Toubab Krewe: October. 2008

We head north into Vermont as October begins.

Lots of delicious Cabot cheese is consumed by all.

Luke's brother Tommy meets up with us in Narragansett, RI.

The next day. Philadelphia. After searching for coffee and snacks we load our gear into The North Star Bar.

D-luv tests out his afro-euromullet look before the show.

Rooftop in Baltimore. Gameday. In the distance you can see one of the many Baltimore Ravens' parties that are going in every direction.

Many dear friends in Baltimore. Among them is King Kong. He hosted an epic post-show cookout.

Luke working on one his djembes on our day off in Baltimore.

(time lapse back to Festivus)
Here is Kong, Luke, Rayna, and Yolanda.

(fast forward back to October 08)

NYC. Suddenly in mass transit systems.

Elliot Heller aka DJ Equal wheels his turntables through the streets and sidewalks of lower Manhattan. I think about 6 blocks in all to get to the Bowery Ballroom.

Rayna Gellert joins us here in NYC for about half a week of shows.

The drive from NYC to Shakori Hills Music Festival takes much longer than expected due to heavy traffic in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Impromptu standstill traffic yoga leads to inventions of new poses. Here, hands display the aerial portion of: Cagey Rockrolling Dog Pose.

Our friends Maggie and Mini-Freddy at Shakori Hills Music Festival. After a wonderful time on stage we are able to catch the last bit a great set by Donna the Buffalo and Preston Frank.

From Shakori we drive to the first annual Loki Festival right outside of Asheville. Many friends and family are there.

Adama Dembele

Barsotti and Doc

Jake Frankel and Raj Racine-Bowers.

Teal, Equal, and Rayna onstage during "soundcheck".

A late night party set with DJ Equal and Friends (Adama Deitch, Drew Heller, Ron Johnson, Papa Mali, David Pransky, and Luke Quaranta).

Maqi and friends.

(cue sunrise)

D-luv and Doc

From Asheville we head to Columbus Ohio.

Atreau the next day in Ann Arbor. We have a great time playing at the Ark and afterwards down the street at The Circus Bar.

Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Setting up for the show.

A post-show party spills into the apartment building entanceway.

Minneapolis.

Stars and Stripes.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....

...OMBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out a zombie bar crawl is taking place across the Minneapolis. The streets and sidewalks are literally filled with zombies. Calls of "Brains! Braaaiiiinnnsss! Mmmmm, braaains!" can be heard in every direction.

Instead of applause, our audience calls out for more "brains" between songs.

Zombies under highway overpasses.

Zombies eating late night brains.

Berkeley based Antioquia rocks a rowdy set to appreciative zombies down the street.

From the grisly territories of Minneapolis we escape to Fargo, ND. This giant missile gives me a sense of security.

This Buffalo Wild Wings gives us a sense of how well the NY Giants are playing football this season.

From Fargo we head to Montana and then on to Washington. Lots of open skies and beautiful drives.

The General and Doc watch the hills roll by.

Approaching Seattle.

The General steers us into town.

Equal meets us at the Space Needle. A four show west-coast run with DJ Equal begins.

We head to Eugene and then Portland. Much much fun in the Pacific NW.
Equal drinking coffee before soundcheck.

Atreau finds the bowling alley/bar in Portland. On the walk to the Grand Central Bowl we see lots of good skate spots. We walk back to the bus to get our skateboards.

Atreau getting some runs in. (switch frontside board)

(drive south towards Arcata, CA)
Equal and sunset.

We arrive in Arcata early enough to get a couple of drinks at The Alibi. Northern California is beautiful. Amazing trees. Harvest moon.

Halloween. San Francisco.

We begin in hoods and orange prisoner-of-war suits. Mid-show we're unhooded by Uncle Sam as played by Atreau. We have a strange but great time. The first 3 songs we play we are entirely blind. Even when the hoods come off, the masks make the visual world disorienting. For example, looking for Dave and seeing Dick Cheney smiling back is...frightening.