(Generationals on stage at Hotel Cafe in L.A.)
We’ve been friends with Grant Widmer & Ted Joyner since their days in The Eames Era. Their new band, Generationals, has earned some great reviews for their debut album Con Law, which just hit stores recently. The guys have hit the road on a Park The Van tour across the west coast and will be making periodic updates from the road exclusively for The Futurist. Here’s their second update…
My last diary left off as we headed into Missoula, MT, where we connected with our pals Floating Action at The Badlander. So much has happened since then.
Missoula was a lot of fun. We had all met the guys from Floating Action at least once, the most recent time was back in New Orleans in June when Ted, Katie and I played an acoustic set on a bill with them, The Peekers and The High Strung. They were amazing. Seth Kaufman is the leader of the band. He’s a great singer and songwriter and he and the other guys in the band are about the nicest, funniest guys you could ever want to tour with. They are constantly laughing and cracking each other up. They are the ideal touring partners.
Our bands hit it off right away. By the end of the Missoula show, we were working on plans to collaborate and contribute to each other’s sets. That night, I made a deal with Josh, the guitar player, that if he wore the same blue t-shirt (with a cartoon of a robot riding a unicorn over a rainbow) for every single show on the rest of the tour, I’d give him $50. 10+ shows later, Josh is well on his way to winning the cash. The shirt smells like shit.
The weekend took us to Portland and Seattle. This is where Ted picks up the story.
-Grant
(Generationals BBQ)
After the show in Portland, we drove that night up to Seattle. We stayed in this high rise apartment owned by a friend. The Frasier references were many. Also the weather there was beautiful. Which only re-inforces my theory that this whole “it rains here all the time” thing is a lie so that the rest of us don’t all move there. Seattle is stunningly beautiful.
Next we went to San Francisco and played Cafe du Nord. That place is a great club. Grant and I had played there in our old band years ago. The people who run it are so frickin awesome. Next day i had dim sum in Chinatown. My quads still burn from walking up steep sidewalks.
Then we had a day off and we went to Big Sur which was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in real life. Against virtually everyone’s advice I decided to jump in the water. COLD. Very cold. Next time, wear a wet suit. not blue jean cutoffs. Then Tess climbed this bluff that was, like, 100 feet tall. Which terrified me to watch but she assured us she had it under control. Then….disaster struck!…. Evan from Floating Action got poison ivy all over body which he is still dealing with as of this writing. He’s a good sport though. If it had been me, I might have just gone home. He’s a tough one.
(Grant In Seattle)
Next was Costa Mesa and where we met up with Golden Boots and some of the Park The Van gang, including Jeff who was kind enough to put up all 3 bands in his house. Thats like 13 people. In one house. It got interesting. Then we went to LA! Man, was LA fun. We got to see a bunch of familiar faces. It was great. Our friendJ had a barbecue for us before the show. Korean tacos changed my life. One LA regret: not ordering my fries animal style.
We then split off from Floating Action to do a show up in Merced at a place called the Partisan. It’s a cool place, check it out if you’re ever in that region.
(Performing At Fungarden In Sacremento)
San Diego was next where we re-united with floating action and played at Bar Pink. We all started drinking martinis that night for some reason. Some Generationals sat in on some Floating Action songs. Woke up the next morning, ate breakfast and jumped in the ocean one last time. As we got on the highway to head back east i was reminded of a passage from Master P:
“They said P where ya goin’ man get in put the gat to his head said interstate 10″
Then we hit Phoenix. Phoenix is interesting. When you walk outside you get a blast of wind to your face that feels like a blow dryer. The place where we played was a cool spot called Trunkspace. Floating Action sat in on a bunch of our songs. Floateractionals?
Next stop: AUSTIN, TX. Shivvy, watch out.
love, ted
See Also : Generationals Guest Tour Blog #1
