We asked Benjamin Verdoes what it’s been like on the recent Iska Dhaaf tour. Here is what he told us:

Storm Chasers (Click here for proof).

Schubas, Chicago, Ill.

Have you ever heard of a *derecho? I hadn’t either. Although I lived in the Midwest for nearly three years, this particular type of storm had escaped me, or I guess, vice versa. The reoccurring theme of this tour seems to be that we arrive to the venues in warm clear weather, unload, and then the sky turns sickly green, the trees start dancing, and sheets of water are unleashed. Oh, and lightning! The show was fantastic. The grumbling French sound engineer made us sound lovely. Some fans drove all the way from Madison, WI, to see us, despite the dangerous conditions. Before we departed for St. Louis, I went downstairs to the greenroom for a final check and saw the basement was submerged in almost knee high water. Then we found out the ceiling was also leaking. We waited for a lull and packed as quickly as possible.

NYC- Near hurricane (Arthur?)
Baltimore- Insane storm
Philly- Torrential downpour
Omaha- Lightning storm
Providence- Storm/flash flood warnings

Saved by Children

Gravel Parking Lot, Lawrence, KA.

Occasionally a show falls through. In the case of Lawrence, Kansas, we had already done an interview and I had my mind set on playing there instead of taking the day off. I decided to call back our wonderful interviewer, Nadia Imafidon, in hopes of putting together a last minute show. She graciously set us up with an awesome art collective that works at Seedco studios. The show was supposed to be indoors, but the night before the fire marshal put a restriction on the building. We showed up to play outdoors in a gravel parking lot. Instead of a show, we became part of an art walk. Art walks are great, but usually for music made for a wandering passivity, which we don’t particularly love. Rather than setting up on the tiny stage we decided to play on the pavement in front of the gravel. As we began playing, people stood far away in the periphery and others wandered by. Not the best feeling in the world. Then, out of nowhere three young kids came over and started listening and dancing. They were luminous and would run up and tell us nice things in between songs. The interaction drew everyone together and some people came close. Suddenly we were connected. All through loading up the kids came running back up to give us little gifts of flowers and took us over to where they were excavating what they believed was a giant dinosaur skeleton. Maybe it was.

The Anarchist

The Firebird, St. Louis, MO.

We played a great show. Afterwards one of the attendees whipped up in a golf cart, offering to give us a lift through downtown. Of course, we say. And we’re off. On the way, our guide, an older gentleman and radiologist, tells us he is an anarchist and proceeds to drive us through stop signs, into oncoming traffic, and on sidewalks (where there are many people). It is a terrifying and delightful experience.  We saw Washington Street in the best way imaginable. Although I jumped out of the cart more than once, I’m glad we stayed on for cruising alongside decadent Cadillacs and Escalades, and his stories of ether and acid. I’ll never see St. Louis the same way.

Fireflies/Lightning Bugs

O’Leaver’s, Omaha, NB

The air was hot and sticky. The sky was full of lightning and ready to unleash. In the calm before the storm Nate saw his first lightning bug and fell in love with Omaha and Midwest summers (he later captured one in Philly). The engineers recorded our set and it sounds great. We’ll post it in the days to come.

*A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a land-based, fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms.