BEST. TOUR. EVER.

No, really! That's what Marcus and Jason believe also. It was a really good trek for us at the end o' April, and I wanted to share a bit of the glory and the gore with y'all. So here goes....

THURSDAY IN CHICO
Started the band portion of the day at noon-ish at our Vague World Headquarters (shared with others of course) going over the songs we were gonna play on the trek. We don't really have a "set" setlist of the same 9 songs over and over again, but we did cut some, add some, try to play some, to see what would work on this trek. With the Vagueomobile ready to go (after spending the requisite $70,000 on gas) we headed toward Chico, which I hadn't been too since I saw Low and Shannon Wright there in the late 20th century.

It's a pretty cool town, y'know. Remembered seeing a big ol' sequoia tree bursting forth from the sidewalk on the street close to the club, which was freaky but cool. We got to Cafe Coda way way too early, so we bummed around the downtown a bit, which was hopping with a Farmers Market type-thing. Went back after some time at the Normal Street Bar and set up shoppe at the Coda, a small cool room that felt like a good listening space. And it was!

The bill was pretty neat: a solo artist named John Staedler who did guitar and voice loops, sort of art-song-like. Then it was the fantastical Lasher Keen, a trio from Nevada City that mashed up its own sound: downtown NYC doom circa 1985, trad folk at its most dark, gothic country intensity. A totally different and unique experience. We should bring 'em to Reno someday. Then our pal Spencer (disgused as Catlike Reflexes) played a boss Townes cover and two very funny acoustic songs about life's travails.

We did probably the mellow-est show of the tour, with a bunch of slower songs amongst the rock. We also had the first instance in some time of PUBLIC DANCING to Mister Vague music. It was beguiling. After the show we headed with Spencer and the Lasher crew to Duffy's, a sort of Hideout-Bar-writ-large in downtown Chico. A fitting fun end to a good tour kickoff. Thanks to Dan at Cafe Coda for setting it up, to Spencer for helping out so much with everything, and the Lashers for a fun night on da town.

FRIDAY IN EUGENE
The tour gets increasingly surreal from here on out, likely due to the sleep depravation thing. Have you seen "Altered States?" It's like that but way more benign.

Anyway, the Vagueshuttle went onward to Oregon and its trees and laid-back vibe and lack of pumping yr own gas. We hit Eugene at "rush" hour as it were and settled downtown for exploring and food. We sat about at Luckey's, the great venue. We need to transplant it for Reno - cool historic vibe but mod as well with excellent sound and folks behind the bar.

We went on first this time and brought the rock, or something like it. This probably went the best of the tour and especially toward the end as more people showed we got a great reaction, I must say! It was gratifying. Next up was the great Dead Americans, coming to Reno on June 6. Imagine Blondie and the Cars with a classic-rock bent playing very political/social songs. Yep, it's THAT cool. They are theatrical geniuses of the highest order. And fun.

The night was closed by the uber-talented band called Runaway Slave, an amalgam of smooth funk mixed with ska/reggae, hip-hop and straight-ahead rock. Great rapper/singer in this band and the guitarist was from the Cherry Poppin Daddies, which was a fun surprise (and a nice fella to boot). The show ran long - so long that I missed the call from Dorraine about the Reno earthquake! - so we ended up at Casa Dead Americans for a long unwind that rebooted us til 3:30 am or so. Huge thanks and props to Kyra and Zak for the show set-up and hospitality, to Sam and the wonderful crew at Luckey's, and our new friends in the Eugene area.

SATURDAY IN RICHLAND
So, Zak and Kyra made this really cool thing for breakfast I want to share with you:
1. make toast
2. cut a hole in the middle
3. place it over an egg you're about to cook sunny side up
4. place a piece of cheese on top
5. cook till the egg yolk is hard
6. eat that bastard!

It was really good. Try it someday, you will be pleased.

And with that, we set out for Da Tri-Cities, home of several past Vagueshows. Once we arrived at Deano's house, it was practically time to go, and so we did. For those who don't know, Deano is the former Mister Vague drummer and all-around great person, and he helped set up this show for us.

When we get to the place, called Kimo's, we were greeting by a group of middle-to-older aged folks quite tanked and wearing Mardi-Gras-style beads, for reasons never explained. They were thrilled or shocked (or something) that we were rockers from Reno (they *really* liked Jason for some reason!). With the stage arranged, we then returned for some relaxing at Deano-and-Lisa's place, then we met up with the rest of Blue Is Cold, Deano's band, back at Kimo's, where we ate and drank and ate and drank some more.

We played first again, but a bit longer set. Still pretty rock though. That was the theme for this tour: rock. Trying to exude rock and have it seeping from our pours as we play these thorny little pop songs. It worked, I think, as we had some folks who liked us last time show up and dig it, and we met some new pals as well.

Blue Is Cold were just dandy, friends: a mix of super-upbeat trad-country and the occasional indie-rock move to throw you off balance. Just super cool. We then repaired to Deano/Lisaland for talking and such until God Knows When O'Clock.

Big fat thanks as always to Deano and Lisa, who we miss greatly down here in Reno, for the hospitality and kindness and Sunday breakfast before the big drive back, and to Tracy at Tri-City Events for running such a great show, and to Joe and John of Blue Is Cold for the usual good times in Tri-Color-Pasta-City-Land.

And the Asian food in Ontario, Oregon is great. Trust us.

MARK E