Chicago the Double Door Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Sunday started out like any other gig day for Bear Lake. I dragged myself out of bed at 9:30, (which is like 5:30 by musician standards) met up with photographer and co-creator of the term tip stain Chris Piet, and headed out to the barn to load up the trailer and get on the road. We hit the highway in good time, and dorked out on Fantasy football while watching The Office for the duration of the ride to the windy city.
We made such good time in fact that we arrived an hour early to the venue. We sat in the van and watched several hipster types walking to and fro. There are a lot of hipster things that we get like big beards and Jeff Goldblum glasses, but why skinny jeans? They look like the denim version of early 90's sweatpants, but to each their own I guess. Anyway, we loaded in and then started with some drinks and eats. We got back to the double door in time to catch nice sets by Josh McCormick and The Workhorse Kings.
Next we played, and I think it went really well. According to one gentleman who claimed to be a chef, we were a kin to one of his own satiating creations, but in a musical way. The good news was we sold all of the CDS we brought in a matter of minutes. Conversely, the bad news was that we have seizures of idiocy and therefore only brought 7 copies of Places on the Side. After us, They all Have Legs played a killer set, and we exchanged mutual admiration after the show.
Post show is always a fun time. It's when the drinks really start to flow and this night was no exception. Most of us ended up crashing at EP's and we'd like to convey our sincere apologies to Bianca for any drunken shenanigans we may have participated in. We hope we weren't too loud. Also, if you are looking up something on the internet starting with ho and horseporn.com pops up as an option, it wasn't us. On the other hand, ninjapirates.com was totally us.
As far as sleeping situations go Keith probably took the prize for most uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it was due to Piet's goading (repeatedly calling Keith pussy dick) or Keith's general yearning for vagrancy, but Keith chose to sleep in the Van when temps were approaching sub zero. Needless to say, we were all relieved when we returned to the van in the morning and found Keith still among the living, and ready to head home.
We're taking a break for a couple of weeks to put the finishing touches on our upcoming album, but hopefully we'll see you for an acoustic set at the Crofoot on January 7th opening for Oliver Thompson and The Marvins.

Rubbles, Mt. Pleasant, and Wesley Snipes

Another fascinating night of music and debauchery with Bear Lake Last Saturday started off rather inauspiciously. We arrived suprisingly on time and loaded in without a hitch while gazing in wonder at the Ghost town that is downtown Mt. Pleasant right before finals week. We waited to play to an empty house until we saw two "top shelf" individuals approach and asked if they would like to come in with lines like "We're good, we really are" and "You may have heard of a little show called One Tree Hill" It worked thus saving the night. These two were for us that night what a skillful pimp is for their ho's. That is to say they gave us a chance, watched a couple of songs and immedaitely called up some friends turning the night into a moderate success. Mick did a nice job of manning the sound booth and the barstaff at Rubbles couldn't have been more accomadating. It wasn't the busiest night at Rubbles, but it's safe to say that those that attended enjoyed the music and will probably make for a hardier turn out next time around in MP.

Brian stayed sober that night and bellied up to the driver seat for the ride home which was greatly appreciated by the rest of us drunk dickbags. It was however this drunken dickbaggedness that lead to the bright idea of stopping by the Soaring Eagle to bet our meager earnings for the night on Roullette. We walked into the casino and headed for the roullette tables. Jon placed the bet while heeding the immortal words of Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57..."always bet on black" We did thus doubling our purse. Steve proclaimed this as an act of God and a sign that Bear Lake is headed in the right direction.

Soon thereafter, Steve tried to exchange coats with a fellow holding a cheesecake. The man declined saying he didn't want to look like Kanye, which made Steve believe he looked like Kanye, which in turn made Steve smile. After determining that the cheescake box would be "a hard open" we let the man be on his way and headed home for the two hour drive.

Next stop Grand Rapids on Wednesday. We're all hoping for another "Top Shelf" evening.