The Thumbs

The Thumbs 1st U.S. Tour- Jan. 15-March 15, 1997
The first eleven days of this tour was with the now defunct "Webster." Good friends of ours, and a great band. We had a great time with those guys, despite the fact that we were touring in bobby's volvo station wagon and a trailer. the car was constantly overheating, so we had to crank the heat. we usually had the windows rolled down, so if you sat in the front seat, your feet felt like they were on fire, and the upper half of your body was frozen.

date city venue bands

wed. jan. 15 richmond, va the biograph webster, recess, stinkbomb

th. jan 16 harrisonburg, va punk haus annex webster

fri. jan 17 columbia, sc vfw hall webster, the ramen

this was the first show with jason playing drums. lee from webster filled in on the first 2 shows of the tour. we drove all night after the harrisonburg show to columbia, where we met jason for the first time. we were pretty beat, so we slept in the early afternoon. meanwhile, jason was taking his GRE's (he was thinking of going to grad school). when he got back, we went to self's practice space and practiced. we had sent jason an 8 song tape (from the sweet merciful crap sessions), and we just ran through the songs in order. it sounded great. what struck me about him was his energy and his aura. he didn't know the names of the songs, so we had to stick to the order on the tape. 3 hours later, we played the show- a little rough in a few places, but very energetic and good. jason played whole rest of the tour with us (35 shows total). he really bailed us out of a bad spot, and we all made a great friend. it couldn't have turned out better.
-mike

sat. jan 18 augusta, ga the capri u.s. bombs, the grabbers, home groan, webster

sun. jan 19 atlanta, ga reggae hut webster, tres kids

mon. jan 20 athens, ga martin house webster, whippersnapper, martin family

tue. jan 21 tampa, fl brass mug webster, enginear

wed. jan.22 ft. myers, fl draft house webster, sexboy

th. jan. 23 talahassee, fl cow haus webster, nightfinger, cream abdul babaar

fri. jan. 24 birmingham, al show fell through

Jason was amazing in every regard; ability, personality, life-force, everything. I had known him for a week when we had to drive all night to a show and we were still in the volvo and Mark didn't want to stop to let me pee. We were in our "piss bomb" era where we would piss in cups or bottles and throw it out the window hopefully hitting the Webster van ( they loved it). Anyway Mark had become somewhat of a master at the "pissing while driving" technique and convinced me that I could learn to do it too. All I had was a normal 12oz coke bottle to use and after I explained that the opening was too small he still insisted it could be done. Well I'm in the backseat of the volvo trying to lean far enough foward to pee and stuffing my penis into the tiny opening. I get it in to a degree but in the process I have created an airtight seal. I begin to pee. The phrase "contents under pressure" comes immediately to mind as the piss explodes out of the bottle covering me and jason who was sitting in the seat in front of me. Cursing Mark and his hijinks I begin to clean myself up. The back of Jason's coat is sopping and I try to discreetly clean it off without alerting him unneccissarily to the whole mishap. I'm found out but instead of quitting on the spot he goes on to finish it out. You have to love that guy.-bobby

sat. jan. 25 memphis, tn pezz house webster, pezz

this was a sad night because it was the last night of the tour for webster. we had had a great week and a half with them, and wished it could go on longer. we gave them a parting gift by learning and playing "lights out" by the angry samoans. bobby and i had been gradually getting sicker and sicker during the past week, and the condition worsened that night. we split a hotel room with webster and mark and jason stayed up drinkin' with the websters, while bobby slept and i tried to sleep. we decided to seek medical help the next day, since we only had a short drive to get to little rock. on the morning of the 26th, we found "baptist church medical clinic," where they diagnosed us both with bronchitis- antibiotic injections in the ass, and prescriptions, which we filled at "ike's drugs" down the street. we got out of the clinic in time to take a tour of sun studio.
-mike

sun. jan 26 little rock, ar das yutes a go-go played after leonard peltier documentary

mon. jan. 27 fayetteville, ar show fell through

tue. jan. 28 jackson, ms show fell through

wed. jan. 29 new orleans, la underground sounds (by ourselves)

th. jan 30 lafayette, la show fell through

jan. 30-feb 7 we cancelled shows (in lake jackson, woodlands, san antonio, san angelo, and lubbock texas) to get the volvo fixed, go home, rent van, and haul ass westward.

sat. feb 8 el paso, tx rugburn chiggers

sun. feb 9 tucson, az show fell through (he booked us for feb. 8)

mon. feb 10 mesa, az hollywood alley

tue. feb 11 sierra vista, az city park

wed. feb 12 las vegas, nv house show the heroines, the scooters, puckered, starfish

we drove all night, pulled into las vegas around 2 a.m., and hit the casino. the rules are: each member gets $10 to gamble. if your winnings exceed $300, then everything over that goes into the kitty. of course, after 10 minutes, i'm slinking off to the nickel slots to postpone the inevitable sleep in the parking lot. this was before the new van era (we were in a rented mini-van for this tour after destroying my volvo in the first two weeks), so we are all dreading another night crammed in on top of each other in the car only to be rousted first thing in the morning by security. someone gets a hot tip about an all night nudie bar about 2 miles down the strip. so on the premise that the longer we stay up, the less we'll care about where we'll sleep, we head down to the bar. the only people there are these rod stewart look-a-like women propositioning us- i'm broke and go to the bathroom and fall asleep on the toilet.
we make it back to the car and, as expected, are kicked out of the parking lot by the rent-a-cops. we make it to the house where we are supposed to be playing in around 9a.m., and th

date	city	venue	bands
wed. jan. 15	richmond, va	the biograph	webster, recess, stinkbomb
th. jan 16	harrisonburg, va	punk haus annex	webster
fri. jan 17	columbia, sc	vfw hall	webster, the ramen
this was the first show with jason playing drums. lee from webster filled in on the first 2 shows of the tour. we drove all night after the harrisonburg show to columbia, where we met jason for the first time. we were pretty beat, so we slept in the early afternoon. meanwhile, jason was taking his GRE's (he was thinking of going to grad school). when he got back, we went to self's practice space and practiced. we had sent jason an 8 song tape (from the sweet merciful crap sessions), and we just ran through the songs in order. it sounded great. what struck me about him was his energy and his aura. he didn't know the names of the songs, so we had to stick to the order on the tape. 3 hours later, we played the show- a little rough in a few places, but very energetic and good. jason played whole rest of the tour with us (35 shows total). he really bailed us out of a bad spot, and we all made a great friend. it couldn't have turned out better. -mike
sat. jan 18	augusta, ga	the capri	u.s. bombs, the grabbers, home groan, webster
sun. jan 19	atlanta, ga	reggae hut	webster, tres kids
mon. jan 20	athens, ga	martin house	webster, whippersnapper, martin family
tue. jan 21	tampa, fl	brass mug	webster, enginear
wed. jan.22	ft. myers, fl	draft house	webster, sexboy
th. jan. 23	talahassee, fl	cow haus	webster, nightfinger, cream abdul babaar
fri. jan. 24	birmingham, al	show fell through
Jason was amazing in every regard; ability, personality, life-force, everything. I had known him for a week when we had to drive all night to a show and we were still in the volvo and Mark didn't want to stop to let me pee. We were in our "piss bomb" era where we would piss in cups or bottles and throw it out the window hopefully hitting the Webster van ( they loved it). Anyway Mark had become somewhat of a master at the "pissing while driving" technique and convinced me that I could learn to do it too. All I had was a normal 12oz coke bottle to use and after I explained that the opening was too small he still insisted it could be done. Well I'm in the backseat of the volvo trying to lean far enough foward to pee and stuffing my penis into the tiny opening. I get it in to a degree but in the process I have created an airtight seal. I begin to pee. The phrase "contents under pressure" comes immediately to mind as the piss explodes out of the bottle covering me and jason who was sitting in the seat in front of me. Cursing Mark and his hijinks I begin to clean myself up. The back of Jason's coat is sopping and I try to discreetly clean it off without alerting him unneccissarily to the whole mishap. I'm found out but instead of quitting on the spot he goes on to finish it out. You have to love that guy.-bobby
sat. jan. 25	memphis, tn	pezz house	webster, pezz
this was a sad night because it was the last night of the tour for webster. we had had a great week and a half with them, and wished it could go on longer. we gave them a parting gift by learning and playing "lights out" by the angry samoans. bobby and i had been gradually getting sicker and sicker during the past week, and the condition worsened that night. we split a hotel room with webster and mark and jason stayed up drinkin' with the websters, while bobby slept and i tried to sleep. we decided to seek medical help the next day, since we only had a short drive to get to little rock. on the morning of the 26th, we found "baptist church medical clinic," where they diagnosed us both with bronchitis- antibiotic injections in the ass, and prescriptions, which we filled at "ike's drugs" down the street. we got out of the clinic in time to take a tour of sun studio. -mike
sun. jan 26	little rock, ar	das yutes a go-go	played after leonard peltier documentary
mon. jan. 27	fayetteville, ar	show fell through
tue. jan. 28	jackson, ms	show fell through
wed. jan. 29	new orleans, la	underground sounds	(by ourselves)
th. jan 30	lafayette, la	show fell through
jan. 30-feb 7	we cancelled shows (in lake jackson, woodlands, san antonio, san angelo, and lubbock texas) to get the volvo fixed, go home, rent van, and haul ass westward.
sat. feb 8	el paso, tx	rugburn	chiggers
sun. feb 9	tucson, az	show fell through (he booked us for feb. 8)
mon. feb 10	mesa, az	hollywood alley
tue. feb 11	sierra vista, az	city park
wed. feb 12	las vegas, nv	house show	the heroines, the scooters, puckered, starfish
we drove all night, pulled into las vegas around 2 a.m., and hit the casino. the rules are: each member gets $10 to gamble. if your winnings exceed $300, then everything over that goes into the kitty. of course, after 10 minutes, i'm slinking off to the nickel slots to postpone the inevitable sleep in the parking lot. this was before the new van era (we were in a rented mini-van for this tour after destroying my volvo in the first two weeks), so we are all dreading another night crammed in on top of each other in the car only to be rousted first thing in the morning by security. someone gets a hot tip about an all night nudie bar about 2 miles down the strip. so on the premise that the longer we stay up, the less we'll care about where we'll sleep, we head down to the bar. the only people there are these rod stewart look-a-like women propositioning us- i'm broke and go to the bathroom and fall asleep on the toilet. we make it back to the car and, as expected, are kicked out of the parking lot by the rent-a-cops. we make it to the house where we are supposed to be playing in around 9a.m., and th