home from the greatest tour ever. dealing with "just got home adjustment/panic"

hi.

I’m writing you from NYC. I don't live here. I live in new jersey, but a couple times a week I come in and spend the day writing with my sister and eating cheese. literally, that’s what we do. literally, that’s what we are doing. so, I’m using part of the writing time to write to you. today I’d like to talk about the tour we just finished. and we're off ----!

on june 22nd, we played a "cd release show/party/tour kick off" type deal at the mercury lounge in NYC. a month later, on july 22nd, we played a "welcome home/the record’s been out for 3 weeks/general celebration/let’s get this fucking record cycle going!" type of event at the bowery ballroom in NYC. what happened in between is the meat and potatoes, I’ll get to that in a sec. mercury lounge was like disco fries as an appetizer (do you have that where you're from? the metaphor suggest that the show was heavy, exciting, and left us with the emotional carbs we needed to go on a tour). and bowery ballroom was pure wedding cake. a big decorated one at that. the kind that britt daniel must have been talking about when he said, "it can't all be wedding cake." well, he's right, but the bowery show was. in a very weird way it felt like a culmination of the past few years. it was a special night filled with special guests and special feelings. but then again, I felt that way about a lot of the dates on this tour.

...getting into that...

what I would really like to comment on was the unbelievable sense of community that I felt on this tour. when we tour, it always feels like we are a pack of animals jumping around the world trying to leave our print. this was different. each night felt like a secret meeting for a secret club of misfits and freaks. yeah, I said it. just like us, you guys seem to be wildly different than most people here on earth. please take that as the compliment it’s meant to be. That’s what I like about you. the very discomfort that I’ve grown to feel almost everywhere I go  now holds no place at our shows. I like walking out of the van in tights and a "let them eat jellybeans" shirt and not worry that you guys will stone me to death (a sentiment that’s at the core of me at airports and gas stations--where I spend most of my fucking life!). maybe it’s cause we tour a lot, or maybe it’s the new record, but for the first time I feel like we have a real understanding of each other. does that sound creepy? what I’m saying is I like you. I’m proud that you like us. I’m proud that the people who like our band are strange and interesting. you make us nervous because we care what you think. and just like a marriage, I think we'll know it’s over the day we stop feeling that way. I hope we do the same for you... make you nervous... in a cozy way. warmth. That’s the feeling. you're warm to us.

it makes me want to headline forever. you know?
on the same topic (sorta), all of your support for our record has be overwhelming. It’s no secret what we went through to get this record out, and it’s no secret that we self released and are functioning as our own label, terrible thrills...yay… etc etc etc. and with that, comes the sincerest appreciation from us with every record or song that any of you buy. like I've said, we're not standing behind anyone anymore. just us. so your support is DIRECTLY felt. thanks again. and please continue to encourage your friends and family to support independent and live art. It’s our future for god sakes.

also - thanks for buying vinyl and proving all the assholes wrong who say it’s not worth making. we've dealt with that our whole career. "it’s not worth it" - "nobody buys vinyl anymore" - "they won't care what color the vinyl is or what the packaging looks like." apparently not. you guys have validated all the crazy hours we put into make things that go beyond the CD. for that I can't thank you enough. all the extras like the photo book, 12 inch, 7 inch, companion record, etc. are really important pieces of the puzzle that now make us what we are. thanks for continuously helping us build outward and beyond the obvious.

so I guess I didn't touch on coming home and the harsh adjustment that it can be. probably because I feel happiness writing to you guys right now. so let’s just leave it alone. talk soon - a lot of big news on the way - ok, bye for now - jack

how good was inception? I mean come on. how am I suppose to carry on. TECH SUPPORT!!!!!!!!