Incublog 3

Hey my friend-pal-buddies!

Sorry it's been a couple days, but much has happened, and accordingly, we've been very busy. The good news for YOU guys is that there's quite a bit to blog about.

So, where did I leave off? I think something like Omaha? Or Iowa? Or wherever that crazy festival was? Anyway, I'm not really sure what city exactly followed, but I think it was Minneapolis, Minnesotta. Correct me if I'm wrong. We had some good times in Minneapolis, I must say. Probably the most notable event was Darren's transformation from what he felt was somesort of a metaphorical caterpillar to a beautiful, grown-up, new hair-cutted butterfly. Here's a real-life video for y'all to catch the low-down.


What a crazy night. Here are some funny pictures of that evening if you can't watch or don't feel like watching the video:








And then here's all of us. But you won't be seeing the author!


Let's see... What else...
Oh, we got to walk around town a little bit, and we ran into this really, really cool bookstore. I forget what it's called, otherwise I'd advertise for them. Here's Taylor in one of the knooks:


Also, there were two book dogs in the store with whom I pretty much fell in love. Here they are (they aren't related, if you wanted to know):



There was also a book bird in there, with whom Darren tried to become a little too friendly. Let's just say he learned that male birds do not have external sexual organs. I was loving the pups, but not in the way that D was loving that bird.


What next, what next...
AH YES! The show. Even though you can't really tell, here's Taylor and Blake on stage with Incubus, soundchecking with "Stand By Me," a cover that Incubus has begun to integrate into their set.


And what a fabulous audience! Here are some of you. If you'd like to have yourself removed from the picture, please don't sue, just send us a nice little comment:):


But really, we are so appreciative of your guys' enthusiasm and your contribution to keeping us alive and fed on this tour. You were awesoooommmeee!!
Here are a few other pics from there:



Here are some buddies of ours that were sitting sidestage. They are in a really cool punk-metal band called 2cents. Be sure to check them out if you're into that kind of music.


Next, we rode on out of there into Chicago, Illinois. SD played at a venue that was right next to the water, just outside of the city, but you could see the skyline behind the stage. It was really cool:



I saw a contraption with which I was highly unfamiliar while I was out and about in the city. Perhaps one of you could explain to me what this is and what it does:


Now here are some SD pics before/during the show:





Also, some sort of media company was around to interview SD after the show. Apparently, it was a very compelling interview.


After leaving Chicago, we were on our way to Indiana. The show went very well--here's a photo:


Despite a wonderful audience and a great performance, what made Indianapolis so great was a friend of Wylie's (and now of the rest of us) named Orley. He came to the show and offered us a free night's stay at his house. He informed us that there was plenty of room for all of us, but we wouldn't realize the magnitude of what he was saying until he actually brought us over.

I don't have any pictures of the night we spent there, but I do have a few of the next morning, which will hopefully provide you with an idea of how amazing this house truly is.

First of all, the house is three stories tall. On the top floor, there are something like 8 bedrooms. The hallways seem to extend as you walk down them, almost like some sort of ghost-fun house. This was the first time I had ever gotten lost on one floor of a house before. Here's a photograph of one of the hallways on the bottom level of the house.


This is Wylie sitting at the far end of one of the many dining tables set throughout the house:


Here's Taylor's "Imagine" moment, playing a piano by a large window overlooking part of the yard.


Now getting into the amenities of the house, which were obviously the most mind-blowing to me.
1) They had a pool table!


2) They had a movie theatre room (with automated reclining leather chairs)!



3) They had a maaaassssiiiveee front yard with a sweet firepit (see Darren and Taylor for perspective).


4) They (we) had homemade french toast (thanks, Orley's mom!).


5) They had a huge steam shower (picture not available).

6) Etc., etc.

7) Here's Orley. Thanks so much dude!


I'm not going to lie, it's taken me a couple of days to get this blog together. This stuff isn't easy! We're now in Cleveland, Ohio, and I have more pictures of the past few days to show you guys (including those from the Incubus/Simon Dawes camping trip we did yesterday on our day off). I appreciate you guys reading my entries, and I appreciate you even more when you comment in some way to let me know you're reading. I know there's gotta be more than 8 or 9 of you reading these things.

Okay pals, keep me encouranged and motivated to continue in this pursuit of photographic tourism!

Best,
Matt

P.S. Who can I bill for my advancing case of carpal-tunnel syndrome?
P.P.S.
P.P.P.S. Nadia (and whoever else cares), we have all been listening to a lot of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Darren's listening to his jazz, I've been listening to some ambient music, Blake is listening to folky stuff as well... I'll get you a more detailed list in the upcoming blog, but I'm in a hurry now! Thanks!

VIDEO TEST!

Does this work? It's the ending of The Awful Things during the Kansas City performance.

Incublog 2

Hello friends, new and old!

Matthew here once again, bringing you your not-so-daily picture-tour update. Just to warn you (though it was expressed that long blogs are not so much of an issue), this will be another long one. I have lots of pictures to show you, and for your sake, hopefully less writing? Anyway, we are riding in the van right now, leaving from this crazy radio festival SD played in what we initially believed was Omaha, Nebraska, but was actually somewhere in Idaho.
Here is the bill; kind of funny, maybe?:


There are seemingly thousands and thousands of cars on the highway currently static on their way to the venue from which we are leaving. We have been driving for almost 10 minutes and the line of cars is ever-extending. Hopefully they’ll make it in time for Incubus, though it looks like they’d have a better chance if they just got out of their cars and walked. It’s that bad—like that R.E.M. video for “Everybody Hurts.”

Now, going back to a few days ago, here are some pictures from a venue just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah...
The pre-show lapdance:


Taylor singing to a rained-and-thundered-upon crowd:


Now on to that place which I was most excited to tell you about: Red Rocks, Colorado. What an amazing place, what an amazing crowd. I'm going to post these pictures only so you get an idea of what this place actually is! Man, it's crazy!
This is a rock arch you drive under to get to the venue:


Look at the people and cars to get a little perspective on how big these rock-boulders are:


This was the backdrop to the stage!:


As we pulled up, it looked just like Woodstock, hackie sacks and all (no offense, I fucking love hackie sacks). The single road leading up to the amphitheatre was completely packed, as you may be able to see from the picture.


Here's Wylie signing a fan's t-shirt.


Gee whiz, what a place. Hopefully the pictures get across at least a little bit of what I’m trying to say.
I also feel somewhat obligated to mention the superb treatment provided us by the staff at Red Rocks. Everybody was so kind, the food was so delicious, the dressing rooms were so lavish (i.e. flat screen television, foods, drinks, clean bathroom, masseuse?!), etc., etc.
Here's a photo of Darren using our breathtaking bathroom:


Here's a photo of the catering (caVering) room... What the hell?


Here’s what this place looks like with one person sitting in the audience:


And this is what it looks like almost full:


And here is Simon Dawes playing to the packed theatre of 8700. You guys all rocked—it was an extremely satisfying experience. Red Rocks will live on in our hearts forever.


Perhaps this will give you a little taste of what it might be like to be on stage playing for about 8500 people... I came off stage with a pee stain all down the right leg of my pants.


We love you Colorado!

Next up was Kansas City. We love the city, we love the name of the city, and we love the fact that there are two different Kansas Cities separated by only about 40 miles, but for me, the humidity was just a little too much. It was very hot and sweaty. SD got to play on a stage that was set up in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of food square/country market type place, and that was pretty weird and kind of amazing.


Some pre-show goofiness...

Here’s Blake eating a sandwich from an Italian Deli that was in the marketplace:


Darren bought a pear nectar drink from the same place... He didn't like it much, but I really did.


As some of you may have noticed, Taylor's last blog post was titled something a little funny, a little crazy, and a little intriguing. This is Kariki (just like Hannukah, it can be spelled many different ways), minus the rules:
p.s. it's a gambling game


We play for the big stakes:


And finally, here are a few performance pictures from there. To be honest, there were a lot of people there:




AAAHHHHH!!!


Simon Dawes ACTUALLY rocked color out of existence for a moment. I was lucky enough to have captured the moment.


After playing, Taylor, Wylie and I hung around for a little bit, spoke to some people, and went out to a local bar with a couple of friends. We drank a local Kansas City beer called Boulevard, which is actually quite good. I recommend it to anybody aged 21+. Man my hands are hurting.

That leaves us up to date, having just played the festival in Idaho. Here's a picture from the show:


That’s it for now! Feel free to write and talk about those things of which you’d like to see more or less and perhaps I can adjust accordingly.

Dictated but not read,
Matt