COLD WAR KIDS

So we played some wild shows these last two weeks. Thanks to all of you for coming out.  It’s incredible to be playing new songs from the EP and to have the whole crowd singing along!  We are going underground this week for a couple months of recording in Nashville. This experience will be unlike any other recordings we have made and we can’t wait to share it with you.

We’re back in Long Beach now.  We couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant final show in Lyon, France last night.  Officially the oldest venue we’ve played in, (2000-ish years old.  Roman times.) Maust is kicking himself for not greeting one “white polka-dotted, black dress” woman he caught out of the corner of his eye snapping a photo during soundcheck.  If anybody knows of her whereabouts, he’d like to know.  She had long black hair. 

We are in Rotterdam NE today with three more shows to this Euro tour.
Touring of Loyalty to Loyalty is coming to an end. Maust picked up some
father & son Fez hats in Istanbul for his brother’s early Christmas gift. All the
mosques were closed but we had a good time hustling the Grand Bazaar.

Wrapping up another European tour out here in France. We will be back over
the summer a few more times for festivals (our first time in Turkey & Luxembourg!)
Otherwise our goal for the summer is to finish The Wire, get caught up
on 30 Rock & write our next record. We’ll leave you with an atypical backstage
image.

All is good in Chicago. The tour has been full of surprises and new friends in all of Ra Ra and DCFC.

For those of you following runforwaterwells, I have not been crawling, nor am I being wimpy. Ben and I went on a run the other day and his ipod said 4.8 miles and mine said 1.6. I hate excuses too, but I am really raging against the machine here. I’m pretty sure that mine is fixed now so I have got some serious make-up miles to do narrow the gap. Wish me luck and pass me some water if you see me in the street. 

Checking in from snowy Rochester, NY. Here’s the new stuff:

1. First show with Death Cab for Cutie and Ra Ra Riot last night in
Toronto went swimmingly. Gonna be a good month.
2. Ben Gibbard and I are doing a benefit for Water Wells for Africa
that involves lots of running and hopefully raising some funds.
Check it: RUN FOR WATER WELLS
We are using the ipods that track your miles and we post them online.
Ben is a real runner and I am already behind, so today I ran 4 miles through
Rochester’s gray and sleet and looked at my ipod and was grief stricken
when I realized I had done something wrong and had no miles. Will
get back on the horse tomorrow.
3. We did an online only video for I’ve Seen Enough with director Sam
Jones. It aspires to shatter all molds of existing online music
videos and will be posted end of April I think. 

Alright Alright people! A little update is in order. Let’s talk about what has been
and what is to come. We have been home for a few weeks now working on
some magic in the studio. But there is too much to say so we must use bullet points(!):
1.Our week in Oz was incredible, once again, thanks!
2. We have SXSW coming in a couple weeks, just one show with M Ward.
3. On the homefront, we are super excited about playing the downtown LA Orpheum.
Aveiro saw PJ Harvey play a year or so ago there and he still has not recovered.
4. We have a new daytrotter session up for grabs. DAYTROTTER.
5. And finally, we are looking forward to a month with Death Cab for Cutie. We are hitting a lot
of towns we haven’t been to for a while, so hopefully you can come out!
Also, Vern Moen has cut up a vid for “I’ve Seen Enough” that you can find out
there on the web.  I’ve seen enough.

We went to see Woyzeck in Melbourne. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis did all the music.
Those guys might as well be the Prime Minister and the President of this country.
They rule it. 

We had a little dive contest off of this deck. We were warned not to stay out for
long because the sun shines a little brighter on the Aussies and skin cancer
is no joke. Also as we walked into the venue, a really big spider bordering
on tarantula size ran up Maust’s leg. We smacked it off of him while a fan knelt
down to make sure the spider wasn’t harmed. Apparently the education system
down here really emphasizes respect for animals. We think that’s great, but the
jury is out on whether it should apply to spiders.