Summer Tour 2010: Hotter than ever!

Had you told me that when we headlined Everett, Washington's 4th of July festival, i would have smacked you.....prebably not, that's just not me....i would have smirked, then turned away so you couldn't see how I really felt, and continued to drink the sweet, sweet local brews that Washington has to offer.  Let's just say it was cold; and an equally if not greater than cold wind was blowing off the puget sound onto the stage.  Acouple beers and a spring coat later, The Lucas Cates Band was off and running(it was still really cold).  Accually the Summer 2010 tour began six days and six shows earlier in Madison, WI.  We drove about 10 hours each day to our show; unloaded, set up, played, broke down, slept(most of the time), and drove.  Our week in Washington began as a cloudy windy holiday, but ended a cloudless beautiful northwestern adventure as we had 7 days of total sunshine beginning July 5th. 
The tours have been great as the crowds are multiplying and merchandise is flying off the shelves.  The Pacific Northwest as been offically labeled (by me, so really not that official) a "hot spot"(but official enough for quotations) for the band.  There is a lot of excitement for the music and amazing response from concert goers which is why we will return to Washington and Oregon in 10 days to wrap up the summer tour. 
One cool band thing of note happened about a month ago.  We will soon(which means hopefully soon) be in "E-Cast" jukeboxes around the country as an unsigned band.  Both All the Pieces and Live at Sullivan Hall will be in the data base for all ecast boxes....pretty cool.  We are working with Touch Tunes currently to secure the same type of deal.  So say you are on vacation and you want a drink.....no brainer....go to the bar, BUT let's say you are on vacation....at that very same bar and you say "I'd like to make everyone in this bar listen to what I want to listen to," so you go over to the sweet juke box, AND you've already decided that like an unhealthy addiction you NEED to listen to The Lucas Cates Band.......NOW........well damnit you are in luck, cause we'll be there for you.  Now if it just so happens that you are staring a Touch Tunes Jukebox in the face, make sure you write them or your local congressman(or woman) and tell them we should be in Touch Tunes as well......simple, delicious, fish.

Suggested Music Listening:  Caravan (Single) - This is some serious new stuff from Rush.  You won't believe what you are hearing.

goodbye mountains

The mountains humble me. They are so massive and I am not: brilliant, right? For me they were the constant in our tour. They were almost always by our side, and always different. Even the same chunk of rock appears different every time you look at it. They are stunning and beautiful, and as we drive east this morning and the mountains grow smaller and smaller behind me I still keep looking back hoping they will follow.
Last night we played at the Vault in Ft. Collins, colorado. The venue is located in old town, and used to be a bank...hence the name. It was the last real rockin show of the tour, and we left it all out there. Boone and Ginny, you guys are the best! Thanks for putting us up and making the fort a second home. Tonight is meadowlark coffee in lincoln, which will give a more chill atmosphere to wind down the trip. We'll get to kick it with josh hill(of the josh hill band). Definitely check him out on myspace...he's in our top friends I think...mine for sure. Dude is super talented and funny as hell.
Wow, is the tour really over? I guess...but the circus will keep rollin as always. Our first show back in madison is the clean lakes festival at 11:30 on saturday the 6th. That night, of course is kenny's 4th annual birthday mustache bash, and you have my guarantee for madness.
Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making this tour great; y'all put your foot in this...both of them.

Home, home is where I always want to be. - josh rouse

Cheers.

catching up

So the producer of boys 2 men, sushi chef for madonna, and the lucas cates band walk into a beach side home. No joke....just dinner.
We played san louis obispo last night, and I realized I haven't posted since portland. So here is a quick rundown on the last week of shows:
Portland: the Red Room
This was our first show with other bands. We stuck out like sore thumbs against the ambient rock sounds of portland. It went well, however, as we received a great response from the crowd and the other bands. The guys from long beach had their sound polished, but they were definitely long beach. Chet and I were cheering for the first band like we do when we're getting loud. The guitarist from the cali band was like "don't give me that, these guys suck.". Apparently they don't know how to be rowdy in cali...haters.
Ashland, OR: Alex's Restaurant
By far this has been the best two days in a row on the entire tour! Ashland is like boulder or madison but less pretentious and super chill. We learned they have a law there that allows anybody to be naked in public as long as they are not aroused or arousing anybody else. I guess this means if you're walkin down the street with a boner you're bound to have problems. Lucas tested this by dropping trou by the van and changing. Only the girl working with the outdoor merch at the tourist shop paid much attention to the full moon.
Both nights in ashland were packed to the hilt, and the energy was electric. Many of the same faces were in the crowd both night freely giving it up; it was incredible.
Mike gellings came up to kick it with us for both nights which was definitely a treat. He fits right into the ashland vibe.
We met some great people including kirsten and natalie. Saturday we went to kirsten's moms ranch house in northern california to relax. This place is completely self-sufficient and generates its electricity from solar power. Her mom's boy friend had a killer mustache, a shotgun, and a shirt that said "got balls," on it: equally amazing.
Kenny caught a big catfish, which made his trip. I got to chill with a baby llama named pearl, and lucas burned his armpit hair off with the help of chester. We call that trimming.
San Francisco: Grant and Green
The san fran experiences will rival any of the tour for being the best. We played a tuesday night for a slamming crowd! The sound was amazing and the energy was explosive. We met friends from england (and whales....catherine:-), and saw old friend from the high school days.
We stayed at kenny's brother Andy's house in benicia, north of the city. Trinity and Andy: you guys are the best! Thanks for the feeesting, weakenings, testicle toss, beers, rock band, the crowd on tuesday, and your overall awesomnity. We love you guys.
Which brings us to last night.
The beach house was perfect. Fifty yards from the porch was the ocean. Check my facebook pis to get the idea. We ate the most amazing sushi prepared by the man who cooked for the prince of japan, prince of malaysia, madonna, arnold, and naturally hulk hogan. It was the BEST sushi....ever.
The frog and peach in san louis obispo was kenny's birthday show! It was a pretty cool venue with largely a stale college crowd. You know, the kind that only dances at the end of the night because they are shitfaced, even though they wanted to dance the whole time but were afraid to like something they've never heard, and then after the show tell you how amazing you were and how they are going to "spread you shirt to all [their] friends" cause you are the "sickest" band they've ever heard-while their drunk buddy tries to tell you he knows julia roberts, charlie sheen, and has partied with emilo estavez......thanks bruno, but unless you can exacute a flying V right now I have no time for hoppy-breath bullshit.
It wasn't THAT bad of a night! Actually people were cool, and the listeners in the house were very cool, very real people who I hope to see again.
That should catch you up. We're driving to escondito, ca which is near san diego. Last night in cali.