It seemed a little weird on the way down to Plymouth last Saturday that we were going to be playing in the back room of an Indian Restaurant, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by The Guru Indian Grille and Music Bar in Plymouth, MA. It seems that Bones, the promoter for the evening, has been putting on some good shows of heavy music on the weekends there. Jim regularly frequents these shows, and it was definitely his night as it seemed the whole crowd knew of “Metal Jim.” The sound man was excellent as well, paying close attention to the entire set, was super easy to work with, and actually took the time to make sure everything was sounding good, instead of the usual quick rush-rush job that most sound technician’s do. We got some decent merch sales, and I even heard we made a few bucks at the door, and that Bone’s wants to have us back. You like us, you really like us!?!?
“Beer is proof the God loves us and wants us to be happy” — Benjamin Franklin
Part II — Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, or, the exceptionally long blog to make up for the lack of beer blogs for about eight months
In no particular order:
String cheese is a great snack to bring, but I must bring more next time. It went too fast.
Mad Libs are a great way to pass the time in a parking lot. (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Dimock!)
Strapping Young Lad is almost too metal for their own good.
I can sleep just about anywhere, and in the most uncomfortable position, if I am tired enough.
Jim sleeps like a cat. 😀
Never get a salad at a 24 hour greasy spoon diner at 6am.
On a recent trip to San Diego, CA to see my good buddy Austin, I had the pleasure of checking out the Stone Brewing Company, located in Escondido, just outside of San Diego. Stone is one of the more well known microbreweries… they are the ones that have all the cool gargoyle designs on the bottles. I didn’t get the chance to do an actual brewery tour, but we did eat at their “World Bistro and Garden.” I had no fucking clue what a “Bistro” was. Now I know… it’s a really fancy, swanky restaurant. The food was a little on the expensive side, but it was really tasty, and they have some pretty unique things to serve up.
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” — Benjamin Franklin
Part I — Late Winter / Early Spring
One of the best aspects of Microbreweries is the vast variety of beers that each brewery releases over the course of the year. Seasonal releases, limited one off batches, and new additions make for an exciting line up of beers that change as the year does. The following is a list of just some of my favorite brews that are out right now. Many are from the New England area, as I am born and raised in Massachusetts and I like to support the local guys, but there are some very notable brews from other areas of the country as well. So here we go…. no fizzy yellow beers allowed!
You never know what you are gonna get when you play at a club for the first time. Every club has it’s own upsides, and of course has it’s own downsides, quirks, and other weird happenings. The Atlantic, in Springfield, MA had it all. Before I get into the downright ugliness, let me mention the good things. It was a very big room, had a huge stage (I think the biggest I’ve ever performed on), and a great looking sound system. I say “great looking” coz we didn’t actually get to play through it. We were playing through a much smaller PA brought by the sound guy, which was not much different than what we practice with at home. But I digress…