Date

City

Venue/Site

Setlist / Notes

00 5 21

Langdon, ND

Hockey Arena

w/Sustaining Dawn, Anker7

00 5 21

Rugby, ND

The Spot: A/G

TENTATIVE graduation party

00 5 ??

Cathay, ND

Jud Mackrill's remote pad

TENTATIVE w/Mr.Harris' Opus

00 6 10

Grafton, ND

H.’s Cellar

more information to come

00 6 11

Sioux Falls, SD

House Show

w/Further Seems Forever, Legends of Rodeo

00 7 ??

Altona, ND

Levelground Music Festival

Work in progress w/ many Southern Manitoba bands

00 ? ??

Grand Forks, MB

Grace Baptist Church

Work in progress w/ Mr. Harris' Opus

00 ? ??

Bismarck, ND

The Light Club

Work in progress w/ Mr. Harris' Opus and The Fellas

Date

City

Venue/Site

Setlist / Notes

98 11 14

Altona, MB

Neufeld basement

Preproduction recording for demo

99 02 20

Altona, MB

Neufeld basement

Second preproduction recording for demo

99 03 13

Grafton, ND

H.'s Cellar

Official debut Performance.

Takes forever to get guitars tuned. 'H.' bleeds on guitar throughout set. ...promising

99 4 09

Fargo, ND

Funky Monkey

Just ask Carey(road crew) and Heather about their awesome talk with Pastor Jose. Uh, where is the crowd?

99 4 10

E. Grand Forks, MN

Gideon's Wine Press

The Audience: Clean Slate, and a few kid moshers...encouraging though! Quote of the night, "I've never seen that side of H before"- Cynthia Ditzer

99 4 11

Grafton, ND

Grafton Lutheran Church

How nice to play a venue just kiddie-corner to the Cellar. Ms.Beyer prepares us an awesome feast of Scallop Potatoes. Young crowd. First glimpses of Heather dancing on stage. Journal note.

99 5 14

Thief River Falls, MN

New Life Assembly of God

Beware of flying CD giveaways. They can have adverse effects on your bass player's eyebrow area. Beware of flying moshing pastors. They WILL have adverse effects on your bass player's nose.

99 5 15

Fargo, ND

Funky Monkey

Awe- lots more people this time around. Thank you! Awe, Mrs. Bigwood, how nice of you to show up! Probably our one and only chance to play make believe in pretending that we're Sixpence None the Richer- thanks Yuka for giving us the reason. Cutest moment of the day, "Have you ever hugged a pillar before?"- Laura Ditzer

99 5 16

East Grand Forks, ND

Gideon's Wine Press

This is beginning to become our second home. Leaving the parking lot is always a challenge when you have eight kids clinging to your car's roof begging you not to leave. Wonderful turnout and wonderful people to hang out with!

99 6 4

Grafton, ND

Leistikow Park

Lovely show- so many variables to work with- darkness, outside, misquitoes, all ages performance, drummer- now that's punk rock. Little headbanger kid Tad, what an encouragement- that's what it's all about.

Date

City

Venue/Site

Setlist / Notes

99 6 5

Bismarck, ND

The Light Club

Opening up for Value Pac and Fanmail?!?! Need I say more? It's funny to not be appreciated by the local punk rock scene and then praised by the Orange County Tooth and Nail crew who are into the emo movement. Give it time. Great time waiting for our food at Perkins with the guys from Value Pac and Fanmail.

99 6 18/19

Altona, MB

Neufeld Cellar

Third preproduction recording for demo. First time utilizing a highend guitar! First time intending to go in with 'studio tricks' recording strategy with our primitive Pentium processor technology(lack of multitracking equipment.)

99 6 19

Grafton, ND

St. John's Church

(w/ Chet and the Hardys, 10 to 1) We knew Matt Colonval was a very good drummer but tonight he was in zone! Can't remember how many times Ben's and my mouths dropped just watching him drum. Broke current record for tallest stage to perform on.

99 6 23

Altona, MB

EMMC Youth Coffee House

w/ the Chet and the Hardys and Panic Button. Probably one of the most encouraging shows. Our first in Canada! Met up with so many of my ol' Altona friends, I could only give each of them five minutes with a two minute warning! Ben's strap falls off...like he says, :"very punk rock" Matt flies with the double kick peddle on Evergreen

99 6 26

Grand Forks, ND

Cafe Kosmos

w/Fuzzy Logic. First show without any drummer. Clint Barton emo dude deluxe and really cool to all the members of the band. Punk spiked mohawked kids dying for us to play something fast. Seeing them mosh made me want to jump in and mosh with them. Everybody was real friendly and welcomed us in. Most admirable moment: Heather sharing her God poem.

99 7 23

Warren, MN

Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Micro Tour III: w/Panic Button and Flushing Kermit. Um, we aren't a gang from Crookston so please leave your bats at home. Thank you. Mental note, must book ourselves here again so we can visit the Beav! Oh, yes, we played for another small 'crowd'.

99 7 24

Grand Forks, ND

Gideon's Wine Press

Amp is crackling.Guitar straps get undone. Members forgetting parts. Maybe officially the worst show the crew has ever performed. Uh, we didn't pray before the set. Is the Man upstairs trying to teach us something here? Pray!

99 7 25

Grafton, ND

H.'s Cellar(closed event)

w/the Rock Band, Recompence, and 4 foot nothing. Dugada-pst-pst-dablakadaga-daga(eg Witless) in four part harmony! Does it work? NO! Had a great set though with multiple guest musicians! Derek Zacharis for drums, Erin Harder(Panic Button fame) on backup vocals, and David Kroeker of the Witles intro. Nice tight, fun, set that you wish would never end. Covered Mineral's Parking Lot.

99 7 30

Bemidji, MN

Bemidji Fair

Our dream come true! To be in the footsteps of the Wonders playing county fairs! Highlights: discovering the Skatepark. Having our name beaming through the loudspeaker of the whole fairgrounds. Lesson to be learned: if you got new equiplment the day before, don't perform with it live until you get all the kinks out! Evening highlights: Lino Hodge, you're the man. The place where we stayed was awesome! Lakeside house, trampoline, webTV, could you ask for more?

99 7 31

Ogema, MN

Strawberry Lake Camp

Strawberry Jam'99:Kelly your the best fan! Wish yours truely could have minimized my technical problems. One more foot backward and drummer Matt would have been waterlogged by the lake! Evening highlights: having our own rooms at the grounds, eating KFC in Detroit Lakes, and meeting mixmaster Caleb from Eastern Minnesota! Caleb, Matt will thank you later for introducing Sarah Robinson to the band!

Date

City

Venue/Site

Setlist / Notes

99 8 14

Portage La Prairie, MB

Portage Centennial Arena

w/this day forward, Figure Four. I guess the cool part of the night was hanging out with Krista from Winnipeg. The show...oh yeh, kind of weird playing a show with all hardcore bands. Technical problems again. Cable goes bad. Break a string in Lifelight. Made a good impression on emo-Joel though. Cool.

99 8 20

Grand Forks, ND

Cafe Kosmos

w/Solar Lemon: Suzy Krahn's debut performance as fill-in bass player! The joys of musical instruments. Despite the revised lineup, it was actually one of our better performances. Matt Komprood once again you're a lifesaver! And guess what...no technical problems. Heather's voice was so beautiful in Lifelight. And get this: free Caesar salad for Heather and Suzy and gas money for Ben and I. What more can you ask for!

99 10 8

Grafton, ND

H.'s Cellar

w/Brandtson(from Ohio) and the Rock Band. Half and half set(Half Marty and half Matt on drums.) Debuted Song of 611 and I think it went decent. Hard to play confidently when you know the Brandtson boys are in the crowd. Pulled a plug but no biggy...will you ever learn? =) Good overall performance. Oh yes, and my brother calls in the the middle of the set.  Shout outs to the Williston crowd! 

99 10 9

Sioux Falls, SD

First Assembly charity event

w/Brandtson(from Ohio), Strong Men Stoop, and more. For all that went right the night before, nothing went well for me this night. Good ol' Benjamin covered for me. Tonight though, I learned a lot about perception from a kid named David. Even though I might think the show stank, other people may very well dig it like David so one must always have a good attitude after a performance. Tough lesson to apply. Another dude, thought I was heavily influenced by Tom Morello of R.A.t.M! That's a first! Good overall trip nevertheless. Shout outs to Michelle Boyle, my booking comrade!

99 10 23

Fargo, ND

Cornerstone Cafe

w/Emily's Dream. So there were a few people present. No problem. Here's the lesson heer: PRAYER goes a long way! After having a horrible sound check, both groups were lead in prayer by Mr. Sorrenson from then on, it was one performance and don't have to hang my head in shame. Post show was great: all the guys from both bands stayed at Pam's place. Saw G-Rock for the first time. Kurt and I were submerged in coversation in the storage area- just catching up and talking about life's frustrations. Sorry Kurt, too cold to watch  the full moon!

99 10 24

E.Grand Forks, ND

Gideon's Wine Press

w/Emily's Dream. What was it with me today? Maybe just grump from being up 4am and 3am in the previous two nights. Some issues to deal with. Once again, this is a show where prayer was definitely needed for not only frame of spirit but energy as well. The show for the era: All of Emily's Dream got up to play along for Parking Lot. Two basses, three guitars. That was very powerful to say the least. Thanks Travis for learning the songs so quickly. Thanks Ben for keeping my attitude in check.

99 10 30

Langdon, ND

Roxy Theatre

w/Anker 7. Okay, woh, what do I remember? I remember painting my face like the Phantom of the Opera. I recall meeting Clark for the first time. I remember being stoked that Shannon, Andrew, and Myron came. Stage driving with my guitar was a trip. I just remember the whole Langdon crowd being energetic and excited to see us. Met Jared from Thompson from across Derek's room. Thanks Matt(Clean Slate for filling in) Very encouraging show and threw out a lot of stickers to the crowd. Would love to come back. Added side note: I'm realizing that this day was more monumental than I had thought. This marked the first day that a Special Someone had noticed me! I'm so glad that we didn't cancel!

99 11 13

Grand Forks, ND

Zion Methodist Church

w/Clean Slate, Anker 7. PJ Tangedahl's debut performance on drums. Can we say, impressive? Always nice to have a beautiful roadie like Janet Dieter hauling equipment to and fro. Cracked a few jokes here and there...got upstaged by Nathan Carter's 5 year old kid, that was cute. Until I get that stack, Glow as Ember is going to have to be a close proximity band. Sorry Ben for not hearing my amp! I had a chance to officially meet Jared and Adam, his band member. I love Tranquility now!

99 12 3

New York Mills, MN

A/G

w/Emily's Dream. Well, have you heard of Spinal tap! Never again will I trust computerized directions to the venue! Because of this, we definitely took the scenic route! Pulled to the side a whala, got stuck in the mud! Some nice gentleman with a huge dualy pulled us out! Word to the wise: when you meet me at a gig for the first time, never say, "Oh you're the dude with the weird name!" What a way to start a friendship! Some techinical problems during the gig but went okay...not used to having a strobe light in our faces during Starstruck outro! Wendel, what a unique dude, chainmail aficianado extrordinaire! 0 for 5 in the joke department. Ben goes off on his Appleseed Cast riff between songs!

99 12 4

Grand Forks, ND

Cafe Kosmos

w/Emily's Dream. What a difference a Marshall cabinet makes! Plugged my ROckmaster in and oh, I was in HEAVEN during practice. Dream Boys and GaE crew watch the first of two episodes of Marie Matiko on Xena at Kosmos. This was a set to be proud of. The sound was heavenly and playing in front of your locals is always a plus. Debut Hurt None Hurt All with full instrumentation. PJ bums because he missed a spot in Ghost. PJ don't worry, you're the man! Overall a great weekend to build up on.

Date

City

Venue/Site

Setlist / Notes

99 12 17

Fargo, ND

Cornerstone Coffeehouse

w/ Andrea Schaffer(apparently known as the girl who wasn't allowed to listen to DC Talk) , Emily's Dream. Great to see a lot more people out this time around and look it's the Fargo crew! Bryce Larson what a heckler! Heather was going through a overdriven PA so it sounded like we 'sold out' and went industrial for the evening! Another one of those weird feeling shows. Post show wind up: at Pam's house, the Dream boys, PJ, and myself watched the second of two episodes of Marie Matiko on Xena. Ask Roadie Janet Dieter about our return trip to Buxton, ND!

00 1 14/ 15

Altona, MB

in studio

Recording session for Split EP w/ Ace Troubleshooter. Songs tracked: Starstruck Promises, Lifelight, Hurt None Hurt All. Current gear for recording: Gibson Les Paul (thanks to Matt Komprood), Jackson Dinky Reverse Pro, Rockmaster amp w/ 2*8, and 15 inch Cabinet. Recorded at the Gospel Tabernacle. Key funny thing: PJ's Beenie(stocking cap) to keep his headphones from flying off. A man after my own heart!

00 1 29

Thief River Falls, MN

Rock for Eternity Radio

Radio interview also with Emily's Dream. De Ja Vu: car troubles, have we? Not more than five miles out of Grafton that PJ's transmission gives out. Ben and I go ahead while the Van(thanks Dan!) and PJ and Heather drop El Muerto to the Cellar. So Ben and I are interviewed first at arrival. Best quote according to listener Jared Fladeland, "'So H., you play guitar?' 'I guess that's what they tell me...'" Paraphrasing Dan Folkers on listening to us on the airwaves, "If someone didn't know you guys, they would have thought you were absolute dorks!" Can't blame him. Had an awesome time conversing and trying to take a nap while Ivan Plett drove my car from TRF to DL...listening to Martina McBride no doubt.

00 1 29

Detroit Lakes, MN

The Street

w/ Emily's Dream. With Martina McBride blasting through my El Feo Coche it was fitting that we arrived at Soo Pass Ranch's The Street- basically the Saloon of WeFest! Awesome sound on stage. A couple of things I learned: if you have awesome PA equipment to work with, no need to blast my guitar amp and the most important of them all: I tend to show my bum off to the audience way too much. Met up with Joshua Scharnberg for the first time who must have thought that HFL's backing tracks were actually real drums! Fool them everytime!

00 2 18

Cando, ND

YFC Building

w/ Mr. Harris's Opus, Anker7, and Emily's Dream. I'm a rockstar-woke up at 6:00am to load the whole PA a flight of stairs nearly breaking my back doing so. I'm amazed that the system can fit into El Coche Feo! The show: not a bad night, but I always seem to be the culprit of technical problems- losing all the momentum that we built up after two songs. Thanks Jud for your gear. I thought the Cando crowd at the Youth Centre was real receptive despite the catastrophe. I just laughed it off and kept on going. If the GaE crew ever goes on tour, all I know is that I need to have a James Bond Playstation velcro'd to my amp- to play both in the car and out! AWESOME game although at 4am, any stimulus to the nervous system seems to be appealing.

00 2 19

Langdon, ND

The Roxy Theatre

Matinee show: 2 pm w/ Mr. Harris's Opus, Anker7, and Emily's Dream. Woke up to someone outside exclaiming, "Wow, it looks like a used car lot!" Chances are, they saw El Coche Feo. But this didn't set the tone of the day. Loaded up the gear and left before anybody else. I'm starting to like the idea of getting there before any other living soul and setting up equipment before anybody else. My thoughts are my own driving the Dakota roads. It's not like I'm a control freak when setting up gear(I'd rather have other people do it anyday) but my concentration is extremely comprimised when there's too much social stimulus going around while I'm trying to get work done. So working alone seems to be a better option. This weekend, Chad from Anker7 and I really connected. I think it's more so because we really believe in one another's passions. Thanks Cavalier group for coming out. Met Derika, PJ's friend, for the friend time. SHOW: there's just something about the Roxy that makes these afternoon shows so memorable. This was definitely our best concert from Ben's and my point of view. Everything just seemed to click into place and I think it showed by my confidence in singing backup vocals. The outro scream section of Ghost of Spring really got to me and after the set, I left the stage to take a walk around the building for a bit of emo-release. Coming to the front of the building, a moment I'll never ever forget: a friend awaiting with a smile and arms to collapse into. Thank you.

00 3 24

Altona, MB

Youth Centre: The Station

w/ Panic Button, Farfetched,Emily's Dream: felt very timid tonight and in a sense entrapped. I'm not into big stages but I don't like the feeling of confinement either. I pushed the vocal monitor and mic stand out a bit to get a sense of freedom. It's funny how a little thing like that can make all the difference. Lot's of kids out front and that was way too weird, I had to play with my eyes close most of the night maybe because out of timidness. Broke the number one rule of performance significantly again. Tanya, where are those tennis balls? Crowd was receptive. I played a bad show because of fatigue. I'm finding out though that I using that all too much as an excuse. Better start getting to bed early. Hung out with Suzy Krahn and Michael Hiebert the majority of the night. JD Kliewer put PJ and I up for the night and that was way cool. Talked to the Dream boys down in the Kliewer basement along with Joel and Murray from Grace Like Winter. Seems like old times in the new day. Lots of new school kids at the youth center. PJ talks with Tool-clad Michael.

00 4 1 

 Fargo, ND

 Cornerstone Cafe

 w/ Kenosis. The before, imagine your thumb and index finger only separated by a thread. That’s how close we were to playing on the same stage as Bleach. Alas, no thanks to an ‘un-named’ dude we couldn’t. Thanks Jamie for trying though. Saw Spoken for the first time in my life. Obsolutely floored me..even at 3am! The drive back to Fargo, um, interesting. No one seemed to mind me catching a nap during simultaneous lane changes! Ben can be a lifesaver and a lifethreatener(his own) at the same time! Finally got to bed at, get this, 7am! Slept to about 1pm. Met Mike from Kenosis for the first time. Really cool! We had a pretty good sounding set although listening to play back I guess I did need a few more hours of sleep to improve my background vocals. Kenosis- funky and straight-ahead rock! This weekend goes out to Angie Fladeland for keeping the spirits up!

 00 4 28

 Morden, MB

 Winkler Collegiate

 ISCF event w/ the Undecided, Spinshifter. It was nice to hang with the Undecided crew again. Ben’s happy because they all know him by name. The Show: just felt like we were playing through water. You can tell yourself that you’re going to have a good show but when you’re fatigued to the point of emotional and physical exhaustion, it just might not work for some reason! Quote of my night: “Never go out with a non-Mennonite!” That seemed to get the whole crowd cheering. While watching the Undecided, I was constantly grabbed from behind!?!? First Dave Driedger, then JD Kliewer, then Karin Kliewer! Wow, it was like the whole old school Altona crew! Good Faith-quantifying 101 lecture going on at Subway after the show. The ‘tour group’ stayed at Suzy Krahn’s place afterward and must I say, Low-German seeping through the floor sounds very lifethreatening at 1am!