Well Thought-Out Political Statements

I saw this car parked at a strip mall in Florida. I tried to imagine who the owner would be. Whoever it is I bet they like shitty music and are bad in bed. This was my favorite sticker.

Even if you concede that the sticker is accurate (I take issue with the idea that Communism or Fascism have ended at all, let alone by means of a war), it's still not a very good record if you consider how many hundreds of wars there have been throughout history. Well, at least 4 of them did something worthwhile! I mean, come on, of all the things in the world to champion with some idiotic bumper sticker, you choose war? I think war is doing just fine without a cheering section you fucking moron. If you love war so much why don't you quit the college republicans and get your ass to Tikrit? What would Jesus do? He'd probably punch you in the mouth.

It's not a town, it's an exit.

Now we're in Gainesville, Florida for another show w/Tom Petty tomorrow. He's from here so maybe that'll make it extra neat-o or something. I'll be honest, I hate Florida. It's a cultural wasteland that makes Vegas look like Paris and the notion that anyone would move here BECAUSE of the climate is the definition of insanity to me. I managed to walk to a Best Buy and find a decent restaurant so that was a bit of a triumph. In 5 days we'll be back on the west coast. Light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, there's another tunnel right after it. It's called Salt Lake City.

For some reason, seeing this view with Yo La Tengo on my iPod made it seem like the saddest thing in the world. Which of course it isn't. But it kind of is.

Ithaca is Gorges

Like molassees running uphill in January. That's how time seems to be passing on this tour. I feel like I'm lying awake at 5am staring at the clock watching it change once a minute only it only changes once a day. After a night off in Ithaca we had a show at Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell.
While I enjoyed this for a certain historical reason that I kept mostly to myself, the building is perfectly designed to make music sound like shit. Couple that with the always entertaining element of using completely inexperienced Ivy League students to do the bulk of the labor and it was one of those "my-entire-career-has-been-pointless" days. I did manage to sneak off between soundcheck and the show with my friend Leslie to see one of Ithaca's famous gorges. I've known Leslie for 14 years and hadn't seen her in over 10. She took me into a gorge that was right in the middle of town. I couldn't believe such an amazing spot used the same parking lot as a Japanese restaurant.

Leslie descends...


Waterfall

Multiple Choice

Which of the following signs sounds the most appealing?

A.

B.

C.


I picked B. Choking.

Like Flies On A Windshield

So I'm sorry to report that morale is low on the crew bus. We're only a few shows in and even though they've gone smooth enough, the lack of a few key elements being in place (ie. a production manager and a travel agent) has caused the tour to get off to a disjointed start and we've been stuck in some pretty shit hotels miles from anywhere you'd care to or need to be. In Chicago, where we did 2 shows with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, we had to stay an hours drive outside the city because of the travel agent snafu. We're in Ithaca now which is nice. Saw a really old friend tonight which always makes the miles seem worthwhile. We have a production mgr. starting at the next gig so hopefully that'll make things better and not worse. I remain cautiously optimistic.

As I mentioned, we did the first of 5 shows opening for Tom Petty. These guys are truly the old guard, super pro and very welcoming. The band is amazing and the songs are classics. Not a bad way to kill a few hours after work.

Tom Fucking Petty


Since 1976...

See Right Through

These pictures were not photoshopped. They just came out that way.

Chicago


Guadalajara



Toronto

Tour Some More

So, I'm back in it. The last Strokes tour of 2006 is one show deep with a month to go. We had our first gig at the new V Festival in Toronto. The V Fests have been happening in England for a while now and are sponsored by Virgin. This year they've tried to bring them across the pond with fests in Toronto and Baltimore. The Toronto one was on Olympic Island which meant boats. The site was actually a really nice spot for a festival but the organization was iffy at best and it made for some tricky logistics. It all came off though and despite most of the band and some of the crew suffering the effects of some sort of intestinal distress brought home from Mexico (it's never a good sign when there's discussion of getting Pedialite on the dressing room rider), the Strokes did their best and managed to pull it off. The Raconteurs followed and were as good as I've seen them. We then jockeyed for position on the pontoon craft that was shuttling us across the lake, got on our lovely new bus and set off for Boston. So here I sit in a Holiday Inn in Somerville. All that's on TV is Sept. 11th tributes/exploitations. I was actually at my mom's near Boston on Sept. 11th so it's a bit strange that 5 years later I happen to be back here and seeing my mom tonight. Oh, let's marvel at the synchronicity! Anyway, while I pretty much can't wait to get this tour over with and get back home to SF, here's hoping it's a good one...

King of All Virgins, Richard Branson, greets the masses on a Harley...

Seems to lose something riding in on the back with a small woman driving.

The Toronto skyline from the lake...
Morning


Night

Taking It To The Streets

Today has been a strange day. We're in Mexico City and have today off. We played our first of 2 shows here last night and have the other tomorrow. Apparently the reason we have a day off in between is because today is a pretty serious day in Mexican politics. They had a presidential election here on July 2 and it was a very close race in which the candidate from the right-wing incumbent party, Felipe Calderon was declared the winner over leftist Democratic Revolution Party Candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador amidst widespread accusations of fraud and conspiracy. They even had a vote by vote recount stopped before it could be finished. What a strangely familiar story. Anyway, unlike the pathetic lack of response to similar election undermining in the cushy old USA, the good people of Mexico said "Fuck that" and took to the streets. They've been camped out in the city center and along the main boulevards ever since. Of course our hotel is along this main boulevard. We were warned not to venture out into it and I didn't, which I regret now. Today Vicente Fox, the outgoing president from Calderon's party, was supposed to give his final 'state of the nation' type address to congress and the protesters were planning on marching on the congress to stop him from giving the speech. So the whole area was locked down with riot police, dogs, water cannons, the works. While all this was happening outside my door I sat here, locked away at the Four Seasons, eating pan-fried sea-bass, drinking iced tea and watching West Wing episodes on my laptop while listening to some sort of explosions outside. Shameful.



I did feel compelled to go out to try and soak up the experience and show some solidarity, but I somehow felt that it was inappropriate to treat their politics as a tourist attraction. Still, it felt wrong to be hiding out in a posh hotel getting excited because the iced tea came with ice cubes that were made out of iced tea.



I did spend part of my day scouring the interweb and reading up on what this is all about, so I guess in the end I learned something. Tomorrow I'm going to venture out and see the protest camps before I'm wisked off to the sports arena to attend to the crucial task of bringing the rock to the good people of Mexico.
And so, back to my rock and roll bubble.
Mexico's been pretty great so far. The people here are genuine and welcoming. I have an ever increasing respect for Mexicans. The crowds here are the best in the world. Not only are they big shows but every one of them goes nuts the whole show. Last night I had to cover my ears they were so loud, and the next show there'll be 6000 more of them. It's shows like that that makes this job feel fulfilling once in a while.

The Mexican kids give the love...


As I mentioned I'm enjoying a day off at the Four Seasons. I have my big windows open looking out on the courtyard and I can hear the sound of the fountain and the rain. The room service lady said "Certainly sir" to everything I asked for and the bed is soft. I must say it's nice living. I just wish I could remember when it was that I became so bourgeois.