Cincinnati, Sean and his bass on the drive. Touring in a Toyota Corolla can be difficult. While The Bascinets’ vehicle held most of the gear for tour, on the way to Cinci we had to travel with Walker’s drum hardware and Sean’s bass in the backseat.

Pre-show R&R at the Airbnb

Found a lighter with some flare.

Nick Wellman of The Bascinets fishing for Pigs at Northside Yacht Club.

Tristan (Bascinets) before he lost his glasses. Tristan would continue to lose several other items before the tour was done.

Andrew with Bourbon (neat). Andrew played NSYC’s “$4 Whiskey Wheel of Wonder,” he landed on Jim Beam.

Dinge. Was the first time we played with them for about three years. They rock.

The Bascinets

Ezra (Dinge)

Trevor (The Bascinets)

Tired after day one…

Our friend Nick (left) let us hangout on his rooftop in Northside after the show. He also let us play his harmonium and theremin. Great fun was had by all.

“Please, no pictures” – Zlata

Eden Park, Cincinnati

Lexington, KY. Game day. The show didn’t start until 11:30 because the Wildcats were “stomping ass.”

Andrew strings up

There was a lot of time to kill, but luckily the door guy charged the folks who came for the game. Many hung around when the show started, too.

Setlist debate

The Bascinets, feat. Mannequin

Abandoned motel shoot between Lexington and Nashville.

Twinning. It seems that almost all of the Midwest claims ownership of Lincoln. The same cannot be said for Andrew.

Nashville: Trevor insisted on $5 cups of coffee at his favorite spot. (They were actually amazing though so it’s okay). Jesse pictured here writing nursery rhymes.

Alberto & Friends in their delightful basement.

The Bascinets

Matt of Superstarfamus1day. He was closely supervised by the doll. They played an impressive impromptu set when their drummer George got very sick right before and couldn’t play.

Our performance did not meet Alberto’s expectations. He locked us up by the doghouses.

Shew (left) and Alberto (right). Post-show hangs in the backyard. His house was an old doctor’s office from way way back in the day (the 40’s?) so his backyard was actually a parking lot that was converted into a giant driveway. They have the perfect band house and we are jealous.

Triple Jesse

We loved the wallpaper.

Sleepy bois. The Bascinets brought along portable cots.

Wellman in the haunted basement.

“No pictures in here, honey. Some people aren’t here with the people they’re supposed to be with.” Hermitage Cafe in Nashville. Great country-fried steak.

St. Louis: At the Arch

Bright bois, where’s Walker?

Farmer Nick

Andrew with the cigarette machine at CBGB.

The Snapchettes, they typically perform as a seven piece.

Frankie Valet. Jack (at microphone) hosted us and took us to a good breakfast spot the next morning. Incidentally, he and Jesse share a birthday on September 14.

Outside CBGB

Felix at the board.

Sean relaxes at Jack’s. He managed to cranked out The Silmarillion on tour. Jack’s excellent cat can be seen in the background.

Jack, our host in St. Louis

Tristan after breakfast. There are more cash-only diners in this country than I ever knew.

Forest Park, St. Louis

En route to Chicago. It was somewhere around this point that Sean and Jesse began to argue over the fortitude of their respective bladders. Sean would soon prevail.

Walker driving

Chicago. We had two days off here with a show in the middle. There was a lot of relaxing but we didn’t get as many pictures here, but had a great time exploring the city. On our last night we rode the train to a 107 year old jazz club, the Green Mill in Uptown where they were broadcasting live on AM radio.

But first a visit to the lake.

Beers on the pier

Tristan and the great beyond

Curious old maintenance man tinkers at the venue.

Wallpaper

Fahrenheit 808, who was, sadly, not allowed by the venue to play due to dumb age restrictions. They were gracious about it.

Oxford, OH. Captain Redbeard and the S.S. Friendship. We played at our friends house, The Secret Garden. It’s a beautiful home.

Trevor, some light leak, and a stray vine. After the show we all went to Bagel & Deli and waded through an ocean of college students to the counter. Every five minutes or so, one worker at the shop would get iced (Smirnoff) by customers and proceeded to jump on the counter and chug to the applause of everyone. I’m pretty sure we waited in “line” for like half an hour. Someone stole my bagel once and I had to order again. Ultimately the wait was worth it. -Andrew

Hot sauce with salt at Hometown Eatery. College Corner, IN. Tristan apparently eats this to curb his appetite. He chose to spend his diner money on a candy apple red Jaguar.

Propane rodeo star, Andrew Marczak.

At Joe’s house in Oxford.

“Joe, where are the forks?”

Wellman with spork.

Toledo, OH. Ottawa Tavern, our last stop, with bangin’ sign.

Watching the game. “Pizza Cat,” the attached restaurant, was delicious and had good deals for performers. We were all satisfied.

Teamonade ripping it right up.

Trevor the angel

Wavves

“It Can Happen to YOU”

One shot of the Roof Dogs playing.

Family photo. We then parted ways and ventured back to Columbus for a day off before we all went back to our day jobs at NASA.