Miss hearing about our adventures? Well stay tuned...
We'll be finally getting back together post-tour to practice and prep for our show next week August 2nd. Back in June before we left to search the country for our biggest fans we won the first round of the "Best of the 'Burgh's" Battle of the Bands. SO Sunday's show (well a week from Sunday) will be the FINAL ROUND, @ D'Vine Wine Bar in Wexford. Check out the site for details (www.vindell.com).
Miss the rockin' Vindell tunes or just our good looks? Want to see what riveting cover song we'll come up with? Be there! (or be very very square).
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
It's over?
What an AMAZING show to end the tour.
All kinds of amazing friends and fans (old and new) came out to see us play our last show with John Maione and Cobalt & the Hired Guns (go check them out, I know I said so in a previous post, but they are just AWESOME, so go do it again).
We played till almost 1:30 am (thanks Matt from Cobalt for the gang vocals and Tambourine in Don't Rescue Me!) and loaded up the van and trailer for the last time on this tour.
It's sad really to see a tour fly by before your eyes. It certainly wasn't easy, and there were moments of near if not full on insanity but we would all do it again in a heartbeat.
We can't say thank you enough to our hosts, to our friends and family and fans, and even to our readers for the never-ending support. Thank you for following Vindell. We will be back with more adventures soon!
For now, check out the awesome write up featuring Vindell in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09190/982658-388.stm?cmpid=news.xml
All kinds of amazing friends and fans (old and new) came out to see us play our last show with John Maione and Cobalt & the Hired Guns (go check them out, I know I said so in a previous post, but they are just AWESOME, so go do it again).
We played till almost 1:30 am (thanks Matt from Cobalt for the gang vocals and Tambourine in Don't Rescue Me!) and loaded up the van and trailer for the last time on this tour.
It's sad really to see a tour fly by before your eyes. It certainly wasn't easy, and there were moments of near if not full on insanity but we would all do it again in a heartbeat.
We can't say thank you enough to our hosts, to our friends and family and fans, and even to our readers for the never-ending support. Thank you for following Vindell. We will be back with more adventures soon!
For now, check out the awesome write up featuring Vindell in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09190/982658-388.stm?cmpid=news.xml
Philly Philly Philly
After a late arrival in Philly we knew we owed it to ourselves to sleep in pretty late and spend the day relaxing. So we did. We hung out by the pool, worked on some new songs, relaxed and ate until it was time to get ready for the show.
Briefly we thought we lost Cory who was staying with some friends when his phone died, but luckily he came back to the house safe and sound. We ate some dinner with friends (thanks again for coming down Brian and Sasha!) and packed up to go to the Cherrywood, our venue for the evening in South Jersey.
We had a fun time with friends from Philly and want to thank Bullwinkle Entertainment for putting the show together and the Cherrywood. After the show, John and Cory drove the long ways to Pittsburgh and Max, Avi and I went back to my house for another night of R&R.
We didn't want to leave Philly (or I REALLY didn't want to leave philly), so we slept in again, packed up slowly and hung out with my brothers.
Max, Avi and I made the long trek back to Pittsburgh in great time. We went home, ate some dinner and reconvened for our last show of the tour....a hometown show at Club Cafe.
Briefly we thought we lost Cory who was staying with some friends when his phone died, but luckily he came back to the house safe and sound. We ate some dinner with friends (thanks again for coming down Brian and Sasha!) and packed up to go to the Cherrywood, our venue for the evening in South Jersey.
We had a fun time with friends from Philly and want to thank Bullwinkle Entertainment for putting the show together and the Cherrywood. After the show, John and Cory drove the long ways to Pittsburgh and Max, Avi and I went back to my house for another night of R&R.
We didn't want to leave Philly (or I REALLY didn't want to leave philly), so we slept in again, packed up slowly and hung out with my brothers.
Max, Avi and I made the long trek back to Pittsburgh in great time. We went home, ate some dinner and reconvened for our last show of the tour....a hometown show at Club Cafe.
Scranton is for dancers.
After a great night in State College, we grabbed a full breakfast and made our way northeast to Scranton, PA (home of the Office you TV watchers out there). Scranton is a small city, more like town, with historic store fronts and no high rises and one giant mall.
We took a walk around town a bit, got some food, went to their mall, and waited for the venue to open. I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to turn the corner to the main street and hear the theme song from the office, but I guess playing it over and over in my head sufficed.
The venue was a storefront in a large old (and closed) vaudeville theater on the main Scranton drag. The space, owned by local high school Senior Connor O'Brien , was originally supposed to be a theater for showing vintage movies, but Connor has since doubled the space as a venue. We played with some AWESOME acts, Owl Station and Lesser Animals and had a ton of fun.
People were dancing and singing along and as Avi said, "this was a crowd that really GOT it"
After the show, Connor gave us a little historic lesson on Scranton and showed us to the newly rented space that the Vintage Theater would be moving to (bigger and better). We really hope to get back there soon to play the new place.
We loaded up the van and geared up with some caffeine for some night driving to Philly where we would stay at my house.
We took a walk around town a bit, got some food, went to their mall, and waited for the venue to open. I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to turn the corner to the main street and hear the theme song from the office, but I guess playing it over and over in my head sufficed.
The venue was a storefront in a large old (and closed) vaudeville theater on the main Scranton drag. The space, owned by local high school Senior Connor O'Brien , was originally supposed to be a theater for showing vintage movies, but Connor has since doubled the space as a venue. We played with some AWESOME acts, Owl Station and Lesser Animals and had a ton of fun.
People were dancing and singing along and as Avi said, "this was a crowd that really GOT it"
After the show, Connor gave us a little historic lesson on Scranton and showed us to the newly rented space that the Vintage Theater would be moving to (bigger and better). We really hope to get back there soon to play the new place.
We loaded up the van and geared up with some caffeine for some night driving to Philly where we would stay at my house.
trailer defeat.
We left D.C. well rested and fed and packed up our things to head to State College, PA for a show at PSU. Cell phone reception in the rolling hills of Maryland was a little sparse. And after about twenty minutes or so on the road I checked my phone to see I had a few voicemails, without missed calls. The most important voicemail from Carolyn went as follows:
"STOP THE VAN, pull over now. My mom just called. The trailer is open"
Well thank you Carolyn and Cindy Gerecht because with out you we may have driven the trailer on the highway OPEN.
We quickly stopped on the side of the road to asses the damage and realized that my and John's bags of clothes were missing.
ALSO, there was a truck that stopped on the side of the road with us that had been following us for miles and didn't try to flag us down. Pessimistically we decided that they were clearly just waiting for more valuable things to fall out.
We turned the van around and retraced our "steps" back to Carolyn's house all the while keeping our eyes peeled and stopping for anything that remotely looked like it could be a bag....
At EVERY corner and gas station we asked people if they had seen anything and they usually said no and looked at us like we were totally and completely insane.
BUT, because of John Riley's suburb vision and cat-like reflexes he SAW my bag, hanging in a run down gas station and grabbed it. Our faith in humanity partially restored, finding my bag provided us with a lot of motivation and hope to find John's bag.
We never did unfortunately, and we continued to Penn State.
Because John had only the clothes on his back his WONDERFUL AMAZING TERRIFIC girlfriend Leah decided to drive from Pittsburgh to State College for the night to bring John some new clothes and catch the show at the Brewery.
A bit about Leah: She is PHENOMENAL. She likes Cats. She's a wonderful photographer (see our current full band picture on the website).
Anyways. Thank you Leah for bringing John clothes. We played an awesome show at the Brewery with awesome local acts and had a blast eating dollar slices at Canyon Pizza and staying with Greg. We'll be back to PSU in the coming year for SURE.
"STOP THE VAN, pull over now. My mom just called. The trailer is open"
Well thank you Carolyn and Cindy Gerecht because with out you we may have driven the trailer on the highway OPEN.
We quickly stopped on the side of the road to asses the damage and realized that my and John's bags of clothes were missing.
ALSO, there was a truck that stopped on the side of the road with us that had been following us for miles and didn't try to flag us down. Pessimistically we decided that they were clearly just waiting for more valuable things to fall out.
We turned the van around and retraced our "steps" back to Carolyn's house all the while keeping our eyes peeled and stopping for anything that remotely looked like it could be a bag....
At EVERY corner and gas station we asked people if they had seen anything and they usually said no and looked at us like we were totally and completely insane.
BUT, because of John Riley's suburb vision and cat-like reflexes he SAW my bag, hanging in a run down gas station and grabbed it. Our faith in humanity partially restored, finding my bag provided us with a lot of motivation and hope to find John's bag.
We never did unfortunately, and we continued to Penn State.
Because John had only the clothes on his back his WONDERFUL AMAZING TERRIFIC girlfriend Leah decided to drive from Pittsburgh to State College for the night to bring John some new clothes and catch the show at the Brewery.
A bit about Leah: She is PHENOMENAL. She likes Cats. She's a wonderful photographer (see our current full band picture on the website).
Anyways. Thank you Leah for bringing John clothes. We played an awesome show at the Brewery with awesome local acts and had a blast eating dollar slices at Canyon Pizza and staying with Greg. We'll be back to PSU in the coming year for SURE.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Farm Jamma-Where the heck are you- Lamma
After a wonderful day off, we drove up to Brookville, PA for Festival Farm Jamma Lamma. John had to go up a day early to help run sound/donate his P.A. to the event. So, we drove my car. Got lost getting Cory. Got REALLY lost getting to the farm and we finally got there we set up quickly for a noon set.
It was a really gorgeous farm with over a hundred acres of rolling hills and wildflowers.
We played an awesome set and people gathered on the lawn and came down from their camps to see us play.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we hung out, listened to music and took long walks on the farm. Some of us stayed another day and some of us left but regardless we relaxed for a few days before heading over to the east coast.
We did a lot of laundry, re-packed and cleaned the van and slept...a lot.
Monday we all piled back in the van and drove the 3 or 4 hours down to Washington D.C. We played a bar near Chinatown called the Red and the Black with Brooklyn based band Renminbi. After the show we drove around the city to see some of the D.C. sights at night. We tried to say hi to Pres. Obama, but apparently he was on vacation in Russia with the family (just kidding, don't be concerned he was visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev). Later we drove out to the suburbs to stay at my roommate Carolyn's house in Ashton, MD. The Gerecht family was wonderfully generous and it was so nice to see them and stay at their house.
I apologize for the late blogging...more to come on our trips through Pennsylvania soon!
It was a really gorgeous farm with over a hundred acres of rolling hills and wildflowers.
We played an awesome set and people gathered on the lawn and came down from their camps to see us play.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we hung out, listened to music and took long walks on the farm. Some of us stayed another day and some of us left but regardless we relaxed for a few days before heading over to the east coast.
We did a lot of laundry, re-packed and cleaned the van and slept...a lot.
Monday we all piled back in the van and drove the 3 or 4 hours down to Washington D.C. We played a bar near Chinatown called the Red and the Black with Brooklyn based band Renminbi. After the show we drove around the city to see some of the D.C. sights at night. We tried to say hi to Pres. Obama, but apparently he was on vacation in Russia with the family (just kidding, don't be concerned he was visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev). Later we drove out to the suburbs to stay at my roommate Carolyn's house in Ashton, MD. The Gerecht family was wonderfully generous and it was so nice to see them and stay at their house.
I apologize for the late blogging...more to come on our trips through Pennsylvania soon!
Friday, July 3, 2009
on the road again..
Amazingly we woke up in our ridiculous hotel room the other morning and the place we towed the car projected it would be ready by noon. We were ECSTATIC. We were really planning for the worst...like being stuck in Jeffersonville, OH for days and days and having to stay in that silly room another night. But we lucked out, the van was ready EARLIER than expected and by noon we were on the road again.
Apparently, (and sorry to those of you who know ANYTHING about cars because I promise you I will butcher all part names etc.) the wheel bearings broke and shredded our brakes, leaking brake fluid EVERYWHERE and making the van jump like it had hydraulics. Clearly, an easy fix right? Surprisingly yes. Thank you auto place in the middle of no where. We are so happy you exist and that you are super honest.
All of us were pretty bummed out about missing a night in our own beds, but we stared to make it to Morgantown, WV anyways for TWO shows that night. John hooked us up with his other band Jazzam to play at a Buffalo Wild Wings outdoor concert in the early evening. It was an awesome stage.
We had a blast, we played a great set, Jazzam played a great set and when they got off stage and we could have John back we loaded up the van and made our way a half an hour North to play Club Octane with band 100 Hurricanes (great stuff check it out).
It was a big show and even some of our friends from Pittsburgh drove the hour or so to see the show (thank you thank you thank you Leah, Sam and Steve!!!).
We sold some merch, got our stuff together, listened to the band and drove home. I have to say Pittsburgh has never looked more beautiful than driving through the Fort Pitt tunnel at 3 am (you yinzers know what I mean).
We slept in our own beds and are spending the day and evening relaxing before heading out to 2 days of festival Farm Jamma Lamma tomorrow.
About a week left... we can't believe it.
Apparently, (and sorry to those of you who know ANYTHING about cars because I promise you I will butcher all part names etc.) the wheel bearings broke and shredded our brakes, leaking brake fluid EVERYWHERE and making the van jump like it had hydraulics. Clearly, an easy fix right? Surprisingly yes. Thank you auto place in the middle of no where. We are so happy you exist and that you are super honest.
All of us were pretty bummed out about missing a night in our own beds, but we stared to make it to Morgantown, WV anyways for TWO shows that night. John hooked us up with his other band Jazzam to play at a Buffalo Wild Wings outdoor concert in the early evening. It was an awesome stage.
We had a blast, we played a great set, Jazzam played a great set and when they got off stage and we could have John back we loaded up the van and made our way a half an hour North to play Club Octane with band 100 Hurricanes (great stuff check it out).
It was a big show and even some of our friends from Pittsburgh drove the hour or so to see the show (thank you thank you thank you Leah, Sam and Steve!!!).
We sold some merch, got our stuff together, listened to the band and drove home. I have to say Pittsburgh has never looked more beautiful than driving through the Fort Pitt tunnel at 3 am (you yinzers know what I mean).
We slept in our own beds and are spending the day and evening relaxing before heading out to 2 days of festival Farm Jamma Lamma tomorrow.
About a week left... we can't believe it.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
a whole new world
sooo...to our followers who read at late hours in the middle of the night...here's a good one for you
Van broke down/brakes gave out in the middle of east-bumfu*k ohio. and here we are...in the closest quality inn, in their only room...the honeymoon suit. 1 king sized bed. 1 jacuzzi. 4 guys and a girl. vindell has gone off the deep end.
No CAN DO. we're piling into the nympho-factory instead.
The man in the tow-truck and the man in the hotel looked like twin brothers. Little or no teeth and the ones they had were razor sharp. like fangs and the vampires that max is so viciously afraid of.
we're done for. if there was ever an end to vindell it is now.
parents and friends dont be alarmed, we're handling this like responsible adults.
Van broke down/brakes gave out in the middle of east-bumfu*k ohio. and here we are...in the closest quality inn, in their only room...the honeymoon suit. 1 king sized bed. 1 jacuzzi. 4 guys and a girl. vindell has gone off the deep end.
No CAN DO. we're piling into the nympho-factory instead.
The man in the tow-truck and the man in the hotel looked like twin brothers. Little or no teeth and the ones they had were razor sharp. like fangs and the vampires that max is so viciously afraid of.
we're done for. if there was ever an end to vindell it is now.
parents and friends dont be alarmed, we're handling this like responsible adults.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
the hills of KY are alive...with the sound of Vindell
While we didn't want to leave Chicago, time forced it upon us and we spent allllllll of Monday driving to Knoxville, TN. Each one of us drove our fair share that day and when we finally arrived in Tennessee at 1:00 am we settled into our red roof inn room and slept a few hours until an early wake up call.
We had to be at WDVX at 10:30 am with a stop at the local music store to pick up a rented trumpet for me, while mine was being over-nighted from Missouri to Lexington, KY.
We got there with time to spare, and loaded into the coffee shop/knoxville welcome center/radio station stage (people in Tennessee really know how to make efficient use of space!) Playing for live radio with a live audience was definitely a new and interesting challenge. We had to sacrifice part of the excitement we put into our live show to play/sing more accurately (and by accurately I mean..perfectly) for live radio.
We had a blast and DJ Matt Morelock was great to us. Opening band "Big Country's Empty Bottle" showed us some true country/bluegrass Tennessee music. The DJ was great and we were well received and that's all we can ask for.
After lunch in downtown Knoxville (beautiful beautiful place with beautiful people, I highly suggest it) and making some friends with locals, we headed out of town towards Lexington, KY to stay with my friend Heidi for the night.
The drive to Lexington took quite some time, but it was BEAUTIFUL, we stopped on the side of the road to take some video footage and pictures. Here's Max, me and Corey in front of some beautiful mountains:
When we finally got to Heidi's (one of my best friends from college who I haven't seen in 8 months!) she and her mother had made us an AMAZING home cooked meal.
So so so grateful. Thank you Heidi and Leanne!!!
We spent the rest of the night hanging out, taking nice walks though Lexington, KY, getting our butts kicked by Heidi in Air Hockey and playing some music.
We all slept so well and now we're just resting until our drive up to Cincinnati for tonight's show. After the show we'll be trekking back to Pittsburgh for the night to sleep in our own beds!!
We're all extremely excited.
Here's a bit of the time in Tennessee... Heads up, I've rated this PG-13 for language and sexual comments....
We had to be at WDVX at 10:30 am with a stop at the local music store to pick up a rented trumpet for me, while mine was being over-nighted from Missouri to Lexington, KY.
We got there with time to spare, and loaded into the coffee shop/knoxville welcome center/radio station stage (people in Tennessee really know how to make efficient use of space!) Playing for live radio with a live audience was definitely a new and interesting challenge. We had to sacrifice part of the excitement we put into our live show to play/sing more accurately (and by accurately I mean..perfectly) for live radio.
We had a blast and DJ Matt Morelock was great to us. Opening band "Big Country's Empty Bottle" showed us some true country/bluegrass Tennessee music. The DJ was great and we were well received and that's all we can ask for.
After lunch in downtown Knoxville (beautiful beautiful place with beautiful people, I highly suggest it) and making some friends with locals, we headed out of town towards Lexington, KY to stay with my friend Heidi for the night.
The drive to Lexington took quite some time, but it was BEAUTIFUL, we stopped on the side of the road to take some video footage and pictures. Here's Max, me and Corey in front of some beautiful mountains:
When we finally got to Heidi's (one of my best friends from college who I haven't seen in 8 months!) she and her mother had made us an AMAZING home cooked meal.So so so grateful. Thank you Heidi and Leanne!!!
We spent the rest of the night hanging out, taking nice walks though Lexington, KY, getting our butts kicked by Heidi in Air Hockey and playing some music.
We all slept so well and now we're just resting until our drive up to Cincinnati for tonight's show. After the show we'll be trekking back to Pittsburgh for the night to sleep in our own beds!!
We're all extremely excited.
Here's a bit of the time in Tennessee... Heads up, I've rated this PG-13 for language and sexual comments....
Mizzou-fail.
Missouri was awesome!!!! We LOVED our show at Mojo's bar, and we loved hanging out with our host Jordan. here are some highlights!!!!
1. After playing the show in Columbia we went to one of the other band's houses for a bit of a party, it was some of the best jamming and live music I've heard in a LONG time by both our members and theirs
2. On my way to get the van in the morning, I stepped on a small sewer drain and my leg fell through up to my shorts. Sewage, dirt, and leaves COVERED my entire leg and I went into Jordan's and scrubbed my leg to avoid MRSA and any other ridiculous disease I could get by having open wounds near dirt or flesh-eating bacteria.
and lastly...
3. when we finally arrived in Chicago after about an 8 hour drive, we realized my trumpet was still in Missouri.
Triple, Trifecta, Trebling, Triangle, FAIL.
Here's some footage of the shows and sights in Missouri....
We spent last night back in Chicago and played a neat venue called the Elbo room. The crowd was full of great friends who give us phenomenal never ending support. We were generously given 2 free hotel rooms by a wonderful wonderful friend of Avi's and we spent the night catching up on some much needed sleep. Now we're on our way to Knoxville Tennessee to perform/record an on-air radio show at WDVX fm (if you check them out online, there is a good possibility that you can hear the show online, we'll be on air tomorrow around 10:30 am central time (i think) so try to check it out!)
For those of you who we've met on the road, thanks for showing us an awesome time thus far, for our family and friends, we really miss you and think about you all the time.
See ya Illinois, Hello Tennessee.
1. After playing the show in Columbia we went to one of the other band's houses for a bit of a party, it was some of the best jamming and live music I've heard in a LONG time by both our members and theirs
2. On my way to get the van in the morning, I stepped on a small sewer drain and my leg fell through up to my shorts. Sewage, dirt, and leaves COVERED my entire leg and I went into Jordan's and scrubbed my leg to avoid MRSA and any other ridiculous disease I could get by having open wounds near dirt or flesh-eating bacteria.
and lastly...
3. when we finally arrived in Chicago after about an 8 hour drive, we realized my trumpet was still in Missouri.
Triple, Trifecta, Trebling, Triangle, FAIL.
Here's some footage of the shows and sights in Missouri....
We spent last night back in Chicago and played a neat venue called the Elbo room. The crowd was full of great friends who give us phenomenal never ending support. We were generously given 2 free hotel rooms by a wonderful wonderful friend of Avi's and we spent the night catching up on some much needed sleep. Now we're on our way to Knoxville Tennessee to perform/record an on-air radio show at WDVX fm (if you check them out online, there is a good possibility that you can hear the show online, we'll be on air tomorrow around 10:30 am central time (i think) so try to check it out!)
For those of you who we've met on the road, thanks for showing us an awesome time thus far, for our family and friends, we really miss you and think about you all the time.
See ya Illinois, Hello Tennessee.
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