I've been back for a few days, and i've been feeling under the weather, but i think i can write a little bit about my weekend road trip to see Avail and the Draft.
The road trip started surprisingly on time, which if you know my roomate Steve this is a miracle. So at noon we hit the road, glided thru customs with ease and head to Bellingham. We had some errands to run here, and one of those was hitting Taco Bell. Hells yeah.
After B-Ham we got back on the I-5 heading south for Tacoma. Of course we hit the Seattle area right in the midst of rush hour. Holy fuckin' hell was this annoying! A stretch of road that should've taken 25-30minutes took just over 50 minutes. We pulled up to Hells Kitchen just as doors opened. We visited the record store a few doors down and the only place to eat on the block (Quiznos) and then entered the venue. After buying some merch i ended up talking to
Tim Barry singer of Avail. Me and him had communicated via email a few times over the years so it was nice to meet face to face finally. He's a super friendly, rad dude and recently he just released a solo record that is really fuckin' good.
The opening acts at this show were ok, nothing special. Then the Draft played, who are 3/4's of Hot Water Music, a band that i loved. Musically they pick up right where they left off, and their set was made a little comical by singer/guitarist Chris Wollard's obvious drunkenness. He was having troubles tuning the guitar, and kept yelling random strange shit after songs. I was quite amused by it all, and it never affected the actual songs. After they finished it was time for Avail. I planted myself upfront, giddy with anticipation. People who know me will probably know how important this band is to me. Just take a look at my first tattoo, the cover of Avail's LP "Dixie". The band started off with Southbound 95, which is a fast, raging number with a part where everyone yells "RICHMOND VA!". I swear when they started to play the song i thought i was going to lose my fuckin mind! I sang & screamed along, danced like I was having a seizure, and felt goose bumps all over my body. The band sounded great, and looked like they were having fun. 18 songs later the set ended, i was covered in sweat (my own and the others around me), my voice was raw, and i was so happy i felt like crying. Seriously, this was one fuckin' amazing show for me.
After the show ended me and Steve headed for the door, as we were supposed to drive to Portland that night. We ran into our friend Bob who earlier was unsure of coming to the Portland show, but afterwards there was no doubt in his mind that he had to find way to be there. The 2.5 hour drive to Portland was interesting; rainy, then heavy drizzle, harsh bouts of fog, just alot of shitty conditions that made it hard to see the road. We pulled into Portland close to 1am, and stayed at Justin's house. I don't know him personally, but Steve does. Him and his girlfriend were kind enough to wake up and let us into their house to sleep. thanx!
Saturday morning i woke up super early, 8am. Needless to say no one else was awake. I decided to hit the road, and wander towards where i thought my hostel was. See weeks before this trip happened Steve was on tour, and i didn't know if he was planning on going so i made hostel reservations for the Saturday night. My sense of direction was on point that morning, because i somehow steered myself in the exact direction of Hawthorne Street, which is where the hostel and the evenings show was.
I had a great Saturday wandering around Portland. It's an amazing city, very homey and old. It seems like most houses have nice big front porches. And there's alot of independent business', and Vegetarian and Vegan food everywhere. Portland is also home to alot of record stores, my favorite book store (Powells), and my new favorite donut shop (Voodoo Donuts). I scored some good records and books while on my travels, and at
Voodoo Donuts i found some amazing treats (including some delicious vegan donuts). Apparently you can get legally married in this place, so if i ever get married this is where it's happening! One of my favorite moments on Saturday was when i walked out of "Q is For Choir", carrying a coffee, holding some new zines, I turned to my left and there was 3 HUGE fluffy dogs just waiting to be played with. So i kneeled down and played with one, moved onto the next, and then onto the 3rd one. If i had to define a truly happy moment, this would be it. Seriously.
Let me tell you how amazing Powells Books is...holy crap! I spent over 90 minutes in this massive book store, and then i had to force myself to leave. Think of any book you're looking for, no matter how small the press is, and chances are they have it. I've been looking for Mykel Board's book for close to a year now and they had 1 new copy and 1 used copy there! I bought alot of books and zines from
Powells.
After a day of wandering Portland in the sun i went back to the hostel and had one hell of an amazing shower. Felt so good. I then followed that up with some great Thai food and some coffee enroute to the show. A block away from the venue i ran into Bob, turned out he did make it down from Seattle for the show, although he did have to work super early on Sunday. The show that night was at the Hawthorne Theater, and featured one of the worst bands i've seen in a while as well as Broadway Calls, who were alright. The show was in a large room, and then off to the side was the smoking room. I was told they have free water in the smoking room, so off i went. I swear i caught lung cancer in that 45seconds i spent in that room. When i met back up with steve and Andy they asked why i suddenly smelled like cigarettes. I told them about my hellish journeys to get water.
The Draft and Avail both rocked the house in Portland, possibly even better than the night before. It was nice that Avail changed up their set list, adding different songs, and omitting songs from the night before. Once again i lost my mind up front, dancing with no cares in the world. It felt good to have punk/hardcore move me like this, because it's been too long since it has.
After the show I went with Steve and Andy to meet a bunch of people for dinner. I opted out of eating at the restaurant and instead just ate donuts that Steve bought at Voodoo Donuts that day. Me and Andy are starting a band; Get Funky Shitheads! Our hitsong is "Donuts Give Me A Boner, So I Fucked Your Dunks". Um, yeah...I guess you had to have been there (and know something about the whole "Get Low" style of hardcore)
Sunday morning came and i woke up at the hostel feeling like shit. I felt like a crackhead, and my left leg wasn't working properly. I mean, it felt all wobbly, like it was asleep...but it lasted for hours. After 4 cups of coffee, a bagel, and an apple i started to feel slightly normal. I had a nice, but short conversation, with Tim from Avail when i bumped into him at the grocery store by the hostel. We both looked kinda ruff. The rest of Avail was outside the store, by their van, so i went over to talk to them. They are all a bunch of solid dudes. They told me this might be their last time on the west coast, because nothing is set in stone for the band at this point anymore. Made me happy that i came down for the weekend.
I spent Sunday wandering Portland, hitting a few more record and book stores. By mid-afternoon i was feeling exhausted and ready to catch my bus home. 5:15 the hound pulled out of Portland, heading north. We stopped in various small towns, including Olympia where out of the 6 people who got on the bus 4 of them were punx. After 9hours on the bus i pulled into Vancouver, just after 2am. It was rainy, I was hungry and tired, and I had to be up for work in under 6hours. But i'd do it all over again if given the chance.
