WEDNESDAY 5.12.10
THE STRUTT – KALAMAZOO, MI

It was early in the morning considering I was initiated into a drinking club the night before.  But 8AM was necessary for me to pack and close up shop for 10 days on the road.  We’re making our way over to the east coast once again and doing so with promotion in mind.  Where as last tour’s focus was the Valentiger Field Recordings for every song from Power Lines To Electric Times, this stint is about shaking hands and meeting people, making connections.  In a digital world bloated with shameless promotion and useless (often incorrect) information, we’ve set out to genuinely “pull back the envelope.”  We’re determined to hand off 1,000 “Leaving Town” singles by the time we loop back to Grand Rapids.  This will consume most of our daylight as we split up in each city, trying to spread the good word of Valentiger.  However, these cannot be wasted “giveaways.”  One must legitimately feel the person will like the music and/or at least listen to the disc.  Armed with brand new tee shirts in both heather grey and kelly green and digital download cards for the single, we’re also excited to play the nighttime shows.  Joe Robert is along for the ride to help us with these sales as well as taking on the “media roll.”  He’s got digital/SLR photo and video duties which should keep our updates frequent and interesting at www.valentigermusic.com.

After meeting up at Rider’s house to load equipment and bag-check for towels, blankets, pillows and phone chargers, we were off at noon to Meijer.  The usual things entered the van at this point: Two kinds of bulk trail mix, peanut butter, bread, bananas, apples, granola bars, applesauce and Throat Coat.  Oh, and booze, all for under $50.  We then picked up Joe and it was off to Kalamazoo to record a set at WIDR for later broadcast.  During the ride over we went head to head with a businessman in a Lamborghini, eventually losing.

We set up in the usual, small recording room with Rider playing a strip down kit, Kehoe through a keyboard amp and with my guitar plugged in directly to the board.  Plunging right into “Oh, To Know,” “Bosses in Their Offices,” “Man On Fire,” “Courses,” “Hard To Let Me Down” and “Leaving Town,” it felt good to play the songs in acoustic format, not worrying about a P.A. or mix.  It was our first run at this set of songs that will soon become second nature.  The road is actually a good time for us to work on new material because of this obvious monotony.  It forces us to generate new ideas for the tune and arrangement.  A guy named Matt from WIDR sort of “hosted” us through the live set, talking mostly about smoking rock.  It was entertaining and Joe shot some good footage, which we’ve already posted, linked up with the station’s audio.

We then shot straight over to The Strutt where we would be playing in the evening, but it was only 3:30PM.  There was a whole lot of time to kill before the show began around 9PM, so I handed out some singles to the daytime Strutt patrons and then Rider and I got 2 for $4 chicken sandwiches at Burger King across the street.  It only ate up about 45 minutes and then we were right back at the Strutt, where I typed journals and Joe edited video footage from WIDR.  This dead time between events can make or break a man and I resorted to actually reading a few Black Panther and The Preacher comic books that were in the shop.  The other gents watched a bit of hockey online and Kehoe feasted on a pretty supreme veggie pizza.  He was saving half for the ride home and we talked about how food will taste different when cold.  It’s really no better or no worse, it’s just that different flavors come out to greet you more starkly.  A few people walked by, noting us as the “Valentiger dudes” and we even heard Power Lines To Electric Times being played back in the kitchen.

Eventually, the show began in the back room around 9:30PM with Poorcra Boys Relief singing about ghosts and hairless mole rats over monster riffs.  At one point, the singer kicked his shoes off into the audience, proving the whole performance to be quite entertaining.  We took the stage next, feeling strangely comfortable for a Wednesday night show and coming straight out of the gates with a solid “Have It All,” “Bosses In Their Offices” and “The Girl That Everyone Forgot.”  In the middle we shuffled our way through the newer “Oh My God! This Weekend” and gave notably strong renditions of “Man On Fire” and “Courses.”  We’ve been most excited to play “Oh, To Know” and the crowd seemed to return the energy, fueling the transition into “Picture Book,” “Hard To Let Me Down” and “Leaving Town.”   Even though the P.A. cut out during the last verse, we continued into an a Capella chorus, inciting hand claps before bringing the set to a close.  We were feeling good with a solid first show in a familiar city, while Hello Victor rocked the hell out of that room.

Everyone seemed very chatty that night.  Maybe it was due to our mindset of shaking hands and making connections, but it didn’t matter why.  We had some great conversations with band members, employees and attendees alike, even finding fans of the Jam.  But it was now time to drive to Detroit for bedding at Eric’s boyhood home.  Being from the area, he handled the driving that night and the two hours went down smoothly.  He and I chatted mindlessly to pass the time while Rider and Joe “split a podcast” in the back.  After just a dash of trail mix we were parking the van to find some asparagus and mushroom soup waiting for us in a crock-pot.  We chowed and then hit the sack somewhere around 4AM.