JAN 2009 WEST COAST TOUR PART I: Reno, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Sacramento! Low Red Land and more!

///another west coast tour in the bag. it was a fantastic one. we're thankful for the springlike weather in the Bay Area and even up in the Portland area -- lots of sunshine and clear roads -- and thankful to our "tour manager" Rachael, to Low Red Land, to Jared Mees and The Grown Children and to everyone else that came out to the shows, everyone that played with us, danced, put us up, pitched in in any sort of way... we had a blast. here's a recap:


1/7/09 Red Rock Bar RENO, NV

our "tour manager" Rachael had flown out from North Carolina to help keep our mast pointed skyward and our ship sailing in the right direction... for the most part, it was her first taste of the west... and we were excited to share it with her. after a couple of days of taking in some of the finer things Idaho has to offer, we packed her and her massive suitcase (appropriately nicknamed the "man eater") into the Ghost Ghost and sailed into the barren wastelands of Nevada for an 8 hour drive through the desert... not the best introduction to the West, but an appropriate one.

show that night was at the Red Rock Bar, an art bar of sort that our friends in Portland-based No Go Know had recommended to us. we played downstairs in the billiard room, a cozy living room like space. the place was rad, and we were psyched to be in better hands in Reno this time around as the clientele and staff were quality folks. that and both locals we played with were stellar and great to work with. Check out The Touques... they played first and are sweet. then after us The Copied Copied played. they were hilarious and really fantastic. power went out toward the end of their set and they did a good job of rolling with it.

after the show, we piled in and made the trek through the foggy night over Donner Pass and down in to San Francisco... we rolled in around 5am with a spirited mustachioed Mark Devito awaiting us at his apartment in The Mission....

for those of you unfamiliar, Mark is the drummer for Low Red Land, he hosted us for the next 5 days... he took very good care of us... and he kicked my ass in basketball a day later...

1/8/09 Monterey Live MONTEREY, CA


this was the first of 4 shows with LOW RED LAND who absolutely destroy and have become like brothers to us all. so we were psyched to be getting a good solid dose of them. we got in town just as the sun was setting and headed to the beach to take in the Monterey Bay. saw some seals swimming around and a bunch of tide pool life. it was beautiful out.

show that night was great. Monterey Live is a cool little place right in downtown. nice small theater vibe to it. good crowd out. Low Red Land sounded as good as ever. local rockers Beezle closed the night out to a rowdy crowd of local lovers. we made a bunch of new friends.


1/9/09 The Crepe Place SANTA CRUZ, CA

woke up in San Francisco and took advantage of yet another beautiful day as it got up to 60 degrees and was incredibly sunny out. Mark and I met some of his friends up at a basketball court on Knob Hill from which you can see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. while Lisa, Rachael and Cam walked around the nearby wharf and some other sites, i got absolutely punished on the basketball court proving to myself once again that i need to find more ways to get exercise. the view was awesome though.

we rolled in to Santa Cruz well after dark, but we were stoked to be back. had a great show at The Crepe Place in June and this one didn't disappoint. ate some unreal crepes and then rocked the place out. Adam and his crew are awesome. once again Low Red Land lived up to my internal hype. former locals March of The Mannequins closed the night out with their three-guitar assault and good humor. their van looked like a monster truck. it was amazing.


1/10/09 El Rio SAN FRANCISCO, CA

went on a nice walk through the mission on our way to brunch at Luna Park where Mark works and was working this day.... had the most amazing breakfast. the most amazing french toast, bloody marys, fruit, eggs, etc etc etc. and a smores fondue for dessert. it was ridiculous. spent the afternoon sleeping it off.

show that night was off the hook. our friend Lynne from TARTUFI had hooked the show up and was bartending the whole night. made for a pretty wild show. El Rio is rad, has an outdoor area and a separate bar area and a show area. lots of people everywhere. caught up with Joe from THE DONT'S as well as Brian from Tartufi and lots of other SF friends. really good to be back there.

locals THE PROVISIONALS opened the show. really dug their set. dancey and fun tunes. they were followed by BY SUNLIGHT from Seattle and their epic tunes. their myspace describes them as Steely Dan Real Estate which i'd say is fairly accurate. check em out. good guys. Robert (guitar player) recorded the new Low Red Land record that we absolutely love. we played after them and then LOW RED LAND crushed the place to end the night.


afterwards, sleep was written off as a last cause and we romped around until the sun came up... it was hilarious.

oh yeah, it was a full moon... i'm sure that had something to do with it...


1/11/09 day off. san francisco, ca

we embraced this day off with open arms... granted the lack of sleep the night before helped... we pretty much married ourselves to the couch all day and some of us boys watched a bunch of football. Cam and Rachael, who had managed more sleep the night before, showed some initiative and cruised out to Half Moon Bay for part of the day. they get a merit badge. then we all made dinner together and went to bed early.


1/12/09 The Press Club. SACRAMENTO, CA

monday night Club Pow! at The Press Club. we played first, then geared up for a night of reverie with our buddy Travis Silvers who'd made the trek up from Stockton for the show. Low Red Land played after us and we clung to every moment as it was our last show with them on this trip. they were louder and better than ever. you could tell that they were in their element and could really let 'er rip. it was rad.

after them, a sweet female fronted band from San Francisco called LOVE LIKE FIRE played. really enjoyed their set. really nice people too. THE DEFINITE ARTICLES from SF and Sac closed the night out.

afterwards we said our sad sad goodbyes to Mark, Neil and Ben of Low Red Land and then sailed our landsharks off to Stockton to crash with T. Silvers for the night.


///good place for a break. consider that Part I. i'll post the rest of the tour soon. i'm off to take a walk and breathe some fresh air...

///for all of us finn rigginses
///love, gilbert

PS there are a bunch more tour photos posted on myspace.com/finnriggins in the January 2009 West Coast Tour album

2009! Boise! West Coast Tour! NYE! La Grande! Wow!

///wow. been just over 2 weeks since we posted here... and so much has happened... christmas, 60 inches of snow, lots and lots of shoveling, lots and lots of cookies eaten, wild and super fun show at Fresshies in Hailey, incredible New Year's Eve show at The Crawlspace in La Grande, OR with a rad rad group of people and the amazing Test Audiences crew and our beloved and longtime friend Milo Duke... a fantastic kickoff to 2009... still reeling from it's awesomeness....

and as of a few days ago, Finn Riggins has officially relocated to Boise, which we're very very excited about. all kinds of great things happening around here and it's exhilarating being in the midst of it all. so much so that we intend to stay relatively close to home for the next several months with no extended touring planned until at least May as we work on a new record... except for this little two week West Coast Tour that we leave for tomorrow...


1/7 RENO,​ NV @ Red Rock Studi​os
*1/8 MONTE​REY,​ CA @ Monte​rey Live
*1/9 SANTA​ CRUZ,​ CA @ The Crepe​ Place​
*​1/​10 SAN FRANC​ISCO,​ CA @ El Rio
*​1/​12 SACRA​MENTO​,​ CA @ The Press​ Club for CLUB POW!
1/13 MOUNT​ SHAST​A,​ CA @ The Stage​ Door
1/14 EUGEN​E,​ OR @ Sam Bond'​s Garag​e
# 1/15 PORTL​AND,​ OR @ Doug Fir
# 1/16 SALEM​,​ OR @ the IKE Box
1/18 ASTOR​IA,​ OR @ Fort Georg​e Brewe​ry
1/20 BOISE​,​ ID @ TBA -- Obama​ inaug​urati​on party​!​!​
1/27 GARDE​N CITY,​ ID @ Visua​l Arts Colle​ctive​
1/29 SPOKA​NE,​ WA @ Baby Bar
1/30 MOSCO​W,​ ID @ 1912 Cente​r -- Frien​ds of the Clear​water​ Benef​it
1/31 KELLO​GG,​ ID @ Dirty​ Ernie​'​s -- USCSA​ Colle​giate​ Ski Races​ after​ party​!​!​

* w/ Low Red Land (san franc​isco)​
# w/ Jared​ Mees and The Grown​ Child​ren (​portl​and)​


for full detai​ls on each show visit​ our myspace site www.myspa​ce.​com/​finnr​iggin​s


here's a good picture of Milo Duke celebrating late night on New Year's Eve...


wow.
see you soon.

///gilbert

September 2008 NW Tour

///we just got home a few days ago from a pretty stellar 10-day tour of the NW and Inland NW. here's some recap and some highlights...

///9-4-08. The Red Room. Kennewick, WA.

opened for Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (brooklyn, ny). what a rad rad place the 'ol Red Room is. staff and everyone were so good to us... had home-cooked lasagna and an epic salad. some chips and salsa. and a bunch of veggies and fruit. it was pretty heavenly. show was fun too. we played a 30min power set, then cleared out for the MBAR team. enjoyed their set as well. they were good peeps. thanks to Caleb and Bryson and all the rest of the staff and family for such a rad start to our little mini-tour.

here's a link to a review of the show in the Tri-City Herald:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1362/story/306415.html

and here's a link to some video from our set courtesy of the Tri-City Herald:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1330/story/306543.html

after the show we packed up and headed to Portland... rolled in late night and crashed with the Mees's.


///9-5-08. Music Fest Northwest. Portland, OR.

spent the day chillin in Portland and helping out around Tender Loving Empire headquarters. played that night at Slabtown as part of the TLE Showcase for Music Fest Northwest with labelmates Nick Caceres, Super XX Man, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Boy Eats Drum Machine. we played right in the middle. the turnout was fantastic... especially considering all the amazing bands playing at the same time... the TLE Showcase slayed it. friends and friends of friends. loved everyone's set. wouldn't have wanted to me anywhere else all night...

here's a link to a review of MFNW with some kinds words about our set:
http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/Members/zaphmann/zaph-mann-on-music/archive/2008/09/16/musicfest-nw-2008-it-added-up-to-what



here's a link to a whole bunch of photos from the night (thanks SAM!!!):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tenderlovingempire/sets/72157607148884225/




///9-6-08. Music Fest Northwest. Portland, OR

we took this day off to hang out with friends and check out some music at the festival... got some QT in with Milo and Jess and Noah... and Jared and Brianne Mees... hung out at some industry panels... munched some pizza and traded witty small talk and booking tips... stood in line to see Ratatat and Les Favy Fav... settled for free ice cream from the Ice Cream Man... later that night caught our old friend Justin Ringle with his band Horsefeathers at Holocene... super quiet and rad... from there saw our buddy Sean shed some drums for The Wherewithals at Rotture... then some of the Hillstomp set at Slabtown before heading for sleep... early morning looming ahead...


///9-7-08 Moscow Food Co-op Parking Lot Party: 35th Anniversary Celebration Moscow, ID

got up at 6am and headed inland toward Moscow... had a parking lot party to help setup. i used to work at the MFC and used to be such a huge part of all three of our lives, so we were pretty excited to be a part of this celebration. this show would also be the first of 7 shows in a row we'd play with our buddies

LOW RED LAND from San Francisco. www.myspace.com/lowredland


Ben Walden kicked the party off with some cameos from Von Walden (dad) and Henry... Dan Maher followed despite having been stung on the tongue by a hornet that morning. the Kim and Kenna delivered a spectacular update on the status of the Co-op on behalf of the Board of Directors... and after them Low Red Land slayed some Co-op folks of all ages, shapes and sizes. our set started right as it was getting dark... for a sunday night, Moscow sure brought it's game face and a bunch of people shredded some dance moves on the asphault. it was super fun. all in all, another Co-op success.

we post-partied at the new Shari's in Moscow. 24 hour grazing. we grazed hard all crammed into a cozy little booth. 4th meal had some guest stars in Mary Packer, Andy Jacobson and Sara Foster -- who would end up housing Low Red Land and Cam for the couple of days we were there...


///9-8-08 John's Alley. Moscow, ID

slept in. then slept in some more. Cam took Ben out for a run on Moscow Mountain... and hooked Mark and Neil up with some bikes for a little Palouse bike ride... we all met around 4pm and destroyed ourselves on the basketball court out at Mountain View Park. after some showers we cruised over to Jerry & Amy McMurtry's place for some BBQ, beers and we all helped crank out some homemade ice cream for desert. pretty epic.

show that night was off-the-hook. even on a Monday night, Moscow represented hard. and the Alley got danced and danced and danced till last call. it was pretty ridiculous in the fun factor.


///9-9-08 The Empyrean. Spokane, WA



The Empyrean has become a little bit of a home away from home... always excited to be there... with friends like Rhea and Chrissy and Michelle and Mike and Sean and his brother etc etc etc.... Sara Foster even came up for the show... it was a decent crowd for a Tuesday. locals Dominik Bar and The Farm Circle sandwiched the other two of us... Low Red Land shredded. The Farm Circle closed. what a rad group of kids. sweet tunes. a harp! lots of instrument switches. fun fun stuff. we scored some cookies then cruised to Couer d'Alene to crash with my sister.




///9-10-08 The Badlander Missoula, MT

thai spicy thai spicy thai spicy put all of our digestion systems through the ringer... those of us willing and qualified, employed the Wild Turkey to battle the intestinal demons... to mixed success. show was put on by Mike from Dead Hipster. we opened. dusted off Combover to kick the show off. it was a playful and fun set for us. Low Red Land followed with the thunder. locals Wartime Blues closed out the night why the rest of us celebrated being in Missoula...

got to catch up with our old Moscow friends Mamie and Kevin before the show. what sweethearts! oh my. it was awesome. we crashed at their cozy pad that night. so so nice of them. especially since we had another early morning awaiting us...


///9-11-08 Common Ground Cafe McCall, ID

got up around 7am for an ambitious day of driving and exploring. we were excited to take Low Red Land over Lolo Pass and along the Lochsa as we crossed back into Idaho. and we all had our sights set on Weir Hotsprings... as they were stoked to experience some natural hot springs...

just had to make a quick stop as we were all still processing the Thai Spicy experience...



turns out there's bears in them there hills...



drove a little ways more down the road and parked. after a nice little hike we were all bathing together on the side of a mountain... Bort (mark's dog) included:



Bort couldn't stop attacking the water. she's fierce and relentless:





we then began work on the Neil Thompson mansuit calendar for 2009...



then we continued on down through the epic spine of idaho drive... rolled into McCall around 4pm and slammed out setup at the Common Ground... all spiffied up since last year... new stage location... bigger stage... sand pit for dancing and chillin... Brian and Pam are awesome. please please support this place when and if you're ever in McCall. they've always been really good to us and do a lot for that community...

show that night was rad. great turnout. lots of dancing. big moon. 9/11. Ben (low red land) recently took part in Run For the Fallen... a non-political run to honor all the men and women that have lost their lives in Iraq. check it out: www.runforthefallen.org those guys lost a really good friend in the war, just two weeks before he was supposed to come home. pretty moving talking with them about it. this run sounded incredibly moving.

hung out with some locals into the wee hours. crashed at a nice cabin that was generously provided by Ben's ex-girlfriends parents. super cozy night for all of us.


///9-12-08 Visual Arts Collective Garden City, ID

super casual morning in McCall... then hit the road for Boise. stopped just south of Banks to go swimming in the Payette. sun was out. water was crisp. it was awesome. continued on and hit up Chiang Mai for some better Thai food than what Thai Spicy had to offer in Missoula...

show that night was a little disappointing turnout-wise. headliners System & Station rolled in late since they were coming all the way from Denver... we started a little before 9:30. we had a nice little crowd of folks that had come out. some buddies and some new friends. it was rad. most of them stuck around for Low Red Land, but when System & Station started there were just about 10 of us there. they had had a long day of driving, but they did there best to energize.



a new friend of ours, Mary Anne, took some photos... here's a link:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=260371418&albumId=1236561


///9-13-08 First National Pocatello, ID

all week we'd been talking about doing a SPORTS show. it had been decided that we'd pull out all the stops for the tour closer in Poky. it's a fun place and we knew it could handle it.

show was awesome. a perfect way to end what turned out to be a very successful tour with Low Red Land. all around. they're rad. we all got along marvelously. very very similar wavelengths. they have a new album that just came out yesterday. it is sooooo good. go to www.myspace.com/lowredland to hear more and find out how to get yourself a copy...

sweet local band Spondee opened the show with a set of fun fun pop tunes. def. check them out: www.myspace.com/spondee123

here's some photos and videos from the SPORTS! night tour closer at the First Nash... go to www.myspace.com/finnriggins for more photos from this night and all of this tour...

NEIL


MARK


BEN


GILBERT


LISA


CAM


LOW RED LAND -- WEIGHT OF NATIONS


LOW RED LAND -- LANDMARK


LOW RED LAND w/ Lisa Simpson -- HAWK'S DIE (acoustic)


FINN RIGGINS -- A WHALE, A FISH



show ended with an unprecedented and pretty epic SUPER JAM with all of FINN RIGGINS and LOW RED LAND on the stage. unrehearsed and unscripted, we unleashed a 15min or so psychedelic improv to celebrate a love fest week of touring together. i suspect we all will tour as one once again... not sure when, but odds are very good that it will happen... thanks to everyone that made it out to any or all of the shows!! it was a super fun tour. appreciate all of you support, your energy, your dance moves, your generosity and good spirits.

///more details on our Fall US Tour to be announced soon. know for sure that we'll be making some appearances at the CMJ Music Festival in NYC and several other dates out East... full, regularly updated, tour itinerary at www.myspace.com/finnriggins

thanks for listening!!

///reporting for all of us finn rigginses
//gilbert