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One of our fave NI bands recently embarked on a mammoth 50 date tour of the US with They Might Be Giants. Here, they begin their exclusive online tour diary. There are highs, lows and some of languages finest nouns and verbs, all displayed with a reckless abandon herein. Dont forget, the lads play Belfast twice in one day on December 15th at the Spring and Airbrake.

Oppenheimer on tour with They Might Be Giants 2007, Part One.

5 Highlights so far...

1) State College, PA

The start of tours are exciting, the unknown road ahead, but they're also uncomfortable, getting to know the headline band, trying to stay out of their space, basically being invisible until they say hello while at the same time trying to get all the things you need to survive.
Thankfully after one day we're starting to feel at ease, we've already been in regular contact with the crew, who have made sure we have everything we need and although Shaun and I are still cautiously hanging out in hallways, our sound engineer, Gerry, is straight in there, telling jokes, eating their sandwiches and calling them bucketheads,
I think they respect him for it.
State College, outside of NYC is our most frequented city, we've played it every time we've toured the states, it's the location of the only Oppenheimer 'bust-up' When soundman placed fist on the back of singers head post Air-horn awakening.
Tonight is a different, but equally enjoyable experience.
It's the first of several Theatre gigs. People are polite, quiet and seated!
The sound is super controlled and there's a troop of strong people to help lift everything on and off stage.
The show is fun, the lighting made it feel like we were playing to no one, with a 主播大秀 sound fx 'Crazy Audience No.7' LP being piped in after each song.
Leaving the theatre after only the second night of tour is a feeling I'll never forget,
People were hanging out to say hello and we left having just realised that Merch. sales were going to get us close to breaking even over the next two and half months, rather than losing the $22,000 we had anticipated.

Rocky.


2) Portland, OR

After 'tense' times in Vancouver, we arrive on our day off in Portland and load up on pizza and tv before an early start the next morning.
We've hired Mississippi Studios, a place we've been to before on previous tours.
It's a great day, because it's the day we complete our new album,
We have a spot of vocals to record and a track to mix and six hours to do it.
We're filling in chorus vocals and dropping in our guest vocals by Matt from The Bronx, which is the strangest feeling.
After working out a few conflicting issues between our files and the studio's system we get there. I love how a track recorded a Belfast bathroom has vocals put down in Los Angeles, is finished in Portland and instantly sent to the mastering house in North Carolina, where emails are sent, mixes are tweaked and album is complete!
A celebration of a show in the Roseland Ballroom in the city that night, after listening to the track at least fifty times!

Rocky.


3) House Of Blues, Anaheim

Every single night of the tour has been the nicest crowd, the most enjoyable performance and the best gig we've ever been allowed to play, so take that as a given every night, that's why I'm rambling about things off stage茂驴陆
Tonight is a packed House Of Blues, in Disneyland -which is harder to get into than the USA itself.
Eventually we're in, and the crowd are so alive, people chanting for airhorns is always a good sign, I almost fall through my Juno and off the stage, but in a hilarious motion I manage to tip my way back from the edge.
As soon as we finish I split, because tonight I am on the list to see The Bronx, who are playing 10 miles down the road in Santa Ana.
After much getting lost I make it time to catch the best punk rock show I have ever seen. It was truly mesmerising. All the stereotypical clich茅s of the band and crowd being one, the room being alive, the band breaking down over-zealous security guards were all shattered and rebuilt with such honesty and integrity. It's without doubt the most inspirational performance I've ever been witness to.
There are at least three members of the crowd on stage at all times, History's Stranglers vocals are split between Matt and a girl from the crowd, face-on to each other, screaming like the world was coming to an end.
After demolishing 'Around the Horn' and briefly returning to play the 50 second long 'Small Stone', Matt thanks the crowd and invites them to Jonny's Bar so "we can all get wasted".
I've brought gifts to say thanks for being on our record, two bottles of Buckfast, as I figured they'd be appreciated, when I dropped them off it was touching to see the band setting up their own merch and before heading out after the show, they're the last to leave the building, boxes of shirts in hand.
Sadly there's no Jonny's bar for me, only an eight hour drive to Tucson, AZ.

Rocky.


4) New York City - CMJ

Our own adventures at CMj were fairly forgettable, technical difficulties ahoy, I guess they've been saving up from the past two years of smoothness in these situations.
Our favourite show is in a basement in Brooklyn, where we go on stage at half past midnight, after four amazing bands have already played. The crowd are agreeable and have been smuggling in lots of beer from a nearby deli.
The best part about this week was watching other bands.
It felt bustling, overflowing with great shows, within two minutes of arriving at the first party we play, we are heckled by the Spinto band from a nearby van and meet
Fred 'F**k Oppenheimer' Thomas from the band Saturday Looks Good to Me.
Watching Fight Like Apes at the Irish showcase was fantastic, seeing so many people bitten by them in the same way I am was a cool thing, hanging out with people from home was nice after five weeks away, it was like we got to go home for one night, but still be in New York City.

Rocky.


5) Moog Music, Asheville, NC

It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I was Charlie Bucket, Gerry was Grampa Joe... I guess that makes Shaun either my mother, Sluggworth or maybe Mike TV?
The front door to Moog music is so unassuming, a small spiral metal staircase beyond it gives no indication that the world's Moogs and Moogerfooger are being lovingly hand made by a small group of enthusiastic, helpful, friendly men and women.
Despite being in the middle of a re-fit, Tony and Jason drag a display rack of moogerfoogers and a Lil' Phatty for us to tweak-on while they crack open my Minimoog Voyager which has a few road scars at this stage of the tour.
They talk us through who made my synthesizer, show us a stack of new models that they are warming up for testing, and talk me through things as they replace keys, mod wheels and give it a tune up.
They also give us spare parts and teach me how to tune it up myself, in case of a road disaster of some sort.
All the while they take calls from random people asking 'how do I make my moog sound like Brian Eno?' They patiently tell them "set knob one to seven, knob two to three..."
Bob Moog's Grammy's and other awards line a bookcase surrounded by Theremins, Synths and pedals, what a very special day... moogenheimer indeed.

Rocky.