Electric Tour: Things Get A Little Bit Erie

So, after a pretty chill morning, and relatively easy 4 hour drive, we arrived in Erie, PA where we each subsequently made Eerie puns until we were all ready to kill one another.

We are just that awesome.

We started by checking in to a La Quinta Inn and hitting the pool appoximately 15 seconds after walking in the door. Bates didn’t last long. I think he was really hoping for a hot tub, but to no avail. I swam some laps and worked off what I knew would eventually be a terribly unhealthy remainder of the evening.

I was right.

We got to the venue and met back up with the guys from John Shannon and Wings of Sound. There was also a local band playing called “It Is What It Is” featuring everyone’s new best friend, bassist Steve Trohoske. Steve and the rest of the Erie natives were anything but eerie (sorry, that was the last one), and welcomed us warmly with a nice crowd of chain smoking music lovers. Yes that’s right Midwesterners, you can still smoke in bars out here. Feels a little eerie, doens’t it? ….

Anyways, It Is What It Is played a killing set starting off with the John Coltrane tune Ole, in order to honor Coltrane’s birthday. They then preceded to melt the faces off of everyone listening, including my own.

After that, John Shannon and Wings of Sound took the stage. These guys are truly beautiful musicians. Here is a video I took of their set from last night, I hope you enjoy it:

We played to a still pretty lively crowed starting at around 1230a. It was a late night at the Crooked i, and then things started to get a little eerie. We finished up the set and a guy smoking a cigar and wearing an old suit that looked like it had come right out of the 1950’s with the waiste up to his nipples came up to us and said, “look, see here kid. I suppose that you be supposin that I be supposin that I like your music. Well you see kid, you’d be right if you were supposin what I been supposin’”

Then he left. That was all we heard of from the man from the 1950s. Maybe is was an omen. Maybe not. We’ll never know. Greg did ask him what his sign is to see if he could get anymore info out of him, but the man left before answering. Greg was dissapointed. He’s sensative like that.

SO. We finished up rocking the joint and packed up and went back to the hotel. Bates and I stayed up til 430a watching a chick flick on TV. I don’t remember what it was called, but I distinctly remember having to bring Bates tissue on numourous occasions from all the crying he was doing during the film. Odd, too since it was really a pretty happy flick. He sure was a mess. By the time Chris cried himself to sleep, I was finally ready to hit it myslef. I spent the next hour or so drinking beer and watching SportsCenter to try and counteract what had just taken place. Not sure if it worked.

Needless to say, we are well-rested and on our way to Pittsburgh where I will be meeting up with my mom, brother and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Can’t wait! We hit at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville at 9p. BE THERE!

More on the flip side. And by flip side I mean tomorrow.