WorthlessUnited's Journal

THE RATCHETS
THE RATCHETS are bleeding new blood into rock-n-roll. Timeless music with a modern edge, they manage to rub elbows with yesterday’s ghosts while simultaneously unleashing their very own explosive blend of songwriting. These songs stick to your sides, and THE RATCHETS deliver the promise of rock-n-roll music that was somehow lost in the shuffle. THE RATCHETS feature ex members of WORTHLESS UNITED and PLAN A PROJECT.

APRIL 9 - COURT TAVERN - 124 CHURCH ST. NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ
THE RATCHETS W/ THE GALLOWS, PEARLENE, & VOID CONTROL

APRIL 17 - ODD FELLOWS LODGE 660 - 660 COOKMAN AVE., ASBURY PARK,NJ
CHUNKSAAH REC. SKATE AND SURF ARTER PARTY
THE RATCHETS W/ LET IT BURN & DJ THE PETE (BOUNCING SOULS)

APRIL 25 - ARELENE'S GROCERY - 95 STANTON ST, NYC
THE RATCHETS W/ DEAN DEAN AND THE SEX MACHINE, THE SHEMPS, & SNAKE CHARMERS

APRIL 30 - LOOP LOUNGE - 373 BROADWAY, PASSAIC, NJ
LET IT ROCK PRESENTS! - THE RATCHETS W/ NO THANKS! (70's PUNK REBELLION) featuring members of THE DIRTY KNESS, THE
INSOMNIACS, and THE FRANTIC ROMANTICS

THE RATCHETS online at www.theratchets.com.

We're playing CBGB's and it's 16 & up!
Finally some of my younger friends can come out!

16 to enter, 21 to drink.

CBGB's
March 17th (wed)
7pm

Slunt
JokerFiveSpeed
Drag Citizen
The Slags
Rockets And Cars

www.dragcitizen.com

Tales From The Road.....
I haven't posted in a while but i'm pretty bored right now. Lemme fill yall in......
The breakup of W.U. left me in a weird state. Lost and confused and in a general state of unpleasantness. I looked around my town and every town near it and found that I had started to hate every street and building. The words of my friends offered no comfort. Even though they would do anything to help, their faces all seemed just as lost as my own and I wondered how I had never noticed this. For ten years I've seen playing shows with W.U. as an opportunity to channel all the anger or sadness or frustrations I may have had into something positive. After almost every show I felt like I had exorcised my personal demons. Without my band I found that I had no way to cope with anything anymore.
So what better way to deal than to just up and leave?
My good friends in Let It Burn had a tour coming up with The Bouncing Souls and Hot Water Music. They had no van and there I was with the Rock Box (formerly the chariot of Worthless United). I had just got a new place in Jersey City and had not even moved in, but what the fuck? TOUR!!! We packed up and headed off into the north for the 2 week journey to meet up with the True Bromance tour. Between a few great shows we saw the future birthplace of Capitan Kirk in Iowa, drove though -20 in Fargo to see the worlds tallest tv tower, and threw snowballs at wild buffalo in Montana. We got to San Francisco and picked up the seventh member of our crew, Dutch boy Kelly, and went down to San Luis Obispo to start the Bromance. Over the next few weeks we got threatened at gunpoint by cops for my belt buckle, stayed at a swank hotel in Hollywood, saw the painted desert, met a 5 time yo-yo world champion, bro-ed out with some great bands, partied with some some old friends, famous fucks, and all around good people. It was a great fucking time and it was something I really needed. It was like being on the road with a big rowdy family and it went a long way to setting me straight.
Anyway. I'm home now and I need to move into my new place. I know it's a little late but I never said it, so thanks to everyone for all the good and bad times I ever had in Worthless United, they all meant so much. Much love to my brothers Scott, Steve and Zak for everything.
For more info on the tour check out www.letitburnonline.com

- dave

I love you all!
So I went to see the River City Rebels today at the Continental. Fucking amazing band. I love those guys from the bottom of my heart. I had a blast! I think I'll even be on the dvd haha, I was doing somersaults on the crowd and screaming in the mic (will I ever grow up?). Dan even gave me a shout out as the drummer from Worthless United. What a sweetheart.

A bunch of people came up to me at the show and told me how sad and bummed that Worthless United broke up. I'm touched that my band meant something to a lot of you cause WU meant a lot to me. Thank you all <3

And people seemed interested what I was doing now as well. Hopefully we'll play some shows with the Rebels down the road sometime soon. That would really mean a lot to me. So ladies and gents, I'm playing my first show with my new band March 5th at the Continental, friday night around 9pm. Hey if any of you do all ages shows we'll be more than happy to come out and play them. Anyway this will be the first time I play with them. It would mean a lot to me to see some of you make it out. Plus I haven't been on a stage since our last tour in Nov!! I'm sooooo ready! We just put up some new pics on the site too. So stop by, say hi, sign the guestbook. Thanks again xoxoxo

-steve

hey ya'all
I'm not sure if anyone even reads this anymore but I'm gonna post anyway. A lot of things have changed in my life since the band broke up. For one, I will probably never stop playing music so as soon as we broke up I was trying out and talking to a lot of bands. I have settled with my favorite musically and not the one with the biggest label or the biggest paycheck. Yeah I'm stupid, I always go with my heart even though it leaves me broke as a joke most of the time. I've found 3 other guys that I totally relate too musically. Where as Worthless United was more like 4 different people making up this awesome original unit.

Anyway, the new band is rock n roll done with attitude, balls, sleaze, and a touch of glam, just the way I like it! It's kinda like kiss meets sabbath with a little Motley Crue. Plus I don't look like such a homo freak in this band cause we're all homo freaks in this new band haha. I won't have to worry about my guitar player making fun of the way I look everytime I show up to got to the show haha. And we all get along so well and go out together all the time and hang out. I really lucked out.

I'm very happy in this new band and I'm actually moving out to Brooklyn this weekend to live with them. I've lived in NJ since the 4th grade. But there isn't really anything here for me no more. Friends have come and gone, no girlfriend, and no band. So off to nyc. I can't wait, I'm so excited :) Oh and plus Dave will be moving soon to Jersey City with my best friend, and Scott is either moving to LA or NYC as well. So it makes sense for me.
Anyway, just a small update for you all. Check out my new band's site www.dragcitizen.com and sign our guest book and say hello. Thanks for all your support. I should be playing my first show with them in March sometime so sign the emailing list to be updated on that.

love, steve

it's been one hell of a ride....
I thought I could walk away from this experience not really giving a fuck or feel any sadness, or whatever. I was wrong. I read Zak's post a few days ago and it reminded me how much of our lives we have put into this band. The story starts about a decade ago! A fuckin decade! Where did the time go?

Man, I have so many memories and experiences with this band that I could probably write a few books. I have no regrets. This band was everything to me. It has made me a better musician and I've learned so many lessons that I could've never learned in school. We've always stayed true to our music and our lyrics and almost always put on the best show that we could. I really can't understand why this band wasn't more successful. Then again lots of my favorite bands really didn't get all that big. Maybe we weren't the best band, but we were better than most.

Everything kinda fell apart in the end. Every record label we've ever worked with failed and fell apart. We thought for sure that this wasn't gonna happen with the new label. Oh well, shit happens I guess. No reason to cry about it now. It's just a dam shame. I was so proud of our last record and knew our next one was gonna be even better. I guess we'll never know (never say never haha).

We've been through so much together. We are forever brothers (well Scott is whether I like it or not). I'll never forget what we did, the shows we played, the people we met all over the US and Canada, the amazing and shitty bands we've shared the stage with... I'll never forget the Worthless/Let It Burn house at 106 Ocean Park and all the memories, parties, and love in that house... I'll never forget all the people that were close to the band and believed in us, and helped us, and loved us... and I'll never forget what punk rock means to me. Never. I'm a fuckin punk till the day I die.

I guess we'll be playing a few last shows soon. I'm looking forward to playing these songs one last time with the guys that have stood by my side through better and worse. I'm looking foward to play for you people one more time as well! You know I love you all! I've met and talked to so many of you and even crashed on some of your floors (and sometimes beds ;)

So yeah, I'm sad, I didn't want it to end this way, but it's the only way that makes much sense right now. There's a lot of drive and talent in this band and I'm sure we'll all be doing something great to come. I've actually talked to a bunch of bands already. I'm in high demand! It's so flattering. Or maybe it's just cause everyone needs a drummer haha. I'll post more on that next week sometime.

So only time will tell. And it's been one hell of fuckin fun ride! I love you all, and I especially love Dave, Zak, and Scott for everything they've given me and for taking this trip together, and for being my friends. Too bad it didn't work out like Aerosmith ;)
I'll keep you all updated with mah shit, till then, nuttin but love,

steve

It is what it is till it isn't...
After nearly a decade Worthless United has decided to call it quits. Yes, it has really been that long. I first saw this band in 1995 and was immediately attracted to their goofy songs and idiotic stage show. Through a random set of events I became the guitarist and over time became the primary songwriter, art director, and attempted to manage and handle the business of this band. It has never been an easy task and over time it only became harder. I often wonder if we didn't try hard enough. Sometime I wonder if we tried too hard. Either way, making records and traveling the country with these guys has been an amazing and memorable experience.

I'd like to thank all the members of Stormshadow, The Degenerics, S.O.V., Heidnik Stew, Fanshen, and Try Fail Try. We may have left New Brunswick with a bad taste in our mouths but for a period of time it actually felt like we were all a part of something important and meaningful.

Thanks to all the great bands who have taken us on tour over the past year like The Bouncing Souls, The River City Rebels, Catch 22, and Bigwig. We were very lucky to have good friends in good bands that were generous to lend a helping hand and show us some really great times.

Thanks to Dumont Dan, Gentleman Jim, and K8 Hiltz for their years of continued assistance, advice, help, love and support.

Thanks to Pete Walker and Mat Beckerman for the opportunity to make the record I've always wanted to make. Maybe one day people will want to buy it.

Thanks to all the friends who were a part of this whole thing at one time or another. Some are gone now and we miss them. Others still pop up every now and again. I hope to see you all again sometime in the future.

Thanks to all the kids who came to our shows and supported us especially the ones who really cared and made us feel like what we were doing had some kind of value or worth to people that didn't have to like us cause they were our friends.

And I'd like to thank Dave, Scott, and Steve for the experience. I wish things could have turned to differently. It is what it is until it isn't.

So what now...
I imagine we will all continue to make music. I heard Steve is playing drums in a new band and I'm sure he will write about it on our Live Journal at some point. I have two new bands going right now. Miss TK & The Revenge (www.misstk.com) with members of Lifetime, Zero Zero, and Fortunato. The other is The Ratchets (www.theRatchets.com) with Dan from Plan A Project and Jed who were both out with us on our last tour with Catch 22 and Boy's Night Out. I hope to keep this web site up and will let you all know what Scott and Dave have going on.

As far as Worthless United we may play a few last shows though we have nothing planned as of right now. The last show we played was in Ohio. It wouldn't really feel right to not play a last show in our home state of New Jersey. But we will have to wait and see what happens. We will let you all know if and when we decide to do something. We'd like to encourage people to keep in touch with us through the Live Journal and Guest Book and hopefully we will see you all again in the future. Thanks.

-Zak / Worthless United

Back to New Jersey...
Hey kids, I got some bad news. After traversing the country on balding tires for a month and a half of shows with our brothers in Catch 22 and Boys Night Out, we had to bow out of the ring. A few days ago Zak came down with a fierce sickness. He could hardly stand but tried his best to keep going the rest of the way. After one day he was still pretty bad off and after two he was even worse. I mean sweating and shaking in his sleep and puking up anything he tried to eat. We got threw a couple more shows and were lucky for even that. But a sick body who hasn't been able to eat for days can only take so much. We finished up our last set in Toledo, OH, packed up the van and hugged our comrades a reluctant and sad farewell. We all had a lot of good shows and good times. Playing, drinking, gambling, singing and dancing with old friends and new all over the country. On the drive back to Jersey eastbound across I-80 there were cold gray clouds in the black sky. A crescent moon hung between the old, dying light of distant stars. Behind us was nothing but the blackness of what could have been and the long, lonely road ahead was paved with heartache.

--D

Canada
I meant to write a big Canada tour diary but never got around to it. I'll tell you a little about Vancouver, our last show. The night before George from Hot Water Music played "True Believers" with the Bouncing Souls and Mike played a song on their set. Just kidding around with Mike I was like "let me play a song". And Mike was like "yeah? You wanna step up to the plate?" I was like dam, I don't wanna be punk'd, so I was like fuck yeah! I'll choose my song later tonight.

I later chose "Private Radio". I basically listened to the track a few times in the van tapping on the car seats.

I was so fucking nervous the whole day. I didn't want to blow it cause I knew it was my one chance to play with the Souls. I have so much respect for those guys and have been going to their shows for over a decade and never in a million years thought I could share a stage with one of my fav's.

So yeah, long story short, I was called up on the stage and sat behind Mike's weird set up and hit the 4 count on the high hat and nailed the fucking song hard as hell! No practice! Cold turkey! Never played or jammed with them in my entire life!

It was amazing seeing Brian, Greg, and Pete in front of me! For one song I was in the Bouncing Souls and I will never forget that night. It meant a lot to me. I'm glad I didn't punk out. So yeah, if you wanna see some pics from that show pick up the AP with Brand New on the cover. There's a BSouls tour diary and there's one pic of me playing with them at that show. It's just my back but it's obviously me (long hair, full back piece). Zak took all the Canada pics as well.

We're all in Nashville and are gonna hit the stage in a couple of hrs. The tour has been so amazing so far. I'll be sad when the tour is over. gotta go, love - steve

No NJ
just to let you all know...Worthless United will not be playing the NJ show with Catch 22....sorry for the confusion...hopefully we will do a NJ show sometime in the near future...other than that the tour has been good...we're in texas now...playing all these shows with C22 and Boys Night Out have been really great...Slick Shows dropped off the tour a few days ago because of problems with their transportation...oh well...till next time...
-zak

West side..
Another date got added in Florida
11/13/03: Jacksonville, FL - Rock and Roll Pizza, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

Right now we're all hanging out in San Fran for a few days with some friends. This is the fuckin burrito tour. Is it possible to get sick of burritos? So far my answer is no.
I was born in Sacramento and haven't been there probably since I was a baby. I use to go to San Fran all the time when I was a kid, so lots of memories are comin back. I moved to NJ in the 4th grade so I didn't exactly keep in touch with childhood friends. But I have made a lot of friends in CA through the years from touring and visiting my best friend every year when he was in college in San Diego. It will be nice to see some old pals. Plus I have a bunch of friends that moved out here from NJ and I'm real excited to hook up with them as well. I think I'm even going to meet some interet friends as well. Hopefully they won't be a bunch of creepy losers haha.
Thanks again everyone for your support and floor space xo steve

more dates added
We've added Tenn, an Ohio date, and London Ontario. Plus we're playing NJ on the 28th of Nov at Krome. We're having such a good fuckin time out here! We played a show in Grand Rapides OH without Zak because he had to go to his sister's wedding. We weren't going to play, but then at the last minute we got our friend Jed to play accoustic with Dave and Dan. They did 3 covers and Calamocho accoustic, plus Dave even played harmonica, then I got up there with Pat from Catch 22 and we did 4 Worthless songs electric. Pat sure is talented. The fucker learned out songs pretty much the day of the show and he was drunk! He nailed dat shit. It was a very interesting and special show.

The Eyeliners are done with the tour and Slick Shoes is on. The Eyeliners ruled! They will be missed. And a huge thanks to everyone that has been letting us crash at their houses. We really appreciate it. So far we haven't gotten one hotel room which is a good thing because we can use the money. Tonight we play Omaha Nebraska. xo steve

10/27/03: Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/28/03: Salt Lake City, UT - Bricks, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/30/03: Seattle, WA - Graceland, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/01/03: Sacramento, CA - Boardwalk, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

11/02/03: San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/03/03: Las Vegas, NV - formatted_Skate City, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/04/03: Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United******Record Release Party******

11/05/03: Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/06/03: San Diego, CA - The Scene, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/07/03: Phoenix, AZ - Mason Jar, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/09/03: Dallas, TX - Gypsey Tea Room, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/10/03: Austin, TX - The Backroom, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/11/03: Houston, TX - The Engine Room, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/13/03: Jacksonville, FL - Rock and Roll Pizza, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/14/03: St. Petersburg, FL - State Theater, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/15/03: Ft Lauderdale, FL - The Factory , w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United, Bum Ruckus

11/16/03: Orlando, FL - Sapphire Supper Club, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

11/17/03: Atlanta, GA - The Cotton Club, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

11/18/03: Nashville, TN - Muse, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/19/03: Toledo, OH - Frankies, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/20/03: Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/21/03: Toronto, ON - The Opera House, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/22/03: London, ON - Call The Office, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/23/03: Ottawa, ON - Babylon, ON, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/24/03: Montreal, QC - Club Soda, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/28/03: South Amboy, NJ - Krome, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

The tour has begunnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!
It's starting to finally feel like tour. It didn't for the first week cause all the shows were so close to home, so we even came back home twice. Now there's no turning back. We'll be heading out west to CA for the next couple of weeks. I haven't been to CA in a while and all I can think about are the fuckin burritos out there! I'm eatin that shit breakfast lunch and dinner!

So far the tour has been so much fun. The Eyeliners just joined the tour for the next 8 shows so I'm siked about that. Met them all last night and they were super nice. It's always good to see the Catch 22 guys and now we get to be with them for the next month and a half. But our partners in crime are most definitely Boys Night Out. We've been crashin at the same houses and we hang out together the most. The tour barely even started and there's already some silly stories and I'm sure we'll cause plenty of more trouble as the tour goes on.

And as an added treat Ryan from Catch 22 has been comin up on stage with us during "That Song" and playing saxophone. It sounds pretty fuckin cool. What a talented boy. Ok, tonight we play Penn State College. xoxo steve

last minute show, this monday
10/13/03: New Brunswick, NJ - 146 New Street Basement Show w/ Boys Night Out, 5 bucks, 6pm. I think they're only letting 100 people in, so get there as soon as you can.

This monday, tell a friend xo steve

The fun starts on thursday!
There are a bunch of dates added to the tour and some more will be confirmed as we're on the road. Check out www.victoryrecords.com for the latest updates. Here's the latest updates so far:

OCTOBER
9 Providence, RI @ THE MET CAFE w/ Boys Night Out, Worthless United
10 Farmingdale, NY @ DOWNTOWN w/ Boys Night Out, Worthless United
11 Albany, NY @ VALENTINE'S w/ Worthless United
12 New Haven, CT @ TOAD'S PLACE w/ Boys Night Out, Worthless United
14 Lancaster, PA @ CHAMELEON w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
15 State College, PA @ CROWBAR w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
16 Buffalo, NY @ SHOWPLACE w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
17 Pittsburgh, PA @ CLUB LAGA w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
18 Cleveland, OH @ GROG SHOP w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
19 Grand Rapids, MI @ INTERSECTION w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
21 Chicago, IL @ METRO w/ The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
22 Milwaukee, WI @ RAVE w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
23 Minneapolis, MN @ ASCOT ROOM w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
24 St. Louis, MO @ CREEPY CRAWL w/ Slick Shoes, One Man Army, Boys Night Out
25 Omaha, NE @ RANCH BOWL w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
27 Denver, CO @ BLUEBIRD THEATRE w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
28 Salt Lake City, UT @ BRICKS w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
30 Seattle, WA @ GRACELAND w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

NOVEMBER
1 Orangevale, CA @ BOARDWALK w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
2 San Francisco, CA @ GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
4 Anaheim, CA @ CHAIN REACTION **RECORD RELEASE PARTY!!** w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
5 Anaheim, CA @ CHAIN REACTION w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
6 San Diego, CA @ THE SCENE w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
7 Phoenix, AZ @ MASON JAR w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
9 Dallas, TX @ GYPSY TEA ROOM w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
14 St. Petersburg, FL @ STATE THEATRE w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
15 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ THE FACTORY w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
16 Orlando, FL @ THE SOCIAL w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
17 Atlanta, GA @ COTTON CLUB w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United
22 Toronto, ON @ TBA
23 Montreal, QC @ TBA
24 Ottawa, ON @ TBA

US Tour Dates!!
So here's some of the tour dates as of now, there's a buch more to be confirmed.

10/09/03: Providence, RI - The Met Cafe, w/ Boys Night Out, The Goodwill, Worthless United

10/10/03: Farmingdale, NY - The Downtown, w/ Boys Night Out, The Goodwill, Worthless United

10/11/03: Albany, NY - Valentines, w/ Boys NIght Out, The Goodwill, Worthless United

10/12/03: New Haven, CT - Toads Place, w/ Boys Night Out, The Goodwill, Worthless United

10/14/03: Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/15/03: State College, PA - Crowbar, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/16/03: Buffalo, NY - Showplace Theater, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/17/03: Pittsburgh, PA - Club Laga, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/18/03: Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/19/03: Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/21/03: Chicago, IL - Metro, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/22/03: Milwaukee, WI - Rave Bar, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/23/03: Minneapolis, MN - Ascot Room, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/24/03: St Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl, w/ Slick Shoes, One Man Army, The Eyeliners, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/25/03: Omaha, NE - Ranch Bowl (early show), w/Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/27/03: Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/28/03: Salt Lake City, UT - Bricks, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

10/30/03: Seattle, WA - Graceland, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/01/03: Sacramento, CA - Boardwalk, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

11/02/03: San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/04/03: Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United******Record Release Party******

11/05/03: Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/06/03: San Diego, CA - The Scene, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/07/03: Phoenix, AZ - Mason Jar, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/09/03: Dallas, TX - Gypsey Tea Room, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United

11/15/03: Ft Lauderdale, FL - formatted_The Factory, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Night Out, Worthless United, Bum Ruckus

11/16/03: Orlando, FL - Sapphire Supper Club, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

11/17/03: Atlanta, GA - The Cotton Club, w/ Slick Shoes, Boys Out Night, Worthless United

Rollin' on the River
On our few thousand mile trip back across the country I got a call from my pal Rich, proprietor of Coffee Blue in Belmar and all around madman. He asked if I wanted to take a drive to New Orleans for a few days. "Why do you wanna drive 18 hours,stay for a day then drive all the way home?" I asked. His only reason was "Why not?" and that was all the reason I needed. So Rich, Colin (Worthless United's own Merch Guy) and I hit the road armed with nothin but the clothes on our backs and a lust for life. Eighteen hours and a Waffle House stop later we were looking for a liquor store in the French Quarter. We bought a fifth of Jameson and started our night. Rich shot the shit with a creepy midget about baseball and rough sex. I got a drink at a liquor stand while Colin stole 20 shots and cigarettes behind the bartenders back. We listened to live Jazz and Blues flood out of a few clubs. We talked for a while with a transvestite in a red dress and met a gay dog dressed in leather biker gear. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with a few local girls and a guy from New York and wound up staying on the hotel room floor of a dominatrix from Philly and a girl named Vomit.
At 10 in the morning Vomit was freaking out and kicking Colin cause he had her blanket, so we ran out and jumped on a bus back to the French Qarter to sit in the square to eat some jumbalaya and watch a street band play some Louie Armstrong. The three of us were sleeping on the banks of the Mississippi when a drop in the heat woke us up. A thunder storm was coming down across the river. Everyone ran for cover. We didn't move. The rain came down and soaked us through but felt good and cool. A rainbow appeared over the river as daylight wound down again and it was back into the fray. Drinking and singing the night away with anyone who came along.
I can't wait to hit the road again.

-Dave

Highway Kings
"And this was really the way that my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell."
- Jack Kerouac , On The Road

These last two week we spent touring throughout the wild, untamed wilderness that is Canada with The Bouncing Souls, Hot Water Music, and The Forgotten were about the best two weeks I've ever had. We got to play with a few of our favorite bands, made some new friends along the way with whom we rocked, drank, gambled and won most of their money. There are lots of stories to tell but I'll just tell the one that meant the most to me.

After our return trip to Ottawa I had almost no voice left. All that came out was this gravely old man scratchy noise. The whole tour went out to eat at some vegan buffet. At dinner I couldn't even talk. I was fucked. The rest of the guys knew it too. Zak and Scott joked about it but I knew they were nervous that I was done, we had 7 days to go and I had nothing. I didn't know what to do. I just kept quiet and ate but the thought of failing everyone kept coming back and I had to get out of there. I wanted to jump in front of a bus but instead I ran around the corner and went into a bar, drank a beer and left with a hot tea. I sat back outside the vegan place and wondered how I would quit or be kicked out of the band. Chuck from Hot Water Music came out for a smoke and sat down next to me but I had no voice to talk to him. Hearing my obvious problem and probably seeing my obvious frustration he offered up a few simple vocal exercises and explained how and why they worked. I thought it was pretty futile but what the fuck, this guy probably knows what he's talking about. I decided I'd give it another day before getting on the shame train to home. We rolled some dice with the other guys and I lost, but felt less like dying.
We hit the road for the 20 hour drive to Thunder Bay. It was an amazing drive. We chased the sunset west watching the dusk roll from purple to orange and turn the Canadian midwest landscape into a dark silhouette of trees and telephone poles leading off to small nowhere towns. As night settled in we hit the mountains over Lake Huron. The air was cool and crisp and smelled like October. The higher we climbed the more Scott and I noticed the strange blue and white lights waving through the sky. As they got brighter we realized they were moving. They were the northern lights and I've never seen anything quite like them. I didn't speak a word almost the whole drive, I enjoyed the breathtaking scenery as I did the things Chuck suggested for the whole20 hours, making weird "ZZZzzzzz" noises and other stuff I didn't think would help me enough. The sun rose with the mist along the lake as we pulled into Thunder Bay and Steve asked me how my voice was. To my amazement it was almost fully restored. Playing in this band means everything to me and I had completely given up on it and on myself a few hours before, but all it took was a few simple vocal exercises to pull me out of the fire. I almost missed out on some of the best times I've ever had and left broken, failed and fucked. It's like the song says "I must always remember there's no point to surrender"!!!!

Thanx for listening to me ramble on,
Dave

canada...
we've been up here in canada for a past couple days touring with the bouncing souls, hot water music, and the forgotten...it's a really great lineup and we're having a good time...our ottawa show was cancelled on thursday because of the blackout but we're heading back there on sunday to make up the show..and then we drive for 20 hours...should be fun...the blackout was kinda fun though...the souls and the hot waters played for about an hour or two acoustically in the alley behind the club and we met some cool people...i'm working on a tour photo journal piece that is supposed to be published in the next issue of A.P. so keep your eyes open for that...ok...later...
-zak

funny? not funny?
Check it out guys, I have my own stupid little website that Zak made for me. Lots of people think the rediculous heading is super funny, but then there's some people that get pissed at it and think I'm a big fuckin cocky jerk. I mean I'm not the most insecure person in the world, but come on, how could anyone take this seriously? I think I'm gonna change the heading. What do you think? www.worthlessunited.com/steve

xo steve

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