The Brakes

~Opening Night of Big Head Todd Tour~

Today we drove west on I-70 from Boulder to Aspen, CO; perhaps the most beautiful mountain drive in the entire U.S. We may have been a little jealous of the skiiers gliding down the slopes along either side of the highway, but we were ready to finally get Winter Tour 2007 rolling (and rocking). The Belly Up in Aspen is a fantastic room and we were treated extremely well by all of the staff, from the Sound Engineer who hooked up a sweet recording of the set, to the caterers who hooked up a sweet dinner of Lamb Chops with all the fixings.

Our first meeting with Big Head Todd and the Monsters and their crew was also very encouraging. Jeremy, their extremely talented Keyboardist and Pedal Steel Player, rocked his "Jim's Steak's" t-shirt representing Philly haaarrrdcooore! And Jeff, BHTM's Tour/Production Manager welcomed us with a smile.

The Brakes played a really solid set, opening this tour oddyssey appropriately with "Boat Trip." Other highlights included "Danger Blues," with Derek on Lap Steel Guitar, and "State of the Union," Zach's new politically-charged American Anthem. All this in front of a sold out crowd on opening night-we could not have asked for more.

We'd like to give a huge thank you to our friend Cal Ecker who was generous enough to put us up in his vacation house in Aspen. Check out his music if you get a chance at www.myspace.com/calecker

1/19/2007 Belly Up Aspen, CO

Setlist

Boat Trip

State of the Union

"Quiet" @ the TLA

The Needle

Hotel Lobby

Danger Blues

Big Money

Sister Mary