October 31 2005: The Mountain Goats, Grizzly Bear, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Knitting Factory, New York NY

The last night of the tour. Culmination of the entire month. And I don’t remember a goddamn thing. You know how you’re not supposed to realize you’ve got a drinking problem until you hit rock bottom? This was it. You don’t know what rock bottom is until you completely black out for the last night of the tour you’ve followed all the way through, and on the night which is by almost all accounts its high point. Rock Bottom is blacking out for a Halloween rock show in which the singer is dressed as a priest, the bassist as Death, and the lead guitar player is a toilet paper mummy. Fuck me. I guess that’s what happens when you start drinking at 3pm and the bartender keeps comping you shots of Maker’s. I mean, I’m only a man and free whisky is free whisky. I take solace only in the fact that my buddy Josh tells me it looked as if I was having a hell of a time. The next morning I awoke to find photographs of myself with each member of both bands. Josh tells me I got a kiss out of everyone too. And that in between sets I tried to get a toast going to the 1-4-5 chord progression. Reportedly everyone avoided my eyesight and no one would drink with me. And that’s a shame, because if there’s one thing worth drinking to it’s the goddamn 1-4-5.

October 29 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, The Mae Shi – Bowery Ballroom, New York NY

The Prayers and Tears played what I figure to be their poorest performance all tour, probably because the whole band was trying to sleep through the afore-mentioned party (besides Alex, of course, who only has to play keyboards thus felt free to rock and roll all night long) and they had to drive eight hours in the morning. Though Perry finally got someone to yell “Judas” in response to his running “I’m going electric…like Dylan in ‘66” line. The Mountain Goats played well, as is their way, and my friend Erin from New Jersey came up and it was cool to see her. But the cheapest beer in the house was Budweiser at $5 a pint, so I went sober for the show. Just to see how the other half live.

October 28 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Fuel Rocket Club, Collis Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

I’d never been to New Hampshire before and found that New Hampshire has got a few things going for it: snow on the ground, no sales tax, and greatest state motto ever: Live Free or Die. I don’t have a clue Oregon’s motto is, but I’m guessing it couldn’t get within ten feet of New Hampshire’s. Got a craigslist ride with a French-Canadian guy in a Mercedes to within five miles of the college, and then a ride into Hanover with an aging hippy type who gave me carrots, tomatoes and whole-grain bagels and then introduced me to his friends who live at the Dartmouth Episcopal Outreach House. These Episcopalians, being aligned with the Christian God an all and therefore feeling it necessary to buy their way into Paradise via Good Christian Charity offered me a sofa to sleep on that night and a place to stash my pack for the day. Oh, if only they had known that their offer would result in me passing out in their bathroom at 430am…

I napped the afternoon away and around 6pm went to where the show was to be held only to find no one there and a sign stating that doors would open at 9pm. Fortunately the college maintains a bar just a few feet away from the venue. They were playing Van Morrison on the jukebox and had reasonably priced drink – beer and wine only though, which was a bit of a disappointment because by this point in the tour my tolerance to alcohol had ballooned so much as to make it necessary to consume the hard shit. You will, however, be glad to hear that I did not let this deter me in any way and enjoyed six drinks despite the two-drink-maximum liquor license.

The show itself was advertised as “everything free,” meaning admission, PBR and candy bars. I took advantage of the first two. There was no stage, just the bands on the same ground as the audience, each faction facing and feeding off the other. The Prayers and Tears played fabulously and were heckled by the drunken undergrads perfectly. A surprisingly large number of audience members kept yelling for songs about public transit. Good times were flowing.

The Mountain Goats started out their set surprisingly mellow for the free-show-and-free-beer crowd, with four of their first five songs being “Source Decay,” “Tallahassee,” “Cotton,” and “Love, Love, Love.” “Baboon” was also thrown in for the sole instance of the tour proper, and I will go out on a limb and state that the Dartmouth performance of “See America Right” was the best of the tour. Great show all around, the highlight perhaps being the point at which the crowd collectively urged Peter to “Drink, motherfucker! Drink!” It was an absolute shock when they did not return to the stage for a second encore, as I have perhaps never heard an audience futilely scream for more as I heard Hanover scream that night. After the show some dude was just holding his head and muttering “Oh my god! Oh my fucking god!” over and over for at least five minutes.

Alternate highlight: When someone yelled for John to “play whatever you want!” and he responded, “You know, when people say ‘play whatever you want,’ the stuff I really want to play I don’t know how to play. You know, like ‘2112’ by Rush. That would be awesome.” At which point Alex goes right into it. Beautiful.

Many folks found their way to the afterparty at the house of the guy who had booked the show and where, perhaps appropriately, the alcohol consisted solely of a case of store brand vodka. And I consider myself to be pretty up on store brand vodka but this stuff was so cheap even I had never laid eyes on it before. I would relay its name in order to advise all but the truly desperate to shy away, but my memory by that point in the evening remains spotty at best. And, finally, here let me here salute Alex Lazara, who was still firing on all cylinders at 4am when I left the party and with no less than four good-looking college chicks fawning over his every move. That man knows how to get things done.

October 27 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA

Got to enjoy dinner with an old friend before the show, saw a great show, and then had the most pleasant conversation I’ve had with a particular ex-girlfriend in over a year. Boston treated me well. Perry later told me that in his estimation the Boston gig was the high point for the Prayers and Tears. I thought they played well, but their performance of “Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy” left much of the audience wondering what the hell to make of them. And I think Perry felt it too, as he seemed to be trying to make up for the overtly Christian nature of the song by swearing a lot immediately afterwards. The strategy worked about as well as it could have, but that song put a bit of a chip on the audience’s shoulder for the rest of their performance.

The Mountain Goats played great, opening with “Twin Human Highway Flares,” which is probably about as perfect an opener for a seated show as is humanly possible. Other than that, it was just a great set – a band on the last leg of the last tour of a very long year, flawlessly performing but coming off just a tad sterile in the vacuum of the MFA auditorium. But that makes the show sound boring – and it was a fabulous show, with probably the best performances all tour of many of the quieter numbers such as the afore mentioned opener, “Tallahassee” and “Shadow Song.” And it did have flat out more “Full Force Galesburg” tunes than any other show. And for the closing numbers David’s guitar was down in the mix and Alex’s keyboard up, making for an interesting listen. It was all just a bit generic. Maybe just because I was a little nervous about seeing the ex-girlfriend after the show. Maybe just because the last few shows had been so very raucous (in a good way) and I’d gotten pleasantly used to that. Maybe just because I hadn’t had anything to drink since 6pm.

October 26 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, The Winterpills – Iron Horse, Northampton MA

Main fact: Adam and Sairi (they’re married) and I bought a fifth of $13 whiskey at noon. Other notable yet not nearly as important after you’ve been drinking since noon facts: the line was around the block when we got to the venue, something that doesn’t tend to happen in smaller towns like Northampton. While talking to Peter outside before the show he did the funniest double take over it that I’ve ever seen. No shit. The Winterpills opened the show, and being the new big Signature Sounds group I had some decent expectations going into their set, on which they did not disappoint. The Prayers and Tears were excellent as per usual, and the Mountain Goats pulled out “No Children” for the first time since the tour’s second show. Excellence all around. And another free show thanks to friends of friends of friends.

October 25 2005: Adam Sweeney – Club Passim, Cambridge MA

How I found myself in Cambridge is somewhat interesting. To begin, the day after the Haverford show was pretty much the worst day of hitchhiking, ever. I Tried to take Route 113 around Philadelphia only to discover that a good portion of Route 113 has absolutely no shoulder whatsoever. I think I walked about fifteen miles, and didn’t even make it out of the state. At least I made it to a college town before dark, where I slept at East Stroudsburg University. The only redeeming moment of the day occurred when somewhere along the line I got picked up by a guy who was headed to a bar a few miles down the road and who offered to buy me a drink – not something entirely out of the ordinary, but it’s always nice when it happens. And so we go into this bar which is right on the bank of the Delaware river and just what is playing on the jukebox as we walk in? Why nothing less than Guns n’ Roses doing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” I swear, when chances fall in your lap like that you gotta recognize them for what they really are. So I let him buy me no fewer than four additional drinks. I’d had a rough day anyhow. Hell of a nice guy. And so when I woke up the next morning and saw that it was just fucking pouring outside I wasn’t too thrilled about another day of standing on the side of the road. And when the first ride I got was a stoner mortician who was headed into Brooklyn I figured what the hell, I’ll go with him and just get on the goddamn bus. And it turns out that the bus is way cheaper to Boston than it is to Northampton, and my friend Adam from Northampton just so happened to be playing a show there that night.

So that’s how I came to be here. And that’s about the whole story. Adam played and it was fun. He even had a new song about me and beer and rock and roll! How about that? And then I got a ride back to Northampton and a sofa for a couple of nights. Hell of a guy, that Adam Sweeney.

October 23 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Lunt Hall Basement, Haverford College, Haverford PA

Another college show, in the basement of a fucking DORM!. How great is that!? I sure as shit never saw a Mountain Goats show in the basement of MY dorm. Once again, a free show, and BYOB, so you had everyone just hanging around with a bottle of whiskey or a six pack in their hand. I started to get desperate around 8pm and began asking people if I could buy a beer or a shot off them – in all instances they just gave it to me. So another free booze night for myself. And I got to see the soundcheck again, by virtue of just being in the basement at the time that sound was being checked.

The Prayers and Tears played well – and before the show I got to hear Alex explain to me this theory: Abortion = Murder according to the Christians, and Meat = Murder according to the Smiths; therefore Abortion = Meat, and fetuses should be sent to underdeveloped countries to feed the hungry. Made my whole night right there.

The Mountain Goats, upon entering the stage area, by which I refer to the five-inch raised section of the floor towards which the audience faced, were setting up their guitars when New Order’s “Temptation” came on over the PA. Peter later told me that it is perhaps his favorite song, ever. So Peter finishes setting up his bass and just starts right in, playing along with “Temptation” and nailing every little nuance of its bassline, almost as if he had played along with the record many, many times before. And as if that wasn’t amusing enough to watch on its own, once John got his guitar set up he started right in on the guitar part. So for about a minute and a half you’ve got the Mountain Goats up on stage playing along to the New Order record and looking like they’ve never had as good a time on stage in their whole lives. And then the show itself started. The fun just never stops. “Song for Dennis Brown” was breathtaking – easily its best performance all tour. And though “Pet Politics” had been played a few times before, Haverford marked its first full band performance.

And during the Prayers and Tears’ set Perry had broken a string on his Telecaster, which was David’s guitar-of-choice for their songs with the Mountain Goats, so he had to play the SG instead. Which fucking rocked. I thought so, I think most of the audience thought so, and after the show I overheard John telling David that he also thought so. And David didn’t touch the Telecaster for the rest of the tour. Due, I think, in no small part to the SG, the evening’s performance of “Oceanographer’s Choice” was easily the best of the tour. And due to the show actually being INSDIE the dorm, I didn’t even have to find a way into a building where I could sleep! Just waited for folks to clear out and then stretched out on a nice comfy easy chair for the night.

October 22 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Olde Club, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA

I recently wrote everyone I know an email informing them that we all, excepting our one friend who went to Swarthmore, went to the wrong damn college. Swarthmore was beautiful on every level. First, it is physically appealing to the eye. Old stone buildings, attractive co-eds, green grass (both kinds), etc. Second, they run their food service in an all-you-can-eat-so-long-as-you’re-on-the-meal-plan manner, and I found it remarkably easy to talk my way into the cafeteria despite not being on said meal-plan. And the show itself…..let us just say that MY college never sponsored a Mountain Goats show free of charge to all, much less sprang for all that free beer in the basement.

The show was typical of what you might expect, with a whole lot of undergrads there for the booze. There were a decent amount of folks there for the music though, and I thought it was a great show from the front of the stage but the Prayers and Tears who viewed the show from the back said it was pretty bad. Who knows, but I think they were sober so I’ll take their word for it. But I had a great time. John stopped in the middle of “Cotton” to call out some folks who were talking and was so amused by their response that he granted one of them a request. Namely, “Going to Georgia.” And after the show I just followed my ears to the dance music next door, where there was a huge party going on with more free beer. And the sofas in the multicultural center were comfy and abandoned and I slept great.

October 21 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh PA

Despite the sold-out nature of the show, Perry came through in spades and got not only myself in but Don as well. I would have felt pretty bad leaving Don out in the cold after all his generosity and thankfully I did not have to. Another small, sit-down show, but this one was packed to standing-room only. It was also the site of the most mind-blowing breach of human etiquette I have ever witnessed, much less experienced first hand: in between sets I went out to use the facilities and to get another beer (the girl in the café downstairs was comping them for me – it’s amazing how much free shit a guy can get just for saying he’s hitchhiking). But when I returned to my seat I found it occupied by some fucking bitch who refused to get up. First she claimed that because I’d left my seat it was fair game (of note: my jacket was on the seat while I was gone, and Don was sitting right next to me and had informed the girl when she sat down that I would be back shortly). When I drunkenly railed against her for a few minutes about that being the most bullshit excuse for being an asshole that I had ever heard in all of my life, she changed her argument to the much simpler Look-I-Know-I’m-Being-A-Huge-Bitch-But-I’m-Not-Moving-So-Deal-With-It. So I dealt with it. Fucking bitch. She’s lucky I’m a pacifist.

The songs the Mountain Goats played went, without exception, in reverse-chronological order from new to old. Old meaning they closed the set with “Solomon Revisited” off of the first fucking cassette. And they did “Palmcorder Yajna” all mellow like and threw in “The Alphonse Mambo.” Holy fuck, people, holy fuck. An encore without the Prayers and Tears rounded out the night. I’ve got a radio indeed.

October 20 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Uptown Theatre, Washington PA

Made it to Pittsburgh by noon and called my man Don who was nice enough to offer me a place to sleep and rides for the next couple of days, sight unseen. Thank you, internet and your message boarding technology. And then he threw in showers, food, laundry, companionship, designated driving, etc. Hell of a deal on my end.

The Washington show was in an old movie theatre that sells beer and liquor and popcorn in the back of the house and offers seats and tables all the way up to the very front of the stage, about a third of which were filled. Easily the most empty room of the tour, but a beautiful night from all angles. To start with, the Prayers and Tears played their best show all tour. Due to the sit-down nature of things and the presence of a baby grand on stage, they dropped their big rocker “Ammunition from a Bolt Action Heart” from the set and quieted down all the rest of their songs into one perfect, utterly sublime moment after another. And a power transformer blew just as the last notes of “Sad Lives of the Hollywood Lovers” faded into the woodwork, as if on cue. The Mountain Goats played yet another great set, throwing Tallahassee into the mix for the first time of the tour and doing “It Froze Me” for the first time since Urbana. Great show, got in for free again, and got a warm bed for the night. You just can’t beat that shit.

October 18 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Vera – Buffalo Icon, Buffalo NY

Buffalo is a pretty city, which I did not expect it to be. I took lots of pictures of buildings. The show was also about as close to a home-town gig as it gets for Peter, so his girlfriend came out and she was very nice. Also, PBR was on special for $2. Unfortunately, it was not the strongest of showings for any band on the bill. The Mountain Goats did throw “Cotton” in there for the first time, however, which was cool to hear. And Perry got me in for free! What a guy, that Perry Wright. What a guy. And though I wound up paying good money to sleep at a hostel, that did give me the opportunity to trade in Thompson and pick up "The Bell Jar," which I'd never gotten around to reading before.

October 17 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers – Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON

Great show, great audience, and great people. And I talked the girl at the door into letting me in for free. I had never been to Toronto, and Toronto did not disappoint. The venue was of top-notch design. The stage towered a good four or five feet over the main floor making the show optimal for viewing from the back of the room, where I chose to sit for the show. And the back of the room was a good couple of feet raised from the floor as well, so there was no problem with heads in my line-of-sight. “Nine Black Poppies” was played for the sole time all tour, and with a wonderfully polite audience who did not feel the need to heckle or talk or sing or do anything but listen. During the Mountain Goats’ set, that is, for the Prayers and Tears were heckled relentlessly all night by a drunk 17-year-old with a fake ID who was talking to me before the show. When he found out that I was from Portland he started bemoaning the fact that he’d never seen Elliott Smith, so I told him about the times that I had. Then he started talking about Neutral Milk Hotel and how sad it was that he never got to see them either and some random dude on the street piped up and started talking about how great they were live. Sometimes it can be fun to make the obnoxiously drunk 17-year-old jealous. And to his credit, he remains one of the best hecklers I’ve ever heard.

But the real crazy Toronto shit didn’t start until after the show when I went upstairs to brush my teeth. Lee’s has a pretty small bathroom, and a guy taking a piss looks at me and says, “Wow, times must be pretty rough, eh?” “What,” I counter, “You never seen a guy brushing his teeth at the rock club?” And he offers to buy me a beer when I’m done and that is not the type of offer I am in the habit of turning down. So he buys me a beer and we get to talking and then he buys me a few more and we head out to another bar where he buys approximately five pitchers for himself and his friends, of whom I am now a part. We run into the singer and guitarist for a local band (Therefore Peter John, they call themselves), and they take the opportunity to drunkenly run through a few of their numbers. To our drunken minds they are fabulous. And to their credit, I still get their song “One Way Ticket to London” stuck in my head despite only having heard it that one time. And when they finish up a nice young woman asks if she can play one, and we are drunk and she is a girl and so of course we oblige, and she plays one of the most beautiful tunes we have collectively ever heard. And when the bar closes the guy lets me sleep on his sofa, and it is a good night in Toronto.

October 15 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Bellafea – Kraftbrau Brewery, Kalamazoo MI

October fifteen, you are a fine fine day. For about a million reasons, all beginning with getting a craigslist ride straight from Chicago to Kalamazoo. And this ride was with a really nice couple who refused to take my gas money and then let me hang out at their house and take a shower and read their newspaper and eat their food. And this food was cauliflower and chickpeas and curry and rice and fried bread, all cooked up Indian style by the male half of this couple who just happened to have moved to Michigan from India in 2001. One always must question the authenticity of an ethnic foods restaurant – who knows if that Chinese-looking dude cooking the Chinese food really knows his shit or not? But when the Indian cooking your Indian food has spent 4/5 of his life in fucking India, you know you’re getting the real deal. It was fabulous. Bar none the best food of the trip, and a frontrunner for Best Food Of All Goddamn Time.

And then to follow that right up the Kraftbrau served me the best beer of the trip! And lots of it! I can wholeheartedly recommend their Doppelboch, and it’s 8% to boot. And even further to boot, it was fucking cheap. I think I drank five or six of the things over the course of the night and my tab was only $14. And yet even MORE to boot: the promoter found out I was hitchhiking around and she let me stay at the bar during soundcheck and gave me a leftover poster advertising the show and didn’t make me pay the cover. To her!

The show was Bellafea’s last on the tour, so I picked up their 7” for a scant three dollars. The Mountain Goats again played with Franklin, and threw in the Silver Jews’ “Pet Politics” for the first time all tour. “Slow West Vultures” was also played. A great show, probably in the top 5 all tour.

But the fun did not end with the show! As I exited the Kraftbrau I said goodnight to Alex, who was talking to a couple of attractive young women. I thought nothing of this at the time, as Alex is a notoriously good-looking man and can often be found talking with attractive young women (they just won’t leave him alone!). And then maybe ten minutes later, as I stood outside the place asking everyone who came out if they were headed to Western Michigan U., and if so could I get a ride with them, Alex’s two girls come out and say of course I can get a ride with them. And I am seriously in debt to Alex because it seems that after I said hi to him, he told the girls that I was hitchhiking around and whatnot, and so these girls let me sleep on their sofa, gave me some leftover pizza, and in generally made a guy feel welcome. To Kalamazoo!

October 14 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Bellafea – Empty Bottle, Chicago IL

Disappointment of the day: I am on Western Ave, waiting for the southbound bus to take me to the Empty Bottle. There are lots of cars driving around. There is lots of honking. There are lots of Catholic School kids waiting for the bus with me. It is approximately 3pm. And out of all of that I hear something that makes me think my name is being called. Whatever it is is barely audible, just enough to cause me to look up before remembering that I know exactly two people in Chicago and am probably just hearing things anyway. So then fast forward to me sitting at the bar at the Empty Bottle having just watched the Mountain Goats’ soundcheck, and John comes up and asks if I saw he and Peter yelling at me as they drove by earlier that day. Goddamn, I could have told my kids that I waved to the Mountain Fucking Goats as they drove by. Oh well, two days later it’s all the same anyhow when they drive by me as I’m thumbing towards Detroit.

But the soundcheck! I’m sure everyone at the show thought to themselves, Wow that’s a really good new song they played there. Lucky me being among the first people to hear it. But these people only think such thoughts because they don’t know that the band soundchecked the song (“Soil Babylon Springs”) multiple times and the first to hear it performed consisted of the bartender, assorted Prayers and Tears, assorted venue employees, and fuckin ME. And then the show itself ties with a Portland show I saw earlier that summer as Best Mountain Goats Show I’ve Ever Witnessed. The crowd was roaring after every song, and every song was amazing. A phenomenal take on Lion’s Teeth was performed with Franklin on keys again, and for the first time this tour the Prayers and Tears returned to the stage at the end of the evening, much to my relief, because I knew firsthand the combined power of the Mountain Goats and the Prayers and Tears, and I was really, really hoping that the first two shows were not to be indicative of the entire tour’s format. And the show fucking rocked. And the night was closed with John and Franklin doing “Memories” by Leonard Cohen. Fabulous.

And as an added bonus to the show I ran into this girl from Milwaukee who I keep running into at rock shows all over the place. First it was the Mountain Goats in New Orleans, followed by the Long Winters in Seattle, and now the Mountain Goats again in Chicago. Plus through the course of conversation we discovered that we have both spent a few nights on the very same sofa (Perry’s, to be precise). Always nice to converse with those of like mind. And further adding to the frenzy of the evening, Bellafea played again. And the Prayers and Tears pulled out “Raise Up You Celestial Choir” for the first time of the tour. I later heard through the rumor mill that David doesn’t like playing the song because he considers it their We’re Gonna Play This Now So You’ll Think We’re Good Even Though We Already Know We’re Good And We Shouldn’t Have To Prove It To Ignorant Shits Like You Song . Well, fuck him because I dig it and was glad to hear it played, no matter how ungroundbreaking it may be.

October 13 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Bellafea – Open End Gallery, Chicago IL

The Open End is an all-ages sort of place, in that it is small, serves a purpose other than live music venue by day, has only one toilet, and operates a shitty sound system. To make up for all of that there is a parachute hung above the stage which makes for some nice ambiance, and alcohol is served at a little table in the back. And by alcohol I refer exclusively to Franzia and PBR. And the PBR was behind the girl selling it whereas the Franzia was front and center on the table, so when I first approached this table-as-oasis I honestly thought that all the booze they had in the place was boxed wine. This made me very, very happy, simply because I had never experienced anything like that in all of my life and I try to stay open to new experiences. I was visibly disappointed to find that old standby of Pabst Blue Ribbon also available, but not so disappointed as to not order it exclusively for the rest of the evening.

Bellafea, from Chapel Hill, opened the show rather well. Very Rock + Roll, very screamy, and their set was bookended by two beautiflly quiet songs. The Prayers and Tears played well again, almost the exact set as in Urbana. The Mountain Goats this time played for an hour and brought Franklin Bruno to the stage for a few songs to close the night out. “Going to Cleveland” was played rather well, as was “Mole” with Franklin on keys. "No Children" was closed with and would not be touched again until Northampton.

After the show while waiting for the bus in front of the United Center, a few blocks south of the Open End, some cops stopped and one of them asked two of my fellow concert-goers and I just what in the hell we were doing, a bunch of white kids in this neighborhood. Waiting for the bus, we replied. The officer told us that we’d be wise to go somewhere else but it’s not like we had anywhere else to go, and then the bus appeared a few blocks away so the police bade us good day and moved on. It was my only exchange with the law all trip.

October 12 2005: The Mountain Goats, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Beauty Shop – Canopy Club, Urbana IL

Flew into Chicago the day before and then hitched on down to Urbana. Ready to rock and roll. As show time approached I made my way to the Canopy Club and sat down at a coffee shop just down the street. Alex Lazara, keyboardist and all-around good-guy in the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, walked by me. I am shy and did not wave. He didn’t recognize me anyway, so it was all the same. Later on the remainder of the Prayers and Tears (to wit: Perry Wright, singer and guitarist; David Daniels, bassist and xylophonist and guitarist and various other thingsist; and Josh Snyder, on drums) walked by and Perry, southern gentleman that he is, not only recognized me but recalled my name with only minimal help on my part. It is nice to not go into these things entirely cold turkey.

And the doors! They opened at eight! And I entered!

Sat through the very competent opener, locals known as Beauty Shop, with a very nice yet musically not-so-bright brother and sister. They had never heard of XTC, who were playing on the PA as we walked in. Then "Figure 8" was played, and it turned out they’d never heard of Elliott Smith. Then "The Soft Bulliten" was played and they collectively failed to identify artist and album, though to their credit they claimed to have "heard of" the Flaming Lips. But the sister was pretty good looking, so all was forgiven. The Prayers and Tears were up next, and they played well. It was nice to hear their live set since acquiring and listening to their record, something I had not experienced prior to Urbana.

And then John and Peter appeared on the stage. “What’s up Midwest? We’re the Mountain Goats!” and right into Broom People. Good times. The show was unique to the tour in many ways: It lasted no more than 45 minutes, no one besides John and Peter played, and many songs were played which were not touched for the rest of the year. “Neon Orange Glimmer Song” amongst them. That one made my day.