Diary entry #1

[Brady]

OZMA / RENTALS RETURN TOUR 2006 - DIARY #1
   posted on July 24th, 2006 by Daniel

Just got into Seattle, WA where we’ll be playing later today… we left LA in a hurry on Saturday morning, everyone low on sleep, driving our new diesel van, which Aaron Stuart of Piebald just converted to run on USED VEGETABLE OIL. We’ve already logged about 1500 miles and made 5-6 stops to pick up used grease, mostly from Chinese & Thai restaurants. It’s kind of gross digging through someone’s old peanut oil, but then I’ll remember that gas is $4/gal and this fuel is FREE. (The omnipresent french fry smell is actually kind of comforting if you can put yourself in hippie mode.) Check out GreaseNotGas.com for more info and to find out how to get any diesel auto converted. Much better for the environment and global economy… did I mention it’s FREE FUEL FOR YOUR CAR??

Anyway we’re stoked on our grease van and TOTALLY stoked to be on tour with THE RENTALS. The show at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Saturday was epic, the Rentals set really brought the house down, especially “Friends of P” in which Ryen wailed a guitar solo whilst standing above the crowd, atop a pillar. Rachel, Sara, and Lauren are sounding so sweet on the backup harmonies, really great players all around, breathing new life into their songs. It’s a real joy to be supporting them on their first tour back in action. I know a complete mp3 bootleg has already shown up from the Henry Fonda Theatre show in LA… look through the Ozma or Rentals forum boards to find em.

Before leaving for tour we did preliminary mixes of a 4 song OZMA demo, produced by Billy Burke. The songs we’re focusing on are Barriers, Straight Flush, Hands on the Wheel, and Kid Icarus. We’ll be rotating them into our live set on this tour, along with a couple others. Kenn sounds great on the drums, and we’re so glad to be out on the road playing music for all our friends around the country. Tonight we rock onward over Puget Sound!! You better think about it baby!!!!