Doll Fight! NE Tour
Words & Photos by Doll Fight!
Doll Fight! is back from touring with the Big Heavy World van. Here's excepts from their blog and pics from the road. Check Doll Fight!'s original blogs at dollfight.com
SATURDAY MAY 28 - ...Last night we played O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA with The Peasants and Stephie Peeka & the Seeking 7- it was a good show- both the other bands were great, and it’s always nice to share a bill with other talented lady musicians (Seeking 7, seriously, check them out!).
The drive down from Burlington went smoothly but we nearly ran into some catastrophe trying to park the BHW Van on the street in Boston. We found a spot on the other side of the street and were able to turn around in a parking lot, but just as we pulled out of the lot to snag the space, a huge Corona truck pulled up to make a delivery, so we circled the block. Block’s in Boston being a bit more like triangles and parallelograms than actual blocks, this proved quite a feat for us. Jane waited by the space and Christine drove while I tried to figure out how to get back where we came from. In the end we managed it nicely and it all worked out, but then while we were loading our gear into the club, a car pulled up right behind us (when we were in the club carrying things) so close that we couldn’t open the rear doors, let alone get equipment out. Luckily, they didn’t stay too long and we didn’t have to move the van. When we started packing up at the end of the show we ran into this same problem- a car had pulled up behind our van right before we walked out of the club (it was still from running hot and everything) and we ended up circling the block (Christine and I were experts on the area at this point) and pulling up right by the club to pack up, so it all worked out for the best.
Today we’re headed to Fitchburg, MA to play as part of a 2-day show. It’s all ages, $5, and starts at 7pm. Here’s the facebook info on the show. We’re headed out from here in the next few minutes, as we’ve got to get to Fitchburg early. Jane is leading a few drum clinics at a local music and bookstore called The Rabbit Hole this afternoon! Keeping busy!
Aside from my amp issues last night (it just wouldn’t work, and it just got back from the shop “fixed”…. ugh) last night went off without a hitch and was a great time (thanks to The Peasants for the lender amp!)- I expect tonight will be equally as awesome.
SUNDAY MAY 29 - Day two of Doll Fight!’s assault on Southern New England started sticky and humid. By the time we’d cruised down to Fitchburg and loaded the drums into The Rabbit Hole, the rain was bucketing down. A group of (surprisingly young) kids showed up for Jane’s drum clinic, and learned a little something-something about emergency flam tactics and the application of hopscotch to drum grooves.
Kelly’s bass amp had failed onstage in Boston, but our kindly host Ryan of Every Other Country worked some soldering-iron wizardry and we were back in action. Load-in to the UU church for the evening show was smooth sailing (and parking, in contrast to Boston). Loup-Garou kicked things off, and we were all awestruck by the sounds Walter and Setheyny drew from hand-held electronics and volume pedals. Their improvised compositions were all about timbre and dynamics, resonating through the wooden floors of the hall.
We took the stage, turned off the lights, and burned through: Queen of Hostility* Plastic Revolution+ Insomnia* As Emo As We’ll Ever Be Jealousy+ TV & You & Me* Deceptacon (Le Tigre cover) Eris is Anarchy+ While Egypt Was Burning+ Betty Rage* Street Punks (The Pist cover) Morning Again* Rebel Girl (Bikini Kill cover) Songs marked [*] are from our ‘Morning Again’ EP, streaming online here: http://dollfight.bandcamp.com/ Songs marked [+] are slated for recording on our upcoming digital-and-cassette-only EP. Recording starts June 6th.
It was loud, it was incredibly sweaty, and it was a fantastically fun set. There was some outstanding dancing and really sweet comments about our set from the all-ages crowd. Every Other Country killed it with the kind of squirming electro grooves that put a shake directly in your cake. Blacklights and ceiling projections made it all ravey, at least until the power surged and everything cut out into darkness near the end of the last song. Great set.
A midnight snack was in order (DF! had a relatively foodless day) — Kelly and Jane took on the monster that is a Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt. Each. With success. Cheese dreams!
MONDAY MAY 30 - Vera the van trundled further south, keeping us nice and warm with a steady stream of hot air at our faces and into our boots. It was about 90 degrees out. The venue in New London was a long and thin art gallery, with the band lined up against one wall and the audience lined up against the other. It was really, really hot and really, really loud. Apparently especially in terms of drums. We shinily played:
Queen of Hostility* Plastic Revolution+ Insomnia* As Emo As We’ll Ever Be Jealousy+ TV & You & Me* Deceptacon (Le Tigre cover) Eris is Anarchy+ While Egypt Was Burning+ Betty Rage* Street Punks (The Pist cover) Morning Again* Songs marked [*] are from our ‘Morning Again’ EP, streaming online here: http://dollfight.bandcamp.com/ Songs marked [+] are slated for recording on our upcoming digital-and-cassette-only EP. Recording starts June 6th.
A couple of hours at our respective homes and it was time for the Monkey House show. Jane did double-drumming duty with Lanthan Mire then Doll Fight! took the stage. New original songs included ‘Adrenochrome’, ‘Jealousy’ and ‘American Dream’. Kelly dedicated ‘Shitlist’ by L7 to “everybody who’s not here.” She’s a joker!
Doll Fight! thanks everyone who made this tour possible, and a blast: James Lockridge and Big Heavy World, Ryan Scott, Brigitte Ferrante, Joaquin Gouin, Christina Rice, Jon Burnim, Jon Riel, Shred at O’Brien’s Pub, Vic Firth for clinic support and District Drum Company for the gorgeous new snare drum Jane broke in on the trip.