2 July 2006: The Awesomeness of Kalamazoo, MI

(At left: Kim, Thor, and Val experiencing Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Live! for the first time.)

Shearwater played in Kalamazoo, MI last May with the Mountain Goats, and it was one of the highlights of the tour thanks to Val Nelson, the awesomest promoter on earth. Friendly, accommodating, sweet, and chock-full of good taste and brain-power, she gives promoters a good name. Even better than that, she does it for the love of it. I wish Val could promote shows everywhere in America.

The venue in Kzoo is the Kraftbrau, a brew-pub with a small but nice-sounding stage, a small but nice-sounding PA, friendly staff, and excellent brewed-on-site beer. They don't sell anything they don't make themselves, and I have yet to have a bad brew out of the (embarassingly high number of) pints I've tried. Even the ginger ale was mind-blowing.

The show itself was nice. Nice people. Nice sets by both bands. Ike Turner was in Chicago seeing the Cubs and White Sox, so I wrote something horrible about him in the bathroom. Sorry, Ike! Thor sat in w/ the Court and Spark for a few songs. They might buy him a pair of white cut-offs if this keeps up. We were noshing while local opener Frank Fuzz blew some minds on the porch, so after the show he gave us a private show upstairs. The highlight was the video Frank & live Frank duet of "Tonight You Belong To Me". Much merriment ensued, which later resulted in Val and I having to tempt the Court and Spark off of the roof with promises of burritos and Grateful Dead bootlegs. As punishment, they did not get to go skinny dipping in Woods lake with us at 3AM.

Crashed with Val and her lovely roommate, Heather. Allowed the unwashed to experience Dr. Hook for the first time, which I dare say is more special than your first baby steps or your awkward teenage deflowering. The Moka Easy seems to have shit itself, which is causing me no end of distress. Had a great (great!) breakfast at the Crow's Nest: a tofu/provelone/onion/sourdough sandwich called the Percha. Yes, it sounds like some hippy bullshit, but 'twas satisfying as all get out. Much better than you'd expect from a hippy-sounding place in the middle of Western Michigan. After my second visit, I'm learning that Kzoo is a special place, and you should expect greatness to be the baseline.

Revelry in Kzoo: