Day V: Monday, October 21 - Ypsilanti, MI

People, there’s only one way to follow up the filthy time we had in Toledo, and I think you know what it is. That’s right, a trip to the Ann Arbor suburb of Ypsilanti, Michigan!

We rolled into town early to get a little hospitality from Julie, our hometown compadre of old. We have to give some serious credit to Julie, her mom and her sweet puppy who’s name currently eludes me. You see, after even a few days of forced confinement with a group of guys in a van things can get a little rough around the edges. You’ve been listening to their snores, hearing their inane theories of life, smelling their farts and generally longing for anything resembling the comfort of mom. Well, folks, Julie came through in a huge way, cooking us the first substantive dinner we’d had in a week, letting us sleep in beds(!) and giving us the run of her house so that we could all retreat to separate corners to regain our sanity.

After a couple hours of taking it easy, Gordon and I headed for Ann Arbor while Pete and Jordan cuddled in the basement (ok, ok, while Jordan and Pete took naps in the basement. It’s much better the other way though). We checked out the U. Michigan campus and marveled at how everyone we met was an expert on the sniper attacks that were at that time still going on in D.C. Guitar store clerk "Well, with the kind of ammunition they’re using, I can tell that they must be shooting from 150 yards or so. Hell, I could do that!" You must be very proud, sir. McDonald’s employee, maybe forty-three "All they need to do is assemble a SWAT team of elite troops and those assholes would be dead in two days." Apparently however, he didn’t have the CIA clearance to approve this plan because he was still pouring shakes when I left. Oh well, enough pet peeves, on to the show!!!

Ah, the show. Well, it was ok I guess. We really tried to achieve the goal of becoming a precise machine of a band on this tour, with all vocals blended, all rhythms tight and all t-shirts trendy. This is hard to do when you sometimes have to play in small bars with not very good sound systems and very little support in the way of fans. Props again go out to Julie for bringing her friends to the show, but it was still a little spare in there. We did our best and I think we rocked out pretty well. However, I think we all agree it wasn’t the best show we ever played. Highlight of the night - after the show, some guy came up to me to tell me he loved my guitar playing because it was full of heart, as he said "all sloppy and out of tune like Jimmy Page." Uh, thanks....

Tomorrow - Chicago, IL