Watch Them Lonesome Boxcars Roll

We played last night at the Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Room in Denton, Texas. It's a great place and the owner Josh is one of the coolest guys on the planet. Hats off to their sound guy Matthew and the whole staff. Boris sounded great and it was the best show of the tour  so far.

We're in Austin now, the Mohawk. It's an outdoor venue and is pretty cool. Today was the first day we didn't have a really long drive, a real relief. San Antonio tomorrow, I used to live there and I'm curious to see it again.

More Pics:

The stage at the Mohawk

Josh - You Rule Dude!

Stage at RGRS

Enju and her merch

Six Day on the Road

Thirteen hours in the van today. Once again, I've got to go right to bed in order to get any sleep, up early and more travelling to Denton. Hopefully I can put up something interesting tomorrow.

Agua Caliente, Arizona

The van and trailer

Viva Terlingua

Boris tour forges onward. Played San Diego on Tuesday and Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday. Both shows went well. I'd say more but I got to get some sleep.

Pics:

Brandon, van driver

Folding t-shirts in Wal Mart parking lot-glamourous!

Mike Watt at San Diego show!

Weird California tree

Boris fans rocking in Tempe

Without Getting Killed or Caught

Three days into the Boris tour and so far it's been a bit frustrating really. Lots of hassles getting our gear together. Long drives that feel like we're just wandering around California. Oh well, it will improve.

Played an in store at Amoeba Berkley that was cool despite a tiny stage and small PA. The people at Amoeba are great!  Every show I've done there has been a pleasure. Praise to Greg from Southern Lord Records for getting the show together. Greg and Steve of SUNN O)))) have been a huge help here in California. Would not have gotten this far without them. Many thanks.

Show at the Casbah in San Diego tomorrow. A cool venue, looking forward to it.

Boris at Amoeba Berkley

Last Exit

Arrived in San Francisco at 10 this morning to start the Boris tour. Met the band at the airport and we all went to our hotel in Berkley. Our first show is tomorrow at Amoeba Records. Seems a pretty big deal. Show is after they close and you have to have a wristband to get in, which you get by buying a record or something like that.

 Whatever, I walked around Berkeley, it's nice , I guess. Northern Californian cities have a sleaze factor I find annoying. It's that heroin/meth Summer of Love trip or something. The freaks are just weird, no style, like in NYC. I prefer southern California . Lots of good record stores in Berkeley though, unlike New York. 

I must say I think I'd rather be in Europe right now than the US. Seems more relaxed. I'll be glad when Bush and his bunch are gone. They really have done this country a disservice all the way around. Made America and Americans look like a bunch of dirt bags who torture people and like to go to war. That's not true. I hope Obama gets elected. Can't be any worse than it is now. 

A couple of pics:

Takeshi of Boris in Berkeley

Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley

Somebody left a comment asking how the Dinosaur Jr show in Copenhagen went. It was good but frustrating for me because of db level restrictions. Didn't take any pictures because I couldn't see the band from where I was. 

CH CH Changes

Getting ready for the Boris tour. The TM can't make it due to health problems so we're trying to find a replacement, or at least someone who can drive and load gear. We need a bus dammit!

Would greatly simplify things. 

Today I have to take one of J's Marshall heads in for repair. Solid state and pod dude! Never breaks and sounds like shit forget I mentioned it.

Here's some random Dino Jr pics

J took a photo of me, says it's an art photo

This is an art photo !

On the bus

Dear Mr. Fantasy

Back home today, I miss touring with Dino already. They are great guys to be with. I gotta say that I feel very lucky to work with them. In the last year I've gotten to mix them in stadiums, huge festivals and small punk rock clubs. Not many bands can offer that kind of variety to a sound man. It keeps me on my toes and things never get boring. 

I'm starting a tour with Japanese psch, heavy rock band Boris on Saturday. They are awesome and I hope you all come to see them when they hit your town. The Dino guys like them, you will too.  There is a link to their web site on the right of this page. I'll be posting stuff from that tour and hope you guys will keep reading and commenting. I will be mixing both bands at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago on July 20. That will be a fun day. Thanks to all.

And as usual, pics!

Mattias an me in Nice,taken by Mattias

The Murph 

Dino at Malmo skate park

Here's a  video I like: Brian rediscovers his roots in Jerusalem

Walking On the Moon

Last two shows of the tour today, a skate park in Malmo Sweden and the Vega in Copenhagen.

Both shows a little weird, will post some details tomorrow, I'm tired and going to bed. More pics though.

The Last Load Out

Waiting

Swedish Skater

Setting up at the Skate Park

Crowd at Foo Fighter gig, Stockholm

Oh Baby Come On

Sitting in the dressing room at the Where The Action Is festival in Stockholm. Big fun! Dino, Queens of the Stone Age, The Hives, The Hellacopters, Foo Fighters and more! All in one day!

Saw my buddy from New York, Jim Henegan, who is filming a Hellacopters documentary. Unfortunately they are breaking up. Dino set here was great, J's guitar strap broke during Freak Scene and he did some really weird riffs while trying not to drop it. At one point he and Lou were both playing sitting down. 

Finland yesterday was kinda strange. Traveled 12 hours to get to the festival. We were there for a few hours, played, left ,and pretty much got on a plane to Stockholm. Tiring to say the least.Finland is really beautifull.

Anyway, more pictures:

Dino in Finland

Finnish rock dude taking a break -

Murph learns to clog

Hutch - Queens of the Stone Age Sound Man - awesome Guy

Isn't It Good

A stunning portrait of me, by Brian Schwartz

Played Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo today. Good show but Lou's Marshall rig just didn't sound the way I like it to. That's one of the hazards of using rented backline. Oh well, Turn up the guitar!!! 

 Opened for the Foo Fighters who were great. Dave Grohl puts out so much  energy on stage you can't help but get into it. Their crew were awesome guys.

Off to Finland tomorrow. Long day getting there, 5am lobby call. Here's some more pics

Love and Haight in Oslo

Foo Fighter backline.....

VERSUS

Dinosaur Jr backline

YOU DECIDE!

Dave Grohl does it Right On Time!

Show Me the Way

Left Israel this morning and flew to Oslo. Quite a change of place. Security leaving Israel was way tighter than coming in.  Show with the Foo Fighters tomorrow, should be interesting. 

Also, contrary to what I had heard, the rental backline gear in Israel was quite good. The guy who supplied it was totally great and helped to get one of J's Marshalls fixed. The club, Zappa, had a very nice PA (part of which they brought specially in for the shows)  and the crew were very together.

Oslo at Midnight

TM Rob hits the big time-his name on the bus! 

A beautiful sight, 24 hour laundry in Tel Aviv

Linger On

Second show in Israel went well. Great crowds here. Went to Jerusalem, quite impressive.

Would be nice to come back.

More pics:

In Tel Aviv club

Murph at rest

In the Van

Our Israeli guides

Ease My Worried Mind

First Tel Aviv show done, it was cool. Nice club and the crew and staff were terrific. Israel is lovely and not  what I expected. Doesn't really feel unsafe at all.Haven't seen soldiers everywhere. Granted, we're staying at a posh hotel on the beach but people here seem to just live their life pretty much like other cities. I hope that's the case. Going to Jersualem in the morning, looking forfward to that. Here's some more pics:

A hungry mob is an angry mob

Long Day

Longer Day

View from our Posh Hotel

Night of the Vampire

Arrived tonight in Tel Aviv, a very modern American looking city. We were met at the airport by someone who took us through the VIP line at immigration, no waiting , nice. First time that's happened to me. The flight from Athens was rather strange. We changed planes in Larnaca, Cyprus which has the most disorganized transit area I've seen in years. Felt like we were in a holding pen. Anyway, show tomorrow. This seems like a party town so it should be good.  Some pics:

Children of the Damned

Lou and Mattias ordering Israeli Breakfast

Dog Riding on car - Athens

Mad Shadows

Played Athens tonight, cool show, crowd, club and all that. Local crew was very helpful, and didn't get mad when we asked them to move a quarter of the stage to the side. Thanks guys, it made the show a lot better. Athens is a nice city, it's great to be able to play here. Pics:

Where so much began.

poovmx

Athens stage