Pretty & Nice travel times

            WELL folks, Pretty & Nice's unlaundered bottoms have made it across the country. We met up with the Modern Art tour in Seattle on Thursday and got to meet our tourmates Chain Gang of 1974, Geographer, and our good buddies Miniature Tigers. Lots of friendly talented dudes -- gonna be a killer, easy tour. Even though we’ve played a few shows of our own along the way, I got these first-night-of-tour-jitters right before we got on stage in Seattle. They went poof! soon as we started playing but it was weirdly cool in a way.

The past few days have had a couple really cool rock n roll things take place: like driving from Denver to Provo to stay with a kind gentlemen Holden and Roger met through Turntable.fm (ie. they met a stranger online); walking into said gentleman’s house where his roommates had just started Shindler’s List, so as we decompressed from the drive we got to see a couple brutal executions before going to eat delicious burgers; picking up t-shirts we had mailed to Bret Nelson from Built to Spill (who, amazingly, is a friend and fan of the band) in Boise, drinking several beers with Mr. Nelson while he locked down a last minute show for us in town; ending the night somehow in a hot tub, which belonged to the girlfriend of our friend Brian from the band Faux Bois (who are excellent); and driving through whiteout conditions over frightening mountain passes and listening to Holden express true fear (and why not one more parenthetical?).

Next we enjoyed the shortest van ride so far, Seattle to Portland, wandered Portland hunting for necessities like delay pedals and drippy, pants-ruining tacos, before playing a mammoth cavern doubling as a music venue/nightclub. It's always weird hearing your snare boomerang off the brick walls and having it hit you in the forehead just after you actually hit the drum. Best part of the night for me was seeing my sister and her husband, whom I get to see basically once or twice a year (cue: aww). Next thing I know, Faux Brian apparated from Boise to Oregon and was putting us up in another house, where apparently the washers and dryers play little jingles even when you don't use them. 

Four hours of sleep and 11 hours driving later and we're in SF about to max this stage to the EXTREME. I think we're finally settling into travel mode and getting all cozy. Next thing I write will have fewer parentheticals and more Harry Potter references. Week 1's done -- POOF!