The Brakes

~The Midwest is Best~

There seems to just be something about Rock 'n' Roll in America's midwest that just brings the people and the music together in a way that doesn't truly exist anywhere else. Our three day weekend took us from Minneapolis to Chicago, on to St. Louis and then to Cleveland. These three shows, beyond the fact that they were some of the best performances of the tour, were held at three of the coolest venues we've ever seen, and brought us closer to the fans than we've ever been.

In Chicago, perhaps as a band, our most anticipated show of the tour, we landed at The Legendary Vic Theatre. Being an Allman Brothers fan from New York, I feel comfortable calling The Vic "The Beacon Theatre's Really Cool Little Brother." And I can say without hesitation that while I was watching The Brakes' set from the lower balcony area, there were moments during "Danger Blues" and "Big Money" that I could've sworn I were watching "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" or "Blue Sky," respectively. Backstage tonight was relaxed, as we got to hang with and get some professional advice from some new friends including Brian of BHTM. To top off our excellent night, Mervin "Pricelined" 3 ridiculous rooms at the Chicago Hyatt, 32nd floor overlooking all those evil looking skyscrapers of downtown Chicago....amazing...

The Vic Theatre, Chicago Il 1/26/07

Setlist

Boat Trip
RIOT! @ the TLA
State of the Union
Tale of 2 Cities
Danger Blues
The Chase
Big Money
Special

Without question the best performance of the tour up to this point, the show at St. Louis' beautiful Pageant Theatre will undoubtedly go down as a legendary show in The Brakes' history. With pictures on the walls of everyone from Mick Jagger and Aerosmith to NWA and A Tribe Called Quest, The Pageant's big stage helped the boys summon the Big Rock sound tonight. "Song of Imponderables" and "The Bullet" highlighted this set which is likely to one day be released on DVD, as it was professionally video recorded from 6 different angles. On top of all this, the Roasted Chicken with Buttered Pecans that was served backstage was fully top notch...fully maaaan...

The Pageant, St Louis MO 1/27/07

Setlist

State of the Union
Big Money
Dusty Road
Song of Imponderables
The Bullet
Who am I to Be?
Dig

We swiftly left The Pageant at the beginning of Big Head Todd's set to do something that only bands with cozy buses with drivers ought to do-drive 11 hours overnight to Cleveland, then sleep all day at our hotel. Its ok once in a while, but I was beginning to doze in the middle of my snowy and icy 4:00-9:00am driving shift. Alice in Chains' "Unplugged" and the thought of a warm bed kept me going deep into Ohio. Sunday nights in Cleveland-that funny little town near those great big lakes-are probably not historically regarded as a party night the way that say, the 4th of July is in Philadelphia-but damnit, those Clevelandites love their Rock Music! Even the 4+ inches of snow that was falling couldn't keep better than 700 people from coming out to dance and drink and forget about life for a while. The Brakes played a fantastic set, changing up the song order by moving "Dusty Road" and "State of the Union" towards the end.

House of Blues, Cleveland OH, 1/28/07

Setlist

Danger Blues
Big Money
Boat Trip
RIOT! @ the TLA
Hotel Lobby
State of the Union
Dusty Road

In the morning we packed up our gear and headed out to the "Lesbian Segal" only to find that someone had broked in and possibly slept inside! This person was obviously looking for some specific things to steal because they took; an ipod charger, a power inverter, Derek's Eagles winter coat, and Flicker's well-hidden midi-controller, but left items like a Digital Video Camera and Portable DVD player which were both sitting on the front bench, as well as my North Face down jacket and other items which could be very useful if one were say, poor or otherwise in need of stolen goods...So we spent 2+ hours at a friendly diner/gyro stand in Cleveland while our rig was repared...oh Cleveland...