We apologize for the delay in the journal updates ... we've been sick and have been more focused on health and survival than the internet. Read on, dear friends ... we'll try not to let this happen much more. PLUS: Make sure to click "previous" up top, as there is now a back log.

Socks in the city. After my recent bout with exhaustion and starvation, it was very nice to wake up tired and hungry. Jonny had been more than kind in offering us his house and a big bag of fruit and vegetables. As I woke up, I had a few slices of fruit and pored over the large book collection Jonny’s roommate had going. I thought if I had the time I would like to read almost every one of the many hundreds of books crammed into the sagging shelves around the room. I saw some books I owned.

Judah and Lauren emerged from their room looking like zombies. As we loaded the van, Judah said he really felt incapable of playing a show. Instead of skipping the four-hour drive to Minneapolis, however, we decided to go in case he was feeling better by the time the show was on. This was the day of the Mates of State show. We’d all been looking forward to playing it for a while. Plus, Josh’s wife Sara had flown to Minneapolis to see some friends and was going to be at the show. Luckily, Judah agreed that it would behoove us to try, so off we went. He’s a trooper.

I realized on the way to Minneapolis that my cousin Tess probably wasn’t going to be there. Silly me--I always get St. Paul (Minneapolis’ next-door neighbor) mixed up with St. Louis (where Tess lives, 600 miles away from Minneapolis). I had invited her to the show by email the week before and was looking forward to being in her neck of the woods for once. Oh well.

We stopped briefly at a pharmacy/gas station (?) and picked up a few more eyes of newt and hairs of werewolf to add to the bubbling cauldrons of Judah and Lauren’s already-percolating stomachs. I ate a stinky cranberry muffin. I hadn’t had coffee for the last few days for fear of reawakening whatever beast had gnawed on my stomach and head, and I gazed longingly at the stainless-steel Brewmaster before we pulled away.

The 7th Street Entry was a small club in a larger club called First Avenue. The building was a huge, black submarine festooned with walk-of-fame stars announcing the many diverse groups who had graced the stage. It seemed as though everyone had played there. There were hundreds and hundreds of bands from the Pixies to Bjork to Modest Mouse to Prince to Beck to Nirvana to every indie band in the known universe. Josh proudly announced that this was the first time he had ever played in a venue where the Cure had played. When we arrived, we saw Jason from Mates of State already loading equipment. Kori was close behind, carrying a drum of some kind. We said our hellos and Josh and I loaded the rest of our stuff while Judah and Lauren took a rest inside.

Our show began at 4:30. There were already close to a hundred people there, and by the end of our set there were nearly two hundred. They were very appreciative and seemed to really enjoy the show. Judah struggled through, pulling a Tom Waits on the real blasting notes. He gets the gold star and the blue ribbon for trooper-osity, because it can be really hard to perform when you know you are not at your best. Far from misrepresenting the sound of the band, however, Judah’s intermittent rasp made some members of the audience appreciate the set on a different level (so said Jacy from the band End Transmission, who had come with Sara to see the show). A lot of people bought our cd, too--that’s a good sign. It was nice to have microphones on the drums again--it made me feel like a better drummer to be able to feel the drums pounding in my chest. It was also nice to be able to support Judah vocally again. For the past few shows my own voice had been shaky and would crack under pressure. This time I was able to hit the right notes and hold up my end of the singing. It is a different situation for me as a vocalist because if I’m incapable of singing I can just stop and simply play the drums. Judah pretty much can’t do that without things sounding a little off. So again, he wins the award.

Next up were April Epidemic, a timely name in our cycle of band sickness. Hi, we’re the Velvet Teen, and we’re playing with April Epidemic. It doesn’t really matter that it’s still March. They played shout-rock. That’s the best way for me to describe it. I’ve seen a lot of bands with similar vocal styles, where it’s all about the rhythm of the shouting instead of the notes of the melody. The music was tight and the guitars were a wall of distortion. They lost a few points with me for putting on baseball caps right before they played, but they gained a couple points back by leaving the bills forward.

Then it was time for some friends of ours from the West Coast. Mates of State are probably the cutest band in existence. Imagine a singing, drumming scarecrow making goofy faces at a keyboard-playing pixie, who is grinning back demurely and singing on-point harmonies. Any decent show review I’ve ever read about them always mentions how adorable they are on stage. It’s just one married couple, Jason on drums and Kori on the keyboard. They’re always making eyes at each other and generally being cute. Their music jumps around between tempos and styles, often several times within a song, so that their set seems extra-energetic. People love Mates of State. People want to be Mates of State.

My only complaint about the show was the smoke. After a couple of hours, it was hard to see. My eyes were watering and my boogers were yellow. Dear Lord--why doesn’t the rest of country do what California did and make every restaurant and bar smoke-free? Being a non-smoker is very tough if you’re performing every night anywhere but California. Every item of clothing I own stinks of cigarettes.

End Transmission, some good friends of Josh and Sara, were playing a house party and invited us all to come along. Judah, Lauren and I felt tired and wanted to rest, so we ended up going to Jacy’s house while Jacy took Josh and Sara to the show. It was still early. Judah cooked some pasta, and I ordered a small pizza. It was so nice to call it an early night and relax. I watched a couple of episodes of Sex in the City with Jacy’s roommate. Then I took a shower, called Alison, inflated my comfy air mattress, and went to bed feeling good. A few minutes after I laid down, everybody returned from the party and turned on some loud music. I put in my earplugs and fell right asleep. Earplugs rock.

Logan