Rose For Bohdan Tour Report
Brian's account:
SAT May 25th – San Diego
Scolari’s w/ Tender Buttons and Bunky
Despite bad omens, this was a truly amazing show. The drive from LA to SD was suck.
Due to memorial day there was traffic the entire way. What should have been a 2
hour drive took four hours. On top of that, Grace couldn’t make the show due to a
very important obligation up in the bay area.
Meeting up with Kerri and Todd and their very supportive SD crew helped ease
my nerves a bit, but I still felt butterfly.
But then we played and it rocked uncontrollably. After our last song, our self-admitted
Current hit, “The Fear,” [mp3 thanks to todd books] I heard someone say in the distance, “That’s a keeper.”
and I even broke a cable during the song ! Thank gosh for Kerri. She held it down, no problem.
I thought Tender Buttons live was better than Kill Me Tomorrow recorded, but Zach
Warned me about passing judgement before seeing KMT live.
Brief talk of doing
a Tender Buttons 7” on Deathbomb. I hope so!
Bunky struck me with that same awe that early Sugarplastic (pre-DGC) and early Papas
Fritas (pre-Minty Fresh) did. So mateur and complex, but still powerfully straight
forward pop songs. Besides, the romantic duets are irresistible.
Then I drove home late that night to LA. Another bad omen, I got a flat tire as I pulled
into the driveway! But we squash bad omens around here!
SUN May 26th – Los Angeles
Benefit For My Friend’s Place (homeless youth support)
The Smell w/ Books On Tape, The Swagger, Lili Marlene, Paloma Parfery, Darren Boling, etc
"Dig Dug" (live MP3)
Unfortunatly I didn’t get to see most of this show because I had to pick up Grace from the
airport just in time to go and play. When we got there it wasn’t as packed as I hoped
but there was still a lot of money raised which rules.
R4B played in the side room to help with time problems.
we had a hard time hearing each other, but that was the first night we unleashed the ball pit balls and people went wild.
The Books On Tape set debuted Smart Ass, an epic hit. I was very glad to be witness to that. Plus BOT had strangers dancing despite there not being many people there.
That’s rare for LA!
The debut of the Swagger was also a highlite. BOT told me he loved them too and I
think a remix may come of it. Excellent!
FRI May 31st, Pasadena
No Future w/ Books On Tape and Radio Vago
Maybe the best Radio Vago set I’ve seen? If there had been a larger, more dancing and sweating
audience, for sure it would have been the best set by them.
This was BOT’s and Kerri’s first time seeing RV and they loved it. BOT also rocked with
a mesmerizing performance of his Slayer remiex. I hadn’t realized till then just how
spell casting that song is. R4B also rocked. We love playing for the suburban youth!
We were sad though cuz this was our last tour show with Kerri. Since the tour was
booked before she joined the band, she couldn’t make the entire trip. That starting making
me a bit worried too! The band has become about our repor so much!
Luckily we had the ever-flattering Paloma from Sharp Ease with us on the ride home. She made
us feel realy good about the strength of our band. Coming from punk expert like her,
you just got to believe! She said our stage show is a beautiful painting!
I was touched. I want to sing with her on our song “Fucko”!
SUN June 2, Chico
Catacombs w/ North Magnetic, Experimental Dental School, and Creepy Crawly Claw
Yeah! the day our 10”s met their art! what beauty! Also, we got to see the much talked about
North Magnetic, and they are slick! Also, very sweet guys! I forgot to trade info, but I’ll send my thank you’s now! thank you thank you!
Experimental D. S. were another amazing discovery.
maybe R4B will play with them and Sharp Ease in august?
Creepy Crawly Claw did a chaos set that made me nervous to play!
I was disappointed in my performance that night. I had a hard time going with the flow
but the guy running the place said it sounded good!
Regardless, we want to go back to Chico. We love supportive smaller towns. Much cooler than big cities.
MON June 3, Eureka
Rumors w/ Dead By Dawn and Hell????? Sorry I forget the name!
Wow! Grace and Brian alone playing with Grindcore bands! But I think we pulled it off
I did a lot of meditation on having a positive attitude after my downer approach to the Chico show. And it worked! All I had to do was believe!
We did an improv song dedicated to Arcata’s man made wetlands which help clean the sewage there.
Then we had a great time hanging out with the people that run Placebo (local co-op music support )
and the people from the local pirate radio station (for whome grace and I recorded ourselves talking dirty too!)
Ryan and Abe rule! Hannah rules! Everyone else there rules! Arcata ended up being my favorite
town we went to on the tour. I would live there in a second. The supportive and loving environment, the rainy weather, the good music, the smart and beautifull kids!
wow!
THURS, June 6th – Portland
Jasmine Tree w/ Peralax and Moral Crayfish
Our best publicized show thanks to the legendary Dan Cahoon aka Moral Crayfish. Unfortunatly not a ton of people there, but R4B still played well with Jake from
Celesteville/Minmae on drums. People (dan!) got vindictive with the ball pit balls at the
show. Quite a contrast to Peralax’s 36 boombox orchestrah which was way drone. Hung out with Jordan, Jake’s brother. Jordan’s interaction with Sean of Minmae is great!
FRI, June 7th – Portland
KPSU w/ Celesteville
and
Tape Mountain HQ w/ Minmae, Celesteville, The Minor 3rds, Bronwyn, and John Henry Memorial
Both these shows were highlights and caught on tape. The KPSU one included an impromptu improv of “hat Heavy Metal Taught Us”. Good job Jake!
We got to meet Angelo, a tour favorite!
Grace has a picture of him as her computer wallpaper now!
The Tape Mountian show was “acoustic” but I’ll let the recordings explain. All I know is that I rolled around on the floor a lot and some said, “Intense” after the last song.
SAT June 8th - Portland
Kelly House w/ Bronwyn, Minmae, Celesteville, John Henry Memorial, *, Moral Crayfish, and The Taken Girls
Played at Sean’s house on a rainy day. * played and Wilson Zorn is one of the best stage pressenses I’ve ever witnessed. I was told after the R4B set that it was our best in Portland. Rock! We even jammed twice! Saw Bronwyn again, first thing in the morning. I think they are great. Also, as people they are great. They make me feel very comfortable around them.
John Henry Memorial was better at the acoustic show, but still are very good performers.
Taken Girls and Moral Crayfish take the cake though. Dan Cahoon is in both bands and his potential is way high. He can zone out like no other I have seen live.
doesn’t he know we are watching? amazing!
SUN June 9th – Olympia
Church Of The Flooding Basement w/ Minmae and Celesteville
[pictures by Dan Cohoon]
Oops! we’re late! Oops, not many people here! Oops, the local band doesn’t even look like they are gonna show up!
What to do???? How about get in full costume and
parade around downtown Olympia recruiting an audience. And it worked! no way! what a fun show. And then this one I was told was our best performance! we even did some
oldies, “Daniel’s Demise” from the frist r4b cd and “If My True Love Is Dead” from the split 7” with Gang Wizard.
I was a little harsh throwing balls at Minmae
when they explicitly asked me not too
sorry!
But it was celebration time!
a very successful tour despite all odds against us: our loved drummer stuck in LA,
very small last minute shows
touring at the same time as finals, etc. But we did it! and we played well and I learned to hang with almost anything musically, like I used to in highschool! I love regression!
The drive home including a wonderfull visit with Amanda Hendricks in Davis.
we got to see her monumental MFA exhibit! you gotta be IN it to believe it!
Feels pleasant!
We also visited Grace’s sister, Ivy, on the way up and she is a card shark!
We saw Spiderman and lover it!
We played tennis and loved it!
Etc etc.
Grace's Account:
Mouth drops open. That’s pretty much my overall feeling about the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Tour (TMNTT) – which, by the way, this title was only admitted once all tour. I just got back into town and I am already feeling at a loss. I miss Portland. I miss having to play a show everyday in unexpected places. I couldn’t even drive through downtown L.A. tonight, too soon! But so many magical things happened on this tour, so many cool people that I met, played with amazing bands, and guess what? – sold merchandise at every show! I will try to recollect, and will try to summon the literary skills of Jake Anderson.
Our first show of the tour was in Pasadena at No Future Café (excluding the My Friend’s Place benefit at the Smell). We played with the hip hop jump all around Books On Tape and lovely ladies of Radio Vago. That was a great show for R4B, despite feeling timid and overly conscious that I was playing with Radio Vago. They are all professional and shit, sleek, and LA refined. Didn’t know what they would think of experimental craziness. And damn the Lakers who stole our audience! The place wasn’t packed, but pretty good for the first R4B show. During the drive home, I do remember Paloma saying we are the most beautiful band in LA. She means not our bodily aesthetics, but our new wave costumes, tombstones, all immersed in rainbow fun balls. Coming from Paloma Party, that’s a real compliment. So that’s a pretty great start to the tour. We sleep it up for the long drive up north the next day.
It’s 11 am and we leave the apartment, “Okay Grace, you aren’t seeing this place for 15 days. Are you ready for that or have you forgotten something?”, says Brian. Drive, drive, drive to San Francisco and we stay with my beautiful sister Ivy. Watched Spiderman, hung out, ate ice cream. The next morning Ivy, Brian, and I go grab breakfast and shortly after we leave for our next tour show in Chico. We arrive early in Chico. As we drive along the barren 299, we pretty much conclude we’re not moving to Chico to live, and I wonder how hill billy the crowd will be (man I am snobby LA). Brian and I check out Catacombs, the art house. Nice chairs on the porch and I peak inside to see nicely painted bright yellow, orange, and lime walls. We grab a bite to eat at Friendly Joe’s burger joint. Supposedly it’s famous for it’s old fashioned appeal and triple thick shakes. I hear on a radio in the kitchen the Laker’s game. I hope the game won’t steal potential R4B fans tonight. Brian says we get to use band money for our food, so thank you to whomever bought our fruits of labor.
We head back to Catacombs and Creepy Crawly Claw are playing soccer outside the art house. That’s when the butterflies on a roller coaster kick in. I get really nervous about meeting CCC, their rockiness, and playing tonight. I am glad I didn’t know this at the time, but Brian was nervous too. Can you believe that, mister I don’t give a fu*, nervous? Experimental Dental School rolls up soon and out hops a little Japanese lady. O o o! Either it’s time to bond with a fellow asian female or it’s time to battle!!! Well, we were cool, no bitchiness at all. Shoku is sweet. Everyone plays, everyone is amazing! Experimental Dental School are lively, punk circus music and everyone is dancing, hootin’ and hollering. Truly impressive! And Shoku plays with a Dr. Sample as well! Battle now? No I refrain. Now, for the kicker…CCC performs. Totally not fair cause they have gorgeous Zaric in their band. Let me relate. During EDS, I find myself in the company of a towering woman in a barely there mini skirt, fish nets, and knee hight boots. Her foundation is so heavy and white, it glows a pale blue. She wears clown red lips and long black dredded hair. I ask myslef, who is this skanky hoe? I take a closer look, oh my god it’s Zarik! Whoa, he’s hot! And he plays a tight trombone.
R4B is next and I realize that we don’t have Keri, and we don’t really have a set! And we just saw the most amazing performances. So far, I really feel far from LA. LA’s music scene is pretty straight edged and conservative and not very experimental, and no one goes astray from the more generic rock and roll. There is a sense of alienation I feel when I paly in LA because of this, but after playing with CCC and EDS, I find myself in new ranks. Now, R4B doesn’t seem too special, or rockin. I just feel amateurish, especially without our drummer Kerri. But Brian and I stick it out and with Rob from CCC on drums we gut out the noise and fantastic rage. I thought we sounded great, nice and loud with offense. But Brian feels a lot of pressure and keeps stopping the set. We do the noise thing first with Rob and then decided to just play some songs just the two of us.---------Brian called it a grand failture, but I think differently. Come on, I sweated like a real rocker at this performance. For that reason alone, it was a great success! After grabbing a midnight burrito, and an invitation from CCC to come to Oakland anytime to act like we are on crack, Brian and I head off to a lovely I5 rest stop for sleepy time.
With cricked necks and ill bodies from a restless night, we head to Arcata. Lucious Arcata wetlands/sewage treatment wilderness welcomed us. We found friendly faces at the Placebo headquarters where Hana, Abe, and Ryan live. Off to the tiki lounge where we played with two sludge metal bands, Hideous, and Dead at Dawn. R4B were lonely without Kerri, but we got to debut Manmade Wetlands, a duet of minimal birds twitching and stuttering bass drones. Thanks to the hospitality of Arcata and everyone at the Placebo house, Brian really wants to move there now.
R4B journey the long stretch to Portland, Oregon. Aside from the dip in the Jedadiah Smith River 
, we straight shoot to Tami Hart’s house on the Northeast. The next day we head over to Jake’s Skypad 
and tape Mountain World Headquarters. Am I dreamin? Can this be for real that I get to see where all his creativity and momentous works are born??? Thank goodness for the banging of drums, and electronics while we practice for it saved me from falling into a wondrous disbelief abyss. After a long walk along the Williamette River, we go home and rest for the next day’s events, our show at the Jasmine Tree.
Despite the owner’s threats of canceling the show, and lack of audience, everyone’s perfomance was steller. Moral Crayfish – Dead C influenced noise, Parallax – 36 boom box orchestra, and yours truly. Check out Tape Mountain’s account. Like sweet candy.
The next day, Celestville and Rose for Bohdan played on Angelo’s live Friday Show. And that evening, we all play at the Tape Mountain Headquarters, where I meet the most beautiful couple ever. Sara and Richel from Bronwyn sing duets with Sean like church gospel. Rose for Bohdan beat up the preceeding calm and gentle performances (not to mention the magical performance of Celestville never fails to make me cry) with Brian’s violent, unforgiving guitar and wrenching vocals, despite the fact Brian said he would just sing, and my electronics on a 3” amp, and Jake playing percussion of furniture. Silence follows and then someone whispers, “That was intense”.
It’s Saturday now and our penultimate show is at the Kelly House. Day time shows are relaxing, but sadly interrupted by Mike L. going home. Everyone missed him and was sad that he had to leave. I think the thunder and rain storm that followed his departure was too perfect. The day time quickly heads into evening where Rose for Bohdan follows *. Macho machine band, “pizza, pizza”, stunning performance by the “girls want commitment” Wilson. Okay, I have to admit, Celestville;s rendition of Wham’s ballad make me cry. Will he ever fail to move me?
Sad to say our last show befalls every grand tour. We zoom to Olympia, DuckHugger’s Pad in Olympia, Washington. No one is attending the Church of the Flooding Basement show, so R4B, Sean, Josh, and Jill march downtown to rally up some goers. We actually were successful and roped people to watch the show. I was definitely sad to close our tour, but this made all of us rock even harder. Brian unforgiving act was multiple times more intense. Jake’s drumming was tight, and banging. And I had the most fun harnessing Dr. Sample.
No more tour, but one last stop. Brian and I hug farewell to our gracious host Jake Anderson, and drive to Davis, California to see Amanda’s MFA exhibit. Amanda’s calming installations were a fitting cap to a whirlwind tour. I experienced a rebirthing of consciousness as I sat amongst the punctual bird samples and nursing vegetation – 2:00, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45, misting, chocolate mint, and Tasmania Fern.
The world is so full of graciousness and inspiration. Thanks to Brian’s hard work, I got to play so many shows and meet the neatest people. Now we are back. It’s my birthday today. I couldn’t have planned a better way to spend the fold over but reflecting on the tour. I go back to work. Brian’s already scheduled more shows for R4B. Fun fun fun!
Bands we played with:
*
Books On Tape
Bronwyn
Bunky
Celesteville
Creepy Crawly Claw
Darren Boling
Dead By Dawn
Experimental Dental School
John Henry Memorial
Lili Marlene
Minmae
Minor 3rds
North Magnetic
Paloma Parfery
Radio Vago
The Swagger
Tender Buttons
[pictures by Dan Cohoon]
, we straight shoot to Tami Hart’s house on the Northeast. The next day we head over to Jake’s Skypad 
and tape Mountain World Headquarters. Am I dreamin? Can this be for real that I get to see where all his creativity and momentous works are born??? Thank goodness for the banging of drums, and electronics while we practice for it saved me from falling into a wondrous disbelief abyss. After a long walk along the Williamette River, we go home and rest for the next day’s events, our show at the Jasmine Tree.