Show Report: Kalamazoo, MI

another show for the dogs 4.18.06

i like kalamazoo as a town but the show sucked ass. yet another michigan show that i shouldnt have booked! the promoter put 3 other bands on the bill which wasnt too bright considering the show started at 10pm. im still kicking myself in the ass for not insisting we play third because we ended up going on way too late for a tuesday night. at this point the band was, im sure, pretty bummed out about the michigan shows i had a hand in setting up. even though it was way after midnight when we hit the stage the crowd that was there was pretty stoked. the best part of the evening was meeting nic and nick who are now official kzoo wigheads. my brother chris also made the trip down for his first west indian girl show.

huge kzoo thanks to: my friend mandy/anna's band paucity. paucity opened the show. i loved them not only because they're all really nice but mostly cos they reminded me of slint. too bad they had to play first... in retrospect it was lucky for them actually because they got to get it over with first and go home. i wish we had played first.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at club soda sucks - it's right behind the stage and used by all the bands. there is no point even using it or talking about it. we ended up getting free beer a 6 pack of water. michigan sucks. score now, west indian girl 3 - michigan 2

Mariqueen's Mind

The City: kalamazoo... it was a lovely day to be in a city with such a silly name. i was a bit groggy from the night before and was still grumpy that we had to play yet another show. in michigan. the day was spent sleeping then fran and i found a cafe with wireless internet and hung out there but not before stopping on some train tracks so fran could take some really retarded pictures of me.

The Venue: i don't even remember the name of the venue, that's how incredible it was.

The Show: whyyy... why did we have to play this show? first of all there were FOUR bands on the bill. we didn't even play until after midnight. midnight... on a tuesday evening... in a city called kalamazoo. whyyy? even though we had the worst time slot, i would have to say it was one of my best shows. i had one of rob's cookies and assorted spirits before our set and was ready to dance and sing straight from my soul. i actually had the time of my life on stage UNTIL... some random body building, nu-metal wannabe, started shouting, "rock & roll! [in a cholo accent, mind you] rock & roll! hotel california!"... he then tried to slam dance... into fran's poor brother and his friend. im not really into drunks who smoke meth... every time he came to the front of the stage i would just turn around and vibe with mark. so after embarrassing himself [earlier in the evening he tried to hit on me... i actually gagged in front of him] he made a quick exit and the positive vibes from my band mates flowed. other than that... it was a really sad turn out... probably like twenty people... l a m e.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i wasn't thinking at all... except for when speedy gonzalez was annoying me, i just closed my eyes and asked the forces of nature to will him to leave.

Interesting Things After The Show: we met two great guys. nick and nick. im glad we had the chance to play kalamazoo because now we've made two of the best fans a little band from los angeles could ever have.

THE JAMES REPORT

Nick and Nick graced our presence in Kalamazoo. These guys are glorious diamonds in the rough. They shine like the brightest stars. Keep the faith fellas.

NATHAN'S NONSENSE

kalamazooky: hmmmm.... well, it was really nice to meet the fine folks from paucity. i recommend everyone go check out their tunes pronto. then there were those two fans that showed up... other than that, i can't really think of anything nice to say about this blowhole of a city. i don't even think i got drunk that night. oh wait... yes i did. ok, so there was this behemoth ass-clown of a troglodyte that kept bouncing around, knocking into innocent bystanders and shouting requests for hotel california at us. i knew this cudmunch was going to be trouble when he grabbed me by the lapels before our show and asked me to dance to some speed medal song that was playing. it was all i could muster not to introduce him to nathan van headbutt-in-the-face. hey, in retrospect, this night is actually sounding more interesting than i think it actually was. like, i also remember sighting some girl at the show that was actually taller than me! i believe that's a first. i also got a kick out of hearing fran's impersonation of "she wants revenge" as we walked around town soaking in all the fabulous sights... guess you had to be there. next time i set foot in kalamazoo, i'm packin' heat.

-F10