Hayden’s Blog

San Fransisco, no flowers.

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Right, well we’ve played a few shows since my last update, so let me fill you in chronologically…

The Seattle show at the Crocodile Cafe went really well, although there was a slight lack of people for what was supposed to be our biggest city. Still, was a really great room to play in. If you read my last post you would have heard about how I wasn’t allowed in the venue and had to be escorted in and out to play our set. Well, that’s exactly how it was like. I even had to be escorted to the bathroom and had a guy WATCH ME PEE. I really don’t know what they thought I was going to do… the novelty of alcohol wore off a fair few years ago now for me to be swigging some whiskey at the urinal.

The next day we had a 5am start to drive to Portland, Oregon, for an 11am live-to-air on local radio station KEXP. They’re kind of like a more commercial version of bFM, and not a student station. Same kind of playlist though. We were met there by a woman from YouTube who was responsible for featuring the Hairagami music video on YouTube’s main page (which has now had over 170,000 views).

From there we packed the van and drove 3 or so hours to a town called Eugene (also in Oregon) to play the town’s ‘Eugene Celebration’ festival. We were playing in a big theatre that looked a bit like the Civic and the St James in Auckland, but without as much decoration. We were in between two other bands on the bill, in what was possibly the strangest line up I’ve ever played. The first act was this woman called Mirah, with a backing band including cello. We were up next, playing to a semi-empty theatre (the nature of the festival meant people came and went as they pleased). After us was an emo-pop band called Shiny Toy Guns. Quite possibly the funniest band I’ve ever seen. They were so incredibly manufactured and their on stage personas seemed so different to their off stage personalities.

John and I were keen to stick around and watch them from the side of the stage. The drummer and the guitarist were having a bit of an onstage fight. They kept spitting at eachother. It was weird.

Anyway, after we’d had enough of the non-stop emofest we walked back through the festival and soaked up some of the Eugene atmosphere. A blues band was playing the main outdoor stage, and people flooded the street, dancing wildly. The guitarist was a black woman with long braided hair - playing a wireless triple necked guitar! It was completely ridiculous, but so funny to watch. We stuck around and saw her walk through the crowd, solo-ing for about 20 mins.

The next morning we drove BACK to Portland (it’s a shame the dates weren’t the other way around, it would have made a lot more sense). We were on the bill at another festival. This time we were playing a Sub Pop showcase in the Crystal Ballroom - an amazing, huge room with a sprung wooden floor that became a rolling sea when people started jumping on it. The other bands for the night were the Helio Sequence and The Thermals, along with a comedian called Eugene Mirman (who was so funny I brought my dinner up from our dressing room and watched him from the side of the stage).

Next day: 8 hour drive into California, stopping off for the night in a small town called Redding (possibly the Hamilton of California?) en route to San Fransisco.

The next day we finished the drive to San Fran, passing through some awesome scenery. Unfortunately we weren’t coming from the right direction to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, but we did see Alcatraz. Thankfully we had the day off in SF, so we were able to explore without having to rush to soundcheck. We went for a walk through the city, through Union Square (with a sign saying “Drumming and Percussion Instruments Prohibited in Union Sqaure”), past those famous big steep hills with trams going up them, through a tunnel to Chinatown and Little Italy. We visited what was apparently the first paperback bookshop in the US, called City Lights. I bought a book. We walked back through Chinatown and had dinner at an excellent place called the House of Nanking.

I’ve been feeling quite sick in my stomach most days here in the US. I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what it is, but it just keeps coming back. The chinese food didn’t really help things, so I went to bed nice and early.

More exploring of San Fran the next day, but this time we ventured over to Haight-Ashbury, a suburb named after 2 intersecting streets, which was the centre of the 1960’s hippie movement. Some really great thrift stores, and an army surplus store where I got myself a much-needed satchel. The venue we were playing was just down the hill - a place called Cafe du Nord. We played a pretty good show. Not much to say.

Nearly there…

That night we drove to Santa Cruz, about 2 hours down the coast. It’s a great little surfing town, apparently boasting the best surf in California. We were staying with the owner of Hairagami. He’d heard Her Hairagami Set on the net, and had got in touch wanting to get some endorsement deal happening. He had a beautiful place with a pool and hot tub. We played the following night at a jazz club in town, our first seated show of the tour. It still worked though,  and the crowd even got up and danced.

Today we spent 7 hours driving to LA. We’ve just packed into the Hollywood venue, and we’re back at the hotel waiting to play. Until next time…