Well, they asked the Maulies to play with them tonight, the going-away, end-of-the-line night for the Rough and Tumble since John's moving away next week. It's also a big deal since the Kiss Offs are leaving on Monday to start their "Wake Up America" Tour, which is gonna last until August 30th and is gonna span the entire US, I'm talking coast to fuckin' coast. Plus, I keep hearing hints from all the band members that they might not be playing together as the Kiss Offs anymore once the tour is up. I knew it was going to be a night I'd want to remember. Jennifer showed up around 10 to pick up Amy and me. We got Amy's amp and bass into the car and drove the short drive to the Hole in the Wall. It was early enough that there were only a few people inside when we started carrying in all the Maulies's equipment. Now, that's the secret that every band tag-along knows: You don't have to pay or even have a spot on the guest list if you help carry stuff in, so always offer to give your pals a hand. It's funny because the person at the door usually won't even ask if you're in the band; at the most they'll ask you for your ID to see if you're over 21 and that's it.

The Hole in the Wall has never been my favorite club. The atmosphere is alright, it's small and dark and cluttered, just the way a club should be.The main thing that I dislike is that on most nights it's 21+ and the cover and beer isn't too cheap. It was okay tonight though, since I got in gratis and didn't drink (well, I stole a sip from John's can of Pearl when he asked me to guard it for him; I warned him not to trust me with it). I took a seat right by the front of the stage with the PA to my immediate right and sat around with Amy's sister Megan and her pals. There were lots of familiar faces at the show, kids who I see enough that we mutually acknowledge eachother. There were also kids who I know better, like Teressa and Ryan, Josh and Jackie, my old neighbor Daniel. It was cozy and familiar even though I've only been inside the Hole in the Wall maybe 4 times in the 4 years I've lived in Austin (when I played there with the Speed Queens in 95, saw 100 Watt Clock and Yellow Fledgeling in 97, saw the Maulies a few months back, and tonight). But like I said everything seemed familiar and right and I was glad to be where I was.

(7/30/98) I'm listening to realaudio files from the modest mouse fanpage on the internet as I write this. It's 10 am and I've been up for about 5 hours already. My sleep is so screwed up right now. I wanted to go see Only Airplanes Count last night but I fell asleep at 7 pm and just slept straight through til sunrise. What the fuck is this? I can never straighten my sleep pattern out to sane hours, it's always so extreme, either sleeping all day until evening or sleeping the best part of the evening away. One good thing about this is that it's slowing down my party lifestyle. The last show I went to was on the 25th, and 4 days is a pretty long stretch for me to go without a show. I don't know what all that drinking shit was about the other week; I guess I was bored.

The Kiss Offs make their way past adoring fans

Silver Scooter at the Buzzing Red Light Lounge

I'd been to Ryan and Gavin's house once before for the Kiss Offs "Good-Bye Private Life" album cover photo shoot. It had been a really fun night. There were all these kids dressed in their best clothes getting wasted on wine, gin and tonics, and whiskey, then taking pictures and posing for certain planned shots and stuff. Alot of us ended up at the Electric Lounge later to see Silver Scooter (in the picture on the right) and the Vidi Vitties; we were this crowd of drunken, dressed-up, dancing lunatics. It was pretty fun, even though I got alot of beer spilled on my one nice dress.

Back to the more recent party, though... so I rode my bike around looking for the right street, but couldn't find it for a while. It turned out that the street sign was gone, so it took me a little extra time to find my way there. By the time I got to the front door, I was even grosser and hungrier than I had been when I'd gotten home. Gavin opened the door and I realized that I was still really early. Gavin and Dwayne were playing cards against Kristen and Katey and they were all drinking gin and tonics. They offered me a drink and I asked for a beer because I thought beer would go better with a sandwich.

Before the show: Gavin in action at the photo shoot After the cocktail party: the Vidi Vitties play to a bunch of over-dressed drunks

John showed up next. He looked like a school boy with his hair parted to the side and dressed in dark shorts, sneakers, and a button-down shirt. He talked about all the good-bye type of stuff he was doing before moving to Olympia and it made me miss him already even though he wasn't really leaving until the next week. You know, it's funny that I missed him because I don't even know him well at all. I remember how we met; it was a show last year at the Oakland House, and he asked me if he'd seen me in a band. I told him probably not since it had been 2 years since I was in the Speed Queens. He said that was the band he'd seen me with and that he liked my bass playing and that I shouldn't quit playing. That made my whole week. I guess that's why I like John, he's the kind of guy who can make your week without even trying, it's just his nature or something. I wish I'd tried to get to know him better.

The rest of the party was a party...smoked my whole pack, talked alot of smack, got trashed, smashed, cashed and fucked up. The last thing I remember is Ryan and Dwayne being infinitely kind and patient; they gave me the "water treatment" ("you don't want another beer, you want water") and then Ryan pulled out the sleeper couch for me to pass out on. I was somehow able to get my boots off, and then I was out.