8/15/09 - Murphy's - Arnold's Park, Iowa

Set:
| Lady Madonna [The Beatles] | Good Vibes | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | M'Lady | The Date | Share | Moon Over the Water | Last Night | Like a Spy (Not the Stalker) | Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold] | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Found My Boogie | Chosen Ones | Damn the Man | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] | Crossroads | Downtown Liquor Store | Aphrodite | Clone You | Jumpstart My Rocket |

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The whole Okoboji area is a lot of fun, with a lot to do. We had the entire day to just relax and enjoy the lake and corresponding festivities. My wife and I decided to see all we could see while we were there. The previous day, we purchased unlimited ride bracelets at Arnold's Park (the historic amusement park the town was named after). Today, we decided to take a boat tour of the lake on the equally historic Queen II. It's a replica of the original Queen steam boat that would take folks on tours of the lake in the early 20^th Century. The ride took a couple of hours (it's a big lake) and we purchased popcorn and Coronas to go along with the hot summer day. After the boat ride, we visited the Maritime Museum, which featured a boat that had sunk in the 1940s and was raised recently, revealing how well preserved it remained on the bottom of the lake. We then saw the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which included a Grammy Award won by the band Slipknot and artifacts relating to the place crash on "The Day the Music Died," among other things relating to Iowa music. I registered Junebug as a musician visitor and we moved on to the mini-donuts stand just down the hill from Murphy's, our weekend venue.

Liza and I returned to our hotel room and invited the other Junebug boys to come over for a beer, hang out and go grab a bite before the show. Nick was with family, who were camping out that weekend, but the others obliged. We went to the Taco House, which was quite good. We then headed to the venue.

It was another great show. There were more folks out tonight than last night. Last night, most of the crowd showed up after we were done, just in time to party with the Isles, but tonight, there was a good number of people present for our set as well. I felt like tonight's set was way better and more energetic than last night's. I was more used to D.J.'s drum kit after playing a whole set on it, so that was part of it. I got off the stage at the end of the night with an awesome attitude and feeling. Nick, however, said he felt last night's was better. So it's open to interpretation, I suppose.

Even if we weren't quite as good as last night, it was still a good show. You can always tell it's a good show when there are a couple ladies down front, hoochie dancing all over one another. It's fun for them, it's entertaining for us, so it's really a win-win situation. That happened tonight. And it got other dancing down front, so it can't be bad.

Then, the Isles again kicked our asses and took our names, because they are freaking amazing. Like I needed to tell you that.

After the show was over, the sound guy, whose name is Nick, praised us and told us he really liked us. He told us a bit about his musical projects and then moved into telling ghost stories about Murphy's. He took us into the basement to show us a creepy room in which everyone feels uneasy and in which the lights turn on and off routinely. They sometimes hear odd sounds coming out of that room and it freaks all the employees out all the time. I can report that nothing paranormal happened when we were down there, but he sure made us feel uneasy in the moment. But we got over it. We went back upstairs and BSed with the Isles peeps and then headed for our sleep places.

In the morning, Liza and I decided to go to the beach. As is usually the case when we're on vacation, the day we chose to go to the beach ended up being unseasonably cold. But that didn't stop me. I wanted to stand in the lake. So I did. Then it was on the road, back to Minneapolis, our home sweet home. It really was a great getaway weekend in a nice little resort town. We just happend to play some music while there. I'd recommend Okoboji as a nice place to spend a weekend.

As a post script, Dustin shot a video of what his and Anthony's night was like in their hotel room in Okoboji. He and Anthony were both half-asleep. I saw it once. When he shares it with me again, I'll share it with you.