Judas Goat

The end of the line...

















I am two days back in SF. Just finished with Death Cab.















These last few weeks was pretty trying. After a week off for Thanksgiving another 2 weeks of shows seemed like pulling teeth. There were a few notable exceptions. It is pretty hard to have a bad time in Las Vegas unless you are miserable, a drunk or have a penchant for losing money at the tables.















Although it's not a terribly attractive place mostly because it seems to be in a constant state of regeneration and destruction, I have always had a good time here. I spent New Years here in a penthouse at the Venetian a few years back. I also once got a ride back from the New York, New York casino at 5 in the morning from some girl who tried, rather unsuccessfully to drive backwards the entire way.















Vegas can also be pretty alluring through the window of a cab speeding down the strip at 2AM.





















































I am really the worst kind of gambler there is. I put ten bucks into a slot machine, pulled the lever three times and won $125. I walked straight out of the casino and met some friends at a bar up the road. Lucas 1, One-armed Bandit 0. This is the Peppermill (said bar up the road). One hell of a bizarre place. A bunch of us sat, roasting around this blazing fire watching music videos on the flat screen TVs above, all the while drinking absurd cocktails like chocolate banana martinis. Hella bizarro, as they say.

















After Vegas came a string of mundane California shows in Long Beach, Irvine, Santa Barbara and Oakland. Most of the Theatres looked the same. Most of the shows sounded the same.












































Times like these make everyone go a little crazy on tour.
















Scheid and Ally came out to the Irvine show, which was totally magic. They drove 45 minutes out of LA just to hang with me. We had a blast. Ally just finished with Mogwai and DS ended with Broken Social Scene a few weeks back. We went to In and Out Burger and laughed like maniacs talking about the time we saw Slipknot in Japan, and how great Carlos' new goatee looks. They stayed for a few songs, but I saw them both starting to nod off in the big, comfy chairs that I laid out for them. It's good to have good pals.



















I sometimes have difficulty following written directions. It's better that I have some time off, I think.





























Our last show was in Seattle. Home town for these boys. It really is the way to go. Usually a band will trickle off it's touring with a few miserable planned corporate shows and maybe a brief run in the Southeast. The alternative seems to be playing in your hometown to 10,000 kids in the local arena.
















I wish that I had enough stamina or interest to hang with everyone at the aftershow party but I was exhausted and really pretty over it. I shook some hands, posed for a few pictures and said my goodbyes where I could. Also, before the end of the day, I adopted this as my personal motto.














Adios Death Cab. It's been fun.


















Towards the end all I wanted was to be home, and now that I am I have no idea what to do with myself. It's the cool, rainy part of the year in the Bay Area. I'll still take this over any day in NY. Yesterday I went to go look at another apartment, walked to Amoeba and then went to go see the new Quay Brothers movie to get out of the rain. It's pretty good to be back.