Day 2: Portland, OR
Welcome
Yesterday we began the tour proper with a show at the Wonder Ballroom.
There is a lot to do on the first day of a tour and a good breakfast is essential. I went with Jake and Jon to Grits & Gravy, a spot that was recommended multiple times by various staff at our hotel. It was a fairly heavy menu and I wasn’t didn’t want to feel too sluggish so I chose the most reasonable looking thing, a French Toast Rack. This was served with whipped butter and Maple Syrup.
It took several ubers to get us and our gear to the venue where we found the bus awaiting us, along with its driver Robert. It is a very majestic bus with chrome trim and a sparkling Champagne paint job, and it tows a big black trailer. Also waiting for us at the venue were a couple of pallets with all of our gear that had been shipped from LA. This included a number of new purchases which we were all very excited to unbox.
Liz finally bought herself a new guitar case after her existing one had to be held together with tape. This thing is built to withstand even the worst baggage handlers and fits two guitars!
Tristan got a new drum set. This has been recently built by C&C drums in Kansas City to exacting specifications issued by Tristan. White Beauty has a 22” kick, 16” floor tom, and 13” high tom, all with die-cast hoops and a white marine pearl finish. I wont get into any more of the gruesome details. I’m sure Tristan would love to tell you himself, so feel free to hit him up.
I got a new saw blade which was very thoroughly packaged.
Possibly the most exciting thing to arrive though was our new inflatable backdrop which will be replacing the venerable ‘New Zealand birds fly in formation’ backdrop that we used for so long.
Our bus, a Le Mirage XL II.
Here is a new game. Bus or Submarine?
Answer below for a prize if you win.
We are bringing along a fair amount of merch so Mia had to spend the entire afternoon and early evening counting and organising all of the boxes.
If you have read the blog for a while you might remember that we played at Wonder Ballroom at the beginning of 2022 on our last Winter US tour. It’s a good room for a rock show. There is a nice mezzanine for seated patrons, a tall stage with good sight lines, and a fun stairwell in the middle of the dance floor that takes you down to the basement bar. And of course there is a big disco ball as the room’s decorative centerpiece.
I appreciate the effort the venue has expended to properly fit out and label the green room. The fancy lights are a good touch.
Good labeling
A fancy light
The first show went about as well as expected. No catastrophic failures from new equipment and the audience were appreciative of both our new songs and our new fish. A huge thank you to Oli Devlin who put together an 8bit version of Future Me Hates Me for us to use as walk-on music. For this incredible feat, performed under an impossibly short deadline after we asked him only three hours before curtain call I would like to award Oli 23,000 boints.
We spent our first night on the bus and it was a front lounge hang on this occasion. It is warm, well-lit, and the air conditioning is pleasantly noisy.
