e- Solo Gig #1

I got tired of sitting around waiting for our big trip to NYC. So I played a local gig here in the city at Alice's Free Love Cafe. I scored two 4 star ratings and three five star ratings on the following set:

Should I Stay or Should I Go **** 25,916
In Bloom ***** 48,093
Maps ***** 36,045
Mississippi Queen ***** 20,929
Here It Goes Again **** 32,387

I've been invited to El Ocho in LA for another big five song set, and I've also been offered the opportunity to play Rio de Janiero's Rockacabana! Maybe I should just quit ShellE and go out on my own...

...or we could just go to NYC and make some money! I'm starving here!

Bay City Rockers...

We played our biggest gig yet tonight at the Bay City Theater. We did a five song set, basically four of the songs that put us on the map, and one song we'd never ever attempted before:

Say It Ain't So
In Bloom
I Think I'm Paranoid
Mississippi Queen
Run For the Hills (Iron Maiden)

We earned $1600 for the show and we're off to New York next, where we hope to debut When You Were Young by The Killers.

While we were away for the past week, we did try out some other band members. The world-renowned "Player 3" did a great job as a practice session drummer on Say It Ain't So and Creep, and not so well on Here It Goes Again. She didn't try the vocal mic or the guitar, but seemed pretty amused with the experience.

Tonight, before our big show, we had Rad Ricky on drums and he even tried out the guitar and bass parts on such tracks as Say It Ain't So, In Bloom and Creep. M and I have decided to just stick to being the creative forces behind our band when we're touring, but it is great to collaborate with friends from such faraway lands as Brooklyn and Reno when we have the opportunity.

Now we'll be hopping on the bus to NYC...

Triumphant Return Home!

Thanks to everyone for coming out for our three-song mystery setlist at the Bay City Theater!

Tonight's set:
Maps
Wave of Mutilation
Should I Stay or Should I Go

I apologize for not being in my best form, but we're excited to be working with an actual drummer. We're just rehearsing with "Player 3" for some fun, but it gives us some experience collaborating with another musician. Our mystery setlist got us a "return engagement" next week for a five-song town songs set. Hope to see everyone (and their friends!) there.

Warming Up

Before we boarded the bus for our trip home, we decided to warm up a bit. We traded our instruments. I grabbed the mic, M took the guitar and we played through a late night 4 song set, debuting Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, just for fun. It was a really fun gig, which ended up earning us a ton of money because some corporate big wigs were at the club for a party and we became their entertainment for the night. I guess I was an adequate vocalist, and I know M can play guitar. I think we're ready for the hometown celebration tomorrow night!

After our celebration, we have to go the entire way across the country to New York for a big label event. I can't say I'm really looking forward to that one. M is practicing a new instrument for that event.

Roadies!

We won ourselves some roadies after a random setlist that included Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Here We Go Again by OK Go and Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones, a song that I messed up pretty badly and had to walk off the stage in shame. It was my biggest on stage embarrassment thus far.

After winning ourselves some roadies, which allows us to play in larger arenas, we played a set of local Chi-Town favorites:
Cherub Rock (Smashing Pumpkins)
Dead On Arrival (Fallout Boy)
Here We Go Again (OK Go)

That gained us our last 10 fans that we can earn on the medium skill level. We've earned the respect of 260,000 fans and tomorrow night we've got a special surprise for the folks in our hometown of San Francisco!

That's right, we're going home for a really big show at the Bay City Theater (Fillmore)!

We're playing a five song mystery set of local favorites. Drop by and see us before we head to the East Coast to conquer Boston and New York.

Our midwest debut!

We got a great reaction from the crowd in Chicago, and we played some new stuff once again. We added Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden) and Are You Gonna Be My Girl (Jet) to our growing repertoire. Tomorrow night we've got a big battle of the bands against Dethwish or some other shittily named band... we can earn some roadies out of it.

We also went shopping today at this awesome rock shop! I got me a Doctor What (Who?) jacket and scarf combo, some kickass gray jeans and a pair of bad ass leather boots. I went to this salon and they convinced me to get rid of my Nightcat 80's rock hairdo. I've got me a knit cap now and I found this great steampunk set of glasses at a boutique. I think I'm set with my new threads for the tour. M got herself a leather jacket and some warrior princess boots. She's definitely the rock star!

The people in Chicago seem to really like us, but I sure do miss home...

It looks like we're going to Boston, then New York, then home again...

Two gigs, two cities, one day!

We played at 2:15 today in LA, and won ourselves a tour bus. Rode north to Seattle and played a short set debuting Learn to Fly (Foo Fighters) and now we're on the road to CHICAGO! I've become the full-time lead guitarist, and M is handling to vocals full-time now. We had fun trading off in the beginning, but for now it looks like I'm going to be earning my chops on the axe!

Live from The Snake Pit

We've been invited to a huge gig to win a tour bus! Tonight we debuted Main Offender (The Hives) and Pleasure (Bang Camaro). Our big LA send off gig is tomorrow night and hopefully we will be riding in style to Seattle!

Mini-Tour

We've gone back to our roots and played a gig at The Quarter Hole. Tonight we breezed through a set that included I Think I'm Paranoid (Garbage), Paranoid (Black Sabbath) and Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi) and we're headed back to LA for a gig at The Snake Pit (Viper Room)! Maybe some of you can drive down and give us some support! We'd really appreciate it.

The Ocho!

We've played our first SoCal gig at The Ocho. Again added some new songs to our set and I think at least one record label dude was impressed. He mentioned something about practicing a bit more and then we'd talk. We debuted Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones and Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi tonight. I don't think I care too much for the Stones...

Seattle...

We played our first gig in Seattle tonight. We added a bunch of new songs to our set:

Wave of Mutilation (The Pixies)
Creep (Radiohead)
Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash)

Fun stuff... great show... cool crowd! Now off to LA...

Things are moving fast

We played a couple of sets at The Quarter Hole tonight, and we've won ourselves a van! We've got a gig lined up in Seattle and some record label bigshots want to take a look at us in Los Angeles later this week. Things are happening SO FAST! Being in a band rocks!

Tonight, we played five songs:

Say It Ain't So (Weezer)
I Think I'm Paranoid (Garbage)
Mississippi Queen (Mountain)
Here It Goes Again (OK Go)
In Bloom (Nirvana)

Thanks again to all of our Bay Area fans! We'll see you soon, but now we're on the road to somewhere, hopefully!

Rocking Out at Alice's

Thanks to everyone for joining us for our first gig!

We played a set consisting of:
Say It Ain't So (Weezer)
I Think I'm Paranoid (Garbage)
In Bloom (Nirvana)

The crowd went wild and we've got a gig at The Quarter Hole (Bimbo's 365) lined up for tomorrow night!

One day soon, I'm hoping we can play the Bay City Theater (Fillmore)... I can dream, can't I?

Our First Gig

We're hoping you can join us for our first gig, an open mic at Alice's Free Love Cafe (Amnesia) on Valencia in the city! It is our first time playing live and we've only really got three or four songs, but it should show us how a crowd (no matter how small) reacts to what will soon be the hottest rock band in the Bay Area! The show begins tonight at 9:30, don't be late or you might miss us. We only have a three song set!

Are you ready to rock?

We've started this blog to document our (hopeful) rise to stardom (or bankruptcy) as ShellE goes on the road (in a video game called Rock Band) and covers the hits of some of the best artists in the world from yesterday and today.

You can follow us on the road right here at ShellE On Tour!