~A 'Monster' of a Show~

The show at The Whiskey Roadhouse in Council Bluffs IA was a truly unique experience for The Brakes. Just a few days ago we experienced a bit of panic when we were told that our drummer, Josh "Young Squire" Sack, just 10 days short of 21 years, was not going to be allowed to set foot inside the venue because it is inside of a casino! Now, we've played two other casino shows in our history (Summer 2004 @ The Borgata Atlantic City NJ with Moe., Chris Robinson and New Earth Mudd, and, low and behold, Big Head Todd and the Monsters!...and January 2006 @ House of Blues Atlantic City side stage for Phil Lesh and Friends) but, perhaps out of their ignorance of his age, the venues allowed Josh to play.

In a normal situation, this would have crippled our performance for the night. But our new friend Brian Nevin, the rock-solid-rockin' drummer for BHTM stepped in and did a phenomenal job learning 45 minutes worth of The Brakes' (as well as a couple of covers) tunes with a soundcheck-and-a-half worth of rehearsal time. Big thanks go not only to Brian, but to the BHTM crew for helping to make that happen!

1/23/2007 The Whiskey Roadhouse Council Bluffs IA
Setlist

Boat Trip*
State of the Union*
Empty Pages*^
Rose in the Desert%
Younger Days*
Dusty Road*
Born Under a Bad Sign*#

Notes: NO JOSH SACK
*w/Brian Nevin of BHTM
%Zach Solo

^Traffic cover
#Traditional

Colorado -> Utah->Iowa ~ Feeling Right at Home
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Even though yesterday was technically a "day off," it may have been the most strenuous day of the trip to this point. After 2 more really successful dates in Grand Junction CO and Park City UT, we were up at 9am and drove clear across Wyoming and Nebraska in icy conditions and with 7 of us in the van. Here's the cast:

Zach Djanickian- Lead Vocals, guitars, bass
Adam Flicker- Keyboards, Trumpet, Vocals
Derek "McFly" Feinberg- Slide Guitar, Lap Steel, Vocals
Matt Kass-Guitars
Joshua Sack- Drums, Percussion
Mike "Mervin" Polans-Tour Manager
Jamie "LambyNates" Harris-whatever needs to be done

So from Park City to Council Bluffs was the absolute drive from hell-20+ hours on half-iced roads and winding mountain passes. Lets just say that the beauty of the Rockies wears off at night when you can't see the mountains and the windows are completely iced over.

But we're still doing great due largely to the extreme kindness of the new friends we've met over the past 3 nights. In Grand Junction, while at the merch table, Josh and I met Heather Settle, a lovely young rock fan who happened to be the manager at the local Holiday Inn Express. She liked The Brakes so much, and I guess we were vibin' together because she hooked us up with 2 unbelievable suites with the manager's discount. On top of that, the band put on an upbeat and raucus set at The Mesa Theatre. Opening with the bluegrassy "Younger Days" followed by "Boat Trip" set the tone early, and the crowd really responded to danceable pop feel to start.

In Park City Utah, we were blessed to come in contact with Jon Romandy. Jon is part of the managerial/promotional team at "Suede," the third stop on the tour. He, along with his lovely wife Kathy, are perhaps the most friendly and accommodating people we've ever encountered on the road. They offered to have us stay at their home nestled in the mountains of Utah and cooked up some delicious Lasagna and Meatballs at 2:30 in the morning.

1/20/2007 Mesa Theatre Grand Junction CO
Setlist

Younger Days
Boat Trip
Song of Imponderables
The Needle
RIOT! @ the TLA
The Chase
Big Money
Special

1/21/2007 Suede Club Park City UT
Setlist

Boat Trip

RIOT! @ the TLA

The Needle

State of the Union

Dig**

Tale of 2 Cities

Big Money

**Josh broke his bass drum head during the jam of Dig. Zach began Tale of 2 Cities solo, and when Brian (of BHTM) was done saving the day by allowing Josh to use his bass drum, the full band entered.