Day 1: Our Nation’s Capital

(Gabriel is impaled on the Washington Monument. He did it all for art.)

Hooray! DC! Stop one on the tour! We started out the evening with a delightful repast at Ben’s Chili Bowl, perhaps the city’s finest eating establishment and a perennial Man in Gray favorite. Ben’s makes something called a chili half-smoke, which is a smoked sausage frizzled on the flattop until it takes on a wicked crust, then stuffed in a steamed bun and lathered with mustard, raw onions and a heaping of incredible chili. So very, very good. If you’ve ever been, I’d imagine you want one right now. With a side of cheese fries, naturally.

Then we got a beer with Gabriel’s friend Emily, who is doing awesome humanitarian work for the State Department. And then it was on to the Velvet Lounge, and our first gig this tour!

The show went really well – the small crowd grew as the set went on, and everyone seemed really into it. (Wanna hear a song from last night? This is Gabe doing a brand new one: http://econo-graphics.com/superdupersecret/KatieMaeDC.mp3)

Gaslight Society came on next and rocked – sort of a punky, groovy X-Ray Spex vibe. Very cool.

The night was closed out by DC force-to-be-reckoned-with Must Love Trash, who jammed out hard. I’ve seen them a couple-three times now, and they get radder every show. I highly recommend going to see them on Saturday at Kenny’s Castaways if you’re in NYC.

Berg of MLT and his lovely fiancee Tracy were kind enough to put us up, and we spent the rest of the evening eating “jumbo slice” (they’re way not kidding) pizza and playing with Parker, their adorable Labrador. And then we slept the sleep of reason that breeds monsters.

And now it’s off to York, PA. By way of Intercourse, PA. It’s a little off the beaten path, but how can one resist?

Much love,

J