///in the aftermath of the big Obama victory and the celebrations that we were lucky enough to be a part of in Washington DC into the wee wee hours that night, we awoke and made our way across Virginia… an absolutely gorgeous drive… sunny and warm and the fall colors were beaming with pride for our country. these are days i will never forget.

it’s been a week now.

a week ago, our friends in a little folk noise duo called Where The Buffalo Roamed met us in Blacksburg, VA from their respective homes in Carrboro, NC (corbie) and Asheville, NC (andy) to begin a stretch of shows with us throughout the region. kicked off at The Lantern in Blacksburg, VA thanks to the kind kind folks at WUVT 90.7 FM(jessica! kevin! brian! etc etc etc!). The Lantern was sweet. show was magnificent like all shows are magnificent. in their own little ways. like how tighty whiteys can dangle from man ass while guitar is thrown about in a shredding manner. very Dynamite Club of you sir. WUVT is a magnificently ran student radio station. like none other. and they’re in the business of throwing glorious shows too, for that they shall be forever thanked.

but in all seriousness, Virginia floored me. one of the most moving drives across land i’ve experienced recently, which sort of says a lot, cuz we drive across land with unyielding frequency. and i’m constantly moved by the ever awesome landscape this planet has to offer, but a lot of factors made this particular drive extra magnificent. the Shenendoah River! Shenandoa River Valley! lush and dying into fall all at the same time. sunshine! Obama. etc etc etc. and it’s always nice to cap a day like that with a rock show. i could do without the scantily clad spazz punk, but that’s just me.

WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAMED @ The Lantern in Blacksburg, VA

>>>begin highlight reel<<<

11/6/08 Grandma’s Noise Livingroom @ R3V3RB in Greenville, SC
no lie. grandma was there. and she liked it loud. art space. Saint Solitude (asheville, nc) came and played too. one man indie pop tunes with loops and beats. Dup. good guy. sound was awesome in grandma’s noise livingroom. big fan. i fell in love with a lamp. afterwards us and team buffalo nailed some greasey grub at a Waffle House then sailed our respective schooners over the hour or so sea to Asheville, NC and Andy’s house for a night of philosophical musing and deep deep sleep.

i love lamp.

11/7/08 New French Bar. Asheville, NC
best asheville show yet. stayed with our Moscow friend Cherie. she made us spaghetti and caesar salad. and halloween candy. oh wow. met her cats and her housemate Joe the bike mechanic. played with Asheville keys and drum duo heroes Speedsquare thanks to our mutual friends in Stephanie’s Id. New French Bar is pretty low-fi, but pretty happenin. lots of traffic. WTBR opened the show on some friendly turf. then put on a dance clinic during the Finn Riggins and Speedsquare set. Optimus Prime helmet ruling all. in the morning Cherie made us egg mcmuffins with her egg mcmuffin maker. and angels sang on high.

this is what North Carolina looks like right now:

it’s been that awesome. that’s a glimpse. my shoddy digi camera only does it so much justice. on the other hand, this really did drive by us in North Carolina… apparently a new class on the NASCAR circuit:

your eyes do not deceive you. of course that’s a giant grocery cart on a trailer that apparently doubles as some sort of racecar. why wouldn’t it be?

11/8/08 The Soapbox Wilmington, NC
our marvelous pals in Ponchos From Peru were nice enough to host us in Wilmington once again. show in the spring with them was awesome and we were pumped to be back. they had recruited The Nothing Noise from Chapel Hill but with Wilmington roots to come join the party again as well. and this time the show was upstairs in the juicy part of the venue with the juicy sound and stage. Adam + Matt from Ponchos even made us dinner. tempeh and salad and lots of goodness. we love those guys and there science and sexy ways. their living room is gloriously decorated with band gear and gadgets. i dream of such a place to go home to.

show was super fun as expected, despite the continuing decay of my synth and it’s pestiness on stage the last week… morphing patches and pitch in the middle of songs… it’s been a bullride with it recently. my calloused hands have barely been able to keep me in the saddle… but i’ve been managing. that and we axed a couple of synth heavy tunes from the set on the fly… yarrrrrr.

yay for elevators! Matt from Ponchos with all the gear crammed in

PONCHOS FROM PERU @ The Soapbox in Wilmington, NC

11/9/08 day off. Fuquay-Varina, NC
much needed day off. had been two weeks since our last one and would be two weeks until our next one. scheduled it to spend time with Lisa’s sister Sylvia, brother-in-law Dave and nieces Karen and Katrina. they’re awesome. we had so much fun with them. since our last stop there they’d gotten Rock Band and were all about it. so we all rawked. and they all played hooky on Monday to rawk with us some more.

Cam shreddin some Rock Band drums with the Moodys

daddy long legs in the Moody driveway

11/10/08 Spazz Haus Greenville, NC
our third time in Grvl. first time at a Spazz sanctioned event. it was everything we would expect. holy gloriousness. tiny room. packed. sweaty. rawkous. and awesome. super fun site. we played first. then WTBR. which led into WTBR and myself laying down beats for the 520 MCs. about 2 hours of nastiness. some switcheroos. the night ended with Nolan Smock on drums, myself on keys, Andy or Corbie on guitar and the MCs around 3am. as wild as any house show should be. on a monday. not without drama and not without cops and not without busch light. lots of it.

///more updates soon… including photos and some thoughts about last night’s show in Winston-Salem…. at The Garage… so cool. highly recommended.

///gilbert

///unbelievable show tonight at the Village Church in Baltimore… in Hampden. probably the most gorgeous space we’ve ever played in. old church from the 1800s. beatiful woodwork. sound was pristine. nice size. it was a perfect place to play on this eve of the election. great mood and energy in the building. local Cameron Blake and his band opened. they were really great. well put together songs and well performed. great spirit. helped set the mood right off the bat. and we have them to thank for setting the show up in this amazing room. nice little crowd for a monday and they were all super nice and generous. really can’t say thank you enough.

our buddy Bob Keal of Small Sur made it out as well. chillin at his place right now. so good to see him and to get some hangtime. he rules.

last several shows have all been amazing in their own little ways…

WED 10/29/08 Kittery, ME
started the day by visiting with the band and theory classes at Lisa’s high school alma mater — Belmont High School — in Belmont, NH thanks to her old teacher Ray Craigie. we had a blast. we setup and played right in their classroom… and the kids asked great questions. and we ate hot lunch. my favorite.

ended the day in Kittery, Maine at a new art/performance space called The Buoy that our buddy Nat Baldwin had helped hook us up with. Brett + Al + Jeremy + Ryan and everyone else involved with the space were such good people. we had an amazing time. the show was really fun. we played first. then locals Unnatural Witch played an all improv sound experimental set that was super cool. right up my alley. great scene. i really really enjoyed this show. met some fantastic people. here’s some photos and some video of the Unnatural Witch set…

crashed that night with Nat and his girlfriend Laura and his brother Niles out at Nat’s grandpa’s cabin on the rocky shore of the Atlantic…. with East facing windows. i set my alarm and got up at 6:20am for the sunrise. so peaceful. so awe-inspiring. it was very cold, but worth every moment.

this morning and sunrise was a major grounding moment for me. felt incredible to be there right then aka here right now. complete peace with the moment. thanks to nat and laura and brett and all of you that continue to make it possible for us to do what we do…

THUR 10/30/08 Moultonborough, NH
woke the rest of the crew up and we quickly packed up and embarked on a beautiful morning drive to Moultonborough, NH for an early afternoon show at Moultonborough Academy.
played an all-school assembly at the academy to 300+ kids in their auditorium. and we ate hot lunch again. my favorite. the assemby was a blast. the kids were soooo fun. after the assembly we stuck aorund for another hour and chatted with the music students before school ended.

we were back that night for a night concert in the auditorium. this time with a high school band called The Brewmeisters. they were great and a fun opener for the evening. we had so much fun at Moultonborough Academy. thanks to Mrs. Harmony Markey for making it happen and all the kids that helped make it so fun. especially enjoyed the signing of foreheads that a bunch of kids insisted on… i bet their parents really love us now…

FRI 10/31/08 New London, CT
spent the morning with Lisa’s family then hit the road for New London, CT for a Halloween show on the Connecticut College campus that our buddy Mike Borden had set up.
show was in The Barn where bands on campus practice. really really cool and cozy space. we got it warmed up with Glitch then Antoinette with Mike on guitar with us — which was rad. by then some folks started to show up and we rocked for about an hour to a dancey and fun crew before yielding to the spooky forces of the evening and moved on to the various events around campus… Mike took really good care of us in general and even hooked us up with a mix cd for the road.

after the show, cam and i cruised with Mike to the big Halloween dance in the student center. place was packed with drunk college kids in costumes. it was intense. i didn’t last long. grinding in hot rooms just isn’t my thing anymore. cam on the other hand…

SAT 11/1/08 Northampton, MA
great show at The Elevens in Northampton, MA. Mark Sheehan brought us back to town and this time set us up at The Elevens… pretty classy place right in downtown. Mark is awesome and can’t thank him enough for the support and for all that he does for independent music in the area… he ended up billing us with two locals releasing new albums…. and sandwiched us right in between them. really awesome show. great sound. great bill. great crowd. all the bands were tight and a pleasure to work with.

Mark Schwaber and his sidekick Sarah Gomes kicked the evening off with a gorgeous set of tunes. I guess they’d recently toured with The Swell Season, who we’d had the pleasure of meeting in Missoula back at the beginning of May… we could definitely sense the similarities.

after them, the first of the two bands hosting an album release party — Nuclear Waste Management Club — which is essentially a sideproject for Spouse frontman Jose Ayerve with which he has an all-star group of musicians backing him up including Peyton Pinkerton of the Silver Jews and Ken Maiuri of Pedro The Lion amongst others. super tight. fun to watch. all super nice.

we followed them. our set was a blast. then after us the other local releasing a new album — Watcher — closed the night out. also rad. definitely check all these folks out. all fairly hard to describe. all very talented.

after the show we kicked it old school with our buddy Miranda La Police. the awesomest. the most coolest. the most funnest girl on the street. old Johnson State College buddy of Lisa and I. she’s le shit. love her. so good to see her and goof off into the wee hours with her again. and she has the coolest apartment with the coolest decor. we had way too much fun

SUN 11/2/08 Philly
we were on a Philly cheesesteak mission. shocked we didn’t pursue this mission when we were in Philadelphia in April. nonetheless, we forgave ourselves and were determined to make up for it. we googled the infamous Geno’s and Pat’s steakhouses and set the GPS directly for them. i was asked Geno’s or Pat’s? the night before. we chose Pat’s King of Steaks based on less flashiness, proximity to our parking spot and less McCain / Palin signs.

amazing experience. fastest food ever. and best fast food ever.

show that night was at The M Room again. this time with Horse In The Sea from Chicago who were pretty cool. nice people. pretty poppy Belle & Sebastiany music. also on the bill were two local bands that both reminded me of Ween in their own way, which is crazy, cuz i don’t know if we’ve ever played with a band that reminded me of Ween… and we managed to play with two of them this night… granted, we were in Ween territory, but still. they were definitely both quite different from Ween, but the Weenisms were aplenty. and i was very grateful for them. loved both of the bands. very cool stuff. and super nice people. definitely check out Gentlemen Christ as well as the uber jazzy strange pop and awesome Fresh Cut Salads. it was a fun show, despite being pretty thin on paying customers. thank goodness the bands were cool.

thanks to Shannon from Anthropic Records for helping put the show together. and to Evan and Dave from Cloud Minder for coming out. and big big thanks to Shannon, Evan and Carl for putting us up. and to Vitamins for being a crazy ass kitten and bouncing off the walls the whole time we were there.

11/3/08 Baltimore, MD
that leads us back to where this entry started… i fell asleep in the middle… so now it’s last night… amazing amazing show last night. the church space was unbelievable. perfect way to spend the eve of this election. and my dad’s birthday, which i was saddened to be so far away for and dedicated the set to him… between that, the space, the election eve, and the opener Cameron Blake, it made for a very inspiring evening.

11/4/08 election day. it’s finally here. tomorrow could be a brand new day in America. may it be so. we’re headed to Washington DC today to play at an Ethiopian restaurant called Dahlak and presumptively celebrate an Obama victory… can’t wait.

thanks for listening. going to post a bunch more photos on our myspace site… and maybe to our flickr site too.

right on.
talk to you soon.

///gilbert

///unbelievable drive through rural upstate New York between Ithaca and Oneonta. rolled into town around 5pm and headed straight to Hope and Joseph Von Stengel’s place… good buddies of ours from the Moscow days… they were hosting a pre-show potluck and invited us over for some grub and hangtime.

show that night was a benefit for the Oneonta Teen Center and held there as well. what a rad space. decent crowd came out on a rainy and cold Wednesday night. it had been set up by Joe, who has collaborated with us on several occasions now doing projections with his MAshUp, RE-Mix Digital MEdia SHow. the space worked great for the collaboration. the whole show was videoed and we should have footage soon. really really fun working with Joe. check out more of his work and philosophy at culturerecycling.com

Jared Mees & The Grown Children played first. here’s a few photos and a video of “Slabtown (Friday Night)” featuring Joe’s projections… keep in mind that this video is lo-fi off of my digital camera, and not from the video that the venue did… still pretty cool though… note Zissou Cam dancing….

Joe’s always been a wealth of quality conversation… thus we conversed into the wee wee hours… lots of big thinking. psyched we’ve been able to schedule stops in Oneonta on all of our tours out East… this was the first official show though. cool town. look forward to more.

///gilbert

///long rainy drive through north western Pennsylvania and in to New York state up to Ithaca. cold and rainy was definitely the theme. beautiful place though. still plenty of fall leafery remaining for our eager eyes. lisa, however, stayed focused on her reading addiction…

show that night was mostly about visiting Ithaca and seeing our BFF Liz Bageant. all of those things were accomplished marvelously. show was fun, although pretty sparsely attended. good times. cool place. Lost Dog Lounge. right in downtown. thanks to Sprocket for having us and for incredible hospitality.

another wild adventure after the show as The Grown Children’s infamous van James Brown was once again not starting… we pushed it around in the rain for awhile with some drunk guys, then shuttled everyone to Liz’s house for some sleep.

///gilbert

///got an early start from Middletown since we had an 11am appointment in Columbus, OH to film an in-studio performance and interview with Palestra.net. we met them at the studios in the 1305 Artists Ltd building. really nice place. great staff. thanks to Freddy and Jason for their hospitality!! and to Brian, Nick and Dan from Palestra for having us and asking some fantastic questions. we played three tunes: Detamble Wings, Pankakes and Geology. and interviewed for about a half hour. should be posted on their site in the next couple of weeks.

from their we headed north to Cleveland. the drive was gorgeous. 65 degree fall day in Ohio. fall colors ruling. rolled into Cleveland and the home of Cliff & Marie Hershman — parents of Jake from The Grown Children — in Shaker Heights. super rad place and they were incredible to us. lots of food and comforts of home. beautiful yard. and a basketball hoop. my inner basketball star came out immediately.

show that night was at a funky little place called Pat’s In The Flat’s tucked in an industrial part of Cleveland, just down a hill from the hip Tremont neighborhood. Pat’s is owned and operated by Pat — an older lady and an obvious institution in Cleveland. newspaper articles and photos on the wall talked about and showed that Pat’s has been bringing blue collar Cleveland and alternative underground music together since the late 80′s. lots of history.

show ended up being a blast. not a huge crowd, but a great crowd. lots of dancing and merrymaking. a fun fun sextet from Kent, OH called See Urchin opened the show and set the fun knob on high from the getgo. one of the most fun shows of tour so far. after sweaty sweaty Grown Children and Finn Riggins sets, local Sarah Nowicki provided a nightcap with her perty tunes on elec. guitar with some help from cello player Matthew. solid night all around. and we made some great new friends.

thanks to Steve (lightning fingers) for setting the show up, Pat!, See Urchin!, Sarah and Matthew!, Cliff & Marie!, the Grown Children, and everyone that danced and made this Monday night show in Cleveland super super super fun.

SEE URCHIN

///gilbert

tour poster by Santiago Uceda www.santiagouceda.com

we’re leaving today!!! here’s the full itinerary:

10/8/08 BOISE, ID @ Gusto’s (w/ Woven!!) – 9pm
10/9/08 LEWISTON, ID @ Lewis-Clark State College – 11am-1pm
*10/9/08 CLARKSTON, WA @ Hogan’s Place – 9pm
*10/10/08 MOSCOW, ID – KRFP Benefit (Halloween Party!!) @ 1912 Center – 7pm
*10/11/08 BOZEMAN, MT @ The Filling Station – 8pm
*10/13/08 MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ Castle Greyskull (w/ Burger Thirst) 8pm
*10/14/08 IOWA CITY, IA @ The Mill – 8pm
*10/15/08 CHICAGO, IL @ Cal’s Liquors (w/ Raise High The Roof Beam!!) — 8pm
*10/16/08 INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ Radio Radio (w/ America Owns The Moon!!) – 8pm
*10/17/08 BLOOMINGTON, IN @ Rhino’s All-Ages Club – 7pm
*10/18/08 MIDDLETOWN, OH @ Tree’s Farm ((Halloween Party + B-Day party for Mary!!)) – 6pm
*10/20/08 CLEVELAND, OH @ Pat’s In The Flats (w/ Sea Urchin + Trouble Books + others!!) – 8pm
*10/21/08 ITHACA, NY @ Lost Dog Lounge – 8pm
*10/22/08 ONEONTA, NY @ Oneonta Teen Center (w/ Joseph von Stengel on visuals!!) 7pm
*10/23/08 NEW YORK, NY — CMJ Fanatic / TLE Showcase @ John St. Bar & Grill 8pm
*10/24/08 NEW YORK, NY — CMJ Spectre PDX Showcase @ Knitting Factory 11am **early show**
10/24/08 BROOKLYN, NY — CMJ official Showcase @ The Charleston 8pm (we play at midnight!!)
10/25/08 CONCORD, NH @ The Barley House (two sets of Finn Riggins!!) 9pm
10/29/08 KITTERY, ME @ 2 Government St. (all ages, BYOB) 8pm
10/30/08 MOULTONBOROUGH, NH @ Moultonborough Academy – assembly + wkshp during the day
10/30/08 MOULTONBOROUGH, NH @ Moultonborough Academy 7pm (all ages, open to the public)
10/31/08 NEW LONDON, CT @ tba
11/1/08 NORTHAMPTON, MA @ The Elevens 9pm
11/2/08 PHILADELPHIA, PA @ The Manhattan Room 8pm
11/3/08 BALTIMORE, MD @ Hampden Baptist Church (w/ Cameron Blake) 7pm
#11/4/08 WASHINGTON D.C. @ Dahlak 9pm
#11/5/08 BLACKSBURG, VA @ The Lantern (w/ Dynamite Club!!) sponsored by WUVT 90.7 FM 9pm
#11/6/08 GREENVILLE, SC @ R3V3RB 8pm
#11/7/08 ASHEVILLE, NC @ New French Bar (w/ Speedsquare!!) 9pm
#11/8/08 WILMINGTON, NC @ The Soapbox (w/ Ponchos From Peru!!) 8pm
#11/10/08 GREENVILLE, NC @ Spazzatorium Galleria! 8pm
#11/11/08 WINSTON-SALEM, NC @ The Garage (w/ Jews & Catholics!!) 8pm
#11/12/08 CHAPEL HILL, NC @ The Reservoir Bar (w/ Gray Young!!) 9pm
#11/13/08 CHARLESTON, SC @ The Village Tavern (w/ The Burgundy Curtain!!) 8pm
11/14/08 CHARLOTTE, NC @ Snug Harbor (w/ Black Skies + Pride Parade) 9pm
11/15/08 ATHENS, GA @ Celebration of Life Festival (w/ Captain Number 1 + The Points North!!) 6-10pm
#11/15/08 ATHENS, GA @ Secret Squirrel (Parts & Labor Afterparty with We Vs. The Shark!!) 11pm
11/16/08 CHATTANOOGA, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia 9pm
11/17/08 RUSSELLVILLE, AR @ The Crazy Burrito (w/ The Counterlife!!) 7pm
11/18/08 LITTLE ROCK, AR @ The Whitewater Tavern (w/ The Counterlife!!) 9pm
11/19/08 TULSA, OK @ Soundpony Lounge 9pm
11/20/08 LINCOLN, NE @ Box Awesome 8pm
11/21/08 DENVER, CO @ Larimer Lounge (w/ Apollo Sunshine + CAT-A-TAC!!) 9pm
11/22/08 NEDERLAND, CO @ First Street Pub 9pm
11/29/08 HAILEY, ID @ The Mint 8pm **Homecoming Show**

* w/ Jared Mees & The Grown Children (Portland, OR) — FAMILY TOUR!!
# w/ Where The Buffalo Roamed (Carrboro, NC) — corbie!!!

for full details on all these shows visit www.myspace.com/finnriggins

see you out there!

love
the finn rigginses