“he really needs a phone” - road trip #2, Davis, California
I am not lying when I tell people that I have more friends in the Sacramento area than I do in the entire Bay Area. So when I found out that Limbeck, one of my all time favorite bands who I hadn’t seen in almost a year were going to play with my good friends Push Push Pull in one of my favorite cities, Davis, I was excited. I had been really looking forward to this show. It was about a week after Olivia’s 18th birthday so we had plans to do “18 year old stuff.” Her mom gave her 18 dollars, so she could buy lighters, lottery tickets, and cigarettes if she wanted. We planned to head up to Davis early so we could hang out with Peter or whoever because her school is having finals this week and luckily, she doesn’t have any and I was done with school at 11:40. After school I went to get Olivia after making a few stops to get some essentials (Nips!!) and we were off to Davis. We stopped at Luckys to Coinstar it up and so Olivia could get some money so she could pay off her debt to me. We got over the bridge and I had realized I left my TomTom charger at home, and since Peter still doesn’t have a phone we couldn’t contact him we changed our plans to hang out with Dan. We stopped at a Walgreens so I could get a USB cord and Olivia bought her first lighter! Exciting, I know. After that we headed to a gas station so that Olivia could buy some lottery tickets and blacks. I bought 1 lottery ticket as well (AND ONE TWO DOLLARS!!) and Olivia bought about 5 and one 1 dollar. After all our 18 year old stuff we were in full swing to Davis. We got to Dan’s, went to downtown Davis, and we walked around, realizing there isn’t a whole lot to do in Davis. We went to a liquor store so that Olivia could finish spending her 18 year old money on lottery tickets, and I think she won maybe another dollar. After that we headed back to my car to pick up my friend Kelley. Once we got Kelley we went to Hawaiian BBQ and a teahouse place in Davis. After Dan and I ate we decided to just head to the show and this I when the real exciting stuff happens. Peter had all of the band’s gear and Peter has no phone. Dan, Gary, and Peter didn’t know if Peter was going to meet everyone at the show or at Gary and Dan’s apartment. Dan, Kelley, Olivia and I spent a good hour waiting to see if we’d be able to find Peter at UC Davis, while Gary and Robert waited at the apartment. After a while, Kelley and I went to the show was going to be to see if we could find Peter, of course we had no luck. We headed back to here Dan and Olivia were and they were like “Peter’s here! Gary’s friend called Gary and told him that Peter is here!” We walk back to where the show is and still didn’t find Peter but we were told that he was parking. After a lot of stress and frustration we find Peter, with just about everything the band owns. We load in and set up the merch and I say hi and catch up with Limbeck. We hung around a bit. It’s about 7:15 now and the show is supposed to start at 7:30 and the sound guys haven’t even finished setting up the sound, so people are starting to get restless. Eventually, the sound guy decided to make an announcement that he is trying to EQ everything and that he needs it quite so everyone needs to leave. Everyone was REALLY thrilled with that idea. More time goes by and I talked to one of the other bands that was playing that night and find out that one of them works at Mama Buzz in Oakland which is where I saw BoomSnake, ATK, and Snufflaluffagus. It was pretty crazy our intertwined our lives were. While we are waiting for everything to get set up, I start to talk to Davis, who is in Hazel and Vine which is another Sactown band. Finally, around 8pm the show starts and I head back to the merch table so that somebody is there. Push Push Pull played a pretty good set and they sold a lot of merch so that was exciting. The 2nd band that I made friends with took the stage, they are called The New Trust and they are from Santa Rosa. They were alright, nothing to great, I think they were having an off night. Finally, Limbeck took the stage. Acoustic. It’s always great to seem them play acoustic, I love them as a full band as well. I just love them in general. They are a great road trip band, they just makes you smile. They played so well. 14 songs let’s see if I can remember all of them Don’t Turn Around, She’s Not Worth It, The Sun Woke Up The Whole State, Reading The Street Signs, Keepin’ Busy, Big Drag, Sunset Unlimited, Home Is Where The Van Is, Honk And Wave, Making the Rounds, Silver Things, Julia, Parking Lot, a NEW SONG, and Sea Of Heartbreak. Definitely a solid set. Plus, Robb serenaded me, what more could you ask for. Robert said to me at one point is he is like how I was with Limbeck with his favorite bands, just standing there alone, taking everything in, with a big smile, being 110% content with life, and that my friends, is the best feeling in the world. After their set, I finished up with the stragglers for Push Push Pull merch. Oh, and sometime while we we were waiting I bought a Limbeck hoodie for 20 bucks. Which is such a sweet deal. Olivia got all 3 CDs they had for 3 bucks, which is a sweeter deal and Kelley bought their Tour EP for a buck. I said my goodbyes to the Limbecks and made they promise it wouldn’t be another year, Pat said they were going to be in San Francisco soon, I can’t wait. To this date I have never paid to see Limbeck. After everything was cleaned up we went to In N Out with Push Push Pull, Davis, Mickey, and Gary’s friend. As usual, it was a good time. My favorite quote from the night “so you know Phil from the Rugrats…” another one was “how do you feel about dicks and balls just flying everywhere?” We finished up at In N Out and said our goodbyes. Gary asked if I could take his friend home because I needed to take Kelley back and they lived near each other, so it was no problem. Gary came with us so it wouldn’t be awkward. I dropped Kelley and Gary’s friend off at their homes and then stopped to get gas before taking Gary home. We took Gary home and since I had to use the bathroom we went inside to relieve ourselves and take a Polaroid pictcha. We talked a tiny bit more and than really had to leave because it was about 1:15. We uneventfully got home, I dropped Olivia off at home in Albany, headed home and got home safely around 3am.
It was a good trip. Full of good friends, good people, and good music. Road trip #2 thank you for being stressful but not nearly as stressful as road trip #1.
