DOWNLOAD: Harry & The Potters and Uncle Monsterface, "Half-Vampire, Half-Lightning" (mp3)
Day two: On the Road; Freaks and Geeks; the relative misogyny of Weezer’s “No One Else”; a trip to Ben’s Chili Bowl deferred; an omen in the form of sorority girls; rock, blood, and ice.
Paul: As we depart Brooklyn, Dan reads to us from On the Road. We learned that “the road is life.” Whoa. It pretty much blew our minds. I never read the book, but I did see Lindsey Weir tear it up in that Freaks and Geeks episode.
We made a wrong turn onto 95 and ended up going northbound for a bit before we realized that we probably shouldn’t still be within view of NYC. We debate whether the Weezer song “No One Else” is misogynistic, but it isn’t really much of a debate because general consensus in the van is that it’s more of a brutally honest kind of thing.
Joe: Uproar in the van! Precious time was wasted today during our staggeringly painful detour to refill our gas tank. Still many a mile from the glory of Ben’s Chili Bowl, we take our inability to manipulate the fourth dimension into consideration. We cannot travel through time with the ease of a phone-booth with a naked umbrella on top. After a mutinous debate and several failed attempts at time travel we come to the unanimous decision to postpone our appointment with the stomach-pleasing chili dogs of our dreams, and head straight for the University of Maryland to show them what rock music is all about . . . without drums.
Jesse: We get to the University of Maryland early and ready to set up only to find the venue is still in use by the members of an African-American sorority having a tea party in their finest pastel dresses, complete with hats and gloves. They seem unaware that there is even to be a rock show tonight, let alone that any of us are supposed to be here. Still, we are graciously offered cookies.
Marty Allen: Being greeted by fourteen sorority girls in desperate need of some skilled photography is a sure sign of a good time. Or else a telltale sign of foreboding.
Jesse: It must be pointed out that none of them came to the show, as several pledged to do.
Paul: With the Ben’s trip postponed, we were faced with some rather beguiling dinner options. Apparently Saturdays at the campus center are not the best for the discriminating eater. Amidst Sbarro, McDonalds, Chick-fil-a, and China Panda, we all sort of look at each other and shrugg our shoulders and then look at our watches. Definitely the low point of tour thus far.
Marty Allen: It is worth noting the truly lackluster food available at the undoubtedly-otherwise-excellent University of Maryland. The options, and indeed the environment, are a stark and unsettling and carbon copy of my teenage foodcourt experience, sans the sweet arcade with Street Fighter 2. We tried to break into the deli, gave up, and settled for scamming a package of mysterious chicken parts. Totally recommended, particularly if you value problematic bowel movements.
Jesse: Something we see first in Maryland are a group of girls, wearing the Potters’ “Save Ginny Weasley” t-shirts, holding signs indicating they’ve driven four hours to be here. Having come from Boston, where a 40-minute drive brings you to the edge of the Earth, this seems quite a feat. Marty was at the merchandise table, the real nerve center of the touring rock show, when a girl tells him she’s herself driven two hours to make the show. “You must really like the Potters,” he says. “Yeah, but I mean I came two hours to see you.”
This is amazing to us. Uncle Monsterface has a small but devoted following, mostly through their MySpace page, but it’s the first indication that this thing has taken on a life far beyond us or people we know. It’s gratifying and scary, knowing someone out there is listening.
Marty Allen: After throwing our collective rock sign in the air for the awesome local band the Tasty Habits, we ourselves felt obliged to also rock our own faces off along with those of any fortunate onlookers. Though our set was cut short due to some kooky logistics, I ended it stuck to the floor, shouting through my megaphone, which is precisely how I would prefer to exit this earth.
Paul: We started our set and the crowd was totally awesome and we opened up with our dumb version of “I Wanna Rock” and everyone was partying and then I hit the last chord on the guitar and made some kind of crazy acrobatic rock move that ended with a guitar/face collision between Joe’s mouth and my guitar head. The result of this awesome rock move was that Joe’s mouth starts filling with blood and he tells me that I knocked him in the tooth.
