Oh, bleak Iowa! Spring has not yet sprung in that flat state, its winter palette a numbing collection of browns and grays. Signs pass for Joice, Clear Lake and Mason City, yet the gray Dodge speeds on through the rain.
“Nebraska…the good life” greets the group as they cross the mighty Missouri into Omaha. The grimy train yards and boarded-up buildings give way to new development, at the edge of which sits the club Slowdown. Most likely one of the nicer places at which His Mischief will play on this tour, the club’s name is a reference to one of the first bands on Saddle Creek Records.
Tonight is the release party for the new Ladyfinger/Dance Me Pregnant split 7-inch and His Mischief goes on first. The boys from Minnesota play a good first set of the tour, and the crowd likes the performance.
Some pictures (courtesy of Adam Streur):
Merch sales are brisk in the back as Miles and Nick suck down PBR tall-boys and trade off manning the table. Dance Me Pregnant goes on next and, though some women in the crowd are spotted dancing, there appear to be none of the spontaneous pregnancies for which some had secretly hoped. Ladyfinger plays last, putting on a Saddle Creek-worthy show.
Chris Machmuller (“Mach”), guitarist in DMP and guitarist/singer in Ladyfinger, is a generous host for tonight, plying the visitors with beer, snacks and a delicious Iowa Rye called Templeton. Stella, his hyperactive rat terrier, entertains everyone with her zany antics and frenetic begging. At some point later in the night, an ultimately unsuccessful attempt is made to find her off switch, leading one to imagine the existence of a Stella-sized box where she can be stored, quivering and anxious, for the night.
-Miles
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