Show 39: Baltimore, MD at 2640 The Church

Turnout: 18

Our Cut (3/4) Door: 71

Personal Injury Report: Hmm, Kate rescued herself from having to act the whole show with her contact slowly and sneakily making its way into the depths of her eye. Also, she made sure the second gun hit looked and sounded really good by really doing it.

Show Description: This show went very, very well. The best part though, was the discussion afterwards. People talking about what brought them out that night and what they took away from the play led to some great discussion covering points on violence and non-violence, what violence itself entails, and the scope and consequences of our, here in america, ideas and recommendations regarding the sort of society we'd like to live in.

Ryan Harvey also played music before and after the show. I actually still have one of the songs stuck in my head as I write this. Man, it's great playing with him, besides similar political themes he also just has the same sort of relationship with the audience that we try to have-- close, honest and straightforward. It's really refreshing to play with music like that.

Did you see this show? If you did, write a review, ask us some questions or comment on it. We'd love to hear it because we believe in artistic transparency.

Show Report 38: Brooklyn, 13 Thames

Turnout: about 20 watched the whole thing.

Money: $30 door, $3.10 donations.

Personal Injury Report: We sat directly in front of SETH's fog machine, which was used somewhat excessively given the small space, our eyes were still itchy the next morning.

Show Description: Our first multi-media performance of the play! One of the 13 Thames guys hooked up a camera and video projection of us on the wall and ceiling. I guess the show was also being live-streamed online somewhere.

13 Thames is a great warehouse space in Bushwick, dingy punk squat atmosphere, radical slogans and vulgar graffitti all over the walls, bands in back and in the kitchen, a black dog named Blue and an orange cat that seems to like noise music. In addition to the projector the only other light was a weird blue cliplight that gave the show a nice subterranian feel. This was especially nice after performing in flat even bookstore lights the night before. I remain committed to performing under available lighting, but when the available lighting is cool it makes me waver in this commitment and think about bringing along a gelled cliplight or two.

Our performance felt so much better than the first night. Nearly flawless, which is pretty astonishing on Kate's part, given the circumstances. This was a noise show and we played first. Our expectations for audience committment at noise shows have been set pretty low. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. People come out to these shows expecting a party with occasional bouts of blasting feedback, not an hour long, unamplified theatre performance. If our presentation of the totally unexpected can capture the full attention of half the people there for the duration of the show, we consider it successful, and this one definitely was. The astonishing part is we set up in the middle of the space, which meant people coming and going would need to walk across our tiny "stage" to go in and out, which they did, frequently. Again, I'm not complaining, just pointing out that Kate performed without missing a beat as people brushed past her to go chat in the kitchen. This is, in itself pretty impressive.

The 20 or so people who stuck around for the duration seemed to really enjoy it, and we had a couple great informed conversations with people afterwards*. One advantage of playing noise shows is seeing the bands, which were excellent last night. Opponents and Towering Heroic Dudes were personal favorites, but Kate and I enjoyed at least parts of everyone's sets. Coulda done with less fog machine though.

Did you see this show? If you did, please comment here. Write a review, share your thoughts, ask questions, we'd love to hear from you because we believe in artistic transparency.

*One of these conversations, about school occupations and thirdworldism was with someone we failed to get contact info from, and wish we had, so please, drop us a line here or at insurgent.ben@gmail.com or 414 305 9832. Keep in touch. (This invitation of course also applies to anyone who wants to contact us for any reason)

Show Report 37: Bluestockings, New York

Turnout: 35

Monetary Votes of Support: $43.45 (Bluestockings passed a hat for themselves as well)

Personal Injury Report: None for us. There was a very attentive and excited 7 year old who might have gotten nightmares.

Show Description: Great turnout at the wonderful Bluestockings bookstore. Excellent people, great selection of books, very friendly atmosphere, attentive audience, some of whom just happened in off the street.

We're really relieved to have the first show of tour out of the way, especially considering the number of stupid technical problems we had. No dropped lines or anything that ruined stuff, but we forgot the hood in our dryer back in Philly (had to use a lucky back-up, which was too loose and fell off easily) we lost one of the ropes mid-performance and forgot to hand out the programs (which probably makes the land of the dead part even more confusing).

Funny story: so Bluestockings is in the middle of Manhattan, and Kate used the front door as the exit. Which means twice she walked out onto Allen St with a realistic looking holstered handgun, startling passersby, who she just smiled at until they either felt comfortable, or walked the other way, wide eyed.

We were really nervous and uncomfortable and kind of botched the transition from play to discussion, which is really too bad. We had a couple good individual conversations, but I look forward to infoshop and bookstore shows as opportunities to have real group discussions. Plus, I guess Trey recognized Howard Zinn in the audience.

Did you see this show? If you did, please comment here. Write a review, share your thoughts, ask questions, we'd love to hear from you because we beleive in artistic transparency.

Ulysses' Crewmen Rides Again!

So, if what you do on New Year's Eve defines what you'll be doing for the whole year, we've got a busy year ahead, cuz we've spent New Years Eve preparing to leave for a two month tour. Actually, we spent the last three days doing little other than rehearsing, cleaning our room (we're subletting for two months, so we'll be living rent-free again) printing, doing some last ditch booking efforts, promotion work and assembling merch. My resolution: be on the road for 50% of 2010.

As always: this tour journal will feature full economic transparency and show reports. We are also going to make a point of having nature days. Spending our days off communing with what remains of the great american landscape. Last tour we started $495 ahead, after some rough times, long drives and car troubles (the tour pays 1/3 of car repairs and maintenance).

We'll track this tour separately and then roll up a total at the end. We've started a new spreadsheet with our initial costs (postage and printing supplies) here.

We're really excited about this tour, it's a pretty even mix of revisiting awesome shows from last tour, going back to places we haven't been since Paint the Town, and performing in completely new places. The general route is south, then west, then back up to Wisconsin for family and friends time (I miss everybody greatly) then back home to Philly. Then we turn around and head back to the midwest (couldn't turn down the invitation to the C.A.N. conference) which will include a trip to the north to play a couple shows in Ontario (thanks to Thor and Kelly!)

The calendar to the right is up to date with the details of all our shows. Most of the shows are free or donation based. None of them are more than $8, and if we have anything to say about it, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

This weekend we're playing two very different shows in New York City, one at an awesome infoshop (Bluestockings) and one with a slew of kick ass noise bands (at 13 Thames).

Next week we head south, playing with friends in Baltimore (Red Emma's 2640), Charlottesville (This Little Bird), and Johnson City (Projexxx Studio), and meeting new people in Chapel Hill (The Nightlight). In Chapel Hill in addition to performing, we'll be leading a discussion of radical politics and theatre at the local infoshop (Internationalist Books). Our Nature Days will be spent checking out a nature reserve here in Philly, and touring the Twin Oaks Intentional Community outside Charlottesville (we're looking to maybe live in something like this).

There are some holes in the tour where we're still trying to confirm a show. Especially troubling is the week in February after we return to Philly but before we depart for the C.A.N. conference in Urbana, IL. We're looking for shows on the east coast, and since we're subletting the apartment, we'll need places to crash for some of those cold nights. Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.

Wish us luck, see you soon, hope you're also entering the new year as aggressively as possible.

JANUARY (and February) TOUR PLANS!

We're gonna run this play everywhere and anywhere for as long as we can!

Here's our plans for January, including the holes in our route (as noted by ?). If you know anyone in any of these cities, please ask em to turn out. If they're a radical musician or other type of performing artist ask them to contact us, we're looking for locals to play with us in many of these places.

Full details for most show (addresses, bands, etc) can be found on the calendar right over here --->

If not, give me a call and we'll give you the tip: 414 305 9832

*UPDATE: 12/28: new dates added through the end of February!*

Week(end) 1

Fri Jan 1st- hurns

Sat Jan 2nd, NYC: Bluestockings.

Sun Jan 3rd, Brooklyn: 13 Thames

Week 2

NATURE DAY! Philadelphia

Tues Jan 5th, Baltimore: Red Emmas.

Wed Jan 6th- huuurrns

Thu Jan 7th, Charlottesville: This Litte Bird Studio.

Fri Jan 8th, Johnson City: Projexx Studio.

Sat Jan 9th, Chapel Hill: Nightlight.

Sun Jan 10th, Chapel Hill: Nightlight.

Week 3

Mon Jan 11th, Savannah: Wormhole.

Tue Jan 12th, Jacksonville: 323 Modernism.

Wed Jan 13th, St Augustine: Nobby's Sports Tavern.

NATURE DAY! with Saara!

Fri Jan 15th, Gainesville: CMC.

Sat Jan 16th, Tallahassee: Free Radicals

Sun Jan 17th, New Orleans: Zeitgeist.

Week 4

NATURE DAY! Bayou!

Tues Jan 19th- hurns?

Wed Jan 20th, Houston: Sedition Books.

Thu Jan 21st, Austin: Salvage Vanguard Theatre.

Fri Jan 22nd, Beaumont, TX: Barking Dog Cafe.

Sat Jan 23rd, New Orleans: Thee Iron Rail

?Sun Jan 24, Tuscaloosa? Memphis?

Week 5

NATURE DAY! Wherever.

Tues Jan 26th, Nashville: Little Hamilton.

Wed Jan 27th, Louisville: The Brickhouse.

?Thu Jan 28th, Cincinnati? Bloomington? Hurns?

Fri Jan 29th, Urbana, IL: UC IMC

FAMBLY DAY!

?Sun Jan 31, Chicago? (hurns.)

Week 6

DAY OFF

Tues, Feb 2nd, Milwaukee: The Alchemist

DAY OFF

Thu Feb 4th, Sheboygan: Paradigm Cafe

Fri Feb 5th, Madison: Project Lodge

FAMBLY DAY!

Sun Feb 7th, Chicago: Prop Thtr for Rhinofest.

Week 7

DAY OFF

?Tue Feb 9th, Toledo?

?Wed Feb 10th, Pittsburgh: The Big Idea?

Thurs Feb 11th, Philadelphia: Wooden Shoe.

?Fri Feb 12th, Philadelphia: The Rotunda?

?Sat Feb 13th, Washington DC: True Colors?

Homeless for a week cuz we're subletting our apartment til March 1st. Please let us crash on your couch, it's too cold to sleep in the car!

?Thur Feb 18th, Harrisburg PA: The House of One Accord

?Fri Feb 19th, Jamestown? Buffalo?

?Sat, Feb 20th Buffalo, Toronto?

?Sun, Feb 21st ditto?

NATURE DAY CANADA!

?Tues, Feb 23rd, Hamilton, ON?

Wed, Feb 24th, Detroit: Trumbullplex

?Thu, Feb 25th, Ft Wayne? Cincinnati? Bloomington?

?Fri, Feb 26th, Peoria?

Sat, Feb 27, Urbana, IL: CAN conference at UIUC!

?Sun, Feb 28, ???

FINISHED!

If you're not in or around one of those cities and want to see us, tell me and we'll find out how to get to you. Cuz we love everyone and want to share as widely as possible, even if we go broke tryin. Thanks.

Show Report 36: Cincinnati, OH

Turnout: 60

Door: $75, Merch: $29, Donation: $36

Personal Injury Report: You know that part where Kate wrenches Ben's head backwards, covers it with her hands and then while shouting "you shit!" slaps him across the face? Y'know, where she's supposed to swing her right hand past 2 inches in front of Ben's nose and actually only hit her left hand to make the SMACK sound? Yeah. She decided to make that part a little more realistic.

Show Description: Theater + Mosh pit! Fucking kick ass show! Glad we drove 1/4 of the way across the damn country for this one show. There's nothing like holding the attention of a whole bunch of punk rock kids who came out for hardcore gabber noise "short attention span music that sounds like donkey kong slam dunking my brain over and over again" (that's how Robert describes himself, anyway) for an hour long play, and then dancing with them.

Great music and committed performances from Mavis, Evolve, Realicide and Birth. There's a kind of genuine, energetic enthusiasm in this part of the country that I'm now realizing is also open minded, welcoming and expansive. Part of that might have to do with the economic depression going on in this area, when everyone is poor, nothing is expensive, and everything is exciting. On the other hand, someone was mugged on their way to their car after the show, and the cops shot someone else 16 times near where we slept last night.

Evolve is leaving for a tour today, find their schedule here, go see em if they come near you.

Show 35: Jackpot Gallery, Riverwest, Milwaukee

Turnout: 14, some of which had already seen it.

Monetary Votes of support: 82, Our cut: 57, Merch: 8

Personal Injury Report: Ben foolishly made his left eye the target of the first gun hit.

Show Description: We were too busy (Hames-Drake wedding!) to remind everyone to come out for a play the day after Halloween. Even though Russ Bickerstaff mentioned the show, and Snap Milwaukee published Kurt Hartwig's long form review, we had a small turn out (most of whom had seen the show back in August) for our final Milwaukee performance of Ulysses' Crewmen. This was actually really nice, though, comfortable, almost family-like, and (I think) one of our best performances.

Did you see this show? If you did, write a review of it, comment, or ask us some questions. We'd like to hear it because we believe in artistic transparency.