Economic Report: The West

Hey! We're home!

This tour went pretty damn well. We ordered new shirts to start things off, then we went up to Toronto for the People's Summit, which was well worth going to, and performing there almost paid back our travel costs. Then we drove to Wisconsin, met up with Peter, got in his van, the USS Gerald Holiday, and hit the road for weeks, and THEN we drove to Buffalo to play the Infringement Festival. Then we came home and performed one last show as a benefit for the folks who got arrested up in Toronto at the G20. It was a pretty crazy month. We didn't make a lot of money, but all in all, it was well worth it.

Someday soon we'll get a car that runs on veggie oil and/or happy thoughts and then we'll worry about tour expenses no more!

What's up with these numbers?

We did things a little differently because we were on tour with Peter. We didn't pay for food, and we split the earnings with him (logged as a "misc travel expense"). We played a lot more concerts, which led to more door charging than hat passing, but the hat passing we did do worked pretty damn well. Also, the door charge was very voluntary most places.

See the breakdown below:

What about the Future?

Now that we're back home in Columbus, it's time for some serious local focus. Our first priority is getting the intentional community strongly on it's feet. We're in the process of buying a HUGE building that needs a bundle of repairs. At any rate, Kate and I gotta get some income going on so as to be able to contribute our share to the community. It'll probably be at least 6 months before we tour again (unless some sweet opportunities fall into our laps).

Our second priority is getting some new work together. Ulysses' Crewmen has served us well, I still strongly believe it's the best piece of theatre I've produced, but we've grown over the course of producing it, and have new ideas and new things to say that this piece cannot. But! Have no fear the next touring script is in the works. It's three short acts, for three actors playing five or more roles, and may involve some crazy shadow-puppet type visuals. It kind of grew out of the idea of producing an updated re-write of Heiner Mueller's Mauser, but has gone some very different places.

At this moment it's called "The First Image of the New is Terror..." and it's in many ways the opposite of Ulysses' Crewmen. UC seems to be about our powerlessness in the face of global empire. Terror will be about how we can be powerful, what that takes. UC is very ambiguous and open, leaves audiences with lots of questions. Terror will present a specific and direct statement (which we will then discuss and debate openly with the audience). UC presented a few pointed moments for audience interaction, Terror will involve the audience throughout and will sometimes dissolve into direct dialog with or among the audience. UC is really intense and violent, and... well, I guess that's one thing they'll have in common.

Our third priority is finding a place for radical theatre in Columbus. We definitely don't want to repeat mistakes we made in Milwaukee. Right now this means producing variety shows like the Solidarity Showcase to get a sense of what and who is interested in theatre among the radical community, and maybe even who's interested in radicalism among the theatre community. After that, who knows what'll happen. I've got some ideas, but which one occurs will depend entirely on who else wants to get involved. Who knows, we might end up just doing children's plays for the neighborhood residents around the big fucking building mentioned above. That'd be pretty fucking sweet if you ask me.

Show 98: The Pangea House, Minot, North Dakota

TURNOUT: 12

MONEYS: $50

INJURIES: I fell on my head. Normally, I'm supposed to fall on one knee, then my butt, then my shoulder, but instead, for some reason i can't remember, this time my head went directly to the floor. Hard. Hard enough that i saw stars.

STORIES: Why not Minot? Probably because everyone assumes that a little town in the middle of North Dakota is a dumb place to try and make an infoshop or visit on a tour. Everyone is wrong. Minot rocks.

The show started out with a song circle, everyone taking turns playing songs on keyboards or acoustic guitars, sad songs, funny songs, covers. It had a real friendly community feel. Seriously, it was nice. Then it was time for Peter to play his harsh drooly loud set and for us to perform our messy violent play about powerlessness and futility. Suffice to say we felt uncomfortable and a little out of place.

But, we needn't have worried, cuz people loved the show, and we had a great group discussion about confronting empire and building radical alternatives. We learned a lot from the Minot kids, apparently North Dakota is one of few places in the US that didn't get too badly ruined by the financial collapse. Of course, oil speculators and real estate brokers are now moving in and blowing the economy up into a nice unstable bubble, with the help of the local government. Tearing down low income housing while a bunch of oil workers move into town driving up rents and tearing up the landscape to get at oil trapped in shale. Yes, neoliberalism seems to be targetting North Dakota. I'm hoping the kids we met might be able to convince the people of Minot that this money flowing into the community will even more rapidly flow out to big banks and corporations, that the inevitable bubble-bust is the fault of capital, not the minorities and non-xtians the right will surely blame, and that local politicians are working for the banks, against the people. We'll see.

Also, the Minot folks warned us that Fargo is a tough place to try and play. Their warnings proved justified. There will be no show report from Fargo, because nobody promoted the Fargo show, and thus nobody turned out. All we did was eat shitty over-priced taco salad and fill up with silent hate, then get back in the car and drive to Minneapolis.

Hiwayku:

This drive was very

long and very boring and

we had some soup too.

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 97: Billings, MT, Pat's Place

TURNOUT: 12

MONEYS: $70

INJURIES: Cranial Drill smashed his knuckle bloody during his set, but we got out unscathed, in spite of starting the show with being thrown down blindfolded with hands tied behind my back onto a few cement steps in the doorway. That's right, I'm nimble!

STORIES: Drove straight to Billings from Seattle, 13 hours for a 5:00 start time. Peter and Kate did all the driving, and I actually got some fitful interrupted sleep in the back, but was still exhausted enough to fall asleep while performing. That's right, I'm narcoleptic!

The show was really solid, a smallish but appreciative crowd, good cookout food, harsh badass noise from Cranial Drill, PCRV, and DCLXVI. Couldn't have asked for more after the longest drive of the tour. Got some good sleep and headed on to N. Dakota, the home stretch.

Peter played his weird set, with the bass and chains.

Hiwayku:

Got a bed in back

the sky has been ripped in half

now this fucking train

(fuck that fucking bitch)

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 96: Seattle, Teatro de la Psychomachia

TURNOUT: 12

MONEYS:$61 + $17 merch

INJURIES: My kneecaps, the caps of the knees as the caps of soda bottles, has been spurred.

STORIES: (This was dictated while I was tired and driving, but not too tired to drive, as, I was driving successfully, not that that should be used as the measure of what's alright.)

We played next to a strip club. The line up was showgirls, dream girls, columbia fire building, building of fire, then goth show hosts. Vanessa, who's pictured above, was great. These people do butoh!! They also have an altar, which we didn't take a picture of, because, in the lineup of buildings before showgirls was a large baseball stadium and we had to park blocks away and left the camera in the vehicle. Things were dark and moody in a nice, charged way, folks seemed to be having a good time, occasionally speaking or slapping on the floor during the performance. I felt kind of strange doing the show under stage lights, as i couldn't see anyone around me, which made me feel like i was in some sort of ice dungeon, where sometimes faces would appear on the other side of the ice. Like an igloo, like a transparent igloo. Like a dungeon. Wow! We are sure still driving. Hey, look, a deer.

People seemed to enjoy it though, and that's that. Hooray! 13 hour drive to Billings.

Pete played his quiet set, which he added crackley voice to, which was a crackley change, so to speak.

Highwayku:

Holy shit Michaud!

Empire war war war bad war

Holy shit JOHN MANNO!!

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 95: Olympia, Stump House

TURNOUT: 7

MONEYS: $55 +$5 merch

INJURIES: Unscathed!

STORIES: Stump house has cats! Two matching black cats that'll lick and lick and lick your fingertips! I was terribly exhausted and kind of sucking the mop before the show for some reason. Layed on the couch trying to sleep through high-volume sound checks.

Once the show started I was feeling better, mainly because the local music was awesome. Knot Pine Box might be my favorite music we've played with. After the show, I was feeling great. Maybe I need to start every day with being tied to a chair and pistol whipped.

Peter played the loud set. There's something very visual about these pieces Peter's been playing. Something that makes me want to make music videos for them. Maybe i'll do that.

Highwayku:

Dancing bare not bear

waiting for ships in traffic

makes ben get antsy

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 94: Portland, at 1486 Garfeild

TURNOUT: 21

MONEYS: $50

INJURIES: I felt like there were bugs crawling all over me all day. I kinda still do. What the fuck?

STORIES: Great show! A little bit of everything, good music, real discussion, good times hangin out. Seems like a good mix of people came out for the show, noise folks and anarchists, even some who're into theatre.

I don't have much more to say about the show. It was good and made me happy. I hope next time we come to Portland we won't already be kind of worn out from weird sort of shoddy times in California.

Peter played his weird set and also had a good time.

1/2 Highwayku:

another short drive

with nothing ha-

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 93:Eugene, at The Jazz Station

TURNOUT: 13

MONEYS: $42

INJURIES: I pinched Ben's armpit, visciously. (Ben wrote that)

STORIES: We got to the venue somewhat worn out from spending the earlier part of the day in the mountains, hiking around in the river. Chefkirk played with us which was nice. Pete played his quiet set for a nice audience whom he was familiar with from previous shows in Eugene. I felt somewhat dirty during the show. It took place in a gallery/jazz space that was nice and clean and my pants have been ripping continuously throughout this tour, not to mention the multiple layers of tape holding my shoes together. Oh, yeah, and I knocked a vase over during the show, broke character to say I was sorry.

Highwayku:

bland flatland transforms

mountaintops cut interview

oh gosh they're purdy

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 becuase we believe in artistic transparency.

Show 88: Phoenix AZ

TURNOUT: 9
MONEYS:
INJURIES: Unscathed!

STORIES: There was some press coverage for this show at the Trunk Space so some theatre folks decided to come out. Which was nice as it turned out to be a great performance, thankfully. This space was the hottest yet. It's amazing how fast the human body can generate sweat. I love it, it makes me feel like a seal just gliding through the performance like water.

Pete played his "weird set" with the bass and the 'I'm in a dream and am about to die by train or flying killer vampire bat' sound. It's the second time he's played it thus far and someone even bought a shirt.

HIWAYKU:

pricey oil change
wasting so much time in heat
back to Circle K! (to be said underneath: "hooray hooray hur")

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

Show 87: Bisbee AZ, Sully's Old Town Cafe

TURNOUT: 9

MONEYS: 71 + 46 in merch

INJURIES: Someone's ears. Cops were called during Pete's booming set. Nothing happened. Brian who owned the place was very excited about wasting the cops time.

STORIES: Bisbee is a small mountain town in Arizona that houses the happiest man ever, one noise dude and a few old men with facial tattoos. This town is great. The noise guy who'd contacted Peter about the show over email months ago just walked into the restaurant we were at and found us. Small towns are extra convenient at times. It was good to hang out with him for a while while eating delicious black bean burgers that held together nicely.

There ended up being a small but nice and enthusiastic audience for the show. Makes me think that next time we should take Brian's suggestion an ddo it for two nights, leaving room for word of mouth to travel. I always like coming here and seeing folks again. Great hospitality and lots of smiles. Bisbee is a place we'll likely come back to in the future.

The house we stayed at also had two goats, ducks, a greenhouse, an apricot tree and much more, not to mention the three kids.

Highwayku:

We drove to Bisbee

extremely uneventful

just a few palm trees. (to be said underneeth: "yuka yuka yuk")

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

NATURE DAY!!!

HOLY SHIT! Check out this goddamn NATURE!

Here's Peter pointing at a peak we're gonna climb! WOW!

Here we are on top of that peak! In our undies (or not) and VICTORIOUS!

This is where we gave up on following the hidden canyon to the beating heart of Zion. The terrible green rope rock thwarted our efforts.

HOLY FUCK LOOK AT THAT SANDSTONE!

NATURE WITH STEPS BUILT IN!!

We just took a dip in a hot spring! It was FUCKING NATURAL!

Highwayku!:

Lemons for tatas
emersed in hot salt water
cirtus prunes right up

Show 86: Prescott AZ, Catalyst Infoshop

TURNOUT: 15

MONEYS: $56 + $10 merch

INJURY: I will not cease to hit Ben in the head with the gun, on the other hand, he does not cease turning his head the wrong way right into the gun. Also, someone gave Ben a noogie at the end of the show.

STORIES: So, we pulled into catalyst infoshop, dropping Nicole off, and met some very friendly folks. This trait seemed to persit throughout the night. I always get a little nervous performing the show for friendly, welcoming people, don't want to scare them off or anything like that. We performed outside, in the driveway with motion lights, which occasionally turned off at dramatic moments. After the show there was a great discussion about the end of the play getting into morality and the many ways it can be defined. Speaking of morality, there were also a lot of dogs.

Peter played his acoustic set this time due to the outsideness. In the middle of it, dogs began fighting right in front of the table which Peter enjoyed. It was really nice to hear music and the outdoor noises at once, paying attention to the oddities of both.

Highwayku:

Through desert plateaus

we crossed the marble canyon with

mean three dollar gas

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 85: Salt Lake City

TURNOUT: 36

MONEYS: $72 + $40 fundraiser CDs + $36 merch

INJURIES: Kate can't seem to stop hitting me in the head on this tour.

STORIES: Very adventurous drive. Just outside Salt Lake City there were signs warning of a three hour traffic delay telling us to take "an alternate route" without clear suggestion of exactly what alternate route. So we just got off the interstate and proceeded to get lost in the mountains. Long steep winding roads, epic music on the stereo, walking into a wedding reception at some hillside resort to get directions, all led us to a steep gravel road up to a beautiful mountain pass. It took over an hour, but was definitely better than waiting in traffic.

This was a great show, set up by John, who played Arthur in Paint the Town, our last touring show. An artist warehouse, someone's birthday party, ping pong and steel industrial ball berring bocce in the courtyard, a machete and hairy monster glove.

The first musician, Silvery Antlers played some very energetic and positive noise music, then we performed for a great attentive audience, then Peter played his harsh drooly set, real nice and loud, and then another great band, whose name escapes me, lots of enthusiastic shouting and layers and layers of guitar, drone and beats. Kind of overwhealming yet relaxing at the same time. Maybe it was the nine hour drive, but we all dozed off breifly amid the hugely loud waves of sound they put out. Grand.

We crashed at the Boing collective, which seems like an awesome place where we definitely should've spent more than a few conscious minutes, but we were very exhausted, and had to get on the road pretty early this morning if we're gonna get some nature in on our drive day.

ROAD HAIKU (Denver to SLC):

Wyoming camels

now the water moves with us

mountain will kill us!

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 84: Denver, The Blastomat

TURNOUT: 5

MONEYS: $20, +$10 merch

INJURIES: Kate's loose pants led to a loose gun, which led to repetitive elbow bruising. Time to punch a new hole in her pants.

STORIES: We were in the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time. Basically, there was a "lady-centric" experimental music and art festival accross town called Tit Wrench. We started booking tour too late to get into this festival (and we're not sure if Kate would be lady enough to cancel out Peter and I, anyways). Jo at Blast-o-Mat warned us that it'd be a hard sell, and impossible to book local noisers to play with us, but we went ahead with the show anyway, and it definitely coulda worked out worse, all things considered.

Peter played his "weird" set, which was pretty awesome. I need to hear them all again, but right now i think i'm favoring his "theatre" set, mainly because of the drool.

ROAD HAIKU (Lincoln to Denver)

Short naps and big skies

that's a level three keeper

long drive among cows

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.

Lincon, NE at Cultiva Cafe

Here are two pics from Nebraska, the top one is slightly more interesting.

TURNOUT: 23

MONEYS: 98

INJURIES: Ben reeled his head back hitting my chin leaving it all novacainy feeling. Also, I scratched Ben's head in one part by acciddent leaving two red streaks. Another also, the metal clasp holding up Ulysses' pants was torn asunder and needs mending.

STORIES: Our first Cafe show of the tour. Shane of Monsters of Pot set it up and it went great. On the high end of cafe shows to date. Went to a goth show afterward with Shane that reminded me that I haven't seen goth or people that can dance as gracefully as that one guy did in a while. All in all, stellar times.

Peter played his quiet set. Which wasn't very quiet, more like an alien heartbeat and demonic chanting monster. Rawr! I like it.

Here's the haiku from the drive there:

Rolling hills rolling

across Iowa farmland,

dear jesus I'm bored.

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.