We awoke at our magnificent campground in Kingston, Idaho to the cool country air. Most of
us got an extremely restorative night's sleep but alas Seamus spent the evening suffering the decidedly cold night air with only his raggedy, feax-deerskin blanket to keep him warm. Any discomfort aside he helped us pack away the tents as we made ready to set off for Idaho Falls. We departed before 9AM and after Matt and I [Joe!] splashed our heads in the refreshingly crisp waters of the adjacent river.
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| smiling selena and disgruntled dave |
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| so happy! |
We faced another 8 hours in the car before arriving at our destination in Idaho Falls but the driving was altogether pleasant, mostly by virtue of there being little heat to contend with. The scenery became dull after awhile but was by no means disagreeable. We stopped with relative frequency at rest stops and gas stations to answer those inevitable calls of nature as well as to keep our motor vehicle well fed and before too long we were in Idaho Falls. Standing by a gold mini-van directly outside the venue were Jake, "Grandma" Kelsey, and Adam who greeted us warmly and informed us that we would be sharing the stage that night.
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| Carlos approaches the shitter |
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| pensive as hell |
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| back in the car! |
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| lol |
The space seemed to be a cleverly converted mechanic's garage with a sizeable stage and standing area. The enthusiastic promoters gave us the low down and offered us delicious homemade hummus. With nearly two hours before show time, we sat outside the venue eating our dinner from cans in true gypsy form and caught up on our tardiness in blog posting (as I am doing this very minute!).
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| working hard or hardly working? |
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| dining in style |
Jake played first with an acoustic guitar, his lungs, and a delightful medieval cape for his setup. He sang story-songs about knights and it was a very enjoyable experience, certainly not similar to any acts we'd played with previously. Next came "Leaf Raker" (who we did not meet outside of the mini van. Reid (Leaf Raker's true identity) sang, rapped, and played a melodica against beats he arranged pumping through the PA off of his laptop. This was truly a wild, hilarious, and impressive performance. His offkilter musical style and unconventional stage tactics were entirely foreign to the metal music we've been constantly surrounded by at shows and was a welcomed change.
Next was Adam who started things off with some stretching. It sounds odd but it was quite enjoyable and got us all limbered up to play. He rapped about PCP and some other funny things for his set. After Adam came Grandma Kelsey who did not seem in fact to be a Grandma at all. Grandmas aside her music was extremely warm and soothing. She set up a shrine of items given to her by all sorts of people and played beside it by candle light with her voice and acoustic guitar. For her final song she had the entire crowd howl to signify our bonding during the musical experience. Needless to say we were thrilled to express ourselves as part of the wolfpack. After all, you don't turn your back on the wolf pack.
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| The Legendary Leaf Raker! |
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| killer dance moves |
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| owning that melodica |
After all the awesome performers before us, we got our chance to play and it was great. The sound ended up being pretty good and we were well received by the metallers and non-metallers alike! After we played we graciously accepted the offer to return to the home of Doug to sleep a few hours before shipping off on our long journey to the mile-high city, Denver, Colorado. A very awesome night we had!
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| "Derp?" |
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