Show Report: Los Angeles, CA [first night]

there's no place like home, there's no place like home...

returning to los angeles was bittersweet for me. dont get me wrong i love los angeles but i would rather be away touring in another city. i know i will catch a ton of shit for saying this but i have said it many times before; given that la is unlike any other city in the country as far as music goes, it is very tough to feel like it's your home even when it is your home. i know im not gettting my point across well but basically im saying la isnt going to throw you a ticker tape parade when you return home from a tour...especially when you're an opening band on a bill. anaheim on the other hand will, and so will san diego but la is just not that kind of place. it's a bit too cool for it's own good. hey i'm part of the problem - i'm just as jaded of a music fan as the people i bitch about in la. anyway, it's been a weird month for me.

so the first la show was fine. not great, but passable. was i dissappointed in my performance. yes. i still think we are a band that is growing up and learning something from each show it plays. i need to thank a bunch of our great fans that came out. these guys i cant thank enough for their true undying support like karen and allison (picutered). thanx again for coming out to the gig. seeing you guys reminds me why we are doing this. i dont even remember how i ended up getting home that night. i think i just walked because i live a block away. that's the best thing about gigs at the troubadour. i can walk there and back.

Mariqueen's Mind

The City: i clicked my heels three times and chanted, "there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home..." i opened my eyes and looked up at the troubadour. crayzeh.

The Venue: there's no place like HOME... except when home gives you the crappier room that smells too musky and you get korbel champagne. that's when you whimper in the bittersweetness of it all.

The Show: um, i'm sure i've been the most pessimistic person in the world when it's come to our shows but honestly, there was something off about tonight's performance. we are a band that feeds off the energy off each other and the crowd. the band's energy was not in synch for some reason. i suspect this was due to technical problems with monitors on stage and the crowd was extra "l.a." tonight. sometimes, people gotta know that when you're standing there acting like you're too cool you give off the vibe that you don't appreciate or like the band that's playing. why i say this is because after the show i got so much amazingly awesome feedback that it made me think i had stepped into some weird happy other troubadour realm. tonight we had the pleasure of getting the amazing kevin reid to do visuals for us. the funny part about that is that the visuals came out a little too small. all in all i gave this show a seven out of ten.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was thinking about how small the visuals were, how quiet the crowd was, how beautiful my two friends looked in the crowd [genevieve and brooke i love you]... i heard someone call out my name, my nickname, that only family knows... i suspected it was my doppelganger of a cousin... i was right. i also hoped that no one would notice i was wearing the same dress i wore in chicago and was hoping that no one could actually see through it.

Interesting Things After The Show: i hung out with gen, brooke, deb and my cousin kevin who i hadn't seen in years. it was so amazing. we just had a huge gushfest. you see, all four of those people, i hold dear to my heart... they are all very beautiful and very talented and very accomplished. we all fawned over each other and drank. i hung out with errol for a little bit too... it's always great seeing him. errol you are the best. other highlights included seeing marcos... marcosssss! he is the man i rely on for pretty much everything that surrounds my sanity regarding each show. he is my rock. i love you marcos. i love everyone... there's no place like home.

Carter's Conscience

Los Angeles-- back to LA! Oh man, we've been gone for almost four weeks already. I can't say I'm happy or sad to be home, but home I am nonetheless. We did back to back shows at the Troubadour, which is great because there is less loading/unloading of equipment. So honestly, the first show back was a little off for us. Coming back home from a trip inevitably means that reality gives you little smack in the face, in the form of unpaid bills, dirty houses, paying rent, etc. All the bullshit that you don't think about when you're on the road. So at least for me it took a few songs to wash off the dirty details of the day. Also, we didn't dial in the stage sound as well as we could of during soundcheck. On my end it was really bassy and washed out. But whatever, we can't make excuses, and it was still a really fun show to play. The crowd was really, really cool, and really carried us through it. Its funny because I say all this and yet I know that in the end I'm our worst critic! So we had a great time after the show, got to see a lot of faces I hadn't seen in a long time as well. I was surprised to see the prez of the label, Errol, hanging out backstage! Errol a straight shooter, and its always good to get some no-bullshit feedback from the guy behind the guy.

walter and chuck keeping the irs away from us
tommy and marcos "working"
mariqueen.org = brooke, debbie and kevin
fran and clayton - this dude is rad
team lewscious
there's no place like home mr robert smith/james

F.TEN