<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076</id><updated>2011-05-20T20:28:52.136-04:00</updated><title type='text'>matt pond PA tour diary</title><subtitle type='html'>Brian Pearl's tour diary from matt pond PA's spring 2006 headlining tour.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>23</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114314157348791487</id><published>2006-03-23T14:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-02T12:44:42.963-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Back in Brooklyn</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We made it back to New York for a sold out show at North Six, which kind of feels like home to us.  When you're out in the middle of the country with weeks of shows ahead of you until you finally get to sleep in your own bed, going home sounds great.  When we pulled up to North Six to play our last show with Youth Group I instantly started feeling sad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm really sorry that we have to leave Youth Group now - the 3 weeks with them went really quickly and we had more fun with them than with any band we've ever toured with.  I really hope we get to see them again, hopefully to play more shows together, but at the very least we'll hopefully get to hang out next time they're back in New York.  Also, their tour manager Simon Bennett is one of the coolest people we've ever met on tour so hopefully we'll get to see him again before too long too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show was great (as all our shows at North 6 have been), and the after party that AAM hooked up was a lot of fun.  I'm also glad that my brother (who happened to be in New York on business) was able to see us play in New York.  Chicago is great but home is home.  And now I have to walk back over to North 6 to pick up our gear and go play more shows.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114314157348791487?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114314157348791487/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114314157348791487' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314157348791487'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314157348791487'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/back-in-brooklyn.html' title='Back in Brooklyn'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114314102476648217</id><published>2006-03-23T13:56:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-25T23:23:32.673-05:00</updated><title type='text'>DC and Philly</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The last time we played in DC was opening for Liz Phair at the 9:30 Club.  When I saw the 9:30 on the itinerary for this tour I wondered if we would be able to fill half the room (it holds 1200 people).  The day before the show we found out that over 900 tickets had been sold which instantly made it the biggest headlining show we ever played.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We also got to have the bigger dressing room this time around which has a great balcony over the stage, so I finally got to take some good pictures of Youth Group in action:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/dannyDC.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/tobyDC.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/CamDC.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/youthgroupDC.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the time we went on the show was sold out (which is amazing).  I couldn't resist taking my camera out on stage with me so I could get a picture from the stage of the biggest crowd we've ever drawn:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/DCcrowd.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The DC show was the first show in a long time where I was actually nervous to go out and play.  It took a few songs before I felt comfortable but it ended up being a pretty amazing show.  After the show we went to DC9 to get drunk with Youth Group and a bunch of Dan's friends who live in DC.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Philly show was at WXPN for World Cafe Live, which will eventually be broadcast on NPR.  We played on WXPN for David Dye's show during the Liz Phair/Guster tour last fall. We had to get to Philly early to get my BRAND NEW amp fixed (I have no luck with guitar amps).  We had to kill an hour while the amp dude worked so we wandered around for a bit, ending up at a dollar store where I made this amazing purchase:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/whoopee%20cushion.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Backstage at WXPN I finally got Trevor to pose with a pic of his doppleganger, Cary Brothers.  We first discovered Trevor's twin on a poster at the San Diego show, so I went online and downloaded a bunch of pictures.  The likeness is uncanny:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/trevorbrothers.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve-o and Dan and I also attempted to make a movie documenting my new purchase.  The idea was that we were fooling Dan into sitting on the whoopee cushion (which says "Flarp" on it - apparently what a fart sounds like if you spell it out).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is the movie (click to watch or right-click save-as to download):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/whoopie%20cushion.MPG&gt;whoopee cushio movie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114314102476648217?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114314102476648217/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114314102476648217' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314102476648217'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314102476648217'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/dc-and-philly.html' title='DC and Philly'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114314017571103659</id><published>2006-03-23T13:43:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-23T13:56:15.726-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Atlanta and Chapel Hill</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a lot of rules that come with touring, one of which is that the only two people in the van that can't sleep are the driver (obviously) and whoever is in the passeger seat.  We're all good about adhering to this rule but about 15 minutes away from our hotel in Atlanta, Trevor just couldn't make it.  Another rule that kicks in in this situation is that you have to get a picture of whoever fell asleep:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/thebonesleeps.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Atlanta was a lot of fun this time around - it seems like every time we're in town we're at a different venue.  This time we were at the Loft which is part of a complex that has 2 other venues, one of which had a 10 band battle of the bands going on that night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Apparently while we were playing some dude came in to our dressing room and tried to steal a bunch of stuff.  Fortunately Simon, Youth Group's tour manager, caught the dude before he got anything.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exciting load out picture:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/atlantaloadout.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only picture of our friends Lucy and Julie who came up to visit from Orlando:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/luciejulytrevoratl.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We've played a few shows in Chapel Hill since I've been in the band, always at Local 506, which is pretty small.  This time we were able to play the Cat's Cradle which is owned by the same people.  They had the basketball tournament on on a big screen tv which made me happy (and at this point my bracket wasn't looking too bad).  They also have a video game room with a bunch of classics (Tron, Double Dragon etc) but about half of the games didn't work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At this point I'm running out of ideas for pictures:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/mattchapelhill.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/stevechapelhill.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114314017571103659?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114314017571103659/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114314017571103659' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314017571103659'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114314017571103659'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/atlanta-and-chapel-hill.html' title='Atlanta and Chapel Hill'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114265162353910019</id><published>2006-03-17T21:57:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-17T22:13:43.540-05:00</updated><title type='text'>New Orleans and Birmingham</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We got a late start on the drive to New Orleans due to the part that was apparently needed in order to fix our AC.  By this poit in the tour I think we're all pretty exhausted, and I'm starting to find the drives really boring.  These are the kinds of things I find myself taking pictures of during drives:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/glasscock.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His name is Glasscock.  That was enough to make me laugh at this point on tour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/birdshit.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And we've got quite a bird shit collection going on our windshield.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show in New Orleans was by far the smallest of the tour but I'm glad we got to at least drive through and see what the city looks like now.  We didn't really see any major evidence of what happened there until the drive out of town towards Alabama (though seeing the Superdome on the way into town kind of creeped me out given all the stories of the horrible things that went on in there after the hurricane).  Going east on the 10 from New Orleans we could see entire neighborhoods that had been underwater - some homes intact, most with at least some roof damage, some completely destroyed, huge trees ripped from their roots on the side of the road, abandoned cars that had been flooded out, a boat in the street, entire shopping malls  boarded up and lifeless..  I've never seen anything like it and I'm sure what we saw is just the beginning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Birmingham was a lot more fun than I anticipated (not sure what I was expecting but it was a lot of fun).  After the show we ended up at a bar called the Nick where Hotel Lights (the drummer from Ben Folds Five sings in the band) were playing.  We had no intention of going to see a band.. it was completely random, and they were pretty amazing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114265162353910019?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114265162353910019/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114265162353910019' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114265162353910019'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114265162353910019'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-orleans-and-birmingham.html' title='New Orleans and Birmingham'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114228501087068345</id><published>2006-03-13T16:05:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-28T14:59:52.076-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Dallas, Austin and Houston</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;Its hot in Texas.  And humid.  We're getting our AC fixed in Houston but until the its windows-down on the highway.  The Gypsy Tea Room is a great club with a smaller 300 capacity room and a larger one that must hold at least 600.  We didn't know until we got there that Mates of State were playing in the big room.  Fortunately both shows were packed .  I didn't get to check out Mates of State since they went on right when we did but I watched Sound Team play for a while and I actually really liked it.  I've never heard their record but the live show was cool.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fortunately our Austin show was before the entire music industry rolls into Austin for SXSW.  The film stuff was going on but its no comparison to how packed the town gets later in the week.  The show at the Parish was great. (my first time there).  My parents drove over from Houston for the show so I didn't end up really taking any pictures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After the show we went to Sidebar on 7th street where I REALLY wish I had had my camera.  Har Mar Superstar was there but the really crazy thing was seeing Andy Dick, every bit as drunk as you would hope he would be out in public.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The drive to Houston was our last highway-with-the-windows-rolled-down-because-our-AC-is-still-broken drive:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/mattvan.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/brianvan.jpg&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The highlight of the Houston show was the crew my parents brought to the show, including my dad's friend Chuck who immediately bought shirts from both bands, and wore the Youth Group shirt during their set and the mpPA shirt during our set.  Later that night at my parents' house we decided to see how we all would look in the new emo kid hat Dan bought:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/danhat.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/stevehat.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/trevorhat.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/matthat.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/brianhat.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We spent the day off in Houston getting the AC in the van fixed, doing laundry, eating, sitting around, and eventually watching the Constant Gardener, which is a pretty amazing movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114228501087068345?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114228501087068345/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114228501087068345' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114228501087068345'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114228501087068345'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/dallas-austin-and-houston.html' title='Dallas, Austin and Houston'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114228377747751739</id><published>2006-03-13T15:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-15T22:13:03.970-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Scottsdale and on to Texas</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The last time that we drove from California to Arizona was on the Keane tour in June of 2004.  We had no AC due to a mishap during the attempted construction of a loft prior to leaving for the tour.  It was 95 in LA when we left and 110 in Phoenix when we arrived.  We were pouring entire bottles of water on ourselves during the drive only to watch them evaporate almost instantly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This time we had no AC due to the fact that our van seems to have it out for us.  All of the mishaps we've had with the van have been the result of bad luck - we actually can't blame ourselves for this problem this time around.  Fortunately the weather was much more cooperative - we actually experienced the first rain in Scottsdale (all 10 minutes worth) in something like 145 days.  We also passed the stadium where Barry Bonds will train for the upcoming baseball season during which he will most likely (barring injury or an unforseen act of humility on his part) defile baseball history by breaking Hank Aaron's home run record, unquestionably with the aid of steroids.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was my favorite aspect of the Scottsdale show, a quote from Ron Burgundy on the wall of the dressing room:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/burgundyquote.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And here is a pretty boring pic of us hanging out backstage:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/backstageAZ.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After the show Youth Group joined us at a bar to celebrate something I'm not supposed to talk about.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day we started the 20 hour drive to Dallas.  This is without a doubt one of the most boring, least scenic drives I've ever done in my life.  We stopped at the Texas Welcome Center just over the border to throw the football around a bit:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/football1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And you could see the moon during the day:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/moonovertexas.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We got back in the van and made it as far as Midland, Texas, where we stopped at a hotel for the night.  The hotel shared a parking lot with this place, where you can apparently get rhinestones put on anything:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/woodsboots.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was also nice to see that we were at a hotel that was doing something to combat the wasteful internet surplus:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/less%20internet.MPG&gt;less internet&lt;/a&gt;(click on the link to play the movie or right-click save-as to save the file).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114228377747751739?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114228377747751739/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114228377747751739' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114228377747751739'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114228377747751739'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/scottsdale-and-on-to-texas.html' title='Scottsdale and on to Texas'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114204101440650133</id><published>2006-03-10T20:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-12-05T18:36:51.920-05:00</updated><title type='text'>LA and San Diego</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Its great to be on the west coast, especially because we haven't played any shows out here since we opened for Keane in June of 2004. After not being allowed into the Troubadour for an hour due to the fear that we might steal the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' rental gear that was still inside, we finally got to load in and soundcheck and in Dan's case, shower.  Unfortunately the Troubadour marquee doesn't lend itself to great photos:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/troubadour.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Trevor at work mixing for Youth Group:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/trevoratwork.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After playing a sold-out show to one of our stranger audiences (there were vocal objections from audience members to both our setlist and the sound in house) I caught a ride down to Irvine so that I could spend the next morning with my friend Momoko and her painfully cute daughters Kimi and Mia:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/kimimia1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/kimimia2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/kimimia3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After meeting up at &lt;a href=http://www.rubios.com/&gt;Rubio's&lt;/a&gt; (one of the many California Mexican food chains that should open a store in New York) we drove down to the Epicentre in San Diego.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Classic Naked Gun reference pic:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/nakedgu.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were only about 200 people at the show but they were a great audience.  A few of them had heard our KEXP show and had written down Trevor's phone number, which is hilarious.  The night ended with a run to another favorite California institution, &lt;a href=http://www.in-n-out.com/&gt;In N Out Burger&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114204101440650133?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114204101440650133/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114204101440650133' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114204101440650133'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114204101440650133'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/la-and-san-diego.html' title='LA and San Diego'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114203349171469303</id><published>2006-03-10T18:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-11T02:40:34.693-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Portland, a blizzard, and San Francisco</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The short drive from Seattle to Portland was pleasant enough.  We arrived at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland only to find out that they also have a nice hotel that we could have stayed at were it not for the fact that we had to drive overnight to San Francisco immediately after the show.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The audience in Portland was maybe the the most enthusiastic of the tour so far, which makes it a lot more fun to play.  Dead silence between songs is kind of creepy.  Again it would have been great to hang out after the show at the Doug Fir, but we packed the van up and got on the road immediately.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first chunk of the drive went smoothly.  Around 5:30am we switched up teams and Dan took over the wheel.  As we approached the California border we started seeing signs that I-5 was closed due to a blizzard in the Cascade mountains.  We kept driving until we were forced off of the highway in Yreka, where a cop told us that they hoped to have the 5 reopened by the end of the day.  We ended up going over to wal-mart to buy chains (and support a truly wonderful company) but they didn't have chains for our trailer, so we waited another hour for an auto parts store to open.  They didn't have the chains either so we just got on the highway hoping that one of the chain installers on the road would have the chains for the trailer.  Luckily he did, so we drove at about 30mph for 3 hours through this:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/blizzard.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/blizzard1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/blizzard2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/blizzard3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/blizzard4.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Somehow we made it through ok.  At one point a tractor trailer jackknifed next to us.  Matt could see a car rear end the trailer and total itself in the rear view mirror. The Youth Group guys weren't able to make the show at all..  Apparently they reclosed the 5 after we got through.  Given what we saw, it really shouldn't have been open in the first place, but if it hadn't been we would have had to cancel the show in San Francisco.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show in San Francisco was great despite Youth Group's absence and pouring rain.  We missed the Oscars, but I was glad that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ang Lee won.  I think Crash winning best picture will go down in history with Angelina Jolie in Girl Interrupted and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinnie as one of the worst Oscar wins in the history of the awards.  The voters passed up 4 pretty amazing films in order to pat themselves on the back for their collective ability to cut through the proverbial bullshit and show us what racism really means in 2005.  I don't believe in the whole "Hollywood liberal agenda" garbage but they certainly are out of touch with the world outside Malibu, which is maybe the only thing that Crash successfully demonstrates.  The only reason I even saw Crash was that I was on a plane and had already finished my book, and it was still a waste of time.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really I'm just bitter that we missed Jon Stewart...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114203349171469303?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114203349171469303/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114203349171469303' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114203349171469303'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114203349171469303'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/portland-blizzard-and-san-francisco.html' title='Portland, a blizzard, and San Francisco'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114197292384297059</id><published>2006-03-10T01:30:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-12T15:33:38.126-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Vancouver and Seattle (again)</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;Vancouver is another place on this tour that I had never been before and had always wanted to go.  The Red Room is kind of on the edge of downtown.  Sometimes you get to actually see a decent amount of a city in a day on tour.  In Vancouver we saw a few square blocks of downtown near the club, as well as the many sex shops and prostitutes who inhabit the area near our hotel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With all of our gear getting ripped off and having the van break down 3 times, we kind of assumed we'd been through enough on this tour.  That was until about halfway through Youth Group's set in Vancouver, at which point the power source blew on the mixing board.  The show just stopped.  Dan compared it to an apparently famous Iron Maiden show in New York years ago where a fan poured a beer on the sound board after only 3 or  4 songs, destroying the board and ending the show.  I think we all assumed we wouldn't be able to play, but the promoter was able to get a new board over in 15 minutes.  Most of the crowd stuck around and the show went well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We went back to our hotel (apparently in the red light district) and went to sleep after a fruitless search for a place to get one drink before going to sleep.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day we drove back down to Seattle to do an on-air performance on &lt;a href=http://www.kexp.org&gt;KEXP&lt;/A&gt;, probably the best radio station in the country. &lt;br /&gt;This really made us glad to be back in the States after a day in Vancouver:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/welcome.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And this thing is in Seatte:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/seattle.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During the radio show Trevor's cell phone rang on the air, which prompted us to give out his phone number (which fortunately I remembered) for people to call us with suggestions for what to do with our night off in Seattle.    Within a few minutes Trevor had about 10 voicemails and a few text messages.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We ended up going out to a few bars near the Crocodile Cafe.  The night ended with Trevor and I telling a girl at a bar that we were a rap metal duo with a strong Kenny G influence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114197292384297059?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114197292384297059/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114197292384297059' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114197292384297059'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114197292384297059'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/vancouver-and-seattle-again.html' title='Vancouver and Seattle (again)'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114196921995371462</id><published>2006-03-10T00:19:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-10T17:57:36.530-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Boise and Seattle</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had never been to Boise, Idaho before this tour, and I don't have a strong desire to return.  The show was at a place called "Bourbon Street" and we happen to be playing there on Mardis Gras, which is kind of ridiculous.  A show on Mardi Gras in Boise, Idaho at a place called Bourbon Street.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As soon as I walked onstage to set up a kid said "thank you for coming here" in a way that only kids from places like Boise can.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dave Chappelle was on tv in the dressing room, followed by the Amazing Race, which we watched up until we had to play.  I like how they refer to the openly and obviously gay couple as "lifelong friends". smooth...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We played the show and afterwards I ate my chicken caesar salad, which was delicious.  After the show we got in the van and drove two hours to Baker City, Oregon in order to cut down on the drive to Seattle.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/bakercity.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dan and I went to a gas station to get some chips.  There was a cop asking the woman working there to look at mug shots and identify the man who had apparently robbed the place the night before.  She was able to identity the suspect, saying she was 60% sure he was the guy.  She also guessed he was 32 though the man in the mug shot she picked out looked to be at least 40 to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day during the rest of the drive to Seattle Trevor purchased some Valentine's Day candy hearts that were on sale.  Trevor is not one to pass up a bargain like that, and I'm glad that he didn't.  The box of hearts had one with the word email on it.  I couldn't get a picture of it where you can see the word but here is one to prove that the heart at least exists:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/emails.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show in Seattle was our first with Youth Group.  I got a new amp delivered to the show in Seattle so now I'm more or less back to normal gear-wise.  The show was sold out and Youth Group sounded great (and they are great guys who are a lot of fun to tour with).  We went back to the hotel and fell asleep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114196921995371462?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114196921995371462/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114196921995371462' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114196921995371462'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114196921995371462'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/boise-and-seattle.html' title='Boise and Seattle'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114175571381000683</id><published>2006-03-07T13:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-07T13:21:53.826-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I will update this soon I swear</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;I realize I have fallen off on the tour updates.  I have a lot of pics to upload etc..  I will it as soon as a I can.  Youth Group is a great band and they are all great guys.  Really happy to be on tour with them.  More to come soon..&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114175571381000683?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114175571381000683/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114175571381000683' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114175571381000683'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114175571381000683'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-will-update-this-soon-i-swear.html' title='I will update this soon I swear'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114101169812337334</id><published>2006-02-26T22:25:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-07T15:05:46.086-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Our f***ing van</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So we already had to take our van in once on tour, the morning after the show at the Paradise in Boston.  The dealership in MA couldn't find anything wrong with it so we kept going.  It gradually got worse and worse over the next few weeks.  It was never perfect but seemed like it would at least be able to get us through the tour.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a really fun incident where I had to restart the van while not being able to accelerate above 20 mph trying to get on the highway in Minneapolis, we decided to take the van into a dealer in Madison.  After doing a ton of repairs that forced us to cancel both St. Louis and Lawrence, Kansas we thought we would be ok but it became apparent within an hour of leaving Madison that the van still wasn't 100%.  We made it to Denver ok and played one of the better shows of the tour (in front of 400 people, far more than we expected here).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This morning we got up to drive to Salt Lake City.  Matt got into the van and said "the key won't move at all."  The ignition block was just frozen - couldn't shift, couldn't turn at all, the key wouldn't move an inch.  We called AAA and hung out in the parking lot until the repair guy came:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/locksmith.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steve-o took the whole situation in stride, as is his way:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/steveo.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We also decided to re-enact the old "Oh what a feeling" Toyota commercials in tribute to our piece of shit van:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/ohwhatafeeling.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We finally got moving when the van decided to stop accelerating again, so now we are stuck in Fort Collins, Colorado (which smells vaguely of manure).  We just saw the Celebrity Fit Club finale.  We're very proud of Young MC, who lost an impressive 38 pounds.  And now our Domino's pizza is here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114101169812337334?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114101169812337334/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114101169812337334' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114101169812337334'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114101169812337334'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/our-fing-van.html' title='Our f***ing van'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114074242373639215</id><published>2006-02-23T19:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-07T12:55:09.703-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Minneapolis and Madison</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;The Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/varsitymarquee.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Show pics taken by my friend Jess Johnson (who I don't get to see nearly often enough):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne4.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne5.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne6.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/minne7.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also thanks to Jess for putting us up and taking us to one of her favorite "clubs".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show in Madison was our only support slot on the tour, opening for the New Pornographers.  They're a great band and were really cool to us.  The promoter said that Carl Newman (singer of the New P's, and has an amazing solo record out as well) said something about how that bill would have been a great tour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The New Pornographers in action:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/newporn1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/newporn2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/newporn3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114074242373639215?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114074242373639215/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114074242373639215' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074242373639215'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074242373639215'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/minneapolis-and-madison.html' title='Minneapolis and Madison'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114074183227087691</id><published>2006-02-23T19:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-08T22:23:29.426-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Chicago</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chicago is one of my favorite places to play on tour, partly because my brother and his wife live there.  After Indy we drove up to Chicago for a day off.  I spent a lot of it chasing my brother's dog Zoe around his apartment:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/zoe1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/zoe2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Double Door on Milwaukee:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/doubledoor3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Show pics taken by my brother Jonathan:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/chicago1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/chicago2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/chicago3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/chicago4.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/chicago5.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are brothers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/brothers.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114074183227087691?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114074183227087691/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114074183227087691' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074183227087691'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074183227087691'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/chicago.html' title='Chicago'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114074120076479937</id><published>2006-02-23T19:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-23T19:33:20.776-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Columbus and Indianapolis</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We've had mixed luck with weather on this tour.  Fortunatley we missed the biggest blizzard in New York history but by the time we got to Columbus it was f***ing freezing.  The show at the Basement went well - again probably 3 times as many people as we would have thought would come showed up.  No pics from the show unfortunately, but a bunch of stupid driving in the van pics the next day:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dana likes her pillow more than any of the dudes in the band:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/danavan.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Classic Dan sleeping shot:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/dansleeping.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More beautiful Ohio:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/ohio2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Backstage in Indianapolis:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Trevor is the kind of dude who does everything big, including lighting his cigarettes:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/trevotlighter.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dana putting up with an extremely juvenile conversation:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/danaindy.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt and Trevor reading from Trevor's new book, How to Deal with Annoying People.  Apparently believing in Jesus is the answer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/annoyingpeoplebook.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another show that was much better than any of us could have expected.  The crowd was great in spite of Matt's repeated references to Pittsburgh.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114074120076479937?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114074120076479937/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114074120076479937' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074120076479937'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114074120076479937'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/columbus-and-indianapolis.html' title='Columbus and Indianapolis'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114046906965834990</id><published>2006-02-20T12:18:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-04-30T12:58:48.840-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Pittsburgh and Cincinatti</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;"&gt;When I decided to try and keep a tour diary I guess I had forgotten how busy I actually am on tour.  Busy and exhausted really..  Here is the one picture I got in Pittsburgh:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt has found the answer to the stress of being on tour:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/mattscientologist.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show (which will probably be our last at club cafe) was a lot of fun; great crowd, great set by dios (malos).  One of the highlights of a show in Pittsburgh is knowing that our friend Paul Nelson will let us stay in his amazing house.  We met him a few years ago during a radio show at Carnegie Mellon University.  Paul has an amazing record collection and an almost encyclopedic knowledge of music and he watched most of a Miami Vice episode with us at 3am even though he had to be up early to give a presentation at work the next day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 20th Century Theatre in Cincinatti:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/cincymarquee.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really nice theatre, super nice backstage area with a pool table, amazing turnout given that we've never played a good show in Cincinatti...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt helping me with my pool game:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/mattbrianpool.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Watching George Clooney on Larry King at the hotel after the show:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/cincyhotel1.jpg&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114046906965834990?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114046906965834990/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114046906965834990' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114046906965834990'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114046906965834990'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/pittsburgh-and-cincinatti.html' title='Pittsburgh and Cincinatti'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114045590137169602</id><published>2006-02-20T12:06:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-22T18:34:14.596-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Leaving Detroit for Cleveland</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;Leaving Detroit for Ohio involves driving past what I consider to be a really strange and depressing sight: the old Detroit Tigers baseball stadium. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroitstadium.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Its in a pretty rough part of Detroit (though some would argue that all of Detroit is pretty rough).  It just sits there boarded up.  As far as I can tell the city hasn't bothered to tear it down to make the land available for redevelopment because no one would want it.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the drive to Cleveland we were passed by Dios's van.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/diosvan.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We made an effort to catch back up with them but it was futile (we have a trailer and they don't).  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And this is the part of tour where the drives are painfully boring.  Behold the physical majesty that is Ohio:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/ohio.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is as close as got to Dios:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/diosvan2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/cleveland.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No pics from the Grog Shop show but it was fun as always (my 4th show there with the band).&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114045590137169602?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114045590137169602/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114045590137169602' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114045590137169602'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114045590137169602'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/leaving-detroit-for-cleveland.html' title='Leaving Detroit for Cleveland'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-114019483794816463</id><published>2006-02-17T11:45:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-20T13:59:28.140-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Mike Davis</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: courier new;"&gt;Great day for Indiana Basketball (Mike Davis is gone)..  Great night for us last night in Cincinatti, a show that surpassed any and all expectations we could have possibly had.  Hopefully I'll have time in  columbus to post more pictures from detroit, pitt, cleveland etc. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-114019483794816463?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/114019483794816463/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=114019483794816463' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114019483794816463'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/114019483794816463'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/mike-davis.html' title='Mike Davis'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-113993484260560297</id><published>2006-02-14T11:29:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-17T19:26:23.620-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Detroit, and odds and ends</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:courier new;"&gt;Generally crossing back into the US is worse than crossing into Canada. You feel like a criminal being questioned by cops as opposed to a citizen just trying to get back into your country. Fortunately this trip across the border was relatively painless. We did have to get out of the van while they searched it, but this was a Department of Homeland Security random search so it took much less time than the "we know you're a band therefore you're carrying drugs so we are going to let our dogs rip your van apart for an hour even though it was obvious inside of the first 5 minutes that there is nothing there to find" search we were subjected to coming back into the US during the Keane tour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We spent our day off outside Detroit at the Red Roof Inn in Warren, where we were advised that the restaurant next door was a good place if we "just wanted to get some food and chill."   We decided to forego the chilling (mostly due to the fact that the restaurant was boarded up and closed) and found a surprisingly decent Italian place up the road.  Dan, Steve-O, Trevor and I went out with our good friend Fabian Snodgrass (actual last name Halabou), then returned to the hotel where Matt ruined our night in a way that is too painful to descibe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day was the show at the Magic Stick, where our sound man Trevor (we call him treasure) worked his usual aural magic:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroit1.jpg&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More stupid backstage photos:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroit4.jpg&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroit5.jpg&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroit6.jpg&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/detroit7.jpg&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Totally unrelated, here are some pics from the amazing hotel we stayed in in Providence.  Each room was equipped with gold pillows and the biggest chair we've ever seen:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/providence1.jpg&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/providence3.jpg&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/providence4.jpg&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/providence6.jpg&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-113993484260560297?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/113993484260560297/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=113993484260560297' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113993484260560297'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113993484260560297'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/detroit-and-odds-and-ends.html' title='Detroit, and odds and ends'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-113993396883818015</id><published>2006-02-14T11:03:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-22T22:15:09.456-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Montreal and Toronto</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Crossing the Canadian border is something that every band on tour has to deal with. It can be incredibly easy (10 minutes tops when we were on the Keane tour) or incredibly frustrating and time-consuming (over 4 hours and a ton of money in bullshit discretionary fees last spring). Crossing into Canada before the Montreal show the other day was somewhere in between. We were all questioned individually (I am single, 5'10", have never been convicted of a crime, etc etc), which hasn't happened before. We've also noticed that the Canadian customs HR department seems to have a bias towards attractive girls, which none of us have a problem with.. its just interesting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As far as playing in Canada goes, we tend to do better in Toronto than Montreal. We've never really been on a good show in Montreal so we don't draw all that well, and the promoter for the last show pretty much phoned it in. That said, the people who did come were a lot of fun to play in front of, and dios played what I thought was their best show of the tour so far.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The show in Toronto was probably the best show so far on our borrowed gear. We've played at the Mod Club before with Keane and with Ted Leo. Before we played I said to Dan that it looked like we had 250 people or so, and that I had never been in a band that could draw several hundred people anywhere outside of new york. Turns out we had just about 250 people in the audience. Dios sounded great in Toronto:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/toronto1.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks to our friend Shannon McCarthy for taking these pics:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/toronto2.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/toronto3.jpg&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-113993396883818015?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/113993396883818015/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=113993396883818015' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113993396883818015'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113993396883818015'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/montreal-and-toronto.html' title='Montreal and Toronto'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-113950961036966820</id><published>2006-02-09T12:56:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-25T09:52:11.990-05:00</updated><title type='text'>New York, Boston and Grand Larceny</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:courier new;"&gt;I imagine that most people, regardless of their line of work, have a list of things that they hope to do in their careers. I certainly do as a musician (opening for Luna and doing Conan O'Brien are the 2 biggest ones for me so far), and headlining a show at the Bowery Ballroom is a huge one on that list. Its my favorite place to go see bands. I've seen most of my favorite bands play shows there and always hoped at some point we'd be doing well enough to have our own show there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tuesday night was without question the best show I've ever been a part of. I was hoping for a decent crowd. For it to be sold out was just amazing, so thanks to everyone who came. I was walking around the bar downstairs before the show still surprised that I was in a room full of strangers who actually buy and listen to our music.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Witness our new pre-show ritual (this is admittedly stupid but it seemed funny at the time):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/prebowery1.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/prebowery2.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/prebowery3.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/prebowery4.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/prebowery5.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And here we are playing our instruments for the last time:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/blog/bowery.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br&gt;For those of you who don't know yet, we awoke Wednesday morning to find that our trailer had been broken into and pretty much all of our gear had been stolen - all of Matt's guitars, all of my guitars and my bass, my guitar amp, my pedals, Dan's drums and cymbals.  I don't really know how to describe how it felt to make this discovery - equal parts sadness and rage I guess.. After talking to the police and filing a report we had to figure out what the hell to do so that we could avoid cancelling the show in Boston.  Trevor and I went into the city and dropped a few thousand dollars at Guitar Center, then headed to Gibson Guitars where Josh and Shanon from Gibson loaned us 3 more guitars so that we can get through the tour.  Matt and the rest of the group took care of fixing and packing the trailer.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br&gt;We made it to Boston in time to load our gear in, try and relax for a minute while dios played (they're great if you haven't heard them), and try and play a show for another packed house (which is awesome) with no soundcheck etc.  After everything we went through, it felt great to play in front of another great audience.  This whole thing would have been so much worse if we hadn't been able to play the show.  No pictures from last night unfortunately but hopefully I'll have time tonight in Providence to take some.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-113950961036966820?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/113950961036966820/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=113950961036966820' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113950961036966820'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113950961036966820'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/new-york-boston-and-grand-larceny.html' title='New York, Boston and Grand Larceny'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-113911265268544280</id><published>2006-02-04T23:07:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-09T23:12:08.223-05:00</updated><title type='text'>practice makes perfect</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:courier new;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;one more practice tomorrow (followed by a hopefully entertaining football game). i think we're ready. we've added a bunch of songs to the list for the upcoming tour as well as pyrotechnics, dancers, etc. i am really looking forward to leaving, but i'm sure i'll be looking forward to coming back before too long.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:courier new;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3 more nights in brooklyn:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/brooklyn.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/brian/brooklyn.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-113911265268544280?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/113911265268544280/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=113911265268544280' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113911265268544280'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113911265268544280'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/practice-makes-perfect.html' title='practice makes perfect'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21823076.post-113881909155374294</id><published>2006-02-01T13:36:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-03T10:49:58.586-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Welcome</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=";font-family:courier new;font-size:130%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7814/2210/1600/feature2-0628.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7814/2210/400/feature2-0628.gif" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;We aren't on tour yet so I don't have much to say other than that the Mets will make the playoffs this year.  Mark my words.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tour starts in less than a week (at the Bowery Ballroom, my favorite venue in New York). I will be posting as often as possible and putting up as many photos as I can (mostly tasteful softcore that I take during our many hours in the van).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21823076-113881909155374294?l=mppatourdiary.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/feeds/113881909155374294/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21823076&amp;postID=113881909155374294' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113881909155374294'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21823076/posts/default/113881909155374294'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mppatourdiary.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome.html' title='Welcome'/><author><name>BrianMPPA</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00741816575124467535</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mattpondpa.com/photos/798998962.jpg'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry></feed>
