In April, Strangelight headed to the East Coast for a short but loaded tour to support Material Conditions, their most recent full-length. Traveling with Teardrops —whose lineup includes Jebb and Chris from Doomriders—the band packed a van with gear, LPs, and expectations, hoping the road would meet them halfway.
Tour recap by Strangelight bass player, Ian:
Day 1 – Flying to Boston
Air travel fucking sucks. Flying with a ton of gear sucks worse. We had to get three guitars, drums (snare and cymbals), LPs, and personal effects to Boston where we’d meet up with Teardrops and kick off the tour. Luckily Nat (Strangelight singer) has United Airlines Golden Boy status or whatever from his job, which meant we could check most of that stuff through for free.
It’s still stressful wondering whether the baggage handlers are gonna lose or destroy your instruments, but it’s a lot less expensive. A bunch of us also have AirTags on our equipment so we can see if they made it on the plane.
Tony guards the gear
The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Boston the night before the first show. As old punks do, we made a beeline for Veggie Galaxy and relived the 2000s with some mediocre but very satisfying greasy diner food.
Day 2 – Medford, MA
The first show was the next night at Deep Cuts, a new venue in Medford, MA. This is the club all clubs should try to be. A designated show room that closes off from the bar. A mini record shop. A full rank of wonderfully curated and maintained pinball machines from different eras. Really good bar food with vegan options, half off for bands. Killer.
We met up with the Teardrops guys and immediately hit it off. Chris and I talked for like an hour about old-head hardcore shit and the other guys were cool and personable as well.
Weird Machine opened the show and they were phenomenal. WM are kinda the Electronic Audio Experiments house band: EAE chief John Snyder sings and plays guitar, and the other two guys either work there currently or are alumni. They play compelling, original noise rock with — you guessed it — a smear of cool effects over everything. Teardrops were also fantastic: the songs we’d been listening to have an immediacy live that you just don’t get on the record. I’m also not mad that singer/guitarist Jebb Riley sounds eerily like Spencer Moody of Murder City Devils, one of the greatest rock singers ever.
Teardrops at Deep Cuts
Day 3 – Brooklyn, NY
We all wanted to maximize our time in Brooklyn, so we got up early and hauled ass south. Guitarist Tony does the most of the driving (we were in a full size van with 90% of both bands’ gear) and is preternaturally good at it, even in insane urban settings.
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Our first goal was to get to Superiority Burger on the LES for lunch. We made it there, found a parking spot directly out front, and proceeded to have one of the best meals of my life. I even got to say hello to Brooks and thank him for the amazing meal.
Superiority Burger! Best show of the tour
We’d be playing the East Williamsburg Econo Lodge that night, which is a large-ish room in a rehearsal space complex down the street from Monarch, Meadows, and Wood Shop. Our show was sparsely attended, probably because we were competing with Crown of Thornz and Bayway down the street. (That’s a joke.) Our show was sparsely attended because it was our first time on the East Coast and no one knows who we are. We were treated well and got to see some good friends and we had a good time, so I’ll call it a win.
Day 4 – Baltimore, MD
Up next was the Metro in Baltimore. I had fond memories of previous shows there, and I love that town, so I was hyped to get in. We met up with Rigs of Dad impresario Ross Hurt, had lunch, and ripped a matinee set with Teardrops and Gist. God, I love a matinee show. Pack up early, get some grub, and even make your way to the next city, which we did in this case (Philadelphia).
Day 5 – Day off
The next day was Monday, our only day off of the run. I’m not used to days off on tour (they’re expensive!), but I’ll take a day off over a lame Monday night show anytime. This day off was extra cool because we were able to meet up with our friends Brad from Orchid and Kate and Chris (Wilson of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Titus Andronicus, Hound, etc) and hit the Giants-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. Great hangs were had, and San Francisco demolished Philadelphia. 10/10, would day off again.
Nat, Brad (top), Tony, me, Julia, Chris, and Kate at CBP
Day 6 – Philadelphia, PA
If only the show in Philly was as good! We played a new venue in South Philly (Nikki Lopez) that not many people seemed to know about and again, Teardrops are fairly new as is Strangelight, and the turnout was light.
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We did get to see our dear friends Mike McGinnis and Grim Jim Anderson, however. Catching up with dear friends you don’t get to see often will more than make up for a mediocre show.
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Day 7 – Worcester, MA
I’d never heard of Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcerster, Mass, but apparently it’s legendary. The “diner” part is a legit train-car style diner, while the back part is a two-story bar/club with a live venue upstairs. Black Flag played here in the ‘80s, I’m told.
The show was pretty well attended with old and new friends. The always-awesome Little Low opened (we miss you, MIke and Christine!) and Mountain Man destroyed everyone’s hearing and equilibrium to close it out. They were absolutely ferocious onstage, but couldn’t have been nicer off.
Nat, Brad (top), Tony, me, Julia, Chris, and Kate at CBP
Day 8 – Biddeford, ME
The next night was in Biddeford, Maine, which allowed us to visit the lighthouse on Cape Neddick. It was awesome and made me want to re-read the Southern Reach trilogy. But, you may be asking, why did you play Biddeford, Maine? Is “Biddeford” even a real place? Well, I can assure you that it is, and that the show was awesome. Like 150 kids came out to support us and two local hardcore bands, Retract and Condition, both of whom ruled. Love a remote regional scene like that. The kids are so passionate and they really represent.
75% of touring (20% is watching Forensic Files, and 5% is playing music)
Day 9 – Providence, RI
Friday! Last show! AS220 in Providence. For the whole tour I’d been looking forward to visiting my friend Rich’s restaurant, Providence Vegan Deli. Co-located with Like No Udder vegan ice cream, PVD sells vegan versions of classic deli sandwiches. I got the Frank, a cold cut classic as long as your arm, and the Zeuben. Both were fantastic, and I rounded it out with a giant cone from LNU.
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I hope the residents of Providence appreciate how awesome AS220 is. Most cities don’t have community-run venues like this, much less ones that operate at the highest levels and actually care about the artists that perform there. It’s a really special place. The show was fun, and we took a family tour photo with our now forever friends in Teardrops (see below). As good as the band is, they’re even better people.
Nubble Lighthouse at Cape Neddick
Day 10 – Flying home
The flight home was uneventful except for one thing: Nat’s airline status gives him (and his guests!) access to the Delta Sky Lounge. We had a nearly 2-hour layover in Atlanta, so we hung out in the Sky Lounge for the bulk of that time. This was my first time ever in an airline lounge and frankly, I don’t know if I can ever go back to regular air travel. There are food, soda, coffee, and alcohol bars, and everything is free! I would’ve stayed there forever if my bandmates didn’t drag me bodily from the Lounge.Julia in the ATL Sky Lounge
We all got home safe, and our gear made it too. It was fun and exhausting and thrilling and tedious and fun, the way touring always is. I’m so grateful I get to do this: travel around, see friends, eat great food, and play music for people. Hygge thanks to my siblings in Strangelight, our new brothers in Teardrops, and everyone who made these shows possible by booking, promoting, or attending. See you again soon!
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