Rain, rain, go away

Wall in China Town, the picture is not as epic as it was

Tuesday the 19th we were in Chicago.

Some crazy round hive building with round windows

It rained, and may have even stormed a little over night.  While I enjoy the fact that I can count on it being sunny everyday in LA, I do miss epic thunderstorms and sitting on the porch watching lightning.  The venue we were at that day was Reggies.  It’s a really cool place.  The main floor is a bar/restaurant and has a small stage.  Upstairs there is a cool record store, and downstairs was the stage area we played at.  

They had these really cool painted buses out back. 

Merch was set up in the entry hallway area, which was a good spot, except I was directly across from the men’s room door.  Towards the beginning of the show the door wasn’t automatically closing.  So I’d be standing there, zoning out or looking around for people I knew, when next thing I knew, I could see directly into the men’s room.  Awkward.

Bumble bee graffiti in the women's room

Someone I did recognize was fan Jason, who was at a show in Joliet when we were at Mojo’s.  I thought he came to a few other shows, but apparently that was the only one.  The brief time I interacted with him apparently made him memorable enough though.  Jr recognized him too.  He gave me one of his CD’s that he keeps with him to give to awesome people, which made me all embarrassed and I’m pretty sure I was blushing. Even though I spend my nights dressed up like a bumble bee, dancing behind a table, talking to strangers and am super friendly, I’m actually pretty shy and awkward in real life. Anyways…  My computer doesn’t have a disk drive, so I’ll have to wait until I get home to listen to it, but in the meantime you should check out his band Zombie Apocalypse Now.

Super cute fan Miy and her mom made it to this show too! They couldn’t stay through Psychostick or be VIPs this time because school started the next day :(  But it was nice seeing them :)

Kim engulfed in fog

Unicorn Laser Kim

Special Helpers helping Kim remember the words to Recipe for Success

Another photo because Karl was hidden in the last

Kim being all awesome on the floor

Special Helpers teaching us to dance

I haven’t really had a chance to talk about the other bands we’re on tour with yet.  Mostly because we’re still getting into the groove of touring together.  That and I spend parts of their shows organizing and restocking merch, selling stuff, talking to fans, etc.  They’re all really great guys and very talented musicians.  Something came up and Wild Throne isn’t going to be on the tour as long as originally planned, but they’re awesome and I wish them the best of luck.  Plus, from what I’ve heard they’ve been touring pretty much all year.  So they could use a break.  They’ll be missed though.  If you like the silliness of One-Eyed Doll, be sure to stay for Psychostick.  They have goofy songs about dogs liking socks, beards, boobs, beer, tacos, the list goes on an on.  They even do this little spoof of Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” except it’s “I can Only Count to Four.”

Psychostick

Over all it was a good show and cool venue.  The only bad this about this place was one jerk security guy on a power trip.  I don’t know exactly what went on because a band was playing and it was loud.  Vaughn came in and showed the security guy his OED crew badge.  Apparently that wasn’t good enough for him or something, and he went off on Vaughn.  It looked like he was yelling at Vaughn, but Vaughn was just smiling.  I grabbed my phone and was going to call Jr as I went over to see what the issue was, but next thing I know they’re shaking hands and it looked like they worked it out.  Later though, the guy was complaining to Matty (aka Moose) about what happened.  Matty however defended Vaughn saying what this guy was claiming sounded out of character for him.  Then later, right after Psychosticks set, and fans had just gotten to the merch area to buy stuff and get pictures, he yells “Anyone not buying merch needs to go somewhere else!”  People hadn’t even had a chance to start buying merch.  Most band members, including Kim and Jr, weren’t even back to their tables yet.  Luckily after that I never saw him for the rest of the night and everyone else there was nice.

We had lots of cool VIPs that night.  Skitz was there!  We had a bunch of VIPs from previous shows this year, and we had a few new faces!  One VIP bought Kim and Jr awesome mugs from a tiki bar he goes to.

Kim's is a skeleton mermaid

After the VIP acoustic set, we went outside to take a group picture and have Kim and Jr sign anything people wanted signed.  Well, in the truck parked a row over from us, there was a couple most likely having sex in their car.  Awkward. Again.  We went over to the other end of the parking lot of pictures while they got dressed.

Gotta get a picture of Kim giving Skitz hair at every VIP

The VIP party ended with our VIPs helping us move the trailer.  The night before, when there weren’t many cars parked in the back alley, Jr backed the trailer into a parking spot, then we parked the RV in another spot because we were too long to fit all together.  After the show, there were a ton of cars still parked back there, and there was no way to back the RV up to the trailer with them there.  So our VIPs helped move the trailer into the driving part of the alley.  As soon as we got it there, and Jr went to back the RV up to it, someone parked on the other side of the trailer wanted to get out, and we had blocked him in.  At first he was mad, but Kim talked to him and kept him happy while we spend forever trying to back the RV up.  In situations like this, it helps to let people know you’re a person too.  So many instances, such as road rage, people are just faceless cars, which is why people get so mad.  But when you personally talk to them, it’s easier to remind them that there’s a person attached.  We got all hooked up said some quick goodbyes, gave the guy waiting a CD and some stickers as a thank you, and got out of there ASAP.

Next, we were in Milwaukee, WI.  Load in was super early at 2.  We were actually all loaded in and set up before any of the other bands got there.  This was another cool venue, the Rave, with so many different floors and areas I didn’t get to explore everywhere.  I will say, the one bathroom I used was the nicest club bathroom I have ever seen.  Because load in was so early, we had time afterward to just hang out and relax.  We also had time to go across the street to the hotel for some food and wifi.

Fancy Bruschetta in a martini glass, and Jr

"Baja" nachos and Kim's tenderloin salad in the background

Josh was at this show again :)  He came and hung out with me at the merch table :)  There was also a cute fan girl that had been waiting 4 years to see OED live and meet Kimberly.  She was so excited to be there.

There are some cool rainbow effects that our LED backdrop does.  I haven’t been able to get a good picture of it yet, but these are pretty decent.

In honor of Josh’s birthday, Kim played “Battle On” as he requested.  As in the past, Kim had fans come up on stage to be ghouls, slimy things, dread monsters, etc and battle.  This is the first time they actually battled.  In the past they just danced around and moshed.  It was awesome seeing them actually battle for a change! People we’re even pretending to die when they were killed.  Thank you awesome fans!

Dread monster

The cute dragon in the middle has been waiting 4 years for this!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!!

The crowd was super responsive too!  Sometime’s when Kim talks to the crowd they don’t really answer, or it’s just one person yelling back all the time.  The crowd was great!  Kim was also being all super sexy on guitar that night.

Kim, talking into a severed hand

Kim putting on her pope hat

Jr playing in the pope hat

Kim was telling me this venue has a cool greenroom.  She said it’s like a harem with sheets draped everywhere, couches and pillows.  During Psychostick’s set Jr took me down to check it out.  It was so cool!  Not only was it like Kim described, but they have cool lights and lava lamps everywhere.  I hung out there for a while, but no pictures for you :P

This same night they had another show going on downstairs.  Towards the end of Psychostick I could hear really loud music so I went down to check it out.  There was some sort of epic metal show going on.

Josh was our only VIP that night, so it was a cool, laid back VIP hang out instead of an acoustic show.  We all piled into the rental car Josh’s mom let him borrow, which he made the mistake of letting Jr drive.  Jr and Damian sat in front, Kim, Vaughn and Josh sat in the back, and I rolled around in the hatchback/trunk area :D  We went to a Greek place for some food. I really wanted Spinach pie but they were out :(  So I got a greek salad and a veggie pita, which ended up being a greek salad on pita bread.  It was good, but every thing was soaked in waaaaay too much dressing.

The next day we were in Minneapolis, MN.   It was a short drive so we got to a Walmart in the area and parked for the night.  I woke up early so I stopped into Walmart to grab a few things (I pretty much only shop at Walmart on tour).  *Warning: potentially boring girl talk coming up* A much needed thing was black eyeshadow. I started tour with a thing of black eyeshadow.  It was pretty old.  The case had broken so I had to hair-tie it together to keep it closed.  Half of the little cake of eyeshadow was missing-it most likely broke and was thrown out.  Then at the beginning of this tour, the top half of the case broke in half, and eventually the last half of eyeshadow broke into a million little pieces.  As long as I was careful, it was still useable and still closable.  I figured it was time to invest in a new one though since this is what I was dealing with:

This is a nightmare on the road

Later, we met a guy at the Mall of America so Jr could buy some more lasers for the stage.  I think we have 6 now!  On the way, the rice cooker, which was full of rice soaking in water, slid off the counter and made a huge, really smelly, mess.  I managed to get most of the rice cleaned up, and luckily we had a box of baking soda to soak up the water and the smell.  Kimberly, who was sleeping through the whole incident, was the one stuck vacuuming up the baking soda.  Something I learned years ago; Boys aren’t very clean, and if you want your living space to be neat and tidy, you usually have to do it yourself.  After buying the laser, we hung out at the mall.

Unfortunately, most of the time there was spent trying to get Vaughn a phone, which he still does not have, and getting lunch.  My first trip to the Mall of America was pretty lame.  The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory didn’t even have the frozen cheesecake on a stick!!!  I did have a Founder’s Porter while waiting for Jr’s food.  I miss Michigan beer :( 

The venue we were at that night, First Avenue, is owned by Prince and Purple Rain was shot there.  There is a big main stage where OED has played before, but this night we were in the little side stage area.  It was really cool because it was a small room that felt more like a basement at a house party.

The sound guy, Cody, was also amazing!  He was super nice and came around and introduced himself to everyone.  He even put up with me climbing up on top of stools that were resting on top of the ledge and running around like a hyperactive bumble bee.  He was great as a sound guy too.  During the bands’ sets he’d come out into the audience to make sure it sounded good from the audience’s POV.  I’ve NEVER seen a sound guy do that. Hopefully we can request him again if OED plays there again.  He also had this super sweet shirt he was wearing.  I wish I had gotten a picture with him, but I thought that might be weird.

First photo of Wild Throne

Because the room was so small, merch was pretty close to the stage even though it was along a back wall. Also, the area in front of the stage was a couple of steps down, so I had a good view of the stage over everyone’s heads.  But, as always, OED took the stage, the area in front of it was packed, and people were standing in the back area.  I couldn’t see quite as well (I still got to enjoy the show though) and I had to stand on a ledge and zoom in to get any pictures.

Special Helpers

Kimberly's a unicorn, so put your little rock n roll hooves in the little rock n roll air

There was also some crazy guitar malfunction during “I Love My Little Bus.”  Things got all crazy for a second and Kim had to quickly switch out guitars, but everyone had fun.  It also bring back my point about it being a live show.  You never know what’s going to happen.

During “Fight” at the end of the set, if you’ve seen them live before, you know there’s a part where Kim headbangs in much a way that her hair flies around in a circle to the music.  There were 2 long haired guys up front by the stage who started doing it along with her.  For a while, even after she stopped, all I could see was hair swinging around in circles in front of the stage.

Wild Throne dancing the Hokey Pokey with Psychostick

We had lots of fun VIPs that night.  They got a couple of songs into the acoustic show, when we had to leave the club’s parking area.  So we had a “Move the RV” VIP party, then a “Take turns watching for police as we park the the Taxi area” VIP party for the rest of the songs.  One VIP pre-order requested “I am a Viking” which was epic acoustic!!!!  Damian and Jr liked it so much they’re considering playing it at every VIP party from here out.  Don’t get your hopes up though, there may be a lot of pre-order requests to get through. After all of the songs were done, it became a “Drive the VIPs back to the parking ramp and quickly kick them out while we’re blocking a lane of traffic” VIP party.  :)

Friday we were in Eau Claire, WI.  I think the bar was called Hipps, but we were playing in the outside area.  This was my first outdoors show!  It was cool, but I don’t miss the midwest humidity or mosquitos.  Despite my bumble bee outfit, the bugs apparently couldn’t tell I was one of them because they kept attacking me all night.  One cool looking moth guy kept trying to live in my tutu.  He’d climb up between the top and second layer, and I’d get him out, only to have him fly in somewhere else.

Not the little guy that was trying to live on me, but another friend

At one point I was waiting to ask the bartender if I could steal a bar chair for Kim to do her signings in.  A girl told me I looked super cute and asked if I minded if she took a picture with me. She turned out to me the promoter’s wife.

This night’s sound guy was completely opposite of Cody the night before.  There was a point during Wild Throne's set that the vocals completely went out.  People kept looking back at the sound guy and he was busy looking down playing with buttons.  After it’d been like this for about half the song, someone went back and made the sound guy aware.  Then he finally hit some button and vocals were back.  I also saw him on the side of the stage playing with the light set up during One-Eyed Doll and Pyschostick.  Personally, I think sound at a concert is more important than the lights pointing slighting off center. No one was really hanging out in front of the stage during Wild Throne’s set, so I went and stood front and center and enjoyed the show.  I finally got a few other people to come to the front for the last song.

Yacob the Swedish ref made it to this show!  He was the one that did hand puppets with me during the Otep show.  That was the last time I saw him, so he had a lot of Swedish hugs to catch up on. Tim, our VIP from the night before, was also back at this show!

Tim's One-Eyed Doll Tattoo

Things at the merch table were pretty slow during OED so I went up to enjoy the show.  At one point Kim came off the stage and was playing in the crowd.  The promoter’s wife tired moving out of the way, but Kim chased after her and played all up against her.  Kim saw me in the audience and gave me a hug.  Unfortunately, because she knew I was down there, she made me come up on stage and dance to “Hoochie Mama.” Luckily I had some practice during “Nudie Bar” at the VIP party the night before.  Hmm…  Hoochie mama….  Nudie bar…  What’s Kim trying to say?  It was embarrassing but fun, and I think a bunch of people got pictures.  I’ll have to see if I can find some on facebook.

I watched part of Psychostick’s show, but I eventually had to leave the crowd because of people who were too drunk.  The crowd was really into the Psychostick show though.  They do this whole bit where they yell at each other to shut up, then start yelling at people in the crowd to shut up. I think this is the first show where people in the crowd shouted shut up back at them.  Shows are so much more fun with crowd interaction.  That’s why Kim does what she does.  Josh from PS was also wearing the totally awesome Plumes of Death shirt I gave him the day before.  It worked out perfectly because it’s cream colored and it was hot out.

We had 4 awesome VIPs.  Jacob and Tim were our returning VIPs and they brought along Morgan and Lisa, respectively.  Jacob made lefse that we all scarfed down during VIP introductions.  Mmm...

VIP selfie party!!!!

Jacob and a bumble bee

Morgan and a bumble bee

A bumble bee, Lisa and Tim

A weird looking bumble bee and Kim the Swedish ref

After a few songs we had to kick our VIPs out, get situated, then make the long drive to Bismarck, ND.  The tour was added somewhat last minute to the Rise Music Festival.  Wild Throne's time slot was something early like noon, so they actually left before Psychostick's set was over.  OED was supposed to play aroung 2, but merch set up was 9:30am.  We ended up getting there around 12:30.  It was pouring down rain, everything was muddy, there were no fan there, and no bands playing.  We waited around for a while to see what was going on.  They told us if we wanted to play in the rain we could.  Play to who, I have no idea.  But not wanting to risk getting electrocuted, Kim and Jr passed.  They also told us we could wait around for the rain to stop.  Yeah right...  So we took off and got some breakfast at this little diner (we passed a huge line for the Big Boy drive through.  Since when does Big Boy have a drive through, and why is it so popular?). We did some food/supply shopping, made a stop at Staples, and are currently chilling at Starbucks.  After posting this blog I may go back to the RV for a nap because I'm sleeeeeeeeeepy.  And tonight we'll probably head to our next stop,Williston, ND and sleep for the night so we can be ready for tomorrow.

My socks are still wet :(