elevado tour blog

2007-04-30T19:33:00.000-05:00

Austin, The Mohawk - 4/26/07

2007-04-27T16:23:00.000-05:00

Welcomed by another old friend Wyc Cummings of Athens, we relaxed and set up the purchase of a replacement part for the space case. It didn't turn out to our advantage, however. We trusted a guy whom we identify on this video. But otherwise, we had a fun night on 6th Street watching bands that sound like And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness.

Speaking of all that goul, Marc took us to see the World's Largest Urban Colony of Bats!

Houston, Tx, - the Proletariat - 04/25/07

2007-04-26T16:20:00.000-05:00

The Proletariat is the newest coolest thing in Houston.

Austin, Room 710 - 04/24/07

2007-04-25T16:12:00.000-05:00

Another homecoming for us. Mark Duca, Elevado's drummer and producer for "Occidental" and "Sterilized," met us at the Purple Spider where we enjoyed the down-to-earth atmoshpere and weeklies.

Las Vegas to Austin

2007-04-23T16:26:00.000-05:00

Joy and Jacqueline took care of our Vegas room while we oiled up.

Los Angeles, Molly Malone's - 04/21/07

2007-04-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Homecoming for Cain Wong, whose experimental project, SpaceBoy, and work on Elevado's first album originated here. Certainly one of the best mixed shows we've had in many nights. These guys are pro, but we couldn't help feeling that we were auditioning for Star Search.

San Francisco, Edinborough Castle - 4/20/07

2007-04-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

Kitty flew over to give Justin a much needed respite while the rest of us were lucky in that our our hosts in San Francisco lived in the Haight not too far from Edinborough. The district was more carnival then usual as it was 4/20. Amoeba Records, certainly one of the best vinyl stores we've seen.

We took Charm with us to LA~

Santa Cruz, CA - Pacific Coast - 04/18/07

2007-04-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

After sightseeing with Santa Cruz's own punk gothic musical collective, New Thrill Parade, we had a bite to eat and saw what we all agree was one of the best shows we've seen in some time. Yes, one in the same, New Thrill Parade. Thanks Amitai and Sara, here's another New Thrill Parade Video

Portland, OR - Tube - 04/16/07

2007-04-17T12:01:00.000-05:00

Our friend, Denny, from Athens met us with a house party and his new recordings. He also joined us the following night at Tube, in downtown. Justin joined him on drums for the second song.

Seattle, WA - Atlas Clothing - 04/13/07 & 04/14/07

2007-04-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

Our friends from MiniBus helped in every way possible. A place to stay, a tour of town and two nights at Atlas Clothing. We just can't seem to find our photos at the moment.

Boise ID - The Bouquet - 04/12/07

2007-04-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

The Treatment

Salt Lake City, Monk's House of Jazz - 04/10/07

2007-04-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

Ok Class, what have we learned during the all-night, all-day drive from Omaha to Salt lake City?

The United States is very big; long drives in a bumpy bus should not be followed by an immediate gig. We left Omaha at midnight, arrived in SLC at 6pm, witnessed a local barfight and multiple arm wrestling contests, were rerouted from the original venue Urban lounge to Monk's House of Jazz and. The audience (guys and gals alike) didn't seem to notice as they were busy chewing tobacco and doing yager-bombs.

Into a Blizzard, the drive to Salt Lake City

2007-04-10T17:20:00.000-05:00

The longest leg of the tour thus far... We left Omaha at Midnight with Cain Wong at the wheel, and after several driving shifts, arrived in Salt Lake City at around 7pm the next day... 18 hours straight driving! And almost entirely on Veggie Oil ... our 150 gallon supply depleted about an hour away from SLC.
Near Laramie, Buford Wymoning is the highest peak between New York and San Francisco (elevation 8000') We stopped at the Buford Trading Post in the middle of a blizzard that shut down 80 and put us behind schedule.

Once we stopped, we all poored out of the bus, headed to the bar and got a "feel" for the local scene where two guys caused the bartender to repeately slam an aliminum bat onto the bar as she tried to break up a meth-fueled debate. One guy thought the other guy whistled at him?

Omaha, NE - Saddle Creek Bar - 04/09/07

2007-04-10T17:07:00.000-05:00

Omaha, what a amazing town, bit remote, true... but fantastic people no less. The dundee district (no mate, not that dundee) was great to us in particular. We got our veg tank replenished after a very lengthy all night drive, met some great locals and discovered a new problem with our trusty bus. The radiator hose had rubbed against some metal and was beginning to leak. With a stroke of luck and some dirty work, Don was able to repair our "about to rupture" cooling lines with a salvage effort from parts that were removed from the bus...

The Saddle Creek Bar:
Has a big stage, great bartenders and it's so unknown, Conor Oberst gave his latest interview here. They also have great red beans and rice.

Chicago, Illinois -Silvie's Lounge - 04/09/07

2007-04-09T19:09:00.000-05:00

The sun was setting on Chicago as we pulled into the city, perfect timing to take in lake shore drive and the massive great lake michigan.

We sold a couple of cds to lifelong residents Mr. and Mrs. Dr.Seagle. Avid wildlife photographs, they talked to us about Red-Necked Grebes from Costa Rica that land in the heavily preserved Lincoln Park the same weekend of every year. Then the cops came and busted our party.

While the rest of the band hit the club, Justin found himself scrounging for grease, and right up until gig time, he and Cain managed to completely fill the veggie tank.

Silvie's Lounge provided Elevado with very cool new friends - in the form of like-minded bands. Fellow veggie-oilers Worser from Phoenix Arizona and locals Chatty Cathy both rocked! They're both looking for bass players, btw.

Champaign-Urbana, the Iron Post - 04/07/07

2007-04-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

Our gig at the Iron Post was hopeful as it's one of the few downtown clubs for studetns at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The place reminded us of a mid-west version of Eddie's Attic. Other bands on the bill included Casados, Lynn O’Brien and Dan Boehm. They were acoustic or on a piano, sans drums, and the crowd was quiet and very attentive for all of the other performances. Luckily, during the song Ribbons and Bows, Elevado managed to break them out of their shells and in a scene not too dissimilar from the 80's film "Footloose."

Wasington DC, a Day Off - 04/06/07

2007-04-07T18:09:00.000-05:00

The band was fairly worn out after six consecutive nights of performances. But press follow-up, the details of ISP's record label + Atlanta venue, need for laundry and showers, veggie-oil deficiency, and impending 12 hour drive all presented the band with a very busy day.

Eric and Justin scoured Pennsylvania Ave for wireles internet and after over an hour of walking the streets came across Barnes & Nobles. The only positive thing to happen there was to see "This World is On Fire" in Magnet Magazine as part of their subscriber compilation and the purchase of 'Rip It Up, Start Over' by Simon Reynolds, a non-fiction clinic of post-punk's rise andn fall.

Be warned: Barnes & Nobles and Starbucks have teamed up in this annoying scam to entice patrons to pay $4 for internet, requiring them to buy bad coffee and pathetic overpriced under-sized sandwiches while paying for internet use. They told us the electrical outlets weren't working. Guess what. There were no outlets! Big Scam! Buy our overpriced coffee and get the hell out of here!

Luckily, downstairs, a kind sales desk clerk alerted us to cafe tu-o-tu - a block away where we came upon a privately owned bistro with delicious food made with care, friendly service and free internet.

Elevado left D.C. at 3pm, found a Mexican restaurant in the suburbs with an endless supply of grease and hit the road with 80 gallons of grease, driving straight through the night. We landed in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois by 6pm, checked into our first hotel of the trip, and went straight to soundcheck.

Washington, DC - The Red and The Black - 04/05/07

2007-04-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

We finished the video for "Postcard from Four Walls Down" then played with fantastic local acts A Study in Her andPerson Check them out they've played at ISP!

We protest

New York, NY - Otto's Shrunken Head 04/04/07

2007-04-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

During February's tour we meet (and had a great breakfast with) Old Gold. After treating us to a great breakfast, and being a super cool guy when our bus was frozen, we knew we wanted to play with him ASAP. The video is still being inspected by YouTube, but untill then a pics worth a thousand words!

After a smooth set by Old Gold, Elevado took the stage ... here's a new song we've been working out.. I think we're calling it "Sweating Bullets"

"Song of a Purple Man"

Thanks to our good friend Mari for taking pics and holding our merch while we were in Canada!

Montreal, QC - L-Escogriffe 04/03/07

2007-04-04T16:37:00.000-05:00

The parking was difficult, the people colorful Morntreal welcomed us with good weather and Many Mental Mistakes, a local power rock trio who we hope to see again very soon.

"Ribbons and Bows"

"This World is on Fire"

After we played locals Many Mental Mistakes played a mind bending and face melting show. Hey they even taped most of our show, check them out as we hope to play with them again this fall. Until then buy everything they have for sale.

Ottawa, ON, Zaphod Beeblebrox 04/02/07

2007-04-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

The next morning we crossed the boarder in NY, after receiving a tip from the Radio Bean's barrista. The bus, seen here, is resting comfortably in between an adult video store and dance studio. Welcome to Canada! We liked the Zaphod Beeblebrox reference even if the bill for the evening was insane.

We made it to Ottawa early enough to catch up on our correspondences, see some of the beautiful capital city and meet some of those super nice people we kept hearing about.

Burlington, VT, the Radio Bean, 04/01/07

2007-04-02T09:16:00.000-05:00

On our way to the Red Bean we drove through the enchanted woods of the White Mountain National Forest, a.k.a, the whites, and had to stop for a photo opot. Fresh Fresh Fresh clean air.

In Burlington, we arrived at the Radio Bean coffeehouse, bastion of the independent. Just a block from Church Street at Pearl and North Winooski. One of the most friendly, ecclectic and wonderfully unassuming places in the eastern United States. After our show the owner, Smokey Joe, a.k.a., Lee, talked to the crowd in a hip hop fashion using his harmonica and spoken word to start a series of impromptu poetic musings

Don is not in the bus outside one of the Great Lakes, alas Lake Champlain wasn't given that distinction, but fuck it they have a Monsters!

Boston, the Basement 3/31/07

2007-04-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

On our fourth trip to Boston we were reunited with one of our most favorite artists, B.J. Snowden, who falls somewhere in between Sun Ra, Stevie Wonder and that happy lounge music a la Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts music. It was amazing to see how the audience gravitated towards her and found themselves uncontrollably doing the Snoopy Dance. As a dear friend, she will be coming to Atlanta, ASAP.

Chapel Hill, the Reservoir Bar 3/29/07

2007-03-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

Chapel Hill was a great start, we played with Beloved Binge and Red Collar, and then had our bus painted by a local artist, Brian Buchanan
who formerly hailed from our old hometown Athens, Ga. He worked on it all night and when we woke we were a little surprised. The bus has been turning heads and ensuing laughter ever since. Thanks to the Reservoir Bar for having us!

Also, Chapel Hill has another label than Merge..... called Trekky Records and we plan to do a Christmas album with them after our summer Tour Bus Drag Race, as they too veggie diesel it up.
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