AG's Journal #16

day 44-2/29-mango's-austin,tx.- sunday we drove most of the day and got a little more than halfway to austin. sean ended up getting food poisoning too so the drive was basically us sleeping and relaxing with the occasional emergency bathroom stop and getting all the crap (literally) out of our system. we arrived in austin monday afternoon and just hung out and enjoyed this beautiful town. the show at mango's went well. it was supposed to be at a place called the mercury lounge but they had a accident with their floor so the show was cancelled. some guys from a band called larry that we know helped us out and gave us their night at mango's. a couple guys from larry opened up with their acoustic folky duo and warmed the crowd with their soothing sounds. they really enjoyed our show too. it's too bad the dance space was kind of limited (the crowd too). anyway, another cool place to come back to. once again, thanks to fee and fuzz from larry and soundman joel for helping us out.

day 45-3/1- we currently are driving to el paso which is another 12 hours away. we don't play till thursday so it's a good time for some reflection. we've been on the road for 45 days (the longest tour ever, by far), played in 17 states (would have been 19 if not for two cancelled shows in delaware and kansas), played 20 new venues and 10 states that we had never been to, and met tons of amazing people. this with a band that got a new drummer and guitarist a month and a half before the tour was to start. and you know what, WE STILL KICKED ASS!!! we are now officially a self proclaimed national act. the band is better than ever, comaradarie is better, and as we like to say now, "people, morale is definately high!" big kudos to bruce and marty for stepping up to the plate and doing a great job under a lot of pressure. also, to the rest of my monkey brothers and sisters for not letting anything kick us while we're down and to keep doing what we love to do, which is play for you, people!!! only five days till we get to enjoy home......for ten days and then we're on the road for another three weeks.....and then.......and then........ps- happy birthday to papa monkey and bassist chad stewart!!!