Once in a great while, we put on a little show that we like to call Clintonsfest.

It happens approximately once every 365 days and comes at a time when great bands and great people come together to form an evening that is nothing but great fun.  Saturday, September 5th, 2009, was such a time.

Dustin Tucker and his killer backing band kicked the night off with a great set that boasted Dustin’s impressive aptitude for writing unique, crowd-pleasing pop-rock and his equally impressive ability to take a popular song and make it his own.  Though the crowd was somewhat sparse for his set, those who were there were very positively receptive to his music.  My personal favorite was his cover of Radiohead’s “Lucky” off of their classic Ok Computer.  If you live in Bozeman, do make sure you go and check him out either with his original group or with the Pink Floyd tribute band, Pinky and the Floyd.  Both projects are extremely awesome and deserve your undivided attention.

Fresh off of a national tour, Goodnight Sunrise took the stage shortly thereafter, and I can’t say anything about these guys that I haven’t said before.  They’re an awesome band and have been since they were kids.  We’ve been watching them perform for the past several years and it’s great to see how much their musicianship and performances have improved with each show.  They followed up their set with a brief appearance by their hip-hop alter egos, Danny Donutz and Sammy Swiss.  Titties were mashed.

And then we took the stage (explosions).  I think we played a pretty solid set that focused on every album equally, except for maybe Kinky.  I don’t think I did that on purpose when writing the setlist; it probably just came out that way.  One of the improvements of this year’s Clintonsfest over last year’s was the venue.  Last year, our outdoor set was cut in half by a freakin’ rain storm, which only affirmed that you can never trust Montana weather.  This year was indoors, and guess what?  Our set didn’t get cut short!  Horray!  As you could probably guess, it didn’t rain outside at all, which is typical.  But I’d like to think that it probably would have if it were outdoors.  Anyway, we had a fairly high-energy set that kept the folks dancing from beginning to end, which is always what we aim to do.  I can only hope and pray that Clintonsfest continues to grow and expand in the years to come.

Highlights:

–Former bassist Kevin Okragly was there, and he got a BIG promotion.  Give him a round of applause.

–The Goodnight Sunrise boys played the riff to “Free Ride” during their set and played it on stage with us during our set.  It was bad ass.

–Would anyone be up for an all-star jam next year?

Setlist:

Free Ride
LMP
Alright Tonight
Bender
Birthday Suit
Friends with Benefits
SDIM
Save the World
Undercover World
Outta Mind
Baltimore
Potion
College
Abercrombie
Jesus
Leave Me Alone

Ah, Rockin’ the Rivers.  How do you rock?  Let me count the ways.

1.  Tesla

2.  Hell’s Belles

3.  Peter Fucking Frampton

4. The Mighty Flick

5.  Sweet (?)

What an awesome time.

This year’s Rockin’ the Rivers was easily 1000 times better than last year’s for several reasons.  For one, the Bullet Boys didn’t perform, weren’t subjected to hearing them scream “Oh YEEEEAAAAHHH!” in between snorting lines of coke.  Secondly, we had our in-ear monitor system on stage, so we could actually hear ourselves play.  (For those of you who don’t know, we basically played the first half of our set last year without being able to hear John’s vocals at all, forcing me and Josh to close our eyes and hope for the best.  It worked out ok, but it isn’t something we really enjoy doing.)  Third, we had our banner up behind us during our set, making us look super-legit.  Fourth…

Look, I could go on for pages and pages about why RTR rocked so much, so I’ll spare you the agony and simply say that it kicked ass.  It really did.  I’ll admit that the four of us were a little worried that we’d be playing to nobody after the rain started fallin’ fallin’ shortly following the conclusion of Tesla’s ass-rocking set, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised we all were when we looked out from the stage and saw a large crowd.  We were even more surprised that we maintained it for the duration of our set, especially considering how late it was.

Last year we had to play an amazing gig in Helena (Rockin’ the Gulch, anyone?), so we were unable to partake in any of the RTR festivities on Saturday or Sunday.  Thank heavens we had Saturday off this year, because I had a great time.  Kim and I met up with Jawsh and Mama and Papa Keehr for a day chock-full of RTR goodness, which included hanging with Jamie Nova, the lead singer of Hell’s Belles (and Jawsh’s ex-girlfriend.  Awwwkwwaaarrrd!), rocking out to Peter Frampton, watching the guys from Sweet get shitfaced, and beer.  Lots and lots of beer.  It was nice having the VIP treatment that lasted the whole festival.

In all, I had a great time and I hope we play there again next year.  If you live in Montana and you’ve never been to Rockin’ the Rivers, you NEED to go at some point before you die.  Period.  I’ve said countless times that RTR is something that every Montanan should experience at some point in their life.  Even if we don’t perform, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be a spectator.

Highlights:

–Hell’s Belles–the all-female AC/DC tribute band–were AMAZING.   Adrian/Angus Young, the lead guitar player, perfectly emulated the legendary Aussie ax-slinger in every way, shape, and form.  She kicked ass at guitar, wore a school girl outfit, and sprinted across the stage from beginning to end.  They were my second favorite act, behind a bitchin’ Peter Frampton.

–Speaking of Hell’s Belles, the girls made the mistake of inviting Sweet guitarist Drunky McDrunkerton on stage to play “Back in Black” on guitar.  He did a good job, but once he finished he started playing the opening chords to “You Shook Me All Night Long.”  It was pretty awkward.  Jamie, bless her soul, gave a nervous chuckle and said, “No, not quite yet.”  Some other dude from Sweet came and coaxed Drunky off the stage.  How retarded is that?  I mean, the Hell’s Belles girls didn’t come up on stage to play “Ballroom Blitz.”  I don’t know why anyone would be playing “Ballroom Blitz” in the first place, but still.

–Ok, on to our set.  I put together one of the rockingest setlists EVER.  Just take a gander below and judge for yourself.

Setlist:

Friends w/ Benefits
Bender
Real Man
Outta the Way
Undercover World
Birthday Suit
Little Miss Perfect
Potion
Baltimore
Free Ride
Chimney
Jail
Save the World
Out of Her Mind
Dub-T Bootay
College Daze
Grant
Grinnell
Scotsman
Livin’ Large
Jesus Christ

ENCORE:

Leave Me Alone

Better late than never, eh?

Thursday, August 6th was our first show in Missoula since our Otherside show in late April and our second time performing at Caras Park.  The main difference between this year’s show at Caras Park and last year’s was the heat.  Last year, I swear to got it was about 100 degrees out and that the sun was beating right down on the four of us.  I looked like I was competing in a wet t-shirt contest.  One that I probably would have lost, seeing as to how I’m a boy and everything.  At the beginning of our set, the temperature was maybe 75 degrees and crept toward the mid-eighties, but none of us were in any danger of dying of heat stroke.  We were, however, in danger of being crushed by the tent.  Apparently, many Missoula parents didn’t see anything wrong with letting their children between the ages of 2-6 hang from the ropes and support beams that held up the tent.  Sure, it was a sturdy tent, but still.

It was a bit tamer than some of the other shows we’ve played this summer, but that isn’t saying a whole heck of a lot considering most shows have been pretty damned rowdy (i.e. Bert and Ernie’s, Summercamp, Music on Main, etc.).  That being said, it was still a lot of fun and a good opportunity for us to practice up a couple of the songs for Rockin’ the Rivers (which was awesome).

I hope we get back to Missoula sooner rather than later.  Since I’m now a Missoula resident, I really want to break in my new hometown crowd.  The Otherside no longer houses performing bands, so it’s likely you’ll be seeing us at either the Iron Horse or the Badlander before long.

Highlights:

–Some folks drove all the way from Brainerd, MN to come see us.  That’s one hell of a drive.  How cool is that?

–There were a few moments where our guitars got baked by the sun and went completely out of tune.  Stupid guitar strings.

Setlist:

Birthday Suit
Friends with Benefits
Alright Tonight
Little Miss Perfect
Walkin on Air
I Make My Own Money
Ants Marching
SDIM
Sex on the Radio
Come with Me
Out of Her Mind
Save the World
Potion
Highway
Jail
Outta the Way
Grant
Faith
John and Josh’s acoustic extravaganza
Purple Poppies
Fan of the Bean
Leave Me Alone
Excuse to Jam
Abercrombie Jeans
Jesus Christ