REPORTS FROM A 4-DAY TREK ACROSS THE WESTERN INLANDS WITH SEATTLE’S CASCADIAN YOUTH TRIBE, KITHKIN

Cruising through the deserted middle of Washington in the dead of night can be a dark and lonely experience, but spirits were high in the tour van, hereby dubbed The Necrovancer, as Kithkin (Bob Martin, Kelton Sears, Alex Barr and Ian McCutcheon) were setting out for their first tour since their trek to Austin, Texas for SXSW in March. Along for the ride were beloved merch slinger/spiritual guide Sherpa Joe and myself. No one was ready to sleep, all too excited to be on the road, and much discussion was had about the tenants of wizardry in such seminal pop cultural works as Led Zeppelin IV and Adventure Time. Really, they have way more in common than you’d think. Corner Kelton Sears at the next Kithkin show and ask him about it for a good time.

DAY ONE: Salt Lake City is clean. Like, uncomfortably clean. Even with our hippy-dippy northwestern bent of recycling/composting and generally caring for the environment, Seattle still feels like a capital-C City. Downtown Salt Lake feels like an outdoor mall. I half expect giant, Mormon-funded cleaning robots to descend upon the town at night to sweep away discarded beer cans and homeless people alike. We decided to pass on the free History of Joseph Smith movie showing in town, and after walking around the area for a good 20 minutes admiring how shiny everything was and seeing an abnormal amount of friendly people in suits, we went to go find the venue for the gig.

Kilby Court was a good mirror to the uneasy cleanliness of downtown Salt Lake. A small, tricked out garage of a DIY space, the sticker-covered walls and outdoor firepit immediately had everyone at ease. The venue was also adjacent to a small row of shops made out of abandoned shipping crates and located in the middle of the road, which was easily one of the most bizarre and awesome things I have ever seen. The sound guy, Wes, who was also running door and the rest of the show by himself, gave us the rundown on set times and told us where we could find delicious burritos, so we left the gear and went on a quest for sustenance.

The crowd at Kilby that night was different, to say the least. Local openers Sonsapapa were young, fresh-faced members of the Mormon Church, and much of the crowd appeared to be an awkward collection of their parents, younger siblings, and high school friends all there to celebrate the band leaving for their Mormon missions. After the high school boys had finished, Kithkin were up for the first show of the tour. Even though the confined space of Kilby Court gave an extra oomph to drum-driven racket, much of the aforementioned crowd were not into a bunch of pagans from Seattle yelling “THE DEVIL IS INSIDE OF YOU” and celebrating the collapse of the modern world. Still, those that stuck around for the show witnessed the insane energy that these guys put out. Even while sleep deprived from our all-night endeavor in the Necrovancer, Kithkin killed it to a crowd of maybe 12. Terry Malts closed to the ever-dwindling crowd, but proved to be super nice dudes with a cool Ted Leo-ish punk vibe going on. After the show we all went to a local bar with friends in SLC band The Devil Whale, but the funk/rap group playing and the 3.5 percent beer made hanging out an uphill battle, so we decided to head back to The Devil Whale’s house and crash for our first night of non-van sleep.

DAY TWO: Sitting in Boise traffic playing improv Dungeons and Dragons in the car, we found out that the show was moved last minute from The Red Room to a venue dubbed The Shredder. If that name brings to mind 90’s skate films, then seeing the venue would likely fulfill some deep seeded childhood fantasies. The Shredder looks like it hasn’t changed since 1996, with a halfpipe inside the venue and walls lined with classic arcade games. Local headliner Sun Blood Stories met us at the venue with some insanely good vegan curry as we spent the next hour or so playing Golden Axe and Shinobi until doors were scheduled to open. Leafraker from Idaho Falls kicked things off with an incredible set of singing, rapping, and melodica playing to pre-programmed beats. This guy was a serious gem, and I hope to be seeing more of his music around the web, as he seriously deserves some credit. Kithkin played to an increasingly drunk and rowdy crowd, and the reception was much better than the Mormon goodbye party we attended the night before. The Shredder was projecting horror movies behind the bands all night to good effect, so we grabbed Bob’s copy of Predator out of the van to play during the boys’ set. Turns out projections of gunfights, the jungle and alien infrared vision are the perfect backdrop for a Kithkin show. Sun Blood Stories were celebrating their album release, and entertained a large crowd of enthusiastic friends’ psychedelic, blues-y jams until well past 1 AM. We were all haggard after such a late show and desperate for some food, of which there was not much to be had on a late night in Boise. The journey to our only chance of late night food, local pizza at The Pie Hole, was wrought with confusing directions and we arrived to a massive line of Boise drunks, all wanting the same thing we did. We finally got our pizza and returned to the venue, only to find that Andy from Sun Blood Stories had his bag stolen from the venue. Waiting around until 5AM or so for the cops to arrive (they never did) meant that we were crashing hard, thankfully Sun Blood Stories’ Amber and Ben let us stay in their spacious home for the night.

DAY THREE: Amber and Ben woke us up at the crack of noon with delicious French Press coffee and promises of brunch, so we hopped into the Necrovancer and drove to downtown Boise for some excellent breakfast foods and milkshakes at Moon’s Kitchen. Ian needed to pick up some new mallets so we made a quick stop at Doyle’s music shop, which turned into an extended stop as soon as Alex started testing out pedals and Ben started jamming on guitars. Eventually we escaped the excess of instruments and made our way to a hidden pond with Sun Blood Stories for a delightful afternoon swim and some Solo cup mimosas. Refreshed and relaxed from the Boise sun, it was time to go load in at the Hyde Park Fair. The scene of families and teens in the outdoor suburban square could not have been further removed from last night’s chaos at The Shredder, but the crowd was already well into a day of drinking and dancing, and ready to boogie. This time Sun Blood Stories opened for Kithkin, warming the crowd up and leaving them hungry for more, which Kithkin’s drum assault set was happy to provide. Hyde Park Fair’s PA was MASSIVE, proven by the fact that I could hear Kelton sound checking his bass while I was relieving myself in the bathroom of a crowded sports bar two blocks away. The volume boost helped the Boise crowd get their butts moving, and the boys left Hyde Park Fair to much applause. Sun Blood Stories’ drummer Brett was hosting us for the night, and after Friday’s late night rowdiness and drunken pizza adventures, we were all more inclined to stay in and watch some Adventure Time before calling it a night.

DAY FOUR: We set out for Spokane in the morning, stopping for coffee once and hightailing it back to Washington, only to encounter a terrifying road experience. Halfway out of Idaho we witnessed a Jeep coming down the barren road swerve and flip off the highway. Alex slammed the brakes on the van and we leaped out to help as the brave gentleman who was driving in the car ahead of us pried the windshield off the car and helped the sole passenger out through the tipped over Jeep. Luckily, she seemed to have only a few minor lacerations and a serious case of shock, nothing broken. We stuck around to comfort her and provide some support while Bob called an ambulance. More cars stopped to help out and investigate, and when the ambulance arrived we gave our statements and went back on our way, all of us majorly freaked out and glad to be safe. On a much lighter note, the show in Spokane proved to be the best of the tour, and as large a Sunday crowd as I’ve seen came out to pack Mootsy’s up for a good time. Local technician and cool guy Video Destroyer provided an insanely trippy display of live distorted VHS videos backing up the bands, and Kithkin set up on the floor directly in front of a dance happy crowd of Spokane residents. Once they finished tearing the place down, the sound guy bumped Ice Cube and we set about packing up and piling into the Necrovancer, while mingling with the way-to-rowdy-for-a-Sunday crowd. As soon as an overly eager and newly minted Kithkin fan asked if he could “do some blow in [our] van,” we knew it was time to leave Spokane and cruise through the night back to our beloved Cascadian home.