Day 20: Atlanta, GA. Kavarna. 3-24-08

Consistent with our looping strategy that we seem to employ when out East, we found ourselves returning to Georgia for another couple of days for shows in Atlanta and Athens. We were shocked as we were driving into Atlanta to see some snow flurries -- it had cooled off a bit -- but we were caught off guard by these reminders of home. It flurried just long enough to justify mentioning it, then subsided.

It was a Monday, and a day just a week and a half ago we were supposed to have off, but our good friend and former roommate from Moscow, ID -- Matt J. Lowe -- was currently residing in Atlanta and managed to find us a place to play on super short notice across the street from where he worked in a cute little neighborhood in Decatur, GA -- which Atlanta blended into. The place was called Kavarna -- a Czech word meaning cafe/coffeeshop, which is essentially what it is. Very cool place, with a rad owner and stellar staff. We were very grateful to fill the date on such short notice and be able to play for our friends in the Atlanta area. And they were kind enough to feed us from their tasty menu.

The show was a lot of fun. They had a nice big stage surrounded by all kinds of rad art throughout the place. Great environment, and despite having to play as quietly as possible, was a super fun show. Actually kind of enjoyed trying to translate our stuff in a quiet setting, and it gave us the opportunity to play some quiet tunes like "Passing Through" and "Pokerface" that we hardly ever play. It was fun. Nice to have Matt there -- he brings a whole new level of energy to the plate when he's around -- very cool. And our friend Ashley -- who spent last summer in Sun Valley -- also made it out. And our new friend Jeremy Sharp -- met him in Chattanooga -- came down and brought his buddy Kevin. It was rad. Loved hanging out with both of them. Rad rad guys. And toward the end of our set, during "Hraka", despite the mellowness of the environment, Jeremy started bouncing around and helping channell the dance madness of the Chattanooga show into that room. So awesome. Really pumped up the fun factor.
We wrapped things up by 9:50pm, ending before most shows start. It was nice, but we ended up taking our time getting out of there, and then managed to stay up super late hanging out with Matt, Jeremy and Kevin in Matt's studio apartment. A lot of fun, though. Covered all kinds of conversational goodness, including the pros and cons of the existence of Las Vegas. That one was fascinatingly tense. We all piled up around 3am for what would be a spotty night of sleep, and then greeted by the remodeling crew outside in the hall sawing and hammering around 8am. Quite classic. We managed to sleep through it for the most part... and it made for some interesting audio-inspired dreams.

Atlanta treated us so well. Really pretty city. Lots of trees and blooming flowers. Pretty pretty pretty.

Thanks to Wystan, Greg, Lisa, Jimmie and the rest of the Kavarna crew for hosting on such short notice. And thanks to Matt, Jeremy, Kevin, Ashley and everyone else that also helped to make it such a special show.

Reporting for all of us Finn Rigginses ==
== gilbert