8/14/10 – Athens Popfest

The soles of my vintage shoes have come apart in the Southern heat, so we spend a few hours vintage shopping in hopes of finding a replacement pair. I now have only sneakers and roper-style cowboy boots (in reference to which an audience member in Arkansas had told me I looked sharp [insert pause] from the knees up). But there are no shoes to be had today.

We have slept til noon, leaving not much space in the day left for gallavanting. We go back to Alyssa’s and relax and wait for load in. I’m very nervous because we will be sharing a bill with Mission of Burma. To calm myself, I try to meditate. Then i try doing little affirmations: “You will be great, you will be great.”

On stage, things are not great. Not great at all. Nick’s pedal cuts out about 90 seconds into the set, leaving us guitarless for half of our first song. I feel the room spin as we all try to telepathically decide whether to stop the song or power through. Yoshi’s kick drum is escaping him, scooting forward a foot or more, making it extremely difficult for him to play. We struggle through the first few songs, shaken by the technical difficulties. But we make it through our set and when we finish, some people in the front row yell for us to play more songs. Of all the shows on our tour, this was the most important to me–and a whole lot went wrong. I take some deep breaths backstage. We all stare at each other, still rattled. This is why drinks were invented. I go get one and resolve to enjoy myself. It works. By the time Mission of Burma take the stage, we are all smiling and singing along. They are amazing, so powerful, and we remember how very lucky we are. Lucky to be here. Lucky to see this. Lucky to have found each other.