Ascension into the Kingdom of Salt Lake City

It’s been awhile since I updated my blog, but I have been incredibly busy preparing, packing and planning my trip out to the west coast. This is a broken tour of sorts eleven shows during a three week span, so part vacation, part introducing our music to a segment of the world that may have heard us in mp3 form…
To catch you up to speed, we played Denver our first night. The show went well, the staff at the hi-dive was incredible, but at the end of the night there was a discrepancy on the guarantee. Basically we were given $100 less than what we were told we would get, and in the day of the rising gas price, this was not a good conclusion. On top of that our merch case was run over by this drunk asshole. The picture is on the foundry’s myspace site. No one was hurt, but 14 cd’s met their end that night.
Everything about that show was great until the last 45 minutes. The plus in all of this was I met my cousin for the first time ever. I have been on this planet for 30 years and met a cousin I sort of knew existed but we were never in the same area. He was really nice and I found it odd that we had several things in common. He is a sports journalist and has a healthy to unhealthy obsession with sharks. Very similar wavelengths here.
The next day found us camping at Rifle Falls, Colorado campground. The back drop of the mountains and streams were jaw dropping. We got camped under a canopy of clouds, stars, and trees, all to the soundtrack of the waterfalls just 200 yards from our alcoholic induced slumbers. It was so peaceful, and I discovered I really enjoy camping. I have always liked camping, but my family wasn’t a camping family. A tent and a solid sleeping bag are my next purchases. Not saying I’m going to live off the grid, but perhaps I will camp more often, or I’d like to…
When the camp was cleaned up and the van was packed we headed to our next tour spot in Salt Lake City. I couldn’t get over how beautiful this part of the country is. The mountains, the mountains, the mountains. This was consistent with Utah, and as we entered salt lake city we found this huge city nestled in between the mountains. My friend tyrone davies helped us set up a show there, and like most salt lake city residents he is mormon. I only point this out as an aside, because I think there is an immediate prejudice when you label someone who is mormon-first. In speaking terms it would come across like this: “So this mormon guy comes up to me and hands me this book.” In tyrone’s case the mormon part is a PART of him, not his central being. I met Tyrone back in college in Columbia, and he has since moved on to salt lake city, then san Francisco, then back to salt lake city, where he is currently doing a variety of video projects and is awaiting a son or daughter from his expecting wife.
I always thought tyrone was a bit of an anomaly when it came to people practicing mormon faith. He was into a lot of different art and media, that wouldn’t typically be associated with the Mormon mainstream. In high school, the students who were mormon were clean cut, liked clean family sitcoms, and were always the happiest people on Monday mornings. In high school I thought they came across as a little delusional. But that was a hasty judgment coming from a kid who was dealing with puberty and losing the dream of becoming a professional baseball player.
I met tyrone’s group of friends, most to my knowledge were also practicing the tenants of the mormon doctrine. This was ignorance on my half, but I was really struck with how much everyone (the band and tyrone’s friends) had in common. We would have never guessed each other’s background, until at the end of the night we were asked if were LDS? I kindly replied no, and the subject went elsewhere. No one try to hand us a book of mormon, it was understood and respected.
So after the show we hung out with Tyrone, his friends, and some of the staff of Kilby Court (which incidentally is a great all ages venue in SLC). Afterwards it was decided that a friend Tyrone’s would be housing the band at his parent’s condo. Tyrone was moving so he had an empty house to offer us. His friend had actual beds (a luxury on the road if you can find it!) so we follow this gentleman named Blair. He and Tyrone work on a zine in SLC. So as our tightly packed ford windstar minivan followed Blair’s red sedan through the downtown area, we realize how wide the streets are. The amount of traffic does not equal the need for these incredibly wide streets. I came to find out that when Brigham Young settled the area he wanted streets wide enough for a horse and buggy to make u-turns wherever they liked.
We continued to make our way past the fading lights of the downtown area into the hills by the capitol. And went up, up, up, and up. When we got to the top we were met by a gated condo community. Blair punched in the code and went into what can only be described as a semi-exclusive community. After finally parking the car, we were well above SLC and saw the grid of streets and lights, it was actually breathtaking. Blair explained to us that the house used to be rented out to various people, but his family now used it primarily for family gatherings.
The interior had all of the earmarks of a mormon house hold. A painting of jesus, a timeline of Mormon history in poster form, neatly organized furniture made popular two decades ago, and bookcases of various books about the Mormon history and religion. It felt a bit alien to be in the house, but like the doormat said, we were Welcome.
Blair was a gracious host and got us towels for that other road luxury, showers! Oh i used that shower to its fullest capability. When Benjamin was done with his shower, he said he used all of his toiletries. Sometimes when you get caught in a bind and have to move to the next city or destination showers have to be quick, but seeing that we had plenty of time you could use all twenty of your shampoos! Okay it may not be twenty, but you get the point…
This visit to SLC comes as I finished Andrew Beaujon’s look at the Christian Music Industry in his book, Body Piercings Saved My Life. I am not a religious being by any means, but I have not been able to tackle the idea of the afterlife in a very constructive way. Basically it is a series of abstract thoughts that drift in and out of my head. After reading this book I think I have better perspective on the variety of groups that reign in God’s kingdom under the heading of Christianity. Some people are guided by the organized corporate churches and others maintain a personal relationship that remains just that, personal.
Well I’m going to nap now, as we head up I-15 to Boise… over-n-out…