10/14/11 - Driftwood Char Bar - Minneapolis

Anthony's Birthday Party

Set:

| Beards | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Modern Age | Hell-Bent Woman | Mystic Princess | Moon Over the Water | Fluffy Little Hands | Handlebar Mustache | Soul Shaker | Jumpstart My Rocket |

---

Tonight we were joined by our dear friends, the inimitable San Haven Chuckle from Fargo. They've been wanting to get to the Cities to play with us for awhile, and now we've finally made it happen. Anthony's birthday is in a couple days, and we figured this was a perfect occasion to party with some music and friends. This was Anthony's birthday celebration, and the place was full of friends and fans. As Anthony said when the show got underway, "I'm one year older and a lot more stupider."

Of further note tonight -- This was Dillon Marchus's very first show as Junebug's bassist. Coincidentally, it was exactly one year ago tonight that former bassist Brandon Johnson had his first show as Junebug bassist. Strange. Kismet.

The first two songs of the night have a dubious connection. Both songs begin with solitary drum beats which are identical. So if anyone was paying attention, they would notice that.

Dillon had his first experience with "Bad Mamma Jamma" tonight. He funked it up well. And when talking about getting out of the mental institution, Anthony gave a shout out to an old band from our youths called Outpatient 13. After this song, we got chants of "one more song!" Which is interesting since it was only the third of the night. Was it a subtle hint? We didn't pick up on it if it was.

Before "Modern Age," Anthony mentioned "we like to believe there's something sacred hidden in both classic rock and facial hair... Some gems, maybe." The we played the song. Afterwards, Dustin said, "As a birthday present, I'll help you write an ending to that song."

When we finished playing "Mystic Princess" tonight, one member of the crowd felt so positively about the song that he shouted out, "Correct! Correct! That was correct!" Dustin informed him that his beat is correct. "Hell yes," I added.

We continued with the show, rocking as you would expect. Some fine, but anonymous, audience member bought us a pitcher of beer, which is one of the perks of the job. But I wish we had known who it was so we could thank them.

We did experience the typical San Haven Chuckle mooning tonight. Any time we play a show with the Chuckle, we can be assured of seeing their big white man butts at some point throughout the night. Apparently, that's what we get for singing their lyrics to our song. They returned that favor, however, in addition to the mooning. They sang our lyrics to their song in a return tribute.

We opened tonight, and let the Chuckle close 'er down. Since it was Anthony's birthday, we decided to play early and let him party down for the rest of the night. No only that, but we're heading into the studio tomorrow for the weekend to work on more of Beards.

Fun fact: 58% of the songs played tonight are from the upcoming new album.

10/11/11 - Tour Stop at MasterMix Studio - Minneapolis

Tour Stop at MasterMix

Set:

| Beards (partial) | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Mystic Princess | Hell-Bent Woman | Beards (partial) | Handlebar Mustache [not recorded] | Beards (partial) | Funky Jam [not recorded] |

---

Tonight was the recording of the inaugural TourStop at MasterMix. Using us as their guinea pigs, Student Run Records and IPR launched this new series which caters to local and touring bands. The band comes into MasterMix and plays a short set while engineers record it and shoot video and still photography. There are interviews, and refreshments, and it is a somewhat exclusive event with a limited number of people able to attend. Stuff will be edited together and released online. Good stuff all around.

So this was really a really cool thing. We weren't really too sure what to expect going in. The whole of event was kind of a mystery to us. The way it sounds, since it's brand new and this was the first one, it was kind of a mystery to everyone. All we really knew was the basic idea that we would come in and play four songs and that both audio and video were being recorded.

I arrived around 4:45 p.m. and as soon as I walked in, people were giving me the rockstar treatment. Now, keep in mind, I attend IPR. These are people I see at school daily, people I sit around and shoot the breeze with on a regular basis. But in this context, I guess I was part of "the talent." When I walked in, everyone seemed really welcoming and happy to see me. About five people at once asked if they could help load gear into the building. Of course I took them up on it. All my drum gear was loaded in in about three minutes. It was fabulous.

I then helped Anthony carry his gear in, and by that time, the engineers had already gotten a solid start on setting up my cymbal stands. I just had to basically put my gear in place and then I was free to mingle with the guests.

Eventually, we started a sound check with the recording engineers while the videographers set lighting. Midway through the sound check, we got pulled away to do interviews. We were split into two groups: Anthony & Dustin, and me & Dillon. Dillon and I were interviewed first by Keenan Sattler, a student at IPR. Then, the others were interviewed by Megan Schueller, another student. Then, we all joined together for a final couple questions. It'll all be edited into the program smoothly. In retrospect, I kind of wish that the interview would have been all of us together. Our vibe and sense of humor usually comes from playing off one another in a group setting. And furthermore, with the nature of the questions, Dillon ended up being pretty quiet, due to him being a completely new addition to the band. So, our segment was a little dull, I felt. But I'm confident that it will all play pretty well when it's put together. Anthony and Dustin, however, knocked it out of the park.

After the interviews were taped, it was time to play some music. We gathered in the performance area of MasterMix and the guests crowded into the control room and lounge area to watch and listen to our performance.

Once we got the word that both audio and video were rolling, we opened with "Beards." However, midway through, we completely lost Anthony's guitar. The first of a few technical difficulties reared its ugly head. I think it had something to do with one of his pedals, but I'm not sure. The engineers got it figured out and we moved on in the set.

"Destiny, She Drives a Rolls" was next. It was a solid performance. We've already recorded most of this song in the studio, so it is pretty well established, and pretty fresh in our minds. Piece of cake.

The next tune was one we intend to record basic tracks for this coming weekend. It's "Mystic Princess" and we did an okay job of it. It went pretty well. We closed the set with "Hell-Bent Woman," which Anthony dedicated to his girlfriend Katie, which I found humorous and laughed about heartily.

When it was over, we got the go-ahead to try to re-do "Beards," since we didn't make it through. About halfway through the tune this time, we were stopped by the audio engineer because they ran out of disk space. So while we waited for that situation to be worked out, we played "Handlebar Mustache" in an effort to entertain the guests through the technical difficulty. We're not sure if they could hear us through the whole song, since I think the system was reset, but we played through the whole thing anyhow. It was not recorded.

They got the disk situation under control and gave us the go-ahead to try the tune again. We did. We got it rolling again, and it was a good take. But alas, it was not meant to be. There was another unspecified technical difficulty and we got the word that "that's a wrap." We celebrated by playing a funky, funky jam (which was not recorded) and were then sent out to mingle with the exclusive guests.

There were snacks and beverages, and general frivolity. There were many compliments, and some photos taken, and lots of good-time schmoozing.

When it was all said and done, the four of us went to Stadium Pizza for some beers. Katie joined us as did a couple of the engineers, Bill and John.

We had a great night. This was a lot of fun and I think that IPR and Student Run Records have a good thing going here. It would be fun if we could return sometime later down the road, when some of the kinks are ironed out.

Thanks for having us, IPR!

10/1/11 - Red Rooster Coffee House - Aberdeen, S.D.

Red Rooster Coffee House 15th Anniversary Celebration

Set:

| Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Modern Age | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Hell-Bent Woman | Handlebar Mustache | Mystic Princess | Moon Over the Water | Found My Boogie | Jumpstart My Rocket | Refrigerator | Like a Spy (Not the Stalker) | Downtown Liquor Store | Bumblebee |

Encore:

| On the Sidewalk / To the Next Episode |

The Red Rooster Coffee House in Aberdeen, S.D. is one of our favorite places to play in this crazy world. As any follower of ours likely knows, the Rooster is where we played our first show as a full three-man band. That was more years ago than I would like to admit, quite honestly. But the Rooster has always held a special place in our heart. It's was a big part of what we did back in the day. It was pretty much the only place we played for awhile. And many (or most) of the Junebug songs you enjoy so far were debuted at the Red Rooster. In the past, Dan Cleberg, one of the owners, has referred to us as a "quintessential Rooster band." It seems we are a part of Rooster history, just as they are a part of ours. So when they called on us to come celebrate their fifteenth anniversary with them, how could we say no?

We couldn't. We didn't. We played. And it was good.

Back in the old days, when we first started out at the Rooster, we were a three-piece. We have been plagued with a curse of the bassists. We just can't seem to hold on to them. But the core three have remained the same, through thick and thin. We currently do have a bassist. His name is Dillon, as he has yet to play a show with us at this point. But this show was booked before he was with us and he had things to attend to at home in Minneapolis this weekend. Dustin, Anthony and I (tony) were the ones who played all those Rooster shows back in the day, so it seemed fitting that tonight, when we're celebrating the history of the Rooster, that we play this celebratory show in the classic lineup. Classic Junebug. Or Junebug Retro, if you will.

So, while we celebrate the past, we're also looking toward the future. We took the opportunity tonight to play a few songs off of the upcoming album. We opened the set with "Beards" and went right into "Destiny, She Drives a Rolls." When I talked a little bit about the new album, a voice from crowd enquired, "Is it about beards?" "It's about smoothies. Strawberry smoothies," I replied. "It's an ironic title." Dustin added, "It's based on an inside joke. You wouldn't get it."

We continued with the live performance debut of "Modern Age." It was good. Then, afterward, Jeremy Burckhard, friend and sound person, mentioned that Anthony's vocal effects pedal was making some bad distortion come through. In the midst of this conversation, he used the term "mouth rodeo." There's really no significance to this. I simple liked the term "mouth rodeo" and I still do. Mouth rodeo.

We wished Anthony's lady's young one, Cora a happy birthday tonight, and sang her a painfully bad rendition of the traditional birthday song. Really painful. Nobody deserves that kind of garbage on their birthday, especially not a young girl. But what do you expect from us?Honestly. Another thing regarding the date; Dustin mentioned this to be earlier in the night, as did a friend of mine on Bookface. So I mentioned it to the crowd. "Does anyone know how to get ahold of Billy Joe Armstrong? Because it's time to wake him up...." Silence. "September has ended." Quieter silence. Anthony rubbed it in. "That one went over really well, Tony." He then introduced the next song saying, "Well this is a song that Billy Joel loves because he loves Wendy's food." I'm not sure what Billy Joel has to do with this. Rubbing it in.

"Hell-Bent Woman" was on the setlist tonight. But this is a family place and there were kids present. So it was "Heck-Bent Woman" for this performance. However, Anthony left in the line about getting herpes. Not sure how I feel about that.

We talked a little more about memories of the old days, discussing the old layout of the coffee house, before the expansion in 2001. We talked about our biggest fan, Danny Ch., who was present at all the early shows before he moved out of town. A fan shouted out the memory of my leather pants. Yes, I did used to wear leather pants occasionally at our shows. Sadly, I'm pretty sure they would no longer come close to fitting me.

We played "Refrigerator" and in the middle of it ended up talking about Doc and Marty. We played "Downtown Liquor Store" specifically for my sister Wendy who was in attendance tonight. The crowd shouted "drink himself to death" super loud. And they did the "Place" clap during "Bumblebee."

I personally thanked the Red Rooster Coffee House for all they've done for Aberdeen, for the art and music community, and for all the individuals they've helped out, included me. We ended the set with "Bumblebee" which was one of the favorites from long ago.

The show was over and we were started to vacate the stage. But a chant of "Next Episode" started swelling in our ears. "Next episode! Next episode! Next episode!" You have to give the fans what they want, people. So, this silly song that debuted at the Red Rooster as a JOKE in the year 2000 is one of the things they want, nay need, to hear. We started it with a silly abbreviated version of "On the Sidewalk" and kicked into it, forgetting the guitar solos. It was short, but sweet.

Afterward, a couple people were still requesting "Place." I would have loved to have played it. But Anthony either didn't want to play it or didn't hear the requests. It made sense, though. Since this place has been important to us, and this place is celebrating fifteen years, and this place was where we were playing... We probably should have. But we didn't. Next time. Always leave 'em wanting more. (?)

Finally tonight, this was a strange sort of family reunion for me. I had a lot of relatives in the place. My wife, my son, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law Michael, my mother, my sister Kelsey, my sister Wendy, and Wendy's man-friend. It was pretty cool to feel all the family love coming from that side of the room.

Thanks for the fifteen years, Red Rooster. Here's to fifteen more! I wonder if we'll still be playing in fifteen years, to play the Rooster's 30th Anniversary party. Interesting thought.

View the entire show below:

Video streaming by Ustream

9/2/11 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis

Set:
| Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Modern Day Fairy Tales | Vacation to Oblivion | M'Lady | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | I Am the Walrus [The Beatles] | Crossroads | Jumpstart My Rocket | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] |

---

This was our first show at the legendary 7th Street Entry at First Avenue in Minneapolis. We saw it as kind of a big deal. First of all, doing well at the Entry is capital toward someday playing the Main Room. The Main Room is where Prince filmed Purple Rain. So you get the idea. Secondly, this was the first show since we've started working with Student Run Records, and there were going to be people from the label there. So we wanted to impress. Like I said earlier, it was kind of a big deal to us.

So it came as a blow a week or so ago when our bassist, Brandon, sent us an email saying he wouldn't be coming back to Minneapolis after his summer with family in South Dakota, though he would play the show at the Entry. It came as a bigger blow when four hours before load-in before the show, I received a text message saying he wouldn't make it after all. That was a major bummer. Major.

I made a quick call to Anthony and sent a message off to Dustin. Unfortunately, the guy we've been looking at to fill the bass position had a previous engagement tonight. So Anthony said he had a short list in mind of two or three people he could call to fill in tonight. The gentleman who answered the call was Anthony's friend Josh Carlson.

As soon as Josh got off work at 6:00 p.m., he headed over to Anthony. There they crammed on a pre-determined and revised setlist. Josh and Anthony went through all the songs and Josh took copious notes. I sent Anthony a text at some point in the evening asking how things were going. "We got this, dawg" was the reply.

Meanwhile, at the venue, Dustin and I had loaded in. I met a few Student Run Records people at the door and they helped load some stuff in. As soon as I set down all the merch, they went to work, counting, sorting and creating an inventory. It was strange, but cool. It was something we didn't have to worry about at all. We had enough to focus on with the strangeness of what has happening. It was nice to have some help.

Anthony and Josh arrived and some of us grabbed some food next door at the Depot. The show started with Young & Tender and we chilled in the basement greenroom. I kept thinking that it was super cool that at this venue, in this greenroom had also chilled such acts as Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Husker Du at one time or another. I was daydreamin'.

Chiefs of the North then rocked the stage as we got ready to go on ourselves. Downstairs in the greenroom sat Josh like a champ, doing some last-minute studying.

Chiefs of the North ended, and we set up. (I, the drummer, was the first guy completely ready to go, by the way.) Since the setlist was revised sort of last-minute, I didn't have any printed out for myself or the band. Anthony had texted the set to me earlier in the evening, so I found a setlist from one of the other bands and I wrote our set on the back of it. It was too dark to see on the floor, so I impaled it on my hi-hat stand. It worked surprisingly well. I may end up trying it again.

We got the set started and Josh completely fell right into our groove. Occasionally, he would crouch down by his bass amp so he could better hear himself as he glanced at the notes in his notebook. But usually, he was grooving and feeling our flow.

The strangeness of the whole situation continued through the set. Anthony's effects pedal stopped working properly, so he bypassed it, playing everything dry. And it was loud. Not only that, but he broke a string and didn't have a spare. Dustin worked it out for him, though. Then there were tuning issues. At one point, Anthony turned to me and said, "This is a train wreck." It wasn't quite a train wreck in my estimation, but it certainly wasn't our best showing.

Furthermore, it seemed that most of the crowd that had been there through the night had been there specifically for one band. As it turns out, we shouldn't have played last tonight.

But when it's all said and done, we had fun. It was the Entry, and I had decided that in spite of everything, I was going to enjoy this gig. This I did.

At the end of the show, I realized that the "Who the Hell is Junebug?" sticker that I had carefully affixed to the urinal in the men's room had been removed. I found this to be odd, since the entire rest room was covered in band stickers. One more obstacle to overcome.

At the end of the night, it turned out that our pal Cody managed to snag the poster which hung outside the door advertising the show. He wanted us all to autograph it. I told him that would make it worthless. After I had a little trouble with the marker he handed me (it was a calligraphy marker, it had an, angled flat edge) he made me sign it again, directly underneath. He made the others double-autograph the poster as well. To which I replied, "double-autograph equals double-worthless."

I do hope we get a chance to play the Entry again relatively soon. Though those present all said it sounded good and it was fun, I feel like we somehow need to redeem ourselves and make it a good show. Maybe our CD release show. There's a thought. Let's think about that.

8/15/11 - Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis

Student Run Records A&R Showcase

Set:

| Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | M'Lady | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Crossroads | Beards | Clone You | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] |

---

This show crept up on us kind of last minute. I got an email from a classmate, Crystal Statskey, who is one of the folks involved with Student Run Records out of IPR. The email went out to several musicians/bands in the immediate IPR community. She said they were having a label A&R showcase to try to line up an artist to sign. There were a couple slots left on the bill and would we be interested in submitting our interest. I grabbed our EPK and a couple tracks and sent them along. We were very quickly accepted onto the bill.

So the point of this show was not only to rock out and have a good time, but also to attempt to impress the good people at Student Run Records. Because after all this was said and done, they would discuss who they would like to work with.

We played third on the bill, after Sticky Byte and Bruce McLaughlin Band - both very good and fun bands, which are a great mix with our music. We should play more shows with those guys.

We g0t decked out in our colors -- meaning we were all wearing athletic jogging suits of differing solid colors. We took the stage with yelling and high-fiving and general frivolity. We started the set out with energy, kicking it with "Poet," followed by "Casanova" and "Bad Mamma Jamma." It was a good high octane start to the show.

People were into it, which we were really pleased about, for sure. Again, our buddy PJ was in the house, capturing live audio. And our friend Collin was capturing some video with our other pal Bruce's flip cam. One of the examples of these synced together is below. There's more where that came from, too. Word.

This show was really solid all the way around. There were a couple minor mix-ups. "You could have a bumper car flying..." But that's to be expected from time to time, obviously. We ended on a high note and people kept talking about our rendition of "Sledgehammer." Apparently it struck a nerve this time around.

It was a good show. I hope we impressed.

EDIT: It turns out we made an impression. Student Run Records has asked us to work with them. We start tracking our new album Beards within a matter of weeks!

7/12/11 - Chalk It Up! - River's Edge Commons - Elk River, Minn.

Chalk It Up!

Set:

| Come Together [The Beatles] | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Spring Fever | Found My Boogie | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | I Am the Walrus [

The Beatles]

| Moon Over the Water | The Date | On the Sidewalk | Beards | Theme From Inspector Gadget / In the Hall of the Mountain King / Refrigerator | Jumpstart My Rocket | Crossroads | Bumblebee | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] |

---

Elk River, Minnesota puts on this series in town called "Chalk It Up!" It's pretty cool. Bands play and kids use sidewalk chalk to make art on the concrete. The space was beautiful. It was Rivers Edge Commons in Elk River, right on the banks of the Mighty Mississipp. It was one of those places in which if you snap any picture from that space, it would be postcard worthy. (Do people use postcards anymore?)

I rolled into town and started setting up my gear. Accompanying me was my younger brother-in-law, Michael, who is staying with us in Minneapolis for a week. He helped me in a roadie-type capacity. As I was setting up, both Brandon and Dustin arrived and began setting up as well.

We got set up and waiting for a little while. Brandon drew a portrait of Dustin with some chalk. Dustin relaxed on the grass while playing some guitar (see video below). I chilled with Michael a bit and we all shot the breeze. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone else coming down the hill, expecting it to be Anthony. It wasn't, but who could it be? It was our old pal, PJ! You never know when he'll pop up, but we're always happy to see that dude. Anthony finally did arrive, however, and we got set up and sound checked, just as people were filtering in.

We played a few songs to start it all off. We got to our new song, "Destiny, She Drives a Rolls" and Anthony introduced it as being on our upcoming album Beards. I guy in the audience cheered. Anthony said, "Beards are good. Mustaches aren't bad either." The dude who cheered had a beard.

We continued with the show and during a tuning break I talked about how cool this show was. It was really neat to see the kinds dancing and doing art. I pointed out to the good people of Elk River that not every town does cool things like this. Anthony remarked at how well the kids were loving it, saying that perhaps this has been our demographic all along.

After an apt performance of "On the Sidewalk" (because we were on the sidewalk, by the shoreline), we went into "Beards." Anthony thanked everyone who planned ahead and great a beard specifically for the performance of this song this evening.

We continued through our set, enjoying the beautiful weather, the beautiful sunset, the beautiful scenery, and the beautiful people. During the last few songs, more people were starting to filter down the hill to the show. I saw a number of phones out, taking video of our performance. I encouraged everyone to put the vids on YouTube, but I haven't found any yet.

At any rate, this was a great show. This event was wonderful and we were happy to have been a part of it. We hope you have us back sometime, Elk River!

7/9/11 - Pigout Afterparty - Sixth Avenue Gallery - Aberdeen, S.D.

Prelude:

| One Note Tour |

Set One:

| Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | M'Lady | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Modern Day Fairy Tales | Vacation to Oblivion | I Am the Walrus [The Beatles] | Beards | On the Sidewalk | Crossroads | Handlebar Mustache | Theme From Inspector Gadget / In the Hall of the Mountain King / Refrigerator | Like a Spy (Not the Stalker) | Godzilla [Blue Öyster Cult] | Bumblebee |

Set Two:

HIJACKED

---

Tonight was supposed to be an awesome night. Tonight was supposed to be a top-of-our-game, blow-em-out-of-the-water night. It had been a great weekend for music in Aberdeen, with the Pigout/Music Fest and the Red Rooster's Big Pig Sideshow, followed by the after parties at the Gallery, of which we were a part. There was a chance that there were going to be members of other great bands at this show, and that we could hang with them and make a good impression. You never know where good networking will get you. Well the night didn't turn out exactly as we had planned. More on that as the story warrants.

Tonight marked our first foray into having a visual viewing element since playing anime and Transformers: The Movie on television screens all those years ago. Anthony acquired both a projector and a screen and we put them both to use tonight, projecting trippy visualizations triggered by the sounds of our instruments. That element was pretty successful and cool. We'll be doing that more often.

We took the stage and Anthony thanked the crowd, saying that tonight was part of our "One Note Tour." I counted off ("one, two, three, four!") and we all hit one note... except for Anthony, who hit two. Always giving a little extra.

We opened the show with "Pay the Toll" again tonight. And it seems that we should probably work out the ending on this one again. We've consistently been ending it incorrectly. But since the ending is supposed to signify a train wreck, I suppose it's fitting. Because, boy oh boy. It's been a train wreck. Mission accomplished?

Anthony announced that tonight we were only going to play for about twenty minutes and then go pass out somewhere. We played "M'Lady" and he shouted, "Thank you Aberdeen, GOOD NIGHT!" And began to take off his guitar. "Okay," he relented. "We've got a couple more for ya."

That "couple more" included the live debut of the title track off our upcoming album, Beards. It's called "Beards." There's more where that came from, people. We also played "Handlebar Mustache," also from the Beards project.

We hobbled through the rest of the set. Which included a very shaky performance of "Crossroads," the over-functioning fog machine freaking out Dustin, and the revival of an old bit -- the combination of the "Inspector Gadget" theme and "In the Hall of the Mountain King." From there we went immediately into "Refrigerator." Now, there was supposed to be this weird bit in which we stray from the song and do strange things not easy to explain. As it turned out, I was the only one who remembered to play it, and I got strange looks from the other guys in the band, which made me look an idiot. So after the instrumental section, before I count us back in, I said, "Hey remember that part in which we were going to do that thing? We forgot to do it. Two, three, four!"

Before we played the final song of what we thought was the first set, "Bumblebee," Anthony said that after the break, "we'll be back to blow you away!" I commented, "No promises, no refunds." Dustin introduced the song saying that "this is a song to let people whom you tolerate touch you." And then we rocked it.

So let me back up a second. Above, when I said the night didn't turn out as planned, I don't mean to insinuate that the whole thing completely sucked. No, there weren't as many Pigout musicians there hanging out as we had hoped. No, we didn't perform at the top of our game. But there were some good moments for sure. We talked to a lot of friends that we don't see often. We debuted a new song. Brandon's bass solo in "Godzilla" kicked ass. The screen visuals were great. Our attire was awesome (but I won't really give it away, since we'll use it again). So it wasn't ALL bad.

But now is when things got weird and uncomfortable. Remember when we said that we were going to take a short break and be right back? Well, just as we were coming off stage, there was a mad scramble by the staff to bring up monitors and mic stands, cables and guitars. Just as I had gotten over to the sound board to turn off my recording gear, there were dudes already on stage checking mics. This was not the problem.

It's common for venues to have other musicians fill the set breaks. They don't want silence. They want to keep the people there. If they go outside, they might realize how late it is and just leave. So.. GREAT. Have a band fill the space. It just would have been nice if we had been notified ahead of time. But, as that goes, no big deal.

We were scheduled to play until 4:00 a.m. It's an after-hours venue that goes LATE into the morning. So we had planned to take a 15-20 minute break and then get back up with our 'A' material. Because at the Gallery, the later in the night, the more raucous the crowd, and the more fun the party. So we saved our "gold" for the second set, when everyone was more into it.

Herein lies the problem. After our scheduled break time was up (twenty minutes), this other group was still sound checking. And still checked for ten minutes beyond. --I'll repeat that.-- The unscheduled band that was supposedly going to fill our 20 minute break was still sound checking 30 minutes later. We asked a member of management what was going on. He said they wanted to get up and play and he was giving them a half hour once they got going.

That was kind of a bummer. Because as luck would have it, we had things to do the next day. It wasn't as if we could just stay and play until 6:00 a.m. as management suggested. One of our members had a job to do in the morning and I had to get on the road and drive in the a.m. to join a family gathering that I was skipping to play this show. It would be nice if we could have just said "screw it" to our responsibilities, but that's not how it works. We had all planned on being done by 4:00 a.m. and loaded out by 5:00, as was the agreement.

So when 3:45 rolled around and this other group was still performing, we made a decision that if they were still playing at 4:00, we were out of there. Four o'clock arrived and we started changing back into our street clothes. Management came in at 4:02 and asked if we were ready to go back on. Strange thing was, we had been ready to go back on ten minutes before this unscheduled, unannounced group had started. "We're done," we said. "These guys are on a roll. Let 'em keep playing."

So we went and tore down our gear and loaded out.

When it's all said and done, we stayed for the agreed-upon amount of time, and we still ended up getting paid the agreed-upon sum. We just didn't get to play our agreed-upon sets and felt pretty second-rate, even though we all drove from Minneapolis to be there for this event. And the other band, whose name I don't even remember, was not bad at all. They were really decent and it wasn't their fault. They weren't dicks or anything. It was just a very unfortunate situation for us. There was also an opening band this night called "The Long, Rattling Chain." I came to find out later that they were supposed to be the ones playing our set break. So they got hijacked, too. As I understand it, they left somewhat upset.

So if you missed this show, no big deal. If you were there specifically for us, we're sorry you didn't get what you paid for.