Iowa City

We left Omaha pretty early. The drive east through Iowa was a another very pretty one, at least for the first few hours (by the time you hit Des Moines the landscape flattens out a bit and the roads become slightly more congested). There were some threatening and impressive storm clouds out in the distance, but it never did rain.














Other than the landscape itself, we also enjoyed watching the Kum & Go gas station pop up every so often.














We rolled into Iowa City around 5pm or so. We've been using Google directions the whole tour, and we took exit 224, Dubuque St., to get into town and head over to the club. However, as soon as we got off the exit, we were stopped in our tracks. We witnessed first-hand the extensive damage the flooding has done to Iowa. It was pretty eerie walking down to the flooded area -- it had a terrible smell of decay. The reflection of the trees makes it hard to discern at first, but try to spot where the road ends and the water begins in the pic below. (That's Dom walking back after having a look at the damage.)

We obviously had to find another way to The Mill. We called up the club, and the door guy, Seth, gave us alternate directions. We finally arrived and met up with the band Mannix! who helped organize the show. It was bass player Sarah's birthday, and she was preparing balloons and streamers for the festivities. She also made stellar cupcakes for the occasion.

The Mill gave us band prices for dinner, which was awesome -- half-off! We had a little time to kill before our set so we walked around town. A street festival was going on nearby the club in support of flood relief efforts, and the band that was on was doing some great covers and had attracted quite a crowd. Also, the University of Iowa is in Iowa City, and the campus is sprawling and beautiful. The main buildings have a very imposing, classical design.

We played a good set at The Mill and sound guy Sam did an amazing job with the mix. Two out of three of us actually thought this was our strongest show of the tour to this point. The Puritanicals followed and they had a classic '80s alt-power trio sound with great vocals. Mannix! closed the show and put on a very drunken and very fun set to celebrate Sarah's birthday.

Afterwards, Andre from the Mission Creek Music Festival kindly housed us at his apartment. He's a terrific guy who writes about music and organizes shows in Iowa City and San Francisco. We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with him, but he was definitely a very cool guy and good people.

Chicago next!