Date: July.23 & 24.2004

Place: Nautical Inn- Sturgeon Bay WI

Howdy,
 
It's been an interesting couple of days.  We rolled into Sturgeon Bay last night around 6 o'clock, checked into our rooms, got set up, checked, and ready to rumble.  Not a bad show - somewhat quiet though, and I get the feeling that the locals weren't sure what to make of the strange visitors from the big city.  Everyone was very nice, however (although somewhat sleepy), and seeing as how we had no show booked, the owner invited us to play again the next night since we would be in town anyway.  We accepted and hoped that things would be a little more energetic the second night.
 
In the meantime, we had a whole day to kill.  After eating breakfast and visiting some local farmer's markets, we all headed down to this beautiful beach on Lake Michigan that we like to visit when we are in this part of the state.  Here, we found out three things:  1) John can't throw a Frisbee to save his life, 2) Monique has some pretty mad volleyball skills, and 3) Sean has a nipple ring, and for some reason, it really creeps me out.  Despite his freaky nipple, we all had a great time and got to relax a little. 
 
We went back to the hotel, got cleaned up and headed over to Andre's, a restaurant that we agreed to play a short jazz set at for a friend of ours.  This was actually kind of fun because we didn't have any music worked out in advance.  I really like to be challenged by having to use our ears and group chemistry to sound good.  It's kind of like tightrope walking, only less deadly (potentially more embarrassing, though). 
 
We then headed off to our second show of the night.  Amazingly, our second night at the Nautical Inn was a blast.  All the people that weren't there last night made tonight a riot.  Everyone was into what we were doing, and it was actually hard to finish up the show because no one wanted to leave.  Good thing we had a day off and were able to take a second shot it.
 
We need to leave early in the morning to head to the Slipknot in Fremont, which has quickly become one of our favorite venues.  We have never played there on a Sunday before, but I am looking forward to see what that is like. 
 
Until later, take care.
 
Love,

Brian

Write Brian at: bb@upsidegc.com