It ain't bad to be a geek...

What a weekend we boys had. We had the privelage to spend the last 4 days on the road with our old friends Hour of the Wolf and new friends The Geeks, spreading our seeds of punkness and mischeif along the smog laced coast of this westernmost state.
It all started in the slummy city of Riverside. Not sure how it got such a name. The only river I saw was the the slithering sea of red lights that lead us to the warehouse where we would reak sonic terror with our allies on all those who spent 7 dollars of their hard earned cash. We'd played the same venue the week before, so we were the veterens of the bunch. The crowd's hymen was broken by Future Primitive who covered Inside Out's "Burning Fight". There was no saving the remains of the cherry when the Lewd Dudes, Hot W's and Geeeeks took to the floor. It was my first time seeing The Geeks. My cheeks hurt from smiling throughout their whole set. I've never seen a band with such passion and sincereity, and this after they flew from the rice fields of their homeland only to sleep in a Taco Bell parking lot in attempts to thwart jet lag.
I could tell we were in for a swell weekend.
We spent the night at Chateu Harder with our buddies from Pressvre, only to awake to a BBQ which was followed by a competitive game of wiffle ball in the park. Obviously, I hit the winning run in. To be honest, I hit a pop fly that was caught by Lewd drummer Cory Groenenberg. Just so happens that grandpa Dustin of HOTW tagged up and ran home for our victory. Nevertheless, we had a full day already, and had yet to make our trek to Santa Barbera to play the show.
The rain started to pour on our poor green van as we climbed up the coast to our destination of rock. I was pleasently surprised at the turn out on such a wet night. With hot energy and burning guitar licks, we turned the room to steam.
Sunday we crawled into the van after a slumber at Tyler B's. I took this photo:



Then we drove. And I took this photo:




How pretty the sky is.
We arrived in Fresno at the house we were to play in. After recieving nourishment, and a doing a handfull of toe-touches, we loaded into the garage to watch a couple local bands. I can't tell you how happy I was to be at a house show where there were so many kids. Wait. Yes I can. And I will. Very happy. See. There were kids running around and singing along. Everyone was smiling. It very well could be the best set we've ever played. The unfortunate thing, is, Hour of the Wolf was only into their 2nd song when the garage door rose up to reveal the red and blue illuminance of the Fresno Police Department's car lights.
Yes, they shut down the show and it looked as though the night was over. How wrong I was. The young guys and gals of the Fresno hardcore community took it upon themselves to make sure The Geeks could play their set. We waited for the police to disperse. Of course, that was after I took this photo:



We pulled up to a house at a dead end street, walked along the side of the building, along a red brick path, up to a white wooden gazebo next to a nice patio, a rickety old trampoline, and garden of Eden. The gazebo would be the temporary home to The Geeks' Southern Korean brand of hardcore music and vibrance. I couldn't wait for them to play for us. Us and all Fresno residents within 2 square miles. Bets were being placed on how quickly the cops would bust this half of the show up. Afterall, it was outside at about 11 PM on a Sunday. Sure enough after the first song, the mother of the household came out. Fortunatly, she just said that the house was shaking and asked if those soul boys of Seoul could turn it down a little. They did. But continued to provide the soundtrack to sing alongs, circle pits, trampoline trips and Cory Groenenberg jumping off the top of the gazebo and into the hands, nay, faces of those Fresno freaks.
No police. A couple snails and such later, I took these photos of Andy and Lance in the Lewd van:



Then this gentle yetti we met. The locals call him, "Tom.":




Of course, we all met up at In and Out before we skipped town. "I think animal style is the best thing about California." says Ki of The Geeks. That wasn't even close to the funniest thing he said in that restaurant. Not sure he wants us to repeat anything that was said, but I assure you, it would leave you in stitches. In exchange for teaching Ki some choice English phrases, he taught us "Bo-gee-twa." Which roughly translates to "Good pussy."
Here's a photo from the joint, just before security called in renforcements:



Alas, we arrived in the Bay Area. Courtesy of my best pals Shalon and RJ, us Lewd Actors and the Wolfamaniacs caught a couple Z's, then coffee and bagels before braving the rain in the San Francisco streets. Exploration and inspiration sprinkled on our heads as we denied bums change. All expcept this gent:



He seemed deserving.
The show was great. Friends of all types showed their support. The beer soaked floor was somehow both sticky and wet. We slipped and stuck, rocked and sucked. But it was all bittersweet, because it meant this was the end of our Pacific reign with HOTW and The Geeks.
This photo should sum it up: