Neptune: "DIWhy? A Few Days from My Tour Journal."

By Mark Pearson

November 2nd - Silent Barn, Brooklyn NYC

with Gabo and the Wastrels, Untied States, Fiasco

Silent Barn is a nondescript storefront apartment in Bushwick where many a fine band has rocked its spacious kitchen for an all-ages audience. The leaseholder is Todd P, Brooklyn's most prolific and principled DIY promoter. Renowned for his on-the-fly, anywhere-goes shows (from parking lots to makeshift galleries), Todd puts on an event (or two) practically every night of the week, lugging his own PA and writing out the evening's financial breakdown on a dollar bill for all parties to peruse.

Earlier, some key band-related necessities were ironed out on our drive down from Jamaica Plain:

1. Dan assembled our tour CDR - a spray-painted, screen-printed, rubber-stamped quasi-single from our upcoming record Gong Lake.

2. I called my friend in Chicago, John Hastie, to ask him if he would approve the test pressings of the vinyl version of Gong Lake, which we were told needed to be done right away or it would be delayed. Being on tour, we needed a trusted friend to do it in our absence, and since

we'd be playing Chicago a week later, we could pick them up from him too. He was cool enough to say "yes," though initially a bit apprehensive with the responsibility of giving the go-ahead on what will be our first LP to get worldwide distribution.

3. I drew up our setlist for the tour and we made decisions on lengthening out the opening song as well as the points where we'd improvise parts of our set.

Tonight's opener was a carnivalesque band from Sweden, the second were pals of ours from Atlanta, and the third was a local band comprised of two sixteen-year-olds, one of whom was Steve Buscemi's son. He informed me of the perils of attempting to be in a band without being old enough to obtain a driver's license. A great night of varied

sounds. Post-show, Todd P offered to set us up a tour in Mexico. Did I mention how cool he is? Our friend Adrianne Jorge put us up for the night. She has been going on US and international tours with us over the years taping a documentary on the DIY scene using Neptune as a focal point. She showed us some rough cuts and it looks amazing.

November 3rd - West Philadelphia Warehouse, Philadelphia PA

with Ugh God, Teenage Waistband, These Are Powers

Whoa. Totally gutted-to-the-floorboards, ancient warehouse space in gnarlyville, Pennsylvania where the rats don't even bother because there is absolutely nothing to be found. Awesome. This was some serious basement good times. Ugh God is the local, banging out quirky pop with two drummers. On tour from Providence, Teenage Waistband kicks out DNA-styled no wave. Our buddies from Brooklyn, These Are Powers, kick the jams hard with a new drummer who substitutes his kick drum with an amplifier that thumps it electronically. Everything divine about DIY shows is prominent here: cobbled together PA system, dank basement, delicious homemade dessert, uber-nice hosts, a horde of

cool showgoers and ear-splintering noise. We stay with our friend, the amiable curmudgeon Greg Pizzoli, who makes wonderful screen-printed gig posters.

November 5 - The Werehouse, Winston-Salem NC

with The Saint Peter Pocket Veto

This is one of our favorite stops when touring. The Werehouse was once a show space occupying the second floor of a warehouse building near the Winston-Salem tobacco factory. Over the past decade, its inhabitants have turned it into a functioning coffeehouse, bar, music venue, art gallery, artist studio and coffee roasting plant. Above the

performance space, an instrument shop called Tokyo Cowgirl was a few days from opening. I swapped one of our CDs for some baritone guitar strings from its lovely proprietor, Minda. The cover charge was donation-based tonight and we were paid well beyond what we generally get at a club. Want to be treated well in one of the friendliest places on earth? Drop by The Werehouse/Krankies.

November 8th - AV-aerie, Chicago IL

Four Million Tongues Festival with Allå, Horseback, Molten Truth

Ensemble, Mike Tamburo, Peter Walker

Arthur Magazine and a real smoothie named Steve Krakow (aka Plastic Crimewave) put this one on - a psych-heavy lineup where we were most definitely the wildcard that turned up being the high point of our trip. Marshall Preheim runs the immense loft space formerly called Open End Gallery and recently redubbed (due to non-profit status) AV-aerie. He is about one of the kindest people we've bumped into on our treks and made us feel welcome. 69 year-old Peter Walker astounded everyone with his beautiful amalgam of raga, roots and flemenco solo guitar. Mike Tamburo played stunning hammer dulcimer meditations. Molten Truth Ensemble rocked some mindblowing improv psych with the aforementioned smoothie Steve and Jeff Parker of Tortoise, bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Ben Billington and a mystifying vocalist named Aleks. I had the chance to hang with some old friends and pick up our test pressings from John, who gave them his full approval via fax to the record plant over a week ago. We stayed with our all-time homie and booking agent Regina Green and guitar innovator David Daniell.

November 9th - Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, St. Louis MO

with Sacoth, Narwall, Kevin, Mincemeat or Tenspeed

Another crucial stop for us. Lemp Arts is an alternative show space run by the outspoken Mark Sarich from his family's former drug store. He teaches a "history of punk rock" course at a local college, shakes his fist at the establishment as much as humanly possible and can talk circles around anyone on anything - which he often does. The rules are simple: "No drugs. No booze. No Jerks." Our shows here are always fun and inspiring and this night was no exception. Playing at eye-level on the floor to an enthusiastic all-ages crowd is a form of connection that I hope other musicians get the opportunity to experience. The last young man to leave looked over his shoulder as he stepped out into frigid night and said "Thank you guys. See you next time. You are part of this". I couldn't ask for a higher compliment.