What a weekend

The show on Friday was a little rough. It was our first since our reunion a mere week ago and there were still some kinks to work out, but there were definite high points (Lonely Days was sublime) and some nice peeps in St. Joe, so we enjoyed ourselves.

Saturday was another story altogether: probably the tightest show we've ever played. I pruned the set list to 10 tracks, which seems just about perfect for us. Every time we add more songs it seems to work a little bit less well. I'm sure we could have belted out another song or two, but I always figure that it's better to leave people wanting more.

For those keeping score, on Saturday we played -

Starling
Hey you
Dancing with my friends
Glory be
The more things stay the same
Abigail
Skies
Lonely Days
Morning drive
Flirting with disaster

So two tracks from TOURISM and eight new songs.

Our next show is this coming Sunday at Jerry's Bait Shop in Lenexa. Sunday shows are normally a little bit of a bummer, but since it's labor day that Monday, everyone can stay out and party!

Our schedule is extremely hectic for the next six weeks, culminating in our trip to Chicago. This week, for example, we're practicing on Monday and Thursday, hitting the jam night at Jerry's on Wednesday to promote our appearance on Sunday, when we will rock in full form. Then it's back to rehearsal the very next day.

This level of focus on the band is above and beyond the norm for me, and it puts extra pressure on Steph as she takes care of Tobias even more often than she usually does. And it gets to be hard for us to find quality time, too, since she goes to bed early (Toby wakes at around 5AM) and I'm up late at rehearsals or shows. I'm truly grateful to Steph for being so supportive of all this.


It's an odd thing, because I'm definitely enjoying myself, but I'm glad that it won't be this hectic forever. I'd miss Steph and Toby too much, and it's nice to actually relax once in a while, which I'm not really getting to do right now.

But to everything there is a season, and I'm going to enjoy this time of intensity. Things'll settle down in November, just in time for them to get crazy again for the holidays. :)

Jesse Kates * www.sexyaccident.com