pop-break debuts a new column in which local bands talk about being on the road, here we talk to adam bird, lead singer of those mockingbirds
When Bill here at Pop-Break asked me to write a tour journal covering a few days in the life of Those Mockingbirds, I was in a word, elated. I love the site and think the staff is extremely talented. As luck would have it, the four days I’m about to tell you about, are littered some of the most bizarre shows we’ve ever encountered.
6/7/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Those Mockingbirds have been very lucky to play to some great audiences in the last year and half. However, there are two areas that seem to keep eluding us, one is Connecticut, and the other is Philadelphia. On this particular occasion, as we headed down to Philly, our hopes were high that this would finally be the time where we found the “right” venue, or local band to hook up with and start building our momentum in the lovely city of Philadelphia. We arrived at UACA Hall at the same time as a thunderstorm, and discovered that much to our dismay, this show was taking place outdoors. The storm passed quickly, but still put the first of 4 bands onstage about an hour late, with our 4th slot now being pushed back to an unknown time. Since the show was outdoors, we kicked around a soccer ball in front of the stage and waited patiently. Towards the end of the first bands set, the police showed up and had a conversation with the promoter about noise complaints that were coming in from residents in the area, and informed him that the show needed to end by 11pm. Doing some simple math, we realized that we were very unlikely to get a chance to play. However, the promoter told us we would. The waiting game began. The next band took the stage, and some rain hit again, delayed the show a bit more, and then they completely killed it. The band was called Study Electricity and you should take a moment to check out what they do.
Ultimately though, as band number three hit the stage, the police showed up yet again, and shut the show down at 10:30 due to numerous noise complaints. The band yelled all sorts of things about freedom of speech, and a few other patriotic sounding topics, which caused backup police to hit the scene, but we slipped out and headed to Tony Luke’s to get dinner, where we sat next to a man who had a handgun stuffed into the waistband of his jeans.
6/8/12 – Milford, PA – Due to a few issues with the promoter’s computer, we weren’t sure if we were playing this show until noon, the day of. Once we were given the green light, we headed out to the Tom Quick Inn, the site of the evenings events. Once we arrived in the town, I realized that it was coincidentally the town where we purchased our van. I know, thats only interesting to us, but its my journal, so whatever. This show was an all around blast. We debuted two new songs at this show, and ended up playing with a lot of friends from my past, who I didn’t even know would be there. The bands were I Am Heresy, with Nathan and Greg, who I haven’t seen in forever (Greg plays metal with a slide, watch how its done kids), and a band called Speakeasy, which included a nice fella named Monkey that I haven’t seen in years. Most of my evening was spent catching up with Monkey about “the old days” when I was in Avery and he was in Jettison, but it was trumped by the really strange occurrence of finding out that Tory (from our band) went to Kindergarten-middle school with Steve from Monkey’s band. I have no idea what they talked about, but it really was weird as hell. One final note, as we pulled up to the venue, Kevin, Jon and I were talking about 4-leaf clovers, for no reason in particular, because thats what happens when you’re driving to shows… you talk about the most random things. Anyway, when we got out of the van, Kevin found one within 45 seconds. SERIOUSLY.
6/9/12 – Montclair, NJ – Saturday night marked our return to the Meatlocker. We “got our start” here, and built up our first fan base playing filthy, disgusting shows in this underground venue. I say all of this with admiration and respect for the venue though, its absolutely one of a kind. This show was a Tiny Giant Showcase as well, featuring Reese Van Riper, Meet Pause, Feudalism and Cinema, Cinema. Each band was fantastic, and I ended up singing “Surrender” by Cheap Trick with Meet Pause, AND singing “School” by Nirvana with Cinema, Cinema, both of which were awesome experiences for me. A band from the area called, Science, hopped onto the show extremely last minute, and opened the show with an abbreviated set. They got in touch with me two days before the show and explained that they had a gig booked that nite, but it had fallen thru and they wanted to salvage the promotion they had done. I am always looking to help bands in need, so I added them. They definitely carried their weight. Anyway, our set was a lot of fun. We played a bunch of new songs, and a bunch of old songs. The Meatlocker welcomed us back with open arms, which was relieving for me because it had been SO long since we had been there.
6/10/12 – Brooklyn, NY – Sunday started at 9AM for us, as we wrapped up with the shooting of our new music video. We shot all day in the heat, from 9am-6pm and then, absolutely exhausted, headed to St. Vitus in Brooklyn to play with Gabriel The Marine. St. Vitus is a beautiful venue, the sound man was awesome, the staff ruled, and Gabriel The Marine did a fantastic cover of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears. We followed them with a short set and called it a night. It was an exhausting yet fun weekend, getting to do what the 5 of us love most.
Check out Those Mockingbirds on Facebook or on their official website.
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