Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday July 16, 2015 - Indianapolis, IN

Road Blog
Indianapolis – July 16, 2015

We left home around 2:30pm and made good time to Indianapolis. The Melody Inn is a punk rock dive bar in the city that we’ve played before. It’s one of those places with stickers from a million bands covering almost every surface inside and out. It’s small so there’s no room to set your gear up before your set (unless you’re playing first) but what it lacks in size it makes up for in charm and atmosphere. Dave (the owner) and Mike (doing double duty as sound guy and door guy) welcomed us back and we loaded in. We had some time to kill and empty bellies so we waked to the one restaurant in the area – a sandwich and lemonade sports café. Turkey burger down and it was time for the first Bulleit Rye of the evening. We promptly added a JP&T sticker right below a Vibrolas (pals from KY) sticker and I sent a photo to Leila and Chris from the band, boasting my accomplishment.

The first band was called White Wax. They were kinda techno/sinthy with no guitar. The drummer set up on the floor in front of the stage – facing the stage. I’d never seen that before. They were tight and had a good turnout – everyone enjoyed their set.

We played next, to a decent room – way better than our last show there. People were responsive and we had a good time. The sound was great on stage and we felt like we played well. It was great to see my old pal Ricky Rat walk in. He’s a Detroit guy who was in the Trash Brats and now tours the US and Europe solo. He’s also got a couple releases on the same label as us – New Fortune Records. We got caught up after the set over many drinks, waxing nostalgic a bit and comparing notes about old-school Goo Goo Dolls records, Ian Hunter and shows we played together at Saint Andrew’s Hall in the early 90s.

Headliners Manners, Please played a good set of indie pop and had a great crowd up front. Some good hooks and dual-keyboards made for a fun set. After that it was load-out and back to the house where we crashed. Jamie and Heather were our hosts. They’re friends of Patty’s from way back. Their daughter Josie is as cute as a button and their cat Benjy was a perfect gentleman, showing us around the house and making sure we were comfortable (and always had a cat to pet). The house was really nice and we had the basement to ourselves.

Morning came too soon today. I woke up worse for the wear and did my best to rally. Today we’re on the road to Des Moines, Iowa. It’s about a 7 hour drive and I’m in no shape to be behind the wheel so Patty is driving and Gabe is co-pilot. Rough morning aside, Indianapolis was great! We’ll see you tonight Des Moines! Playing Lefty’s with Dead King Chuck and The Sapwoods.