Tag Archives: Travel
Gabes in Iowa City
Day six of the tour with Bailiff was technically an off day, so day six is really day seven. Regardless of which day it actually was, the sixth show on Bailiff’s early 2015 tour was at Gabes in Iowa City, Iowa. A cozy an intimate venue with a lot of character which pleasantly surprised me by bringing out a great crowd on a early week night. We met so many new friends, and even had some folks from the local college radio station promote and attend the event. Despite Ren, breaking his snare this was one of my favorite shows from the tour. As you can see, some of us (Owen) needed some serious sleep at this point in the tour…
Bailiff Tour Day Six and Seven
As the tour goes on, it seems to be picking up speed and the days are more and more becoming a blur. I can’t imagine how bands kept track of all the necessities during a tour 30 to 40 years ago. Just think, if you were a manager, booking agent, show promoter, or venue owner, how organized you’d have to be. Just a random thought, but we as a people and a culture are way less prepared, organized, and much more randomly focused because we have these conveniences called smart phones allowing us to just dial and connect to whomever, whenever.
Day five in Iowa City was a blast, downstairs at Gabe’s is such a cozy and fun spot to play. There was a great crowd of interactive folks/fans. Shows like that are the best and could be voted the best of the tour thus far…
Day six, the tour’s off/rest day, brought us to Cedar Rapids where the fellas had a friend who let us crash and take over his place for the entire day. This was much needed because even though you feel fine, you’re not! Once every so often on the road you need to just sleep in, watch Shark Tank, and AVOID eating pizza! We ate breakfast at a local spot called Riley’s where I ordered something called the Country Shipwreck. Lets just say it lived up to its name! The night before at Gabe’s, Ren’s snare drum broke, so we had to make a quick guitar center run to pick up a new one before heading to the next show.
Day Seven, was spent en route to Rockford, IL where we played a venue called Kryptonite. After a few technical issues, Bailiff played a solid set to a large group of diehard fans. It was a great time and we’re looking forward to the next few days in Davenport and Dubuque Iowa.
Bailiff Tour Day Three
Yesterday as we left Lawrence, Kansas and headed to Lincoln, Nebraska, we strolled the streets to find some food, replace a few malfunctioning wardrobe components and kill sometime before hitting the road again. The Replay Bar in Lawrence was a great spot that reminded me of my back home favorite, the Brass Rail. Here are a couple shots! Gotta run, we’re loading in for tonights show in Omaha, NE at a place called The Slowdown. Feels good to be in the city that birthed 311!
NEWaukee
Just a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hoping in an SUV on a weekday and driving five hours north to Milwaukee for an outdoor festival event geared toward revitalizing a section of Milwaukee thats been neglected over the past several years. The event was put on by a group of people who call their movement and company NEWaukee.
The trip was an overall success, exhausting, intentionally fun, and completely worth it. There was plenty of time for us to bond and share ideas with one another. It was a blast and I can’t wait till our next trip!
Week of Hope
For those of you who know me, I am prone to make plans, leave town on a whim, and return with some crazily entertaining story. I do have a couple crazy stories, but this time I skipped town to do some volunteer work in San Diego, California.
Just a couple weeks ago, a spot opened up for an adult volunteer to go with Holy Cross Lutheran Church to Group Workcamp’s Week of Hope. I somehow haven’t made a trip out to California ever, and thought this would be a great opportunity to check out the west coast.
The premise of these work camps are to do service projects in communities of need. Projects range from building homes to cleaning up trash along the beach. Basically, whatever the need is, all the volunteers buckle down and do whatever they can to assist the project coordinators and those in need. Its a great experience and something I would encourage you to look into for yourself or a youth group you’re involved with. Kids and adults alike learn and grow so much as individuals through out the week and it provides them with an opportunity to get outside their normal comfort zone.
Nate & Adam in China
The Making of Shake The Dust
An amazing photographer/videographer/blogumentarian and friend of mine Adam Sjoberg is working on putting together quite an amazing story. Connecting Hip-Hop, B-Boy dancing’s and the culture of many third world countries. These people are living such inspiring and transformative lives within their communities. Take a look at his site and watch “the making of” the Shake the Dust documentary below!
Check out his blog Loose Luggage where he released the video this morning and talks about all the other things he is doing!