From AQ I believe we went to Phoenix, where we played in this weird garage in an industrial park. It seemed a little strange at first, but in the end, it turned out totally awesome. Not too many people there, but everyone was really supportive and we had a great night.

We partied pretty hard in Phoenix and then woke up the next day and drove to Riverside, CA. We met up with this guy Party Marty, who had set up the show and has generally been really helpful to us for a long time. It was great finally getting to meet him. Actually, we met up with a bunch of people in Riverside. Our good friend Aaron who moved out here from Cleveland showed up, and Jon’s sister Celeste and her boyfriend PJ came out as well. With that many people we knew there, the show was pretty much destined to be good. And it was.

We stayed with a kid named Kyle “Corn” and then drove the next day to San Diego. Pretty much all the same people from the Riverside show also came to San Diego. The highlight of this show was that two different guys from the band Tiltwheel played acoustic sets right before we played. Their sets were pretty epic, as they were slightly drunk, but they were really fun. We played, said bye to our friends, and drove about 2 hours in the night to Castaic, CA, where we stayed at another Days Inn. FREE WAFFLES!!!

Last night we didn’t have a show and it seemed like a good idea to cut up our drive to Albuquerque by stopping in Kansas City. Luckily, Jon’s friend Mookie is living there so he offered up his place to stay. Let’s just say, we partied hard. Jiro found some buffalo meat in the freezer that had been there “at least a year” and he cooked that up in to some buffalo meat slop. I chose not to be a part of that, but Jon and Jiro had some and they’re still alive, so that’s good.

So yeah, Kansas City and Mookie totally ruled. I now have a really positive memory of KC to wipe out that last one.

The show was okay. Jon is having guitar issues that we’re going to get looked at over the next two days, since we don’t have any shows. We played well, and people seemed to enjoy it. We had the option of staying in the venue, which seemed kind of weird, or driving to Columbia, MO to stay with an old friend Metro. Despite the 2 hour drive, we decided to go with Columbia. It was a good decision. We all got soft places to sleep, Metro told some hilarious stories for an hour before we all went to bed, and I woke up to an incredible day.

Our first show was in Columbus, in a basement of a house we’ve played before, the 15th House. The people there are super awesome and our last show was a pretty big success, so we were pretty confident. After a week straight of rehearsals with the two new touring members of the band, I had no reservations about the songs not sounding right. There were a few people in the crows who noticed / asked about Josh and Shannon, but I’ve seen a ton of touring bands that have different members than their usual line up, so I didn’t think this should seem too out of the ordinary for us.

The 15th House is good because it’s a mixture of people being allowed to drink and a place where we know a bunch of people. Columbus benefited from the mass exodus of a bunch of Cleveland kids a few years ago, so we know a lot of them. Also, when you get a bunch of mid-20 somethings drinking, there is a solid chance they will like any music.

We played well and people were into it, so it was a great night. By the time we played, kids were well boozed up and we hit the songs well. We partied until about 3 in the morning, so it was a pretty good night.

Day 2 was Cincinnati, a city who’s name I am never sure how to spell. We got into town pretty early and then hung out at a record store for a while where I spent more money than I should have on records I won’t be able to listen to for 3 weeks. Not the greatest idea. We then rushed over to a BBQ (in name only). Free food is always awesome, but this food was actually really good.

The show wasn’t as successful as day 1. We had equipment problems. It was sort of a hardcore show that we got added to so the crowd wasn’t really into our style of music. There weren’t a ton of people there. But we did play really well (when we were able to play), and there was a guy with a broken foot who still managed to dance for most of our set. So at least we had that, which is nice.

Today is day 3, and we’re on to St. Louis. It’s about a 7 hour drive, so we’re told, and the show we’re playing has 7 bands. Long shows like that, you never know.

I hope you enjoy it.

For those of you who don’t know, Seven Hills is next to Parma, and is quite small. It doesn’t even have it’s own post office – it shares one with Independence. I grew up sort of resenting the whole place because it’s lack of anything awesome. However in my later years I can appreciate some of the nicer things.

One place that needs mentioning is Corleone’s Restaurant. It’s just north of Broadview and Snow, in the shopping plaza that has a Pat Catan’s (which used to be a Giant Eagle, where I had my first job). My family and I have been going to this place for years and I have to say it has one of the best dishes I’ve ever had, the Gnocchi Capone.

Gnocchi is my favorite pasta, but if done wrong it’s awful. I had some store bought stuff once that almost turned me off of it for life. But at Corleone’s, they nail it. It’s in a spicy marinara cream sauce, with onions and bacon. It comes with mushrooms but I don’t eat those generally so I ask for no shrooms. I had it for dinner on Tuesday, and lunch on Wednesday. It’s just amazing, every time.

I would highly recommend checking them out. It’s worth the trip to Parma.

Oh yeah, there is also music! I tried to record a bunch of bands, but I just can’t get good sound with my mic. I think it’s more of a dialogue mic than a concert mic. One of the very few good performances I did get was this song by Bridge and Tunnel.

Enjoy.

Berea Fest – Bridge and Tunnel from MyFriendCleveland on Vimeo.

However, three funny things:

1) Great Lakes’s “tribute” beer “Quitness” sold out in 3 hours. It was expected to last for about 4 days.

2) At least Z knows how to leave gracefully.

3) Now THIS is where amazing happens:

I’ll be honest though, on this one, I’m seeing both sides of the coin.

A) We of course expect some loyalty, and it once again shows that these guys are now doing anything just so their name gets attached to a championship trophy.

But…

B) After the way Cleveland benched Z when we brought in Shaq, I imagine he felt that his loyalty was not being rewarded for most of last season. However, who wanted to bring in Shaq? Ferry/Gilbert or LeBron? This seems to point towards Ferry/Gilbert, because if LeBron was pushing for Shaq, you think Z would be pissed at him.

The Heat are going to be ridiculous. I dream of this plan of theirs somehow backfiring, but all rational thought points to the fact that they are going to be unstoppable. But that only makes them more hate-worthy. There is a reason people enjoy underdog movies. Did the Hawks win in Mighty Ducks? Do the Dragons win in Teen Wolf? Do the Toros win in Bring It On? Did Cobra Kai beat Miyagi Dojo? NO! No one likes the favorite. Have you ever seen a movie where the 1st place team in the league just cruises to victory? Probably not, because that movie would suck. 1980 Team USA Hockey were heroes because the whole world told them they couldn’t win.

Oh big deal, you all accepted smaller contracts so you could put together a dream team; I’m sure that really cut into your multi-million dollar lifestyles. Watching Heat games is going to be like watching the Yankees take on my little cousin’s T-Ball team. Or Yokozuna in a sumo match against the wife from Little People, Big World. Congrats on your amazing accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments, good job LeBron, in solidifying yourself as “not quite as good as Jordan.” You may get a championship or five but you had a chance to become the greatest ever. Now you’ll just go down in history as Wade’s sidekick. Sure Jordan had Pippen but Jordan didn’t go running to get Pippen’s help. You high-tailed out of Cleveland as soon as you could because you couldn’t lead a team yourself. News flash: Wade already has a title, and he didn’t need your help. But you obviously need his. Jordan averaged over 30 points a game in his career. You’re not there yet and you claim to have done “all the work” on the Cavs. Now that you don’t need to do all the work, your points per game are somehow going to go up? I’m confused with the logic there.