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