylan called them "2 dudes, 1 cup-holder".
I laughed all the way home.
Away we go,
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