Sitting here in Las Vegas..a day off. My throat is shredded all to hell. I got flu sick three days into this short run down the coast and man right now I just wanna rip my throat out and wipe my ass with it, fuck it hurts. We got one more show in L.A tomorrow and then back to the PDX before a one off to S.L.C., where I hope to redeem myself…man, the Mormons and the Heavy Metal Shop treat us like kings and we gonna give ‘em the best damn rockshow ever.

Tour Highlights:

Feb 7, Methford OR
Johnny Bs, this place is an oasis..in the middle of nowhere a great place to play in between Portland and San Fran. Anyway, on the bill tonight are our tour mates the Whipsaws from Alaska, a great bunch, down to Earth, kind to a fault. Hillbilly icon Don Maddox, last surviving sibling of the Maddox brothers and Rose—they recorded on Columbia records from 1950 to 1955—is the real deal. His old 85 year old hands played his fiddle like chocolate, babies and soft rain: It sounded like everything good in this world. He played “One Day at a Time,” the gospel song, and in my drunken swirl I just lost it!!! Man I just lost it,weeped like a baby!! Thee Bastards then followed (jeez) Deke Dickerson…night over…super wasted and I walk out of Johnny’s without my chord bag, pedals, straps, shaving kit and xanax—shit!! I will borrow the Whips’ chords, pedals and straps for the rest of the tour…I am a bum.

Feb 8, San Francisco
The Hotel Utah: haven’t played here since Sonofabitch. The last time was ‘04. Anyway, it’s a great place. The Whipsaws played their nightly kickass set. The Devils Own tore it up. Mark Rogers—the Devils Own’s songwriter and singer—is as good as any songwriter in the country. ANY! look for em on MySpace or Google or whatever, just find him. It’ll be worth it. Opener Keep Sweet sang about Killin’, Fuckin’ and Whoring. A uplifting duo…it was like sitting in drunk church. Anyway, its the party at Marks house after show that gets evil sick…I enjoy myself and partake of things—bad things.

Feb 9, Fresno
Tokyo Gardens. Four songs into the set, voice takes a shit. Show over. Sorry, Fresno.

Feb 12, Lake Forest, CA
Gypsy Lounge, a biker, roots-rock bar in the OC. Home to Drag the River, Two Cow Garage, Hillstomp. I see friends I haven’t seen in years, but by now not only is my beautiful voice (hehehe) going to voice heaven, but I’m sweating and clammy and cold to hot and snot running and blah, blah. Whipsaws play killer. I man up and get through a set. Andy and Allen (Thee Loyal Bastards) do a great fuckin’ job the whole tour…putting up with my bullshit can be a bitch. I am blessed to be playing with these boys. They make being sick go down smooth….

Feb 13, Las Vegas NV
Freakin Frog, Vegas. Place of my birth, where I got spit out on this planet, dry dead desert. We roll in to 70 mph wind gusts, power is going on and off all over the city. The 4 Queens hotel gives us a room that a guy is still sleeping in, and the whole hotel smells like bleachy porn jack stall. I get through the show—see my bros Ivy, Kelly and Mac—by now my throat sounds like how my girl Brittney Spears feels! Quit hatin’ on Britney, bitches! Fuck Vegas!

—D

Links:
Mike D and Thee Loyal BastardSpace
www.myspace.com/thedevilsown “>The Devil’s Own

Bonus: Mike D and the Bastards tackling Two Cow Garage at the Doug Fir.

Photo courtesy of the ‘Space.