Consumed by the Hands

Woke up in SF this morning to find Sturino is out exploring again.  There is probably a chill metro-hipster cafe within a block of our hotel, and if so… he has found it.  Brainwash Cafe treated us well last night, and the show couldn’t have been more different than the night before in San Luis Obispo.  It was laid back, and we a 4-5 song span in the middle had one guy totally enraptured.  I think “Good to be Home” and “Addiction” were the ones that brought the paramedics for him.

Wendy Bailey has been just awesome on the road with us.  Such a talent and a treat to be around.  It’s her first trip to the Bay and we spent a few hours exploring, unwinding from the wild night in SLO.  For a show in an English Pub, you would have thought this was the only place to go within 80 miles!  Seriously, the line went down the block and stayed that way all night.  We played songs that have not seen the”light of day” for 2 years, and others that were just ridiculous Jane’s Addiction rip-off tunes.  All were consumed by the throng that pulsed and throbbed in front of us.  Only Alex was f0ol enough to leave the stage.

It was halfway into our 3rd of say 5 covers (non-original songs) that we played that night, Folsom Prison Blues.  Alex had the Epiphone Casino and was singing lead, while I held down the bass and Mark and Wendy were riffing along on guitar.  Nate played that ratta-tatta-ratta-tat “far into the night” as some would say.  I told alex before we started Folsom, “Solo for a long time man.  We need to fill some time here.” Mark said the same, unpromted by me.  Good God, where did the time go?!  Well, I’ll tell you…

From that start of that instantly recognizable song, the crowd was stirred up.  Hands in the air, hands in the hair, hands on her pair… bad dancing abounded, where there was room to move.  Then, we got to the solo.  Alex looked like he was mid-demonic possession, fingers fluttering.  I checked back at Mark to see who was making that killer bee-like sound.  It was Alex, and he knew he had free reign at that moment.  He lept from the stage into the crowd and a sea of hands collapsed on his skinny rocker frame.  I actually lost sight of him for a few seconds.  He was literally consumed by the mass of sex-crazed drunkenness on the dancefloor.  I saw a look of urgency on his face after 10 seconds or so out there and he was trying to get back to the safety of our perch, prying himself away from the adoring crowd.  We only found out the extent of what happened after the show was over.

“I was violated out there man.”  We were astounded, and fell over laughing (Wendy too).  “I mean, I had my junk grabbed like six times.  Not just girls, guys too!  I mean, skinny guy… big dick.  It’s supposed to be a nice surprise, but these people found out WAY too easy!”  That was it, we lost it.  Why should I bother writing any more? -Lee

Last “Hallowed” Night

The “All Hallow’s Eve Party” at Beauty Bar (SD) last night was a funny night.  I lost footing and fell down at one point.  Totally weird, because I still can’t figure out what happened! All I know is that I was about to sing the chorus of our new song “What Say You?” and DOWN!  Alex covered for me, and musically, I was barely missed (humbling actually, haha).

There were some great costumes in the crowd, intermingling with your standard “Dorothy” and “Jason” costumes.  One guy told had a full beard and mustache and a Detroit Tigers cap on (yes, I called it a cap).  He said, “Guess who I am!”… to which I responded “I don’t know… a Detroit Tigers fan?!”… to which he said “No!  I will be Magnum P.I. tomorrow night, after I shave the beard!”

We were a bit nervous before the show though, because Alex was held up and running very late.  As in… we had to start the show without him!  Yeah, so Mark grabbed the bass and we lit into “Childlike,” then as we started “Animal Crush” we saw him at the front of the stage!  I found out later that Nate was relieved we stopped, because the beater on his kick drum pedal flew off during the first song!  He was looking around in the dark for it back there!  From that point on, we went from a tight 3-piece to the full “onslaught.” We just tore into the songs, back-to-back, with hardly a break.  I think this is why we got a comment from the next band “How about Echo Revolution?!  Those guys don’t #@&$ around!”  I was happy.

One guy was really into “Counterfeit Sunshine,” and he was also a musician so I told him about how we wrote it.  He was one of the most excited audience members I’ve met in awhile.  That felt great.  I think every songwriter likes to be appreciated for their craft, and also to see that someone identifies with them through the music.

Great night, and a fun send-off for the holidays.  Thanks to those who came out!  Oh, check out the new ECHOREVOLUTION.COM… there is a new “RADIO” page now where you can request ER music too!

Next show… Tour Launch!

Echo Revolution flyer, Soda Bar Oct. 7, 2009

(Click the image to see a full-size handbill)

Next time… bring a towel

Lestat’s was a terrific show for us.  We had a great time and we fed off the crowd energy for sure.  It helped, because we were baking under the stage lights!  Wow, I looked at my left arm at one point and it was shiny.  Plus I was sliming my Casino big time, my right arm just sliding on it as I strummed (enough detail?)  Louie did a phenomenal job on our soundcheck, and we felt great getting onstage.  We also got audio from the show, so we’ll do a quick mastering job and post some songs soon!

We have another show tomorrow night, and all I can think of is… sleep.  Looking forward to it like a Rabi would a French Dip after 30 days of fasting (might have mixed up a religious reference there, forgive me).  But, the next show is exciting for us.  We’re in the North Park Music Thing Sat 8/8 (Details), a terrific indie music festival in San Diego.  We will definitely make the most of it, and Lestat’s was the perfect “confidence builder” for us heading into NPMT.  Only the 3rd show with Alex and Sandra D, but the show grows in dynamic and emotion every time.  Sandra’s vocals were spot on (despite feeling terrible), and Alex was all over the keys, harmonica, bass, and… keys.  Sturino even pulled out the bass for “Animal Crush,” so things were definitely a little freaky up there!

So much fun right now… and more exciting things coming.

Nervous Energy System

"Paper Man"

The last few shows have gotten us more and more excited.  It’s funny, because even though Alex and Sandra D have only been with Echo a couple of months, we’ve practiced so much that I forget we have only had 2 shows with them.  We get stronger every time, and I think that our Lestat’s show this Thurs will be spot on.

The O’Connell’s show w/ Astra Kelly was a great time.  Our 1st show with her, she did not disappoint… with a very tight band and a couple songs in particular that reminded me of Meredith Brooks.  Saw Adrian from Republic of Letters there as well.  RoL are great friends of ours, and a terrific band.  While we were nominated in the SDMAs for “BEST POP,” Republic was nominated for “BEST ALTERNATIVE.”  You can vote on the SDMAs through 8/25 (CLICK HERE).  What makes us Pop and them Alternative?  I’m at a loss on that one, but they got my vote for sure…

Oh yeah, saw The Surrender last week at U31 for Peggy Calhoun’s birthday bash.  Tremendous SD/LA band, and we’ll be lining somethin up in Sep-Oct with them in all liklihood.  More to come…

Abbey Road

Today  we’re taking some more time to “drill” the two songs for the studio, “Counterfeit Sunshine” and the fan-favorite from the last tour “Open Your Eyes.”  I called this blog Abbey Road because I always admired the live recording aspect of the Beatles, and that album has each song flowing seemlessly into the next.  I doubt we will sew them together into one “sonic tapestry,” but we are taking a different approach in the studio this time.

In the past, we’ve mostly recorded one instrument at a time, building up sound on top of a finished drum and bass part.  It had it’s advantages for sure, but the live interaction of the band members felt missing at times.  Well, with the new members, and the short time we’ve been together, we are trying to establish all of that chemistry by practicing the new songs like crazy.  I actually thought one way to get really comfortable with each other would be to each stand about 4 feet apart, facing in (like a huddle) and  play songs!  Yeah, not sure that would fly with the band, but hey if 4 feet is comfortable then I think a whole new level of interaction on stage would come through.  I think we are well on our way though.  The music is definitely coming out well, and I am anxious to see what comes out this week in the recording studio.

lately

It’s been awhile, so I thought I should tell what’s going on lately.  We are about to get into a somewhat heavy rehearsal schedule for our studio sessions, recording “Counterfeit Sunshine” and “Open Your Eyes” in a couple weeks with Steve Churchyard and Alan Sanderson.  We’re going to do a live take of these songs, which we’ve only done for a couple of songs previously in the studio.  Anyone who has seen the live show lately knows that things are changing.  With the addition of Alex Zander on keys and Sandra D on backing vocals, we’ve been thrilled at the evolution.  Charles did decide to quit the band though, and we will miss his talent.  

Auditions for bass brought out some very talented players, but for now we have decided to use sequenced parts to fill the void… and it’s working out very well.  Without giving too much away, the live show is beginning to finally reach the sound we know it could.  We found out this week that we will be performing at the coveted North Park Music Thing in August, and I expect that will be a full display of the music.  

I was back home in Missouri a few weeks back, and had a great time.  I almost made an appearance at the Bliss Out festival (associated with Burning Man) in Lynn, MO, but decided to remain a spectator instead.  It was an interesting experience, out in the woods near the Gasconade river with all those music lovers.  

What we hope to decide on tonight is tour dates for the end of ’09.  As I’ve previously stated, it was my goal to make it to Seattle this year, and there is no reason to think that it won’t happen.  So that is very exciting.  We are looking at also expanding into San Luis Obispo, Portland, and possibly Eugene, OR as well.  Wish us luck.

West Coast – Pt 3/ Art Walk

Before it gets too long since the tour.  Let me say San Francisco was a blast.  We hit the Beale St Bar with Der Spasm and Room for a Ghost, and the show was phenomenal.  Charles was jumping off the bass drum, Knoll was going nuts on the keys, and there was energy all around.  We even had a fan fly in from Seattle for the show (she said it was “totally worth it”) – how sweet is that?!  San Francisco was kind to us this second time around, and we aim to get back before the end of ’09.  It’s not everyday that the owner of the club brings the entire band kamikaze shots before the last song!  Wow, we will remember this show for a long time… that, and Mark Knoll singing from the 5th floor hotel room window!

Art Walk:  We ushered in a new era of Echo Revolution today… Alex Zander took over the role as ER keyboardist (filling big shoes), and Sandra D joined us as our first-ever backup singer.  It was a great first show for them, especially considering we only brought them into practice 5 days prior to the show!  Playing outdoors had its ups and downs.  On the upside, it was refreshing and sunny, giving us a great energy.  Downside was the sound was kind of weird onstage, and “Alive Tonight” didn’t make so much sense during the day. Ha.  We have some big things planned for the next live shows, so we hope you guys will make it out for the next show.  It should be even better, given more time with the new members, and some added stage elements.  Exciting times for us, and we’re so thankful to those of you who made it out yesterday.  Thank you!

West Coast – Pt 2

3/12 – The Scene (Glendale, CA)

Wandered around Glendale for awhile.  Kind of cold out too!  Went to a thrift store and a coffee shop, killing some time before the show.  Runway had a great set to start things off (we even recorded some of it – will post soon).  The Scene had a wicked backstage area, and I snapped alot of pics of all the bands from behind the curtain.  Good stuff.  For our set, I remember we moved as much as we could for that small stage.  And, Charles at one point standing on Nate’s bass drum.  Knoll was off on the side of the stage, right next to me, wailing away on the mic.  Sturino was on the other side of the stage – might as well have been on a pedestal surrounded by molten lava (nowhere to move), but he made the most of it.  They had this projection of “Faster Pussycat” (as Steven Bankhead pointed out to me) going while we played.  All I will say, is that was distracting while I was trying to sing.  We got people really into “Counterfeit Sunshine” and “You Nevermind,” the closer (these are 2 songs that will be on our next release).  The Airlines played immediately after us, and we were really into these guys.  I told their bassist he looked like Bob Geldof (we are talking seriously!)  He said like, “Thanks alot man!”  ”No problem I said, thank you.”  After them came Cosio, another LA band.  They had a friggin’ ton of instruments (including a toy piano).  Heard a bit of them, but bugged out early I’m afraid.

…More to come

West Coast – Pt 1

We hit 5 cities in 5 days.  Here is a brief recap:

3/10 – The Detroit Bar (Costa Mesa, CA)

kind of a warm-up show really, but still a good time.  Had some signal issues with the trailer heading up, so that ruined the high for a bit:(  Pete Brittsan filled in on drums that night, and that is always fun, but we were missing Mark Knoll as well.  I wouldn’t say it was our best show, but we hit it pretty solid.  I remember “Counterfeit Sunshine” sounding great.  We got many new fans on the fanlist, and had fun watching Republic of Letters and Runway perform.  It would be a preview of our Monterey show to come…  But Monterey would be 10x the show.

3/11 – U31 (San Diego, CA)

We were back home for this night, sharing the stage with Runway and opener Leisuresuit.  Great harmonies from Leisuresuit, and terrific use of different meters and interesting chord progressions.  It’s hard to hear lyrics in U31, but they were great (we all agreed we’d like to do more shows with these guys).  We just poured it out on this show.  Of course we always do, but this was our first night with all of Echo Revolution.  The lads were hungry, and so were the fans.  We saw some new faces in the crowd, which is great.  The crowd was great, even though we were a little slow between songs.  Got off to a slightly slow start waiting on the soundman to get Knoll’s keys up.  Still, a great start.  We packed the trailer for the long haul ahead, and I secretly prayed that we would make it back (with the same car).

…To Be Continued