i went to bed at 3AM. doug called me at 7AM and i remember this because all i could think was , nooooo, i just went to sleep! somehow i managed to wake up and get ready to leave.

we hit the road at 8.30, making a stop at sara’s [i had to drop off some flyers for a show] and then we were on I-95. it was perfect and sunny. not a drop of traffic in sight until we hit DC. it should come as no surprise that the highway system in our nation’s capital is as fucked up as our government. i always warn bands about this city and new york: you will ALWAYS hit traffic.

we made it through in one piece and took a driving break somewhere outside quantico. we hit more traffic outside richmond. and then there was the rain.

it started pouring almost immediately as we crossed the state line. im talking about the kind of rain that doesnt get things drenched, it floods towns. i made the decision to continue on, even though i could barely see out my windshield. [note: as i type this section, it just began raining heavily, here in philadelphia]

somehow, we made it to ned’s home in chapel hill safely and took a quick break before getting dinner at carrburritos before the show.

the rosebuds kicked off the festivities, just as rocking as the night before. however, i was too tired to rock. and i was too tired to watch quiet bands, so i met up with my friend julie and took a walk down franklin street during richard buckner’s set. i came back in time for the essex green, who were a more rocking version of the ladybug transistor [they share bandmates, of course]. unfortunately, i discovered a dark corner where i could sit and fell asleep during their set. i woke up in time for m ward and was lulled into a sleep [again] but his hypnotic guitar playing and dreamy vocals.

the naps proved to be the perfect ammunition in my fight to see superchunk, as i was completely refreshed by the time they hit the stage. and what a show it was.

first thing that would have been visible to you was that laura is very pregnant. she’s such a tiny lady and now there’s this huge bulge on her body and right below it is a bass guitar slung quite low. julie took a great photograph of her:

dont let her pregnant demeanor fool you though, she rocked hard. if you’ve got the bandwith, check out her brief clip of the band performing “precision auto”. the sound quality is awful but i think its a great example of the band in action and pretty close to what being there felt like, especially if you were pogoing around like me.

the other noticeable thing about the band was a lack of additional instrumentation. no extra keyboards or egg shakers [which a friend mercilessly mocks superchunk for]. just superchunk.

the set was reverse chronological order, so they started off with their newest track, “freaks in charge”. the rest of the set list:

Late Century Dream
Art Class
Hello Hawk
The Majestic
European Medicine
Detroit Has A Skyline
Like A Fool
The First part
Precision Auto
Throwing Things
Shallow End

Can I Ride [polvo]
Slack Motherfucker
Brand New Love [sebadoh]
Fishing

What do I

ash bowie of polvo came out in the encore to sing “can i ride”, ditto for lou barlow on “brand new love”. ash’s long hair made me think of “strangers with candy” and i wanted to call him chief big bong. dont ask me why. im retarded like that. jon came out from behind the drumkit and sang “fishing”.

the final encore included “what do i” because as mac said “its the only song we have left!”

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2004 at 6:13 pm and is filed under live performances.