Home Sweet Home Sort of...(by founder Gail)

Well we are back and as always its bittersweet - being on tour is amazing, chaotic, wild and wonderful - one day you are leaving and the next day its all over! Its nice to sleep in your own bed but I think we all miss the road, good thing we have CMJ coming up on Tues and can all be together again!

The last day of tour we returned to Baltimore, MD and the Sidebar and in typical rock and roll fashion even though we were on time for our 6pm load in the club staff showed up about 6:45pm, but we were such pros by then getting ready and started on time was no problem! Thanks to Chipotle we had some yummy eats and everyone got fed for a change!


Even though it was the last night the core bands did not skimp one bit on the energy and all performed awesome kick ass sets - G-spot me took their turn at being last and I was so jacked up on the energy I didn't want to stop but the club curfew precluded me from doing an encore! We also enjoyed the beautiful pipes and craziness of Zoi (Zoey) from ZoiRose and the other locals,Victims of Experience and Elise Major rocked the house as well!

Exhausted but satisfied we headed off to Delaware to spend a final night with our friends Bethany and Mike we were revved up for a big party but during the long drive most of us passed out in the van! But we did wake to a home cooked meal and the celebratory Road Mger cake! Thanks Bethany and Mike for your fantastic hospitality one again!

Then Sunday was a long drive home and lots of drop offs! But we made it and I am pretty sure most of us would do it again in a heartbeat! I know I would! Love and gratitude to all the GRGR band members, road managers and local bands! Keep on rockin'

Pittsburgh: Breakdowns and Tattoos Galore

Just when you think things can't get any crazier, one of the youngsters ups the ante! Yesterday began with a happy hangover after our Ohio shows, albeit with a heavy dose of exhaustion. And then the America's Sweetheart van broke down. After that we finally got to beautiful Pittsburgh -- an oasis of a town, with houses atop green, green hills, cute little indie coffee shops and tattoo parlors snuggled between pubs and live-music venues.

It sucked a little at first, though. The doorman mandated that all citizens of the Girls Rock & Girls Rule '08 Tour that were under 21 stay far, far away from the club except during their own sets! This extreme rule applied to band members AND roadies, too! Damn. We were so spent only to be torn down another level. But optimism reigned queen, and after blockbuster, fired-up sets by the Sweethearts, Marisa Mini and G-Spot, Morgan decided to get a tattoo across the street (a bass clef on her calf). And where one good idea goes, others follow.

Guitarist Dave, whose life philosophy includes something to the effect of "if you pay for my tattoo, I'll get anything done," was challenged to do just that by roadie Steve. According to legend, Paris dared Dave to get a tattoo of Buddha Gary's face on Dave's ass, and Steve perked up and offered to pay for it!

Ha ha, wait till you see this thing (it's smack on his pale butt cheek -- and wearing red-heart shades!)

Gail capped off the night by getting inked, too! Her very first tat, which we're calling "little G" (the GRGR logo on back of the left shoulder), is quite something!

Now, spirits on high, we're headed to Baltimore! Please come out to the Sidebar tonight if you're in town. Over and out!

Of Bloody Concussions and Kentucky Journeys

Day 6 ended with a bloody concussion at Third & Lindsley, where an angst-ridden Dave accidently mashed Bryant and Marisa in the head with his axe during an especially passionate cover of “The Passenger.” Too bad Kink Ador, which performed a solid, groovy contempo-rock set only moments before, had left the building for a bit of mingling. So did the guys from the Nashville Scene, though not after snapping pics of the talented locals.

Some of us chose to hit the main strip in Nashville to check out the scene (Paris, Dave, Rew, and the rest of America’s Sweetheart). Others went back to the moldy-ass Rodeway Inn to nurse colds (Gail), and the lame ones among us (me, Morgan, Gary), opted for sleep. But sleep is rejuvenating, no? And therefore, not lame!

Day 7 began with a mad scramble out of that nasty hotel, which some (Marisa) felt was so gross even a small shower couldn’t be taken (not to mention Nashville’s tap water doesn’t hold a candle to sweet Brooklyn’s nectar-like faucet drippings).

But with Steve’s impeccable driving, an idyllic, tree-and-hill view from a pit stop in Kentucky, and Morgan’s glee over setting foot in Cracker Barrel (she practically bought the whole store), this leg of the tour isn’t too terrible. But Jovan singing Plain White Tees’ “Hey There Delilah?” Freaking terrible!

We in the 14-person cargo van don’t get to see much of Chris, Val and Trish. They’re busy chugging along in the “Sweetheart Van.” But we do catch glimpses of the lanky lad Chris running around a club, guerilla-filmmaker style, snapping up interviews and music with his tiny white video recorder. The Sweethearts have the best outfits, hands down, especially with Paris and her glitter makeup, cut-up animal-print tees and sequined skirts.

Yes, when you’ve been on the road for a week with 19 other musicians and roadies, a little bit of creative boredom (and restlessness) sets in. Songs take on a life of their own, and everyone hops onstage to grab a mic and sing a chorus of “uh-oh” or “even the mighty fall” or “boys, I like boys!” Band members bleed. It’s a big striptease contained inside the bubble of a love fest. Or something like that. The outside world seems so, so far away!

Tour Highlights, on Day 7

Aw, man. I don't know what's better: The cowboy hat-wearing dames of South85, shakin’ up a storm in the cigarette smoke clogged club Ground Zero, in Spartanburg, S.C., or Nashville's Kink Ado and Shotgun Diary, who shared the stage with us last night.

Oh, and before we forget, here are a few more tour highlights (by Adi, Gail and Marisa):

* Chris, doing more and more backbends while America’s Sweetheart rocks out, all the GRGR ladies singing backup vocals with Val, Trish and Paris.

* Adi’s almost constant channeling of the heavenly spirits and all the “amazing healing energy” created on this tour.

* Gail and Adi doing Kundalini in the parking lot at the Waffle House (we have now been dubbed by the waitresses as “new millennium hippies”)

* Late night confessions and channeling combined with body art -- stop by the girls’ room to join in!

* Gail’s multiples during the performance of their new song “Afterglow” joined by 10 lesbians and Dave almost dropping the guitar on her head! Then, in Nashville, Dave finally did drop the guitar on Bryant's head and nearly knocked him out (we'll post the bloody photo shoot later!).

* Adi asking Gary if he needs anything -- And his response “yeah I need a blow job.” (Any takers out there? The boy is working hard!)

* Rew tying up Bryant as part of her awesome stage antics!

* All the people Rockin’ out with Loki the Grump and Michele during “Fine” at Local 506. Wanna sing along? The chorus is “fucked up insane neurotic emotional!”

We don't love when it rains... (by Steve)

I am currently sitting on the balcony of our hotel in Georgia and it is pouring outside. I gotta say that as much as I love listening to thunderstorms and watching lighting, rain is not very friendly to guitars and amps.

Last night's show in Tucker, Georgia, was a blast. I want to thank Noisy Planet for coming out to the show. They are one of our amazing sponsors and I recommend you all checking them out.

This post is going to be short because we got to hit the road and head to Nashville. Everyone is so excited for to go there and we will definitely get you some photos/videos. Until then, below is a video montage of what has been going on so far. Enjoy the song "ParTy 2nite" by the one and only Rewbee who has been doing an amazing job each night.

Until next time.

Day 4, Somewhere in the Carolinas

On Day 4, somewhere between the adorable college town of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Spartanburg, S.C., it occurs to me that on this early autumn Monday, most everyone we know is at work.

Gail and I, having forgotten what day it was when we woke up didn’t become any more aware at the Waffle House on the side of the road, where we (with Morgan, Gary and Jovan) went for a 2 p.m. lunch of grilled-chicken salads and burgers.

Yes, a 2 p.m. lunch! We’re getting up at 10:30 and 11 a.m., some earlier than others depending on who needs to shower, shave, blog or spoon (Dietmar and Michele, etc.) I’m taking the occasional press call between applying makeup, charging my cell phone and trying to navigate my thoughts between eight different conversations! Crazy stuff!

We’re knee-deep in this, baby, and there ain’t no turnin’ back!

Last night, between Bryant getting dancers to mosh and jump around onstage balls-out, we conjured Mars while trying to mimic the Norfolk/Hershee Bar experience of the night before.

But as much as the divey bar and cute cobblestone streets were a charming accompaniment to the super-fun Princess & The Criminals and Pink Flag, I doubt we’ll able to recreate Night 2 in Norfolk.

Would we want to, though? Princess & The Criminals’ pop-punk, female-fronted aggression inspired me so much. America’s Sweetheart set was the best I’d seen yet twice (first at the North Carolina Sam Ash show, then at the club). These were just two yummy morsels in a feastful night, which unfolded, gently, into another great time. Everywhere you looked, there was Bryant in his bleach-blonde hair and Bad Bains tee, causing a ruckus! Or Gail, shaking her booty, or Donald, under the influence, inviting a fair dame or three back to his hot tub for some shrimp cocktail.

We awoke on Day 4 in good spirits, having slept a full 5.5 hours!

What will the stage hold for us at a club that calls itself Ground Zero, in the heart of South Carolina? We’ll keep you updated. Over and out.

Day 3: Life Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!

It’s Day 3, and we barely have time to sleep, let alone blog! Let’s just say the last two days of tour, in D.C. and Norfolk, Va., have been THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!! I think the rest of the group agrees with me (Marisa Mini) here -- it’s been pretty magical!
Some highlights:

* Stuffing 14 people into a passenger van on time -- and getting the heck out of dodge.
* A pierced gas attendant named Twiggy buying Marisa’s CD in New Jersey; a streaky haired chick hitting on Bryant.
* Adi’s mad fun MC skills/Dancing on the tables at Norfolk’s Hershee Bar with the lesbians.
* Hourly catfights at the Hershee Bar.
* Watching Jovan vomit his brains out in the van (Phil’s favorite experience was cleaning it up).
* Jovan getting head in the bathroom by some woman. And he’s not messing with us (he says).
* Gail’s fun times flirting with Ricardo, who took her out for a glass of wine during Marisa’s set in Washington, D.C.
* Victoria Vixen, Marisa Mini’s hot burlesque dancing friend, stripping to “The Passenger” (and Dave from G-Spot playing guitar in unison with Bryant!).
* Curly and The Rocket -- the husband-wife team of Adrienne (drums, vocals) and Peter (guitars) -- putting The White Stripes to shame. They rocked! D.C. peeps, check them out ASAP.
* Adi and Gail riding on the back of a big dude’s bike to kill time before the rush of pussy.
* Jovan -- “The woman at the bar said in order to get a shot you’ll have to show me your penis.”
* New road manager Gary, petting a stray cat outside the Hershee Bar
* Bar manager Ricardo changing the rules on us a half-dozen times (“It’s $8 all-you-can-drink sodas!”) at The Red and The Black.

Check out some of the bands that rocked out in Washington D.C



Yes, my voice is totally shot and I haven’t even gotten out of Virginia. And tonight’s gig in North Carolina (at Local 506) is going to be tough to follow.

Stay tuned! We’ll update you on Chris’ magical guitar-wielding prowess, Paris’ latest fashions, Rew’s “Tie Me Up” props and Donald’s burgeoning peanut butter addiction.

Leaving New York!

And we're off!!

Pics from the Long Island preview show, 9/6/08

We're baaaaaaacccckkkkk!!!!!!!

Welcome back, GRGR friends and family!

So much has happened since we left off, last September, at the end of our first tour -- I don't know where to begin! Michele and Dietmar found love, Marisa found a band, Gail and Donald revamped G-Spot and Jovan became the hottest underdog-of-a-drummer a girl's tour has ever seen. Oh -- and did we mention the kickass band America's Sweetheart? They joined our tour! Come next Friday, five bands (RewBee, G-Spot, Marisa MIni & Her Mojo, Loki the Grump and America's Sweetheart) will hit the road for more adventures, and stops in 9 cities.

Stay tuned!