After opening for The Naked Feel Goods' CD Release party, we were delighted to know that our friend Doug Hayman of SeaStar videotaped a lot of our set. We hope you enjoy the video recording of our latest number, "Spaceships"--
Love,
JM+TheFFD
I don’t really know how to describe the Oregon leg of the tour briefly with the Five Finger Discount and the Jesus Rehab. So I’ve decided that I’m not going to be brief. I’m going to take as much time as I need to discuss it.
The Tour kick-off show started at the Nectar Lounge in Fremont on a Wednesday night. There were familiar and unfamiliar faces in the crowd. Some people I hadn’t seen for years. We were walking up on stage when Julia turned to me and said, “I need to use the restroom.”
“You know you can still can,” I told her. We hadn’t even started picking up our instruments at that point. Still the show went on. Julia has made it a point to tell everyone that she likes a little bit of bladder tension to keep her on her toes. So how was this any different? A few songs in she stopped and said, “Now Geoff and Geli are going to play all of you an instrumental while I go to the bathroom.” She exited stage right very quickly and Geoff and I were left looking at each other awkwardly. He launched into something and we played for a few brief minutes until Julia re-appeared.
The Jesus Rehab played after us at the Nectar and one of my coworkers came and made the comment on the two distinct styles of music between them and Julia Massey + FFD. “It’s going to be an interesting tour,” he said. Interesting probably didn’t even describe the tip of the ice berg.
We hit the road on Saturday to make it to Sizzizi’s in Olympia. Drum kit, amps, guitars, bass, violin, keyboard and stands were all packed into the back of Geoff and Lisa’s Volvo. Camping gear and everything else went into the trunk of my Neon. I could almost hear circus music in my head because it was like seeing two clown cars with ridiculous amounts of things packed into them.
Olympia, the “All-American City” welcomed us without too much fanfare. One way streets and a city hall under construction, it seemed like a lot of other American cities you might expect to see. Sizzizi’s is a 24 hour coffee shop with wood panels over everything and green vines reaching everywhere. Portholes were even bolted into the ceiling so it was very much like playing in the middle of a pirate ship. We had some old faithful fans follow us from Seattle and made it a packed house in that place.
Uncle Mike, one of the local flavors of Olympia, also made it to the show. Earlier in the evening he was panhandling to “get out of town” and telling off color Michael Jackson jokes. Then later when he caught our show he was suddenly a man with connections. He worked in radio, he was in a band, he played piano and maybe he knew some folks that would be interested in us. It was one thing after another and all I could think about was the dollar he took off of Julia and tried to get more dollars off of everyone else by making us feel guilty and overly privileged. When the evening was done, I didn’t feel guilty at all and did feel overly privileged to be able to spend the tour with such giving and forgiving people because personally I don’t have much patience for people like Uncle Mike.
After Sizzizi’s we headed straight to Portland. Luke was kind enough to have offered up his home for the entirety of the two bands to crash. Although since Luke was out partying it up when we arrived, we introduced ourselves to Jenna, the fearless and fundamentally cool roommate. She spent her time getting us comfortable and even whipped us up some fantastically flavored hookah. I think chocolate, espresso and hazelnut were the flavors, but I’m not good at remembering things like that.
Waking up to a morning run in the park, then on to gluten-free Slappy Cakes, vintage shopping and friendly dogs everywhere in the green landscape, had me falling in love with Portland just a little bit. If I wasn’t sold from that, the venue where we played had me falling harder. A funky family feel in the décor, a full bar and gluten-free beer, gluten-free brownies and gluten-free pizza. It was a little slice of paradise where I could also make music with some of my closest friends. We had loyal folks from up North follow us all the way to Portland for that show. (I think props need to go out to the Earth corps cuties and Chris and Carrie.)
Dan, from the Jesus Rehab, took off that evening to be back at work making video games on Monday and Lisa, Geoff’s sweetie, also parted ways to be back for her midwifery interview. It never ceases to amaze me what an eclectic crew we are. Staying another night at Luke and Jenna’s we woke up to say goodbye to Portland with Thomas on a quick coffee tour. Then it was onwards and, literally, upwards to Bend.
The Volvo-Neon caravan continued up the mountain toward the snowy peaks. I was leading in the Neon with Julia and Jared and then we were passed by the Volvo carrying Geoff and Dom. We passed them again and text messages were sent. “See ya suckers!” might have been the gist of what Julia transmitted. A picture message was sent with Dom and Geoff glaring with fists in the air. Jared decided that it was time for some one-upman-ship and Julia took a photo of his dairy air. I refused to look or even glance at the picture that was taken but I was so shaken with laughter I almost had to pull over. The response from Geoff was a text asking if Jared was smuggling plums and I started hooting and snorting all over again.
I think the best part when we stopped later to answer nature’s call and Dom looked completely disgusted about seeing that side of his brother. Maybe it was taken a step to far? Although I still couldn’t stop laughing.
The store where we stopped was sparsely stocked and the sassafras hard candy I bought was all gummy because it had been sitting on the shelf too long. There wasn’t a gas station to been seen. “Is there a mountain pass we have to go through before we get to Bend?” Julia asked the woman behind the counter.
“I don’t know about no mountain pass,” the woman said with just the right amount of mountain twang. “You just follow that there road and you’ll wind up in Bend.”
Julia and I spoke about how strange it was not to know what a mountain pass was, but we definitely drove through one. And then we wondered how often that woman traveled more than two miles from her store. It’s almost a different world out on the edges of civilization like that. Time and life travel at a different speed.
We made it up the pass and past the snowy peaks of the three sisters before making it into Bend. The Volvo crew went on to the venue, a sports bar called the Summit, and the Neon crew went off in search of the campsite to set up the tents before it got dark. We found the site covered in soft pine needles and under trees next to a burbling river. It wasn’t long before tents were pitched and we caught up with Geoff and Dom playing pool at the Summit.
Julia was warned when she booked the show that “Monday nights are sleepy at the Summit.” That might have been an understatement considering it was more like Rip Van Winkle in there. But a tropical fish tank, a pool table and ping pong kept us entertained. David, a Bend local, opened up with some great guitar picking and Tom Petty covers. When the Jesus Rehab took the stage, I convinced Dom (the Nizzle) to take off his shirt by hollering “take it off!” Things were pretty much as usual. The FFD played and then we all jammed in the end.
I think the best part was David’s friend who I’ll refer to as the “godmother.” She went up to Julia and said, “You know I’m usually only a lesbian on Saturdays but your voice is definitely doing something for me on a Monday night.” She mentioned something about her husband being “Godzilla” in that town and that she’d try to help us get into Lilith Fair. Dom also got praise from the godmother. “You know you’re really good on the drums but your best asset is your body,” she told him. “I’m so horny for my husband right now.” David quipped in afterwards, “Wow, that’s saying something.”
We found our way to the campground and Jared made some of his amazing chili and I roasted marshmallows the size of your fist. The package said they were “giant roasters” and have been hence forth dubbed such. The drinks and food were flowing, Trevor Peach made an appearance. By the time I made my way back to the tent the fart jokes had hit full steam (probably from the chili) and I literally couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard. “I think we broke Geli,” Geoff said and it set me off into another fit of hysterics.
The next morning was quiet and Geoff and I were probably the ones that slept the least. I finally found him in the Volvo on the computer updating Facebook and twitter and, much to the chagrin of a few friends, checking work. We managed to get up and get packed up before the rain hit and stopped for breakfast in Sisters.
Stumbling into a local café we heard muttered whispers, “Where are they from?” Then after checking out the menu of only sandwiches and smoothies, we decided to leave. But not before we were bombarded by the tiny blond woman in braids with a vaguely Scandinavian accent. “No, no, no, no. Stay Stay. I make good food for you. You like. You eat. Stay.”
Julia, keeping it succinct, said, “I’m sorry we have wheat allergies.” And as we left I heard the woman turning to her local patrons saying “huh?” as the door shut behind us. Apparently everyone’s happy for business in May in Sisters. We stopped for Mexican instead which didn’t really help to lessen the “pee-pee poo-poo butt” jokes. Yes. We are all adults here.
It was off to Eugene from there. We were looking for the venue called The Tiny Tavern. It wasn’t so hard to find but it lived up to its name and then some. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon when we went in and there was a line of good ol’ boys at the bar sipping on beers. Julia spoke to the bartender and Geoff ended up talking to a guy who asked him, “Did you bring your own bouncer?” It was not quite the way to welcome someone and put them at ease.
After the less than restful night at the campground and the torrent of rain outside the group came to a consensus that we were going to get a hotel room. One of the good ol’ boys with a crooked eye and crooked teeth whipped out his smart phone and pointed us to a cheap but clean motel. Julia, who is always resistant to smart phone use said, “I should never just someone by how they look. Anyone can use one of those phones.”
Hotel room with two beds and five people was acquired. I ended up passing out for a couple hours to make up from the cold, rocky not-sleep of the night before. When I woke up, I was groggy and needed more but it was nearing time to go play music and we all eventually made our way back to the Tiny Tavern.
There was a different smaller crowd this time. Still a couple good ol’ boys and some people gambling on the electronic lotto machines. There was a different bar tender than Julia spoke to before but she was accommodating and began arranging the tables so we had a place to play in between the plastic buckets catching the rain coming in from the holes on the ceiling. “This place is literally falling apart,” she said. From the pieces of asbestos hanging from the ceiling in the bathroom, it was a small wonder the building hadn’t been condemned.
Although the best part about that tiny tavern was that the bands could have as much beer as they wanted for free and there was this hippie chick named Sky that was completely digging both sets. She was a belly dancer and kept weaving around in front. She also kept performing this trick of balancing a full glass of beer on her forehead while swaying around. At one point she started to harmonize with the Jesus Rehab and then just outright started howling.
Julia mentioned that there were CD’s for sale Sky asked if Julia was open for bartering. Julia said she might be and Sky replied, “I have many treasures in the back of my trunk.” Julia responded, “Yes, you seem like a woman of many treasures.” By the end of the evening the bar tender gave us the names of places that we should play instead of the Tiny Tavern. “You’re too good to play here,” she said and offered everyone as much beer as they wanted to drink. I bid a good night to everyone to catch up on that same rocky not-sleep and the shenanigans continued I’m sure.
The next morning found me alone in my own bed with Julia and Jared on the floor and the two bonded bros Geoff and Dom in the other bed. The bathroom humor continued when Jared and Dom were wrestling and all of a sudden things got quiet and Jared had the most disgusted and horrified look on his face. “Oh my god, he just sharted in my face. That was so gross.” It would seem that Dom finally got his brother back for smuggling plums. Yes. We are all adults here.
Julia followed her nose into downtown Eugene that morning and we found a place that served gluten free and dairy free options. It was a little place of hippie paradise and even had vegan sour cream for the Cortese brothers to enjoy. We stopped at a book store and then headed to Corvallis for the radio interview Julia had scheduled at the local college.
After a little wrestling with directions, in which Julia jumped out of the car and started leading the two vehicles on foot, we finally arrived at KBVR and met up with Hans. We spent a good part of their hour slot talking about both bands, playing some of our CD tracks and laughing about the “sharting” incident earlier in Eugene. It was an overall fun time.
We then took off for the Majestic theatre in downtown Corvallis. Dan, from the Jesus Rehab, had driven all the way from Seattle that day to make the show and we put on a rocking show for a couple of the locals. The other act was a man named Winn who’d come up from Austin to play with a group called Up Dixie Creek. He was fun, but think of a Nashville sound, mixed with Elvis performed by a small muscled man with blonde Janis Joplin hair in sunglasses. I could tell you some of his stories, but I’ll let him keep those for now.
We crashed that night at a Days Inn in one of their larger suites. This time there were three beds and a huge bathroom. Beers and hard ciders were consumed and a fight with the giant roasters ensued. It was more like having a pillow fight with tiny pillows. Julia picked up one of the thrown and fallen marshmallows and motioned to put it in her mouth. “Julia, no, no no,” I whispered and handed here a fresh one. “I’ve saved some and I’m hiding the rest under my pillow.” At the time and the day after it seemed really funny to me that I was so concerned about giving her a clean marshmallow to eat.
I still wound up with a whole bed to myself while Dan slept on the floor. He headed out before eight am so he could make it back to work before he missed one of his meetings. Now that man is a true rock star.
Instead of heading straight up I-5 and back to Seattle we decided to detour to the coast and head back via 101. Via twitter, tagentbot mentioned that we should stop at Tilamook on our way up. For the Cortese brothers, that’s just a factory of food they can’t eat. So we decided the Rogue brewery was close enough to a gluten factory that we’d stop there too. I sampled some of the pink spruce gin they distill under the Rogue name. It’s aged in pinot noir barrels so it almost has a sweet flavor. Then I found out they didn’t sell it at the brewery and I became very sad because I didn’t want to send us on a long quest to get an expensive bottle of gin.
On the way north out of town, Julia was driving and I saw a liquor store. “Julia, pull over, I need to buy some gin.” “Hahaha very funny, Geli,” was her reply. “No, seriously, Julia, pull over.” Geoff and Dom were in the lead with the Volvo so there was some fancy maneuvering to get their attention. But the liquor store had one last bottle of the local gin so I walked away a happy Geli.
Tilamook was visited where I got to try squeaky cheese, beaches were tromped upon and Jared came up empty handed in his quest for smoked salmon. There’s a lot I’ve missed because I’ve skimped on details and I still haven’t covered Folklife, ToST or Gibbsfest… Not to mention that we’re leaving for Colorado on Thursday. But that was the “abbreviated” fun of the Oregon leg of the tour.
Oregon, consider yourself rocked.
Today we'll set our wheels for Olympia, WA and continue from there into Oregon as the Five Finger Discount with The Jesus Rehab make our way around the NW for our tour! Check out our calendar to find out about where and when we'll be making music, and tune in for updates as we scurry around trying to find pancakes in time before the show :)
On Saturday night Jared Cortese, Dan Laughlin, and Dominic Cortese lit up the stage with Julia Massey and The Five Finger Discount in front of a packed crowd at Bop Street Records in Ballard. Both bands were celebrating the release of their new records, and Seattle was listening. The Jesus Rehab started off the evening with an acoustic set displaying a side of the band rarely seen. Although they were one member short, the set was dynamic, gutsy, and filled with a combination of creative arrangements and fan favorites that fully displayed the band's range. One of the highlights of the evening was during the song Seattle, where Laughlin led a clapping session with the crowd while Cortese wailed away on the lyrics “It wasn’t what it was like it was in Seattle.” Both bands played on the Rehab's final song of the night called “Reprise.” The song's minimalistic form with intricate melodies, pulsing rhythms, and polychordal harmonies was performed masterfully, and featured Geli Wuerzner on the violin. The Five Finger Discount immediately followed with a performance leaving nothing to be desired. From the second she took the stage, lead singer Julia Massey had the crowd hanging on her every word. The band started their set with the eerie ballad “Goner” showcasing their ability to take the listener on a soulful journey, while moving through complex key changes, abstract part writing, and intricate picking patterns effortlessly. From there, the rhythm section took over, vamping on a C# minor progression which smoothly transitioned into the catchy and driving “Man Who Could Float.” Massey and her cohorts played through hit after hit from the new album, never skipping a beat. The night was capped off in grand fashion by a 9 minute Opus called “Fruit Tree/Motobong. The medley finished with a succession of high pitch screams, which from from Massey's hallowed pipes mimicked the message of a powerful song bird solidifying to the crowd that they were seeing something very special. It was truly a night to remember in Seattle.
One broken mic, two rocking sets, and three days with dom cortese later, and we can honestly say that the Bop St. show was one of the highlights for the band so far.
Thomas Surprenant made it, as well as the 60 other fantastic people who stood the entire time and couldn't drink any booze. Many thanks to those of you who held up the records for us to see.
We are, in fact, completely humbled by your support, and have actually sold out of our first pressing of 100 records. The rest will be on order this week, and we look forward to getting them out to the masses.
Forever yours,
The Five Finger Discount