a street car named #27

After a few short hours of sleep at the San Fran Warwick Hotel . . . I was rousted out of bed to go move the bus at 6 am. Rather than go back to bed I decided to walk around the city and watch it wake up. Here are some shots . . .

Keno in Reno

"basically, if I remember right you give somebody a card with numbers and a little bit later they bring you some money"


Finally, a day off! We were in Park City just long enough to do a show on Monday night. We loaded in, played a show at a cool place called The Sidecar. Then after the show we loaded up and I began driving into the darkness, headed for Reno. It was a nice drive, And sometime around 4am I handed off the driving to Jason. Rocked to sleep by the moving bus, I had a nice nights sleep. When I woke up we were in Reno, all checked into our rooms and everything. Jon and Ross had already left for San Francisco. The rest of us relaxed a bit, took showers and caught up on emails, did some work from our rooms. Then came the evening. I'm sure you're all thinking this means big band party on their day off! Well, here is how our evening went down. Justin was asleep before the rest of us even headed out the door. Mike and Jason headed for the gaming tables, Nick ,Tyler and I headed for the bar. After about two hours Mike and Jason returned, Mike a bit heavier in the wallet. We all headed up to the resturant for some late evening dining. You name it, it was on the menu. Prime rib, salads, mogolian beef, etc.... yummy. So we sat and ate, and played Keno at the same time. Mike walked away 50 cents richer, Jason about $1.25, and everyone else walked away full and broke. I contemplated waiting ten more minutes to take advantage of the the late night $3.99 pancake special, but opted out of that bad idea. We all headed to our room. Still waiting for the crazy party story right? Here it comes...by 11:30 Mike and Jason were asleep, Tyler and I contacted a few friends via IM before crashing as well. So there you have it, our crazy night off in Reno. But in our defense, there wasn't much to do after you were done gambling. The combined age of the folks in the casino was well over a zillion. We have now coined a new catch phrase for Reno...Where Vegas comes to die. But on a positive note, Mike was up about a hundred or so when we left town.
Luke

Mountain Men Part 1ish.

Hello everyone, Luke here from the bus somewhere in Wyoming. Before I get to the current tour, let me remind you all about The Nadas cruise. There are a minimum number of cabins on the ship we have to fill to ensure the cruise happens. We are nearly there, so if you are thinking about going, now is the time to get your tickets. And if you need any incentive, just think about how cold it has been lately. Then remember that isn’t even close to what it will be like in February. Pickin up what I’m throwin down? See you in Florida! For more info check out the web site http://www.mailermailer.com/rd?http://www.fanclubcruises.com/the_nadas.htm
We are excited to show you all the new look of our bus! The makers of our beloved Templeton Rye decided to help support us on this tour, and with that support comes this bus exterior makeover. We are real happy with how it turned out, as well as the bottles of Templeton Rye they gave us for the tour. Check out www.templetonrye.com to find out about our favorite moonshine.
Now to the tour! So far things have been great. The fans have been coming out, even on work/ school nights, to rock and party. We are having a good time everywhere we go, but last night at The Little Bear was extra special, and will be hard to beat. The crowd was rowdier than ever, prompted perhaps by The Nadas rocking like it was their last show ever. Or could it be because of a new version of one of their songs, re-created on this tour, and revealed for the first time last night………what??????? Be sure to keep an ear out for that at future shows.
We have stopped to do a few radio interviews along the way as well, including one this afternoon with Don Woods for Wyoming public radio. They played a few songs, and Jason told everyone his story about riding RAGBRAI in a way that doesn’t quite make sense.
Yesterday afternoon was a bit of a free for all, with everyone kind of doing their own thing. Justin and I spent our whole day fixing a bus. “But Luke, I thought you guys got your bus all fixed and it runs good now?” Yes, you are right. But Regina Spektor and her band happened to be staying at the same hotel as us in Denver. When they loaded up in their bus to head to the gig, it wouldn’t start. So Justin, being the veteran bus mechanic that he is, started helping their driver figure out the problem. Unable to get it going in time, we sent our bus to the rescue. We unloaded our luggage, put their gear in its place, and shuttled them to the venue so they could make it in time for sound check. The rest of our day was spent trouble shooting battery issues to get their bus up and running. Since Justin and I are both Regina Spektor fans, we took this opportunity to get a quick pic with her before she left for her show. After all the rocky experiences with our bus this year,
Meatloaf saved the day! And while that shiny, much newer bus sat unable to even start, we felt like a proud parent on the first day of school.
You can bet that there will be more stories, surprises, and pictures on the way. We will be sure to pass the best ones along to you all. Be sure to come out and see us when you can for some rock and roll. The rest of our week looks like this:

Wed. Oct 25th The Elbo Room -San Francisco, CA
Thurs. Oct 26th - Bogey's - Sunnyvale, CA (early show)
Fri. Oct. 27th Molly Malone’s-Los Angeles, CA
Sun. Oct 29th The Rhythm Room-Phoenix, AZ

That’s it for now, I am going to get back to watching funny things and listening to the new Towncrier with Jon. Hope to see you all soon.

Love and lots of good bus karma,
The Nadas

QOTW: Do you have a favorite Nadas show ever?

Go west!

Whew! I'm done . . . packing . . . packing . . . . packing. WE ARE GOING ON TOUR! We leave in 12 hours and I just zipped my last bag closed for the night. We will be doing 15-17 shows in the next 18 days. I know it seems like we play all the time but I cherish the opportunity to forge some unknown or rarely known territory and see whether strangers like us. It is good to get out of our comfort zone, where the audience is always full of friends and family. So what am I bringing . . . .

I know I am being dramatic, we have been on perpetual tour for a decade and I have had a rotation of several bags packed for that duration. I never fully unpack. I have the man purse for the day trips with the computer, notebook, small camera, books, and other essentials. I have a larger version of the same that I can throw a change of clothes in for the overnights. If we spend a couple of nights on the road I use them both. I have 2 different sizes of rolling suitcases for the flying trips of different durations. Last but not least I have the HUGE cavernous duffels on wheels. I have two of them. One is waterproof and one is more versatile. I have been packing them all for 2 days and I am finally done. Now, I consider myself a professional traveler and pride myself in being efficient and prepared. This trip is a challenge. Let me tell you what I'm bringing. . . . I have a large rolling duffel with rock clothes for the bus part of this trip. This large bag stays under the bus (with nine people on the bus there isn't much room inside for bags) full of comfortable travel clothes for the day and rock clothes for the nights. I have a small overnight bag with one set of clean clothes that I take on the bus and into the hotel for the night. Then I swap out the clothes daily. I have full case of camera gear for a little bit of photo scouting. I have another small duffel full of fly fishing gear for a day trip that a few of us out making in Colorado. I have another large duffel that will stay under the bus until we fly to mexico full of strictly beach, pacifico cerveza drinking and tequilla shooting clothes. (2 pairs of board shorts and 2 pairs of flip flops, everything else is extraneous) Don't forget a couple of guitars that I brought home in case a song came knocking (none did). Now, for the record I will probably only wear one pair of jeans, and one pair of boots for the whole domestic trip and one pair of trunks and one pair of flip flops for the entire south of the border section. But at least I am prepared.

Here is what the trip has in store . . .

10/18 Kansas City, MO -- Knuckleheads - This is our first time in this club. If you come see us in K.C. you know how hard we have been looking for a home here. This place is new. Come out and join us and we'll see if we like it.

10/19 Kearney, NE -- Cunningham's - We used to play this club all the time. For the past several years we have just blown through town at night, but we found out we are getting some airplay on the college station, so we are stopping for an interview, an in studio performance and a gig. Wonder if anyone remembers us.

10/20&21 -Denver, CO -- The Walnut Room - You know if we are playing 2 nights in a row in any city, then we must be having a good time. If you are having trouble deciding which night to come to, come to both. We will be switching the sets up to make it interesting.

10/22 Evergreen, CO -- The Little Bear - This place is legendary and our shows there are equally so if only in our minds. Come expecting the unexpected (what does that mean? I don't know, but it is cool)

10/23 Laramie, WY - (tentative) Wyoming Public Radio. Morning show. Tune in or stream it on your computer.

10/23 Park City, UT -- Sidecar Bar - Mike and I partied in this bar during the sundance film fest last year. We thought we would go back and see what it is like to play.

10/24 Reno NV - This is a night off at the Harrah's Casino. Decided we would rest a day, playing black jack and eating huge casino buffets.

10/25 - San Francisco, CA -- Elbo Room - First time at this place in San Fran. We had a great turn out last time we were in town, and we are looking forward to a triumphant return.

10/26 - TBA - Still looking for a show in CA. Working on Santa Cruz, but we are not optimistic. Anyone wanna have a house concert? We will use our manners.

10/27 Los Angeles, CA -- Molly Malone's - This has turned into our regular home in L.A. We love it and we get a long set. Come on out and bring your hip, cool, trendy hollywood friends.

10/28 TBA - Still open Anyone for a house concert in So Cal?

10/29 Phoenix, AZ -- Rhythm Room - Phoenix - We have been having so much fun at this room in Phoenix that we are thinking of retiring there. soon. just kidding.

10/30 - 11/5 - Playa del Carmen, Mexico - If you want to come down, write us and we'll give you the info. If you can't make the journey you can tune in daily to the Steve Dahl show from 2-7 pm at http://www.dahl.com for the stream of the radio show that is on the air in the greater chicagoland area drive time weekdays. We thought we were going down to play a couple of songs a day. Now were are going to be cast members. I can't wait.

Our new tour manager is a little bit nervous about selling cds on this trip. He doesn't like talking to people. He has asked me to solicit volunteers to work the merch booth. If this is something you are willing to do we can get you and a friend into the show and maybe even buy you a couple of refreshments. email tyler@thenadas.com

In fact . . . . we now have wireless internet on the bus so you can email all of us on the road. In fact, I encourage you to do so . . . .

Jason@thenadas.com
jon@thenadas.com
justin@thenadas.com
mike@thenadas.com
luke@thenadas.com

ross, nick, and ben will be along as well. we will forward your messages.

DON'T forget to sign up for the cruise. More info is available at http://www.thenadas.com or http://www.fanclubcruises.com/the_nadas.htm We hope to be announcing our special guests next week.

QOTW - What is one thing you wouldn't leave home without on a trip like this?

Love and travel flask of Templeton Rye,

Jason and The Nadas

Use the force luke. . . .

I am going to apologize right now for everyone. Yes, we have neglected the
fans a bit lately… not much for blogs, our show schedule hasn’t been updated
in a timely fashion, the only way you really know we are even still alive is
this Myspace. We are sorry, we hope you accept. But what was supposed to be
the calm before a fall touring storm has been anything but calm. I am not
here to make excuses, but rather to give you an idea of why we have failed
to give you all more attention.
Jason has been doing this…
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609150348
among many other things. Mike has been working his gig as a booking agent,
as well as working with tour manager Tyler to book bands for Authentic
booking. In between that and being our tour manager, Tyler is also trying to
teach some other people how to do his old job so he can focus on tour
managing full time. Justin, in between browns, is busy being a handy man, as
well as making sure Meatloaf (or Louise according to him) is ready to travel
coast to coast this fall. Jon has been putting the finishing touches on the
new Towncrier album (which is going to be magniff by the by). Sara and
Lindsay have been working on the artwork and what not for the aforementioned
T.C. album , all while trying to fulfill their other Authentic Records
duties and attend college full time as well. And I have been learning how to
drive semi trucks, working for a photographer, and moving into a new
apartment, which looks more like a storage unit than an apartment right now
with all the boxes.
We know you are all busy as well, and are not looking for your sympathy.
Just hoping that you will all still come out to see us when we come to your
town during our fall tour. Which promises to be a super sweet party with
lots of good music, Mike and I riding our new long boards everywhere we go,
and hopefully all of you. Keep an eye on our schedule, and look for many
more shows to be added soon.
Hope to see you all next week in Minneapolis and Ames. Until then I must go
unpack some boxes so I can find something to wear tonight when I go see
Authentic Records’ most loveable redneck Josh Davis and his band at Mojo’s
Pizza House in Cedar Falls.
So until we see you soon…

love and hectic schedules,
Luke and TheNadas.

QOTW: Have you ever felt so busy that you may never sleep again?