Thurs 8th/Fri 9th Sept Cincinnati Ohio

We like Cincinnati mucho. It didn't start off that way.

Thursday morning 3am we checked into a Quality Inn just outside St. Louis. Joss had cleverly picked up a travel centre coupony thing, so we got a $90 room for $60. And seeing as it was the late hour it was, the front desk guy gave us a massive suite, with 2 ginormous beds, 2 bathrooms, a living room, 2 tellys. What a pity it was 3am and all we could do was collapse into a dead people sleep. So by thursday evening we got to Cincinnati, and it seemed like it was a bit early. It was 630, and the show didn't start til 1030. The venue though - the Comet looked lovely, and was in a strip of 4 commercial units in an otherwise residential neighbourhood. There was Avant Garage, where I bought a big pink bangle (see above), and almost bought several things I already owned when I was 7. It only opens crazy hours, like 830pm til midnight. There was the Northside Chop Shop - a hairdressers with handwritten notices in the window from the owner/cutter guy. From those alone I wanted them to cut my hair it's getting rather big), but they keep normal hours so no can do. And there was an interior decor place, but you couldn't see into it. The Comet itself had a huuuuuge selection of beers, and a fridge with rotating shelves called the Bevador which was fairly groovy. Unfortunately, too many hours in a fetid van rendered me headachey to the max so I had to hold off on the beers. The guys managed to have some beautiful stouts brewed with vanilla beans and oak chips and the like. We got fed massive burritos - i was a little wary, I'm mexicaned to the gills, and we'd had microwaved service stop burritos the previous night. This was a massive - I mean sorta pint glass sized - affair with marinated jerk tofu and god it was gorgeous.


A lady bought a tshirt from me for her daughter 2 hours before Corpo played then left anyway , they are cute shirts, so why not? The show was opened by a man with a bass and an acoustic guitar. The 4 of us sat down to politely watch, I think Dudley may have lasted 1.5 songs, and Joss about 1 more. He claims he had to leave cos I started laughing and that set him off. Me and Mark toughed it out. And boy, it was tough. I felt like topping myself. He picked up the bass and told us he'd never played this song before. I can't be entirely sure he'd ever played a bass before. I may be better and I can only play some scales. Anyway, small gathering aside it was a fun night.


Audience member Greg generously offered us a place to stay - his friends house that he's housesitting just a block away from the venue! How nice of him. He assured us though that the couple that live here are touring Eastern Europe at the moment, so hopefully in some sort of Karmic exchange they were being put up by some hospitable Czechs as we made ourselves comfortable in their house. We were up til about 4am, listening to such epics as 'McArthurs Park' and 'This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us (unfortunatly the Justin Hawkins version, not the Sparks one that I can only thank Dara and Stephen for making me listen far too many times over in non-tempestuous times about 8 years ago now). These songs were just right punctuated by the massive storm out, growling rolls of thunder and massive lightening flashes lighting up the whole area every 20 seconds or so.


So anticipating the shorter drive to Akron OH on friday we had a good lie in. It felt so good to relax in a gaff, have a unhurried shower, charge phones and ipods. Greg our fab host went out for a couple of hours in the morning for a job interview, having been kept us by us drinking and warbling and doing laundry til 4am.

Then he came back and then began our tour of Cincinnati. Well, we went to Myra's Dionysus - I love the word Dionysus - for a veggie feast for a late lunch. Mmm Thai Pumpkin soup. This man knows what we like - it was followed by a trip to this ice cream shop. My chai latte 10 minutes previously fulfilled my icey-creamy needs though, so I had to restrain. I did taste the peanut butter chip ice-cream stuff and jaysus, if i'd had the space. I did learn that SJP is a Cincinnati native though. Who knew - it doesn't seem like a very Manolo laden town.

5 more minutes, pleeeease
Next we were herded into Shake It a Northside (Cincinnati area) institution. They had Moomins. Let me repeat that, Moomins. I gnashed my teeth over them for a minute, until like a wee child, I was distracted. I need to not buy another novelty camera, well a one-trick camera. I've already got a 4 shots on one print in 1 second lomography thingy, now I want the fisheye lens one. Its got a flash I reason. But I hate paying for developing now that I'm fully digital. My right hand slapped my left and a I put it down. So I picked up DFA1979, and the new Weezer album at last, 2nd hand.

By now, it was 7pm and the Akron show had been cancelled. Fuck Akron, its straight to Pittsburgh instead. Ah well, Greg has offered us the use of his friend's house again so we get a full proper relax eat drink shop read gig day. I got to sat on the front porch devouring my latest read, in a suspended swing chair, guarded by a bug screen, with a yum beer in hand. Straight off the set of To Kill A Mockingbird I was. We're off to another gig in the Comet tonight. Mucho love to Greg and his amazingly unknowingly genorous friends.

There is one more picture you have to see, but I don't have a copy of it to hand. Later.