The A-Trak/Rub Sunglasses Is A Must tour we've been presenting (and telling y'all about) hits California this weekend, with a gig tonight at Boca in SF, then a massive guest star blowout at LA's famed El Rey (with a bonus beat appearance at Turntable Lab on Fairfax), then on Sunday the boys stay classy in San Diego at Aubergine. After the jump, Ayres gives the haps on everything that's gone down since the last tour update.
I sit in a four cornered hotel room staring at cable.
Last time we left off, the super sexy sensational Sunglasses sound system extravaganza was in Vancouver getting ready for the show. Everywhere we go in Canada, we make it a point to go to Tim Horton's and order coffee with half and half. They always ask "half of what?" - nobody in Tim Horton's has ever heard of half and half. This delights Cosmo to no end. By the way, the show in Vancouver was nutty pie.
In Seattle we linked up with DJ DV-One and Denise Melanson, who is one of A-Trak's booking agents and self assigned den mother to stinky DJs in tour vans. She BAKED US COOKIES and is now my new favorite person. Fourcolorzack djed with us and ripped it. A-Trak went on, air scratching and dancing ensued.
In Portland, we got to shoot pool with my brother Brooks before the show. A-Trak's friends who work at Nike came through and invited us to the Nike campus in Beaverton.
We were happy to get some free sneakers and meet the designers (Mark Smith, what!), to see the new prototypes and crazy shoes that will never come out, but we went nuts when they took us to the room where they laser etch the shoes. We got patterns burned on shoes, cell phones, wallets, cameras... Basically we backed the tour van up to the building and got everything we own personalised. They wouldn't let us laser tattoo our skin - something about the machine "burning a cauterized hole clean through your arm to the other side" - but next time we come to Portland, I'm getting my name put on my canoe. Massive shouts to Chris Bevans, Tom, Jordan, Anthony, Mark and all the Nike heads.
Next stop is San Francisco, which is sort of a homecoming away from home, then down to LA for the super spectacular El Rey show, with special guests Chromeo, Aloe Blacc, Dudley Perkins & DJ Abilities. California, let's go!