Under Pressure US Tour - Day 1 - July 25, 2007

Winnipeg, Manitoba...

Six months of planning. Always the last minute shake-up; shows falling through, logistics short-circuiting, my multitasking capabilities being overtaxed. It's that time again, and what better time than late July through to the end of August? I mean, I love temperate climates; why not bake myself in a tin can on wheels for a month? Sure, I recently bought my first house and found no limit to the delights of air-conditioning. Fuck that. I'll roast myself alive in a tin can on wheels and baste my flesh in the collective sweat of the band.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles; that's pretty much how Under Pressure converged on Minneapolis. I remember the movie being a lot more funny. Joe's parents drove the two of us down. Cam jogged across the border raising money for some sort of charity, then sucked cocks for rides. Dan had that ultralight that he had never got around to building. I forget what Mike did.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed meeting Joe's parents and visiting with them on the ride down. We made it to Fashionable Idiots headquarters (Andy and Eric's Minneapolis apartment) without incident. Cam was already there assembling records. It's kind of a miracle that both of our two new records, Come Clean and Black Bile, shipped on time.

It wasn't that much later that Dan and Mike arrived. We checked out the Fashionable Idiots tour van, sorted out our equipment, then slowly made our way down to the Cube house to officially kick off the tour. It was nice running into Steve Smiley and catching up. His band, Pandamonium, played first. I really enjoyed them; fast, ferocious female-fronted hardcore. They were followed by loose crusty-type band called Ganglion (featuring Jim from A.S.S--I really liked that band) and a hardcore band from Philadelphia called Lighten Up! I took photos of the bands but unfortunately I haven't developed the film yet so I'll have to come back and add them at some later date. Overall, an enjoyable evening in a small basement; the perfect setting for a loose, energetic Under Pressure set. I wish I could get down to Minneapolis more often these days, as I've fallen out of touch with some people I used to hang out with several times a year. Still, it was nice visiting with those who showed up.

I can't remember exactly when it was that we were listening to records at Andy's apartment. Someone threw on a DRY ROT 7". We were going to be playing several dates with them on this tour, and the southern California band had just recently played Minneapolis. When prompted on a verdict of their show, Andy told us that they were weird and that we'd either love them or hate them. He didn't seem entirely sure whether he was feeling the love. He also told us that he heard they were... Christians.

[insert knee-jerk reaction here]

What stance would UNDER PRESSURE take? Would we take action, maintain punk purity and fuck shit up? Would we confront them on thousands of years of mismanaged and squandered superpowers? Would we talk about them behind their backs and shun them from our tribe with long and awkward silences? Or would we become converts?

So I stumbled upon a little project. I was yammering to myself in the van and realized that I was honking. Honking is something that I can't really describe to you other than to say that it is something not unlike verbal diarrhea. To really know, you would need to have a conversation with me about it when I'm in the zone. Anyhow, I decided that I would immerse myself into this state of being and use this little-known and misunderstood tool to chisel out some poems; a mandate of one a day.

The tour has started. Touring is kind of like a new exercise or diet that you are forced to immerse yourself in with no reprieve. It's a daily regiment that yields results you will only realize a week or two down the road. Touring makes you dumber. It makes a lot of things really funny. It buries your grasp of time. It gives you a labido the size of the biggest dildo you've ever seen. It pulls you away from the confines of everyday life; it gives you a new perspective. It shows you just how big and incredible/shitty the world is. It lowers your standards. It raises your ambitions. It introduces you to some of the most awful/amazing people you could ever meet. Every time you step out of the van, you might wonder how much time has passed and if you will be setting yourself upon gas station attendants who are part of an advanced civilization of apes.

"Here's A Starter" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Yeah, I've smelt the felch
Felonious decorated interior
Leaked all over my exterior
You roll over and say,
"Here's a starter."


Joe's parents drove the two of us down to Minneapolis. Two new 12" slabs of vinyl--Come Clean and Black Bile await our arrival.


The Fashionable Idiots tour van, later to be known (to me) as the Meatwave.


Cam assembling records at Andy and Eric's apartment.


Andy and Eric's cat. Handsome fella.


Mike being Mike.


Some asshole ripped the mirrors off the van while another band was on tour. I suppose this fix was better than not having any mirrors. We later found a spare mirror in the van. Turns out we didn't ever have to use it. Somehow, they stayed on throughout the entire tour.




Under Pressure has the traditional "look into the camera and smile with all of the naive optimism you can muster", which automatically sentences us to weeks of misfortune and agony.


Apparently, Joe's not with the program.

All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can ben found here.