look what we've been up to

It's been a minute since we've posted anything. We're going to have a Keep It Clear interview up soon. Just waiting on the last few questions to be answered. Stay tuned!

A little recap, we rolled down to the Bay Area to play the React Showcase a month ago now . . . doesn't seem that long ago . . . anyway, it was most of the Seattle/Vancouver bands along with Common Cause in two 15 passenger vans and one cargo van. We left around 9:45pm the night of the 8th. The ride down was wild, we listened to a fair amount of Bon Jovi, where Ace and Russel were truly amped. They're pretty reserved dudes, so to see them get ragin' like this was a sight. Met up with CC in Portland, OR where we hit up Voodoo Donuts. A good amount of sitting around waiting for the 3rd van to arrive so we could spread people out a bit more. The sitting arrangements weren't much better, so the next 3 hours were pretty uncomfortable. All in the name of a good time though, right? We did some rearranging somewhere in southern OR and I got to sleep on the floor between some bench seats. Seriously. Better than sitting upright.

Rolled into Redding CA around 9am. Some dudes hit up Denny's, others hit up Del Taco, the rest of us with a sense of rationale went to Jamba Juice. I got a pomegranate smoothie and some organic steal cut oats. Killer. I drove the rest of the way to the Bay area, where we arrived around 1:30pm. Not a bad drive overall. We kicked it at a hotel most of the crew was staying at until we went to Gilman. We arrived, ate pizza, put together records and box sets and just hung out. Show started on time, Damages opened and killed it, bands raged, tons of people showed up, and fun was had. The Not Sorry Crew met up with our friend Karen, went and got some burrito's, then went to sleep. We lucked out and got to stay either in beds or on couches. Not a bad deal. Day 2 started with a top notch breakfast at this place called Herbivore. Pretty earthy vibe which I dug. Good food, good coffee. Walked around a bit, met some dudes at the Ben Sherman store, bought some choice polo's, then headed to the gig. Secret People opened and were awesome. Total Minor Threat vibe. We played 2nd and got a great reaction. We were all psyched. The rest of the show went off like clock work. 7 Seconds got there early, hung out and watched all the bands. It was very legit. They got up on stage and had a blast. Sounded awesome and played everything you'd want to hear. It was a great ending to a great weekend. We went and got more burrito's and did more chillin'. Very cool and very sleepy.

We (read: my lady and I) lucked out and got to roll back to Seattle the next morning with Jim from ON and his lady friend. The rest of the bands packed up and drove back right after the gig. Harsh toke. We stayed with Karen again, then went and got breakfast. Just north of SF, we stopped at a Best Buy, bought some movies and a portable DVD player. We watched some movies on the way back, which allowed the time to pass pretty quickly. Made it home safely around 2am or so? Not a bad drive really and we got to return the DVD player the next day. Our plan worked perfectly. Best Buy didn't suspect a thing!

Overall, the showcase was a smashing success from my perspective. All the bands did great, the crowd was awesome and there was a true sense of community and sharing of ideas, as well as moshing and stage diving. A great mix of all of it. Really exemplified what hardcore could and should be like. I was glad we got to be a part of it. Here's hoping there will be a showcase in 2011.


Up next we're playing Rain Fest, Memorial Day weekend. Tons of great bands are playing. Black SS being the ONE band I'm most excited to see. Not much else is happening in June, then in July we have a show with Mourningside AD and Envision, Sound & Fury, then a weekend with Police & Thieves from DC.

Outside of shows, our record should be done soon. Will hopefully have all the vocals finished up by Rain Fest weekend. Fingers crossed.

Peace.
- NSC
XXX

ps: If anyone has pictures of us from the React Showcase, please contact us here: notsorryxxx@gmail.com. We're working on the layout for the new record and could use some new photos. Thanks.