Show Day - Cold Up and out by 11:30. Eat and drive to Chicago. Arrive at 2:30 - load in to the Cabaret Metro. Hang out then go eat Mexican. Back to club and check after 'Die Kreuzen'. OK sound. Hang out. 'Killdozer' opens - good. We play oldies - first album set. OK - Dave is [unintelligible] - Rod gets burning paper thrown at him - crowd loves us. Lots of autographs and we sell all of... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:53 AM, February 28, 1986.
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Show Day - Cold Up to Madison. Arrive at O'Cay's Corral early at 3:30-4PM. Load in. Cay is in and we make calls. Go to radio station for an interview. Hang out and eat then to club at 7:30. Check. Hang out and drink beer. Julie and Angie show up. Play another great show at the Corral. Rockin' place - packed. Cool gig. Back to Julie's. Unload then to Nancy's for beer and pizza. Home to bed. We... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:23 PM, February 27, 1986.
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Show Day - [no weather report] Up and out to Milwaukee after "Egg and I" breakfast. Arrive and load in and eat at "Century Hall" - the place we're playing at. This online article mentions that Century Hall burned down in 1988. Wait around. Thunders arrives late. Long shitty sound check. We check as crowd mills in. Hang out. Play a good set from about 10 to 11PM. OK crowd response. Thunders sucks. Paid $130 - shitty gig.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:02 PM, February 26, 1986.
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Show Day - Cold Up at noon. Eat at "The Egg and I". Dave B and I get van oil changed and checked - OK. Back to Mike's. Go to "First Avenue" at 5:30 for sound check. We're playing "The Big Room" tonight and not the 7th Street Entry. We load in - Bill the sound guy is there. Thunders' is late. We hang out. Char and Mike B. come. We sound check at 7:45 - 10 minute... more »»
Posted by Dean at 12:01 PM, February 25, 1986.
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Day Off - Cold/Sunny Lots of snow in Minneapolis. Up at noon. Went to lunch and did laundry. Back at 5 or so. Go to Char and Monique's for dinner and beer. Relaxing evening. Drop Mike at work. Home. Mark, Rod, Dave R. and I go for a few more beers. Home to bed.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:40 AM, February 24, 1986.
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Day Off - Snow The drive North was uneventful. Snow started about Des Moines Iowa. Arrived in Minneapolis about 10:30AM. Mike up. Dave B. Me and Mike go for coffee. Others sleep. We walk to a record store then wander home. I nap until 6 or so. Dave B. and I go for dinner (others had eaten). Stop at used book store. Rod catches us - Dave B. stays. Rest of us go to see movie "Brazil". OK... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:23 PM, February 23, 1986.
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Day Off - Cool 60° Up at 11AM. Clean up and pack up. Leave at 2 or so. Eat and drive up [Interstate] 35 to Kansas City/Lawrence - Keith and Eric. No show in KC. Couldn't get a show in Lawrence with Bill Rich - Fresh Sounds. We drive North. Decide to go straight to Minneapolis. Stay with Mark and Mike. Drive all night.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 06:59 PM, February 22, 1986.
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Show Day - Cold - 50°'s Up at 11AM. Shower, eat, pack up. Drive to Norman Oklahoma. Show with Michelle at "Subterranea". Arrive at 6. Eat, load in, sound check. Shitty system - OK sound. Hang out - cold place - write. BBEF opens - same band as last year - not too good. We play to about 100+ people. OK show - not great - video taped. Pack up and eat at "Tony's Tavern". Talk with Michelle... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:47 PM, February 21, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny/Hot 90° Up noonish. Coffee, clean up, pack up. 'Glass Eye' and us drive to Dallas at 4 or so - playing the "Theatre Gallery". Arrive at 7-8 or so. Nice big place. Sound Check and eat Mexican again. Here's an article or two talking about the Deep Ellum scene in Dallas. Back to club - poor promotion. 'Glass Eye' play to 20-30 people. We play - 30 people. Sound is OK. Show is OK.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:11 PM, February 20, 1986.
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Show Day - Warm Up at noon, coffee, shower, laze around. We can play in San Antonio after all - with Glass Eye's friends 'Billy Zygote and the Love Bubbles'! - At Tacoland - a Mexican biker bar. We decide to play - just to play. Great band name. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Drive down and meet Cathy and Jamie - nice girls. They take us to the "club". Unload -... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:23 PM, February 19, 1986.
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Show Day - Warm 80°-90° Up at noon. Coffee and shower. I feel a little better - ears still clogged. Eat at a new restaurant. Back home we go to a music store. I buy a new bass drum pedal - $40. Back to house and load up. Scott is here. Talk - he lives with his girlfriend now. Getting sick on tour was the worst. Your body is already tired and frazzled from the late nights and... more »»
Posted by Dean at 04:52 PM, February 18, 1986.
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Day Off - Warm Arrive in Austin a few hours early. Get to 'Glass Eye' house after driving all over looking for it. Not home. We eat and do laundry. Back - Brian home. Unload, talk and drink beer. Cathy and Stella get home. We all go to sleep.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:22 PM, February 17, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny Up, eat and drive to Santa Fe. Climb 7000 feet. Arrive at the "Village Fool". Small place - we eat and unload. Lots of people - Jenny Dawson - good promoter. First band is good. Second is boring hardcore. We play great show. Sell lots of T-shirts. I get ill - the altitude and cold affect me. We pack up and leave town - drive all night to Austin TX. I sleep most of... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:27 PM, February 16, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny 60°-65° Up at 10. Pack up and eat breakfast. Drive to El Paso TX - 6-7 hours. Check into motel. Eat and go to "Sound Seas". Load in and sound check - shitty system. We hang out and do interviews. Two bands play. We play good show. Good crowd response. Back to motel - sleep. Here's an entry on the first tour's show in El Paso. El Paso is a depressing place.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 03:12 PM, February 15, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny Up at 8 - I shower first. Pack up - we all go to breakfast at Bob's Big Boy. We all pose for Lee in front of Bob. Say goodbye - off to Tucson AZ. We drive and drive. Arrive in town about 8PM. It's an all-ages hardcore show. We keep our stuff in the van - police are cruising all over the place. We eat at Wienerschnitzel - bad food. Bob's Big Boy,... more »»
Posted by Dean at 08:13 PM, February 14, 1986.
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Day Off - Rainy/Cool Up at 1:30PM. Breakfast. We eat - Dave R. went to Enigma. Wait around for him to get back. We go to dinner about 6-7PM. Back to Lee's. Rod, Lee and I decide to go to the "Lodge Aid" thing at the "Music Machine". Claire told us about it. We went in hopes of seeing 'Tex and the Horseheads'. We leave about 9:30-10PM. Get there in Santa Monica at 11 or so. Claire and... more »»
Posted by Dean at 04:00 PM, February 13, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny to Rain Up late, breakfast again. Dave R. gets spare tire and takes van to be tuned up. We wait at Lee's. The van takes longer than expected. We leave for Raji's about 6 or so. We speed there - get there at 6:45. Set up and sound check. Club is small - sound is OK. Meet Mojo - cool dude. 28th Day is OK - nice people. This is a record release party... more »»
Posted by Dean at 04:29 PM, February 12, 1986.
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Day Off - Warm/Sunny Up at 11 for breakfast. To post office, got to Enigma. We stayed for about two hours - treated very nice. Got copy of "Variations". "Restless Records" is our label now. Got copy of cassette cover (cassettes out Friday) - looks good. Album out in April - 11th or so. Art should arrive on Friday as well. "Variations" was the "Enigma Variations" sampler album with "Bitchin' Camaro" included on it. The cassette release and... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:59 PM, February 11, 1986.
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Day Off - Warm/Sunny Up at 10 - good night's sleep. Check out at 11AM. Eat and drive South. Get to Lee's about 7PM or so. Unload - sit around, read, write, and watch TV. Lee home about 1AM. We watch Letterman. To bed.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:11 PM, February 10, 1986.
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Day Off - Sunny/Warm Up at 2PM. Eat and go to Foothill College for an interview. It was fun because instead of an interview we played 'Password'. Joe and I against Rod and Dave. Fun, silly and different. Left for Berkeley - radio interview. Pull records - I got to hear "In the Streets" by Alex Chilton [Big Star]. Nice interview. Ate Mexican on campus. Back to S.F. - go to Eric's house/ Have hot tea and do... more »»
Posted by Dean at 03:07 PM, February 09, 1986.
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Show Day - Sunny Up at 8AM - load up - drive to San Francisco. Arrive at 6PM or so. VIS Club. Other bands arrive - club isn't open yet. We meet up with Christian from Philly - he's just moved to S.F. Club opens - load in. Sound man doesn't show up until 8:30. Quick check - hang out. First band is on at 10:30 or so. We ate at a cool BBQ joint across the street... more »»
Posted by Dean at 11:11 PM, February 08, 1986.
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Show Day - Cool/Sunny/Breezy Wake at 10AM. Lee and I made eggs and toast etc.. All have breakfast. We do laundry and have late lunch. Back to apartment and load up. Drive to Long Beach - Fender's Ballroom. 4:30 - first band there - unload. Hang out and sound check. Other bands arrive. 'Meat Puppets', 'Red Hot Chili Peppers', 'Rasabrea'. Lee and friends arrive - we go eat. This was probably the first gig we played that was... more »»
Posted by Dean at 12:45 PM, February 07, 1986.
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Day Off - Snow/Rain/Sun Mixed We drove all day and night Wednesday [February 5-6, 1986]. Encounter snow here and there. South to Kansas - across Colorado - South from just before Denver to Albuquerque New Mexico. West to Flagstaff Arizona. Lots of dangerous snow. South to Phoenix Arizona. West to Los Angeles. Arrive at Lee W.'s apartment about 12:30AM on Friday morning. Unload. Have a beer. To bed. A 33 hour drive is not fun. As we would... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:11 PM, February 06, 1986.
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Day Off - Snow/Rain Dave R. up at 8 to go to car dealer. We sleep in. Up at 11:15 - we were supposed to check out at 11. All up and shower. Dave R. still not back. Motel calls us - $3 dollars per hour extra charge - no problem. Sit around. We eat and leave Lincoln at 3PM. Drive to Los Angeles.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:32 AM, February 05, 1986.
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Show Day - Rain/Overcast Up at 8AM. Shower and out by 9:15. Drive then stop for breakfast. I drive 10:45 to 2PM. Lunch north of Kansas City on our way to Lincoln Nebraska - the Drumstick. We have an appointment at the Ford dealer Wednesday AM to check electrical problems out. Arrive 5:45 - we drove real fast. Cool club - everybody has played there. We play pinball - unload. Set up and eat fried chicken - great.... more »»
Posted by Dean at 01:55 PM, February 04, 1986.
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Show Day - Rain/Overcast Me up first. Shower and make coffee. Everybody comes to life. Dave B., Joe and I go to music store. We leave Rockford 1PM. I drive. About 1.5 hours into to the trip the van acts up. Stop at LaSalle IL. gas station. The van drops power? Guy test drives - no problem? He tunes up and oil changes etc. We leave - OK for an hour - does it again then OK? Oh... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:27 PM, February 03, 1986.
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Show Day - Overcast Up and out - left at 10 - to Rockford IL. Drive, drive and more driving. Arrive at 7PM Cafe Zero. Paula - friend of Bill Calahan - Willpower - is putting the show on. Huge hall - boom-y sound but OK. Defoliants OK set up. We give them Dave's bass amp - Jeff will let us (me) use his snare - cool. They start playing - we go and eat at Paula's house... more »»
Posted by Dean at 09:45 PM, February 02, 1986.
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Show Day - Overcast We all overslept. Dave R. and I spent Friday afternoon driving all over the place buying our van - an 84 Ford Clubwagon - I had to work until 3PM. After we picked up the title, got insurance and tags, picked up the thing - it was 8:30 - to studio until 2:30AM. Only got 5 rough mixes. Still a few overdubs to do when we get back March 17th. At the end of... more »»
Posted by Dean at 10:52 PM, February 01, 1986.
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