Norfolk & Western: I love New York; I am ambivalent towards DC
Playing in New York and then having to leave the next day is always such a tease. It’s like seeing the first and last five minutes of a movie and missing everything in between. You take what you can get though, and our brief NYC experience was a very good one this time around.
We played at the famous Mercury Lounge, which I’ve always heard many wonderful things about but have never been to. It turned out to be everything I’d hoped–the perfect size and home to a very friendly and skilled soundman (a combination we run into all too rarely on tour). Jeff London opened the show and I had the honor of playing bass for him again, which I also did two weeks ago during the Hush Records showcase at CMJ. A ton of our friends showed up for the show, including Matt Ward and Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws (who is insanely nice and apparently was pen pals with Rachel when they were both 16!). We played one of our best sets yet, and Peter shredded his violin so hard that he actually broke a string, which was apparently a first in his professional career. Corrina finally got her Grey Goose martini, although for the record she didn’t even finish it!
Washington DC proved to be a less pleasant experience for all of us. DC is not the safest city in the world to begin with, and according to my sources, the club we played at was located in a particularly bad area. The guy running sound at the club was hands down the worst soundman any of us have ever worked with. He obviously didn’t give a flying fuck about making it sound good and actually alternated between seeming annoyed and laughing at us when we demanded unreasonable things like, oh, turning the microphones on, or turning down the bass. During Corrina’s set, Joe looked like he was either going to kill somebody or cry. After the show, as we were loading out our equipment, our van was surrounded by what I can only assume were six or seven gang members complete with bandanas and masks over their faces. They just stood there, staring at us shoving thousands of dollars worth of equipment into the van piece by piece. A couple of them even leaned up against the van, casually smoking cigarettes. Corrina got pissed off and said, “You guys want some of this shit?” to which one of them replied, “Fuck yeah, I want some of this shit. I’ve got thirty years, bitch.” They didn’t leave, even after all of the gear had been loaded into the van. I’ve never been so happy to leave a city in my life.
The icing on the cake? We got paid twelve dollars for the gig.
xo,
Dave
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lesbonaut
says:I have no love for DC9, but it is located in nothing like a “particularly bad area” of DC. I have to conclude you and your “sources” are scaredy cats.
Posted @ November 30th, 2006 at 11:58 am (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkgregird
says:You guys are lame. I’m glad I didn’t go to your show.
Posted @ December 4th, 2006 at 12:36 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkI can’t vouch for the sound at DC9, but the “particularly bad area” you refer to is home to the best live venues in the city (9:30 Club, Black Cat, Velvet Lounge, and several jazz venues).
Norfolk & Western
(post author) says:Hey guys, sorry if this blog posting was misunderstood. This diary entry was post up at DCist today and there’s quite a discussion going on there. Reading back upon this entry I realize that I made some generalizations that I shouldn’t have, but I stand by much of what I said. Here is my two cents.
Posted @ December 4th, 2006 at 3:38 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinktravis wiggins
says:the comments on the DCist site are hilarious! since when do people actually give a shit about the opinions of dudes in indie bands? the real issue that people are overlooking is the shitty sound guy.
its the worst when the sound guy has a chip on his shoulder. why do they want bands to sound bad? don’t they take pride in a job well done? at alot of smaller venues its almost just a useless tradition to have some one mixing.
much love to the sound techs that work it right.
Posted @ December 5th, 2006 at 12:02 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBen Hubbird
says:The DCist article just got picked up by Wonkette with the headline, “D.C. Prepare For Lamest Race War Ever.”
Insultingly, they call Local Cut “some internet board.” Oh, Ana Marie Cox! Where are you in our hour of need?
Posted @ December 5th, 2006 at 2:54 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJASON SIMMS
says:What? “Some internet board?” That is an outrage! Why, I’ve been living in this website and going to shows here for 15 years and it never seemed dangerous to me! Wait…
Posted @ December 5th, 2006 at 6:19 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkjragel
says:DC can be a little intimidating with it’s “don’t block the box” street signs—but we figured once we saw a bunch of things named after chevy chase (or maybe he’s named after them—I don’t know) all would be well. sucks you had a bad experience. we played the black cat, which was in a cool area. I wish I remember the name of our sound tech—she did a sweet job and even let us park our van in her garage the next day while we did our sightseeing around downtown. two words: vietnam memorial. best work of art I’ve ever seen.
Posted @ December 6th, 2006 at 2:08 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalinkNorfolk & Western
(post author) says:I’ve just gotta say that this is one of the more surreal things I’ve ever been wrapped up in…
Posted @ December 6th, 2006 at 5:17 pm (November 23rd, 2006) | Flag this Comment | permalink