The Riot + Valencia at Penn Tech!

Yesterday we were sandwiched between 2 indie rock bands. :) Not the typical show for this country girl! We were playing an event called WEBSTOCK for Penn College Tech. The Riot was the first band and they were a little more on the punk side. Their drummer actually goes to school at Penn Tech, which was awesome. They are the only band I have ever known to "open for themselves" :) They were the first band, and there ended up being time left over, so the school asked them to play again. Those poor guys, they were already completely packed up, but they didn't even hesitate for a second. They immediately just started unpacking and got right back up on stage. It was awesome. They were really good.

We played our show next and it was really fun. The event was originally supposed to be outside, but it rained and rained and RAINED that morning. We actually drove in from Waynesburg, PA, and I had both hands on the steering wheel, sitting straight up almost the entire 4 1/2 hours. It was just a downpour the whole way. But the gym ended up being a cool location for the event. They had a HUGE inflatable obstacle course next to the stage, lots of other games and booths, yummy popcorn (which I got in on) cotton candy... you name it. It felt like playing a mini state fair. :)

Danielle Barden, an incredible photographer, happened to be at our show in Mansfield a few weeks ago. And since this show was only 45 min away, she and her husband came to this one too! I have used a pic she took on myspace, facebook, and twitter since it showed up! She brought her camera again and took tons of great pics! I LOVE facebook because they were already uploaded by the time I got back after the show! View Danielle's website here.

Danielle and me!


Some cool shots:

And her husband, Jared, also posted some goodies online!!! He wrote a blog and posted some videos from the medley!!! :)
View his blog here: Jared's Blog

Jared made me feel like the coolest person on the planet yesterday. His favorite show is the "Office" which is one of my very favorite's, too. So he brought a script of "The Office" (It's the one with the "Dinner Party") and had us all sign it! How cool?!


YAY!!!


It was great to see Danielle and Jared. I feel like we have all become good friends through our correspondence the last few weeks :)

I had a lot of fun at the merch table, too. It's fun to have other bands and their tables right next door! It made for a LOT of activity the whole day!

Mark was a HUGE help and ran my merch table the times I couldn't be there!!!


I hadn't been "dipped" in a while :) He took me by surprise!


While I was talking to everyone and hanging out at my merch table, VALENCIA started their set. They were incredible. They have been on the Warp Tour and had a LOT of fans at this school. They put on a really great show.

James and I were drooling over their road cases. We have been talking out details of all the things we are changing gear-wise, and they had soooo much of what we are planning on doing. Having all your gear in road cases just makes everything so organized. It all fits together nicely and packs in a trailer well, and just makes everything look and feel more professional. (Even when it is all the same gear) I was pretty amused at myself, though. I never knew that I would get turned on by looking at gear. I feel like such a boy.

In the middle of Valencia's set, their lead singer decided to do a cool Springsteen cover with his acoustic guitar. He started talking about how cool it would be to have a fiddle on it. At first I thought he was joking, but he kept looking at me. So I dropped what I was doing, ran backstage, found my fiddle and jumped up with him about halfway through the song. It was so cool!!! We had a blast doing it. I'm still not sure what the song was! But I just followed along and played with him.


Both of the bands were so down to earth and fun to hang out with. I felt like such an indie rock girl. I bought a Valencia Hoodie (which is sooo snuggly, I LOVE it) and had a pin from The Riot on it already.


Me + Valencia :)


So yeah. Good day yesterday!!! Miguel found a mall not too far away - we had to go because the poor guy left his belt AND his boots at home. He said his pants kept falling down onstage.... and he looked so funny to me in tennis shoes. I don't know why... I just wasn't used to it. But once he got his stuff, we headed to Hoss's and ate dinner. We were all exhausted. But it's the good kind - the kind of exhaustion you feel after working really hard at something you love. I'm feeling that again right this very minute. Tomorrow, I'll you about today! And maybe even get caught up finally!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie