The damaged love the damaged.
CONVERSION NOTICE: This is one of 250+ blogs that originally appeared on MySpace. I’ve done my best to represent it with as much historical accuracy as possible, but there are limitations. Read about it in the FAQ.
Current Mood: tired
Too true, too true. Yet another Palahniuk quote for a title — that one from Snuff. Seriously, you should just read his books instead of my bloggin’s.
Before I forget, it’s past midnight. Happy Cinco De Mayo, bitches! And happy “Cinco De Drinko” to all my lush friends. Which is most of you, let’s be honest. It’s been a busy few days of concerts (Devil Makes Three), brunches, naps, and today jury duty (which I narrowly escaped). I’ve been totally wiped out lately, and I’m not sure why. It should be an interesting week as I try to get my energy back. I probably just need more sleep, and maybe a little more R&R. Speaking of which, check out this guy Clark Little. His pictures make me wish I knew how to surf. Oh, and that I lived in Hawaii.
Practice resumes this week as TCB prepares for Slim’s on May 22nd (Morrissey’s birthday). We’ll be dusting off some old ones for the show, so there ought to be a few surprises. And that Manchester bill of Love Vigilantes and Dead Souls is gonna be amazing. Then the very next weekend, it’s off to Portland and Seattle. I’ll tell you, after my flight last week, I am absolutely positively sure I don’t want to travel with NASA (my monstrous guitar pedal board). It was a fun experiment this last year having all those pedals at every show, but it’s only a matter of time before I throw out my back moving that thing around (it weighs more than my amp!). I’m not a young buck anymore, you know.
So I’ve invested in a smaller pedal board. Much smaller actually. It’ll be easier to travel with and just easier in general. It holds plenty of effects for any kind of music I’d want to play other than Smiths tribute. You see, tribute bands have the unique challenge of having to try to sound like another band… often the albums where all kinds of studio effects were applied to the guitar. Trying to recreate that live means having to have a whole arsenal of pedals at your disposal. But sorry, I’m over that mess. With this smaller board, I’m going to lose the occasional “perfect” effect for this or that song, but having to make do with less will go just fine I think. The cost/benefit of lugging around all that weight just doesn’t add up. (I envy guys like Reverend Horton Heat, where they literally have one or two pedals to worry about, and the rest is all in the fingers.) You all have heard us. You know what we’re capable of and that we can nail the sounds more often than not. I’m retiring NASA for a while and probably changing amps. My Bassman — which is my favorite and which I’ve used at nearly every show since TCB started — breaks up a little early for Smiths. And my Twin — which is what Johnny used a lot of the time anyway — is just begging to get some use. A lot of changes tone-wise, but I’ll do my best to make it a smooth transition.
Well I’m beat, kiddies, and I’m off to bed. But I’ll leave you with some mindless entertainment. If the hipster link last week didn’t get you, this one will. Thanks to Jamie, it’s texts from last night. Hilarious!