THE FINAL Venus DeMars & ATPH- 3D 'Out West' Tour update & review:
(these were also sent to the event members on my Facebook page...sign up and be my friend IF you haven't already: facebook.com/venus.demars)
The "Window Kiss" we got after the 'Ice Pic's' gig in Phoenix AZ
(Survived and STILL survives on the Van even back home here in Mpls.)
I'm sitting near the sun in my living room having arrived safely back in Mpls last night at about 7 p.m.(Survived and STILL survives on the Van even back home here in Mpls.)
It's Cool-Cold!! and tons of snow still piled up all over...brrrrrr...
(Snowbanks like the ones you remember when you were a kid, and tried to tell people about but they always said you were just remembering from a 4 foot high kid's mind...?? well, they're all eating those condescending words now, huh... the snow really CAN pile as high as you remembered. - "would a little salt help those words go down?" Ha! ) - 10-20 degrees below zero: tonight's Minneapolis forecast.
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First I will give a short update on Lynette's accident which happened early Monday morning.
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Initial Accident Update:
When we finally arrived in Mpls. last night, Lynette had made it to a 'Stave Circle' (sp?) she's a part of. at a keltic pub here called 'Merlin's Rest' The circle is basically an old pagan-based group chanting involving rhythmic clicks from a wooden spoon or short stick hit against a stave (wooden cane or pole,) while the stave is being tapped on the floor also in rhythmic time. The chants are sung to this rhythm. (Lynette has an English, and Finnish and German heritage, so the old world pagan traditions fit.)
She had gotten a ride and help Having just gone through her accident and broken ankle that morning before...a fresh splint and wrap the only thing keeping her broken bones together... (the tibia of her left leg was broken clean through in the accident.) Today at 4 she's going in to get the official cast in place. Pretty incredible I'd say. No letting a car accident stop her.
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NEW Accident updates:
First, Thank You All for replying to my tweets about it while I was in Oklahoma having morning coffee and breakfast at a Waffle House. I had just called her and she cut me of saying she was late and needed to get into her car, and to call back in a few minutes... When I did, she again cut me off saying she'd been in the accident, and needed to call her Work/School. Then she called back saying she was on her way to the hospital, at which time I knew this wasn't just a fender-bender, and started tweeting updates, and sent out a call for help with everything, frustrated that I was still so far away. Tons of replies, (Which LeFreak was able to relay to me via his blackberry while I drove. (My phone is just a regular phone.)
And with your help, we got Lynette home safely from the Hospital and follow up help with accident and medication errands after.
Now, She's found out that the other driver did NOT have insurance... so it's on us to sort out the financial damage. The car is totaled (this was a head-on/T-Bone collision. The other driver ran a red light as Lynette was driving through and she hit him broadside at full surface street speed.)
It's still in the impound lot, so we need to get there and settle all that with them, get her things out of the trunk and inside..(she wants to get the snow tires off... yikes, not sure If I can do that at this point... we'll see.) and then say goodbye to her 'baby' SAAB. Today, while Lynette is attempting to continue teaching,) I am arranging and paying for car rental since Lynette cannot get in and out of the 'Black-Pearl' without the help of 2 people lifting her into the passenger's seat. (what LeFreak and I did after her Stave Circle.) Luckily here in MN there is a state insurance policy dictating that If you only have collision insurance, and the other driver has no insurance, your insurance HAS to pay your medical expenses, Thank God.... but this does NOT cover property damage, so we're now digging into our personal funds to figure out how to get through this, and to buy a new car for Lynette within a week's time.
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TOUR:
(The Final Leg, Full Review, and archived initial tour Updates)
OK... so last update left off at leaving Bisbee AZ.
We arrived again in Phoenix, for 2 over nights at Paul and JoHanna's... hoping to get warmed u once more before the drive home...but it was way stormy in Phoenix... The second day started with rain and wind advisories, and ended with Tornado warnings, and two touch-downs in the suburbs!
During those 2 days, we were able to catch the debut performance of a friend's new duo-band: "Scrupulous" (www.myspace.com/scruple) and I was able to do a coffee-talk planning session with 'Ms. Pandora' about the solo stage project he's wanting me to present back in Phoenix in March. (a solo stage performance about my music, and life experiences and thoughts... something I've been also wanting to create.) so that's on schedule, and I will be back to Phoenix for a short weekend run of the finished 'work-in-progress' performance somewhere there mid April. Please set that time aside, and come see it (Those of you in Phoenix,) we'll want your thoughts of it so we can continue to develop it for a more formal presentation/run in other cities...(maybe even back here in Mpls!!)
We left for Albuquerque the morning after the tornadoes, in the rain. (Forget warming up!)
We took the southern route for an overnight at Las Cruses. A very beautiful route.: highlight was going through the "Texas Canyon" ? I think that was what it was named... even though it was still in NM. Crazy weird massive red stone/boulder outcroppings ...looked like something created for an episode of 'The Flintstones' almost unreal in it's natural construction.
We made a gas stop somewhere half'-way between in a desolate part of highway 10, at a lone tiny gas outpost. Of course very expensive gas prices there, but I had no choice but to fill up. I wanted to stay there for the shortest possible time because of my 'uniqueness' of appearance.. but seemed to pass just fine, so no direct hassles ... LeFreak, on the other hand, who wanted to stay for a half hr at their 'lounge' for a rest up and beer, had a holler directed at him while visiting the restroom "Heeah-Boy!!!" loudly shouted from behind him while he was finishing up. Needless to say, the idea of lounging over a beer was dropped, and we were on our way as soon as the gas was paid for.
The Desolate NM Gas Stop!!
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Las Cruses:
We over-nighted at a Day's Inn in Las Cruses. had dinner at "Billy's Bar and Grill" on the property... seemed like the record screeched to a halt for each of us as we walked in. But eventually we were forgotten and dinner was fine... & the House band continued to play.
A VERY noisy night in the room, neighbors slamming doors and crashing into walls on both sides of us... (a House Band after-party?)
Next morning I went to breakfast back at Billy's... first one into the place... later the rest of the 'Horses joined me, and as I was checking out, the house band from the previous night showed up to load out, and stayed for breakfast as well, ended up talking to the remaining 'Horses about touring and musical careers. They wished us well, and we continued onto Albuquerque.
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Albuquerque:
I resisted knocking on the neighbors door again when we did arrive , (Kenny got a kick out of that.) Ran to get some 'Electric Lava Manic-Panic" for my hair, and we got ready and got set up for the gig at "Burt's Tiki Lounge."
Kenny, (of "Vertigo Venus",) just texted me that 'Burt's' capacity is 189, and we had 250+ in the house. It was packed! and (sorry Bisbee,) topped out as the most highly attended performance on the tour... BUT being in the middle slot of 3 bands... we had to deliver the Short but Sweet 45 minute set as opposed to the 2 1/2hr special performance we gave to our lovely Bisbee fans. (that still holding as the overall most unique & extended performance experience of the tour.)
My "95% real vinyl" DJ set at Burt's went over quite well, and crowds remained till the bouncer was cursing everyone out the door at bar close.
(To Albq fan Anna: Thank you so much for sharing about your Mom who is transgender, and who couldn't make the performance because of health concerns... I will send that e-mail to her as soon as I can get at the merch-box where the written out e-mail resides on our e-mailing list. It's been impossible to get online for more than a few minutes, till now. By the end of this week it should be out to her.)
Kenny's NM House (where we stayed.) His neighbor's house (which I knocked on by accident,) is just down the block on the other corner.
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Oaklahoma:
The Wind on the road: Oklahoma
Oklahoma City:
Stayed at a Motel 6.
Still no snow, but windy and colder.
We saw a Mom-cat and her 1 Kitten making the rounds between the 'Motel-6' the 'Day's Inn,' the 'Waffle House,' and the 'Flying V' Truck stop. (T-Rev, who was missing his own kitties at home... wanted to get them into the motel room for a visit... but they would have none of it.)
No bar to visit at the Oklahoma Motel 6. we walked to the 'Flying V' and bought some 3.2, had a snack at the 'Waffle House' ,(where the 2 lone 'Waffle House' late-night workers said they didn't know how to make the specials posted on the menue...yikes!) and crashed out in the hotel room.
Next morning as I was back at the 'Waffle House' having morning coffee and breakfast, I called Lynette, and then her accident happened between the first call and the second. (You know that story's details now.)
Waffle House the night we arrived in Oklahoma City
Onto Kansas City:
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Kansas City:
We drove to Kansas City Mo. arrived mid-afternoon at Mercury Mad's (http://www.mercurymad.com) house for a clean-up, (during which LeFreak provided a quick band photo shoot of Mercury's 'Plastic Bitches' band which Mercury needed to quickly get sent to their manager/record label for a possible opener spot with an LA band. Fingers crossed Mercury!)
We loaded into Balanca's Pyro Room at 7:30 and got set up for the last gig of the tour.
Balanca's (balancaskc.com) is a small Goth/GLBT Bar downtown Kansas City... but we've never been able to get the word out successfully in Kansas City for our gigs there. But Lori (the owner,) is a staunch supporter of the band, and generously supports our gigs there despite this lack of press each time we gig there. (Can't quite figure out the Kansas City press scene yet... our publicist Jessica (of the minneapolis based 'Dead Collective,' which we are members of,) Worked hard on the tours publicity for us, scoring that very nice Albuquerque 'Alibi' weekly preview article of us. (http://alibi.com/index.php?story=30471&scn=music) But no such luck in KC. ...Suggestions anyone???)
Our sound man for the night : Mark Shoffner, (FB profile) who used to manage the band "Incubus" and others pver his long musical career, did the hands down best stage mix of the tour. It was Brilliant! And because of this, I think that particular 1 hr. set was our BEST technical performance of the tour. I was able to play with my vocals, and we all were able to accentuate the dynamics of each song with pleasure and ease. BUT alas, we performed for Lori, the door person, Mark, (the sound man,) The DJ, a few of Lori's friends, and Mercury's band.
A Total private party performance.
Still we very much enjoyed it. And every one after told me they felt extremely lucky to have witnessed it. Mark was texting friends in LA through out the performance, his having no idea who, or what we did, he went out of his way to let me know how impressed he was with our performance. That, in itself made my night.
The next morning I awoke to a 7:30 am text from Paul (In Phoenix,) who had heard on NPR about highway closures because of a severe Blizzard in Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota along the I35 corridor. We had no idea.
I called Lynette, and she confirmed that there was talk, and tried to google info, and did indeed find I35 was closed just after Des Moines Iowa overnight because of it.
We turned on the TV, (Which simply sucks as a media information source,) and saw breaking footage of it... crazy bad looking.
It was clear but cold in Kansas City, and the same in Minneapolis. But suddenly we had to make plans on how to get through this thing in order to to get home.
Lori had put us up in the 'Ameristar Casino' Hotel for the night... but it being on the outskirts of town, we couldn't get online. (PS. I did play some slots at 3 am after checking in.... made $10! =D Though I'm sure people thought I was crazy, still wearing my worn down stage make-up from the performance... took 3 Casino security people at least 4 minutes, and length of time paging through a state to state ID guide book, and repeated ultra-violet flashlight scans to verify the authenticity of my MN drivers license!)
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The Last Drive Home:
With some tense talks about safety concerns and our combined desire to get home as quickly as possible, we decided to go for it, with the back-up plan of overnighting it in Des Moines, or Boone (where LeFreak has a friend.) If it was still closed when we reached that part of I35.
We made it through... but it was carnage for at least 15 miles. at least a 100 cars (mostly trucks and SUV's go figure huh?) spun off and abandoned on both sides and median of the highway...some severely damaged. at least 6 semi's in the mix... One Semi pile-up in the median had a cab that was so crushed in that it was almost unrecognizable as a semi-cab I am sure no one survived that crash. it made us all quiet and sick feeling, as we crawled through the still blowing snow conditions of that stretch. Like seeing human skeletons drifted over with sand in a desolate desert ... it was truly a frozen desert of hellish collisions and the aftermath of brutal driving conditions.
That, combined with Lynette's close call car accident just the morning before, I was again struck by my own mortality, and the precarious nature of life.
We arrived home by 7:30 p.m. last night... T-Rev and his partner Jay, drove on to their home in Wisconsin, arriving there safely by 11 p.m. that same night
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Reflections on the tour as a whole:
It really was a 'Walk-a-Bout' tour... Each of us on our own life-reflecting emotional journey. This was NOT a tour about 'getting known,' or 'generating label interest.' This was a tour about re-connecting with friends, making new friends, and a tour of emotional, and physical exploration on a human level.
On this, we all feel it was a complete success.
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LISTS of Thoughts:
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Food:
Favorite Dinners:
(the 'Tour-Overnights' band-group foods.)
- Mercury's Mad's wonderful veggie dishes prepared by him on both the night we first arrived and the morning of the first stop of the tour.
- The grilled stake, and veggie patties with cheese potatoes and asparagus dinner sides which T-Rev's partner Jay prepared for us for an evening outdoor patio dinner setting at Paul and Johanna's place in Phoenix.
- The BEAUTIFUL dinner at the Roka restaurant in Bisbee (http://www.caferoka.com) upon our arrival there. (Gretchen (FB profile) as our host, the 4 courses, special appetizers, dessert, and the never ending glasses of lovely red of wine!)
- The wonderful chicken and veggie-cutlets dinner with sauce and rice prepared by JoHanna (& Paul) again in Phoenix on our return from Bisbee.
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Small meals and snacks, the personal fav's of mine; (Venus)
- The fresh oranges picked from the trees at Paul's old place on Palm lane in Phoenix... I ate bunches of them every morning while in Phoenix, and brought the bag of what remained with me back to Minneapolis, (LeFreak, I still owe you all that you'd like from the bag ;)
- The 3 late night iHop meals we did after gigs and travel: (Wichita KS, and Albq NM)iHop: Wichita
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The Odd & Strange. - late-nighter meals...:
- The 'Whataburger' drive through after the Ice Pic's (www.icepicsvideobar.com) gig just before the after performance visit to the 'Babylon nightclub' (www.babylonshowclub.com). (where my coffin purse opened, and spilled all it's contents across the nightclub's floor without my knowing it. PS...I did recover all of the spilt contents after being alerted about it by another patron.)
I ordered a triple stacked cheeseburger and large fries for some reason...could only eat half.
- The 'Chili over Hash browns' - late night at the 'Waffle House' Oklahoma City. -Did wonders the next morning.
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Worst:
- LeFreak never did get an order made right at the few stops we made at Burger King.
- We all hate Subway's now... can't stand the smell of their bread.
- I hope I NEVER see another Gummy Worm!!
- I hope I NEVER feel the need to munch on a chip, cheese corn-puff, or Funyuns® ever again!!
- A purchased, then discovered as a 10 day expired, jumbo piece of beef jerky
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Pets:
- To Jar-Jar ("Who's the chosen one? - Who's the chosen one?"): "Glad you got your 'doggie-sweater' off, and yes, you are awful cute... but lay off the Bisbee fudge! (and leave kitty-Pandora alone.)"
- To Kitty Pandora: "I tried to smuggle you into the van... really! Sorry it didn't work, you wouldn't have gotten along with my 3 kitties anyway... and the cold up here?? Sheesh!! 'nuff said."
"Kitty Pandora"
- To whichever of you 2 Kitties (living at Kenny's,) who peed on my sleeping bag: "Thanks a ton!! See you in Hell!"
- To the Pugs: "Miss ya! (" Oowwuu Who's vicious? - You're sooo vicious!! - Get the bunny!!") "
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Performances:
- Best Mixed: Balanca's (Kansas City)
- Best technical performance: Balanca's (Kansas City)
- Longest and most love infused performance: Hot Licks (no web site yet,) (Bisbee)
- Most intimate Performance: Colleena's Gallery: 'Candelabra' (Tucson) (www.myspace.com/candelabragallery)
- Smallest club, and most outgoing audience: Kirby's Beer Store (Wichita)
(www.kirbysbeerstore.com)
- Largest Audience, and Loudest (Both Audience & performance): Burt's Tiki-Lounge (Albuquerque) (burtstikilounge.com)
- Best 'hang out after performance' audience: Ice Pics (Phoenix)
(www.icepicsvideobar.com)
- Strongest first set & Drunkest second set performance(s): Ice Pics (Phoenix)
- Best break-down situation (a.k.a. 'being able to do it the next day'): Hot Licks (Bisbee) / Colleena's Candelabra Gallery (Tuscon) / Ice Pics (Phoenix) --Thanks you 3... that break-down situation is a band's total dream come true!!
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Best performance After Parties:
- Going to the gay bar in Tuscon just down the street from the Candalebra Gallery.
- Hanging at Ice Pics... and for some of us, stopping over at Babylon's
- We Heard: --- Bisbee's 'Venus DeMars' After Party was really good... (NOTE: To the after party organizers... hey, we found out about the 'Venus DeMars' after party the day AFTER the party!!! Sheesh guys!!! next time, remember to invite the band! ;) ;)
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Best &/or Strangest discoveries:
- The Van has a black hole under the passenger's seat. (a close similar to the one in a old vehicle featured in an unnamed popular underground film we all love.) ........Gone missing: T-Rev's sunglasses, My Pillow, My deep-brown matt lipstick, LeFreak's 'sock-monkey' virginity, ... and tons of stuff we think we have, but soon will discover we really don't.
- Unisex Bathrooms!!!! All of the center oasis service stops on the Kansas Turnpike have a Unisex Bathroom! (my bladder thanks God!!) ....Also one small gas station in or just before Flagstaff.
- That Mini DV camera I bought for $10: Upon your advice, I DID buy a universal battery charger from Batteries Plus, and it works fine... with the exception of the tape loading mechanical drive doesn't work... but it also records to SD memory, so once I buy one of those, I'm good to go!
- Filming the tour: well, that all broke down to little bits of video I took on my cell phone... Next time, we'll have to find someone who wants to tag along JUST to be our camera person. Anyone out there?? We pay in adventure.
- T-Rev broke 5 sets of Drumsticks at the Bisbee gig!
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Most radical ATPH fans:
- Louise and Judy: the BBF Sock Monkeys residing in Bisbee
(Read all about them: http://louiseslutmonkey.blogspot.com)
To Louise: "Always Loved your fashion sense Louise, but can't believe you dropped me for LeFreak!"
To Judy: Love the implants...but Girl! don't you miss the tactile nipple sensation you get from a hormone-only treatment.??
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Archive of the first Tour Updates:
First one: Hey everyone,
So we've made it to Phoenix! performed last night at Ice Pic's video bar... went wonderfully, ended up doing 2 sets... (th
e second one was the *Buzzed set* yikes! but we had a blast.MPR's 'The Current' radio host (and my friend,) Mark Wheat... who is our Tour-Travel Patron Saint. Goes everywhere the "Black Pearl" goes. (at least so far ;)
Here's some other highlights:
In order:
Kansas City Overnight:
Snow and unplowed side streets.
Stayed at Mercury Mad's house, talked to him and also Leslie (his drummer,)... got it at midnight-ish... a bit later.
Merc, made LOVELY food for us both that same night & in the morning!!!
When we headed out, we noticed the van was really dragging to one side... finally stopped at an independent service station... and they found one tire had split it's steal belt, and had a big old 'goose egg' on it... they checked the spare (which was a new tire,) and found it had a small leak in it, but fixed it and replaced the broken tire with that... and all was fine... they only charged us $25!!! Kick Ass!!
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Wichita Kansas gig: Kirby's:
(not much snow at all... but frosty, and a bit of ice now and then)
Yes it IS still the smallest club on the planet... (well seems like it anyway ;)
Still as cool as ever too! Had an old poster of me on the ceiling from our last tour 2+ years ago with my "House of Flowers" in-between band.
It started out with just the locals... but once we started our set, everyone texted, and called, and spread the word, and it ended up being a full house. One person even turned back from a trip up to Kansas City so he could catch the performance. I offered to sign the poster on the ceiling if someone wanted to tear it down, and someone did, so now we owe Kirby's a replacement.
(I've got it sitting in the Van's window sill... it's 'in the mail' within days of this posting ;)
Inside Kerby's Beer Store upon arriving, and sitting at the bar.
Stayed at a Motel 6:
Left the next morning with Ice Fog over EVERYTHING... looked beautiful, all the trees frosted white... but a bit tricky for driving.
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Switched drivers at 7-ish in Texas... pulled over right where there must have been a pig farm... could hardly breath from the smell!!!
Then onto Albquerque
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Albuquerque overnight:
Backing up: we hit Albuquerque and did an interview with the local weekly "The Alibi" for our upcoming gig at Burts Tiki Lounge on the 23rd... should be in their next week's issue... check online.
When we first arrived, We stayed at Kenny's house... but I got confused at 1 am when we arrived... went to his neighbors house (Yes the one with the 2 big "rotties" barking up a storm,) and spent a fair amount of time knocking on the door, finally calling Kenny at his work (he was at "Burt's Lounge") saying his room mate didn't appear to be home... he suggested I ring the doorbell, I couldn't find it... (should have clued me in,) well, he called the room mate, and I saw him walk out of a house down the block!! so we carefully snuck out of the yard, and down to his REAL house, dogs barking at us all the way.)
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Into Phoenix:
We hit a snowstorm in Flagstaff on the way into phoenix... windshield wipers quit working... White out conditions at 11 pm down the mountain side! had to pull over to get them fixed... figured it out whew!... breaks chattered from the weight of the Van, plus the wet conditions, and the 13 mile long grade going down from Flagstaff... held our breath all the way down. T-Rev drove that leg of the trip.
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So we're enjoying the 70 degrees here in Phoenix for one more day... grilling tonight, and then heading to see the local production of "Hedwig" at 8 tonight.
The WARM backyard of Paul's and JoHanna's (Can't believe it!!) ps the drawing I'm working on too ;)
T-Rev, LeFreak, Ms. Pandora, & T-Rev's Jay, sitting in back of Ms. Pandora's house. (Phoenix AZ)
Tomorrow we head out to Tucson for my art opening , and then ATPH performance at 'The Candelabra Art Gallery"
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Rest of the tour dates as follows:
1/16 - 'The Candelabra Art Gallery" - 9 pm Venus' Art opening / 10 pm ATPH performance - ($3-$5 Donations welcome ;) - Tucson AZ 412 E. 7th St. 85008
1/18 - "Hot Licks" Bisbee AZ 9 pm - 37 OK Street 85603 (Call club for price) - ATPH performs, (Venus also spins Hi/r 95% vinyl DJ set)
1/23 - "Burts Tiki Lounge" Albuquerque NM doors at 8 3 bands... ATPH is the middle time slot! don't be late! - (call club for price) 313 Gold Ave. SW 87102
1/25 - "Balanca's" - 10 pm $5.00 cover - ATPH performs the last show of the tour - 1809 Grand Boulevard 64108
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The Tour's Financial updates so far:
A few of you, who couldn't be at our In-Studio Kick-Off performance/fundraiser have made Paypal donations to us for gas and travel expenses.. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!
And again THANKs to everyone who did donate at the Kick-Off fundraiser...
it all so very much helped!! We ran out of cash shortly after Wichita... made it to Texas before our cash funds dried up, and we had to go on credit cards... Now have gotten another small boost from donations and sales at Ice Pics... should get us down to Bisbee without the credit card... The trip back will be a bit more Iffy... "The Black Pearl" (our Ban-Van) Loves to drink gas.. but she's doing really well for us..., and we lost our overnight in Las Cruces for Jan 22nd... so we'll need to Motel 6 that now.
IF anyone cares to still donate anything, it would all be welcomed warmly ;) (paypal to atph@prettyhorses.net
Hope to see a number of you at the next gigs, and those of you who've said you couldn't make it... hopefully we'll catch up with you on one of our future tours!
Thanks so much, keep spreading the word on these remaining dates!
-Venus
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Second Tour Update:
Initially sent out via Facebook: January 19 at 11:51am
OK everyone... here's what's been going on for the furthest leg of the tour.We arrived in Tucson... and I backed into the space right in front of "Candelabras Art Gallery' (Colleena's) where we performed. I TOTALLY didn't see the tree on the boulevard, but missed it by inches WOW... (we didn't move it till we left the next morning.)
While we waited for Colleena, we looked over stuff at a small yard sale infront of one of the other shops just 2 doors down. I bought a new toy for the dash board, plus some CD's and a mini DV video camera for $10!!! with 2 batteries... BUT no charger... (hence the price,) the 'seller' sez it works just fine... but didn't want to deal with finding a new charger, (he lost the original one,) and he'd bought a newer digital one anyway... SO anyone have any suggestions as to where I can buy a new charger for this camera?
OK... then we got into the gallery, and spend the day setting up, (the navigation of the old ungrounded wiring.) and getting the art up... the show started a bit slow... just a few people showing up, and a few of them a bit impatient about us starting as there was some other multi-band event happening near by which they wanted to be at... (yeah, yeah... well it's the way it is sometimes when people aren't familiar with your wok.) Well, a bunch of other people showed up because of knowing we were there... and it crowded, and warmed up nicely.
Needless to say when we finally DID perform our set in the gallery (small as it was... people were standing outside listening cuz there wasn't room inside,) the particular person who was impatient... ended up quite happy to have let the other event go in favor of catching our once in a lifetime TINY 'house-party' style performance. (So was everyone else) So Good!
We scrammed to a suggested bar around the corner to see if it was a place we might be able to perform: (The Surly Wench) and the door person let us stay without paying cover for about a half hr.. Seemed like a cool club... But we got kicked out when the time was up, so LeFreak asked the bartender IF there might be a gay bar somewhere near... and sure enough she knew of one just up the street... we headed up there... and had a total blast for the rest of the night (see my Tucson 'tweet' ;)
Mid Load-Out the morning after @Colleena's Gallery: "Candelabra"
Next morning, headed to Bisbee... climbing Through Tombstone.. and up and through the mountain (The 'Black Pearl' couldn't do more than 45 miles an hr up those hills, and slower yet on the downgrade but she made it fine... (with a bit of burnt breaks from the slow decent.) The Black Pearl (a.k.a. 'John Claude Damn Van,') upon arrival in Bisbee AZ
So we all really feel like we've done it now... reached the furthest part of the tour, and Bisbee is the gem!!! Lovely Lovely Lovely!!! google it everyone... you'll see what I'm talking about! (I like to think of it as the own of tree houses... so many stairs and little passageways and tiny-tiny little houses perched absolutely everywhere you look far far above you.
The gig was great!!! and for us performing in a new club in Bisbee... most likely the largest space we've done on this tour... but totally in the smallest city!!! ('Hot Licks' BBQ is the club)
We did a special extended set, (a half hr solo set, which turned into the full band set... Shawnee, (Gretchen's partner and our sound person, said we performed for about 2 hr's steady... maybe a bit more.! Yikes! My DJ set starting the night, and closed it.
(PS thanks to everyone for filling the 'TIP Hat'!!!)
Gonna climb the hill to the 'cross' today... and heading to a special 'Cocktail Party' being thrown for us at 5 on.
The Cross on top of the hill, and the view down of Bisbee
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Just 2 more gigs left:
Albuquerque: Sat 23rd - Burts Tiki Lounge - (ATPH middle set) I'll DJ between sets for the whole night too)
Kansas City Mo. Monday the 25th - Balanca's
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the Tour's Financial situation to date:
So far we're doing well with everyone's support! THANK YOU ALL for the continued Paypal donations for gas etc... we bought our replacement tire in Phoenix on the way out of town (it's a used tire... but seems o be holding air nicely, and good enough treads to get us to safety if we blow a tire... we're breathing a bit more easily now knowing we've got that back-up.
I've been able o put my credit card away for a time now... so Thank you so much for that. (what a relief!)
So far The 'Black Pearl's' doing well, seems to be managing the mountain driving well, but slowly at times.
I'll keep checking whenever I can get online ;)
(paypal payments to atph@prettyhorses.net)
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the Band's Physical condition.... we're all seeming in good health. but...
my throat is a touch sore... dry air? or early cold... not sure. fingers crossed... I'm eating Vit. 'C' !
T-rev stubbed his toe a number of times yesterday morning... I had too much scotch 2 nights ago.
LeFreak seems to be managing flawlessly as always...
I'm missing Lynette. (her B-Day is the 21st. Don't forget...) it's tough with me on tour. (**I Love you Sweetie!**)
-Venus
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The 3rd Update:
Initially sent out via Facebook: January 21 at 2:00am
Just a quick note to everyone... new photos are being posted on the events wall of the tour... stop in and see them. post some yourself if you have any ;) (thought you'd like to know.)OK here's the last tour update for Bisbee:
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The last update from Bisbee... we leave this afternoon for another 2 days in Phoenix, then on our way towards Albuquerque.
It Snowed last night here in Bisbee... started late, as heavy rain... (which is what I thought it only was,) but when I got up this morning at 7:30... and headed out for morning coffee, it was clear and sunny... but a covering of snow over all the cars, and roofs... so the melt now is falling from the eves like a rain storm, and every thing's wet... but it's clear, not a cloud in the sky, and sunny bright.
Brad and Kelly (of the 'VaVoom' shop,) have now 'leathered' ALL of us in the band. I've had my belt since the first visit here... (Brad has fixed it once, and I did another repair on it just a few months ago.) It's my Fav! and now LeFreak's bought to arm cuffs, and T-Rev and T-Rev's Jay, both bought a few more leather accruements... arm bands etc.. I LOVE that shop!
1 of my Paintings sold! So it will now a little bit of my art will live in Bisbee! Yeah! ;)
All 4 of us made the climb to the top of the hill with the cross on it. Beautiful!! I found a heart shaped stone on the climb up, and found a nice resting place for it among one of the memorials on the top.
Where I Left the Heart Shaped Stone.
The small cocktail party we were at last night (just after the climb) was wonderful! Great to relax, have some wine, and talk about stuff with everyone... The subjects often turning to: 'How did you first discover Bisbee?" or " What brought you here?" and for those living here: "What made you want to move here?"
My early cold seems to be under control... Gretchen brought me to the co-op and I bought Zinc and vitamin C, seems to be doing the trick... keeping it low and not a trouble so far.
The check out person, (who recognized me from the band, told me with a smile as I paid for my cold stuff: "Do you know how many people I've had to deal with this morning with hangovers because of your performance last night!" I told her That was going to go into a blog! so here it is. ;)
Oh yeah!!! And I Got to ride in Gretchen's "Hillary's Army" car!!! (she couldn't believe I hadn't gotten the chance before...) I took video!
The Hillary's Army Car (By Gretchen)
Thank you, everyone in Bisbee for taking time to come see us once again! Not sure when we'll be back... but you know we will ;) Seems like everyone comes back to Bisbee.
The Bisbee Angels...(One of my Fav sculptures there)
-Venus
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PS update:
The earlier was written the morning of our last day (wed.) in Bisbee... it's now 12:08 am Phoenix time... (1:08 am Minneapolis time.) (Thursday... still up from the drive.)
I just had a video chat with Lynette... and wished her a happy birthday... It was lovely, and bitter/sweet.
How do we as humans manage to be alone and also be together? missing because of distance. I chose to put this tour together... I am loving the re-connection with everyone, the spiritual 'walk-a-bout' this tour has become... but I am also feeling the loneliness of separation from the one I love, more and more each day.
So far the thing that has struck me the most while on this tour, is the change of relationships we've seen and felt:
This has struck me more than the typical tour stories... how was the show... etc. There is plenty of time to spin those out for you, and we are collecting them... but it's the ever changing relationships all around us, and those in our own lives which have made the strongest noise;
New relationships... full and wonderful, but stumbling through those first negotiations of difference.
Relationships which have ended, and the sadness hollow and still.
Relationships, established. And yet, now attempting to re-discover the well worn paths, now strange and winding.
For my part on this 'walk-a-bout' tour, I have found that I am learning each day how to be more human, though I am still feeling so totally lost at times.
My dreams now only reflect strange journeys of travel and my fractured attempts at emotional balance... a cascade of struggle and fascination.
I miss yesterday.
I miss tomorrow.
I miss home.
I miss you.
... and I am lost and found all at once.
-V
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That's The Full Venus DeMars & All The Pretty Horses 2010 3D "Out West" tour Blog!
Thank you all!!!
I got back from the tour with only $300 in the hole (still on my credit card.) Thought it would have been more... and should make rent with $15.00 to spare!!! Pretty successful I think!!
Thank you for the paypal donations!!!! and the support!!! and the 'Getting the word out!!!' it all so TOTALLY helped!
A number of you suggested that I keep a running blog somewhere... you've convinced me... I'll give it a try. I've let a blogspot site languish for a while...but will see if I can't get it up and running again:
http://venusdemars.blogspot.com
Return Plans are for attempting to do another Our West tour (Hopefully with some new product) sometime in the fall (2010), OR if not then, we'll attempt another winter tour (2011.)
To my Lovely Wife: "Thank you so much for being you! I am so glad that I found you safe and sound when I finally got back. and thank you for letting me be me. I Love you!
-bug"
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Next Stop: New York City, Manhattan, Feb 20th at Arlene's Grocery (as part of 'Bad Ass Burlesque') Just before Midnight!!! --- All You NY ATPH fans:....DON'T BE LATE!!!!
-Venus DeMars and All The Pretty Horses.
http://www.venusdemars.com
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