We ultimately pulled into Ames a few hours before load in, so we tried looking around for a place to eat. We had our eye fixed on an Indian restaurant, but we had an hour to kill before that opened, so we decided to kick it in a coffeeshop so SMV could get her WiFi fix. Finally the Indian restaurant opened and we were really excited to have a change of pace; as much as we appreciate Subway's 5 dollar footlong, we needed a break! There are only so many "veggie delights on honey oat" I can take.
It was time to load in, and we met the first band (Datagun) in the parking lot. One of the band members looked really familiar to me, and it turned out to be Andre! Andre booked a show for us last year in Iowa City, and I had no idea he was playing on the bill with us. It was a pleasant surprise. Nate, who booked the show, finally rolled up to open AP:
Nate's a really cool, chill guy. Apparently hula-hooping is all the rage in Ames right now, so while we were setting up he would chat to us while practicing his moves on the hoop. The Ames Progressive space was awesome -- it felt like a living room-cum-recording studio: couches everywhere and an upright piano!! It had a really warm vibe to it.
Datagun went on first, and they were a great opener. They are 2 keyboardists and 1 guitar, no drums. They played a compelling set -- kind of reminded me of Joy Division and Interpol.
We went on second, and we played one of the best sets ever on tour. I felt we were really locked in musically, and there was a lightning, magnetic energy in the air. It was another transcendental set, akin to Nashville.
The room was filled to the brim with people -- a lot of them were sitting on the floor, gaze fixed upon us, and I could feel they were so focused on what we were doing and tuned in. There was one tall guy who was dancing right next to me during the whole set and getting really into it. That was awesome! I could definitely use more noise dancers!
After we played, one girl came up to me and said that we were the first all-female noise band to play in Ames, and she really appreciated us being there. At first I was kind of shocked to hear that; living in NYC there are so many female musicians that I sometimes take that for granted. But her comment made me realize just how few women musicians there are when you get outside the major metro areas. Hearing that made me feel really good about my work. After all these years, there are still so many more walls to break down for women.
Between sets I ran out to the bodega to get some water. Lo and behold the waiter from the Indian restaurant was working the counter, and gave me a huge jug of water for $1.50. Score!
The last band was Porno Galatica and they were two dudes: 1 on a laptop and the other on a Microkorg. They played instrumental dance music, and they got everyone in the room dancing and pumped up. The lights were turned off, and it reminded me of the secret all-night dance parties I used to go to when I was living back in L.A. It was really awesome to see all the people grooving -- it felt really pure, no posing -- they were just getting down to the music.
After the show, Nate said we could stay and crash at the space. We were super stoked about that. Before we settled in for the night though, Jenny was still really hungry and we got some tacos down the street.
When we got back to the space, however, the place smelled like a lot of sweaty bodies. We didn't notice it before, but for some reason it was really rank when we got back. I found a couch where it didn't smell so bad and passed out. But SMV and Jenny had a real hard time falling asleep. Jenny made the mistake of looking in the fridge and got freaked out by the food that had turned into science projects, and SMV was having a hard time with the smell. When I woke up the next morning, I found my jug of water filled will soap next to the fan. Apparently SMV soaked paper towels in the soapy jug and hung them on the fan as a form of ghetto air freshener.
Somehow we survived. Nate came promptly at 8:45a the next morning to pick up his keys. Then we were off to Chicago!
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