Baltimore @ Sonar

Dear Lovely Peoples of Baltimore,

First things first : thank you to Bridget of Sonar for helping us navigate around the traffic for the filming of Die-Hard 4. It took us 25 minutes to travel 4 blocks. We finally arrived and had a fantastic time playing for you all.

We were also honored to share the evening with Unearth , who played in the bigger room of Sonar.

I can honestly say that this was the first show where we felt like things were feeling "right" onstage.

Thanks also to Gideon, Rita, Emma, and Ren for making the trek out to see us.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,
- Brent / Menomena

Charlottesville — Won't get Foosed again

Dear Menomenauts,

Much love to those of you who came out to see us at the Satellite Ballroom. We had a delightful time playing for you. Thank you for listening.



The highlight of our night was playing Foosball with Liz. She is a formidible and agile opponent. Thank you so much for the place to crash! I hope you made it to your speech on time, and if not, I'm sorry if we made you late!

Love love love,
Spin spin spin,

- Brent

Energy to Blog = Energy to Rock divided by Common Cold

Dear Menomenauts,

I apologize for my lapse in communication.

You see, I caught a case of the sniffles, and wanted to make sure that my precious life-energy was not diverted away from bringing the Rock.

I will try now to bring you* up to speed.

Love love love,
Cough cough cough,

- Brent / Menomena

* = upwards, now, of 5 visitors per day

Adventure Land

Dear Menomenauts,

Rock hard. Play hard.

Welcome to Adventure Land.

Go-Carts. No Bumping? Yeah Right.

And batting cages, balls pitched "VERY fast."

And Laser Tag.

I wonder if I was at any disadvantage under the black lights?

And arcades!

That is Menomena's day off.

Love love love,
Play play play,

- Brent / Menomena

1/3 done already

Dear Menomenauts,

I can't believe we're already done with 1/3 of our shows on this tour.

Here's the remaining dates :

9/26 - Charlottesville at Satellite Ballroom (Tomorrow)
9/27 - Baltimore at Sonar
9/28 - Philadelphia at World Café Live
9/29 - NYC at Bowery Ballroom
9/30 - Boston at Harper's Ferry
10/3 - Montreal at La Sala Rossa
10/4 - Toronto at Lee's Palace
10/5 - Detroit at Magic Stick
10/6 - Chicago at Subterranean
10/7 - Minneapolis at Triple Rock Social Club

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,
- Brent / Menomena

Kumback Restaurant

Belated thanks to the nice folks at Kumback Restaurant for delicious strawberry pie. Gotta burn it off, though:
Is there anything more masculine than jump-roping outside the ladies washroom at a truck-stop while wearing flip-flops and a Motorhead T-shirt?
No.
There is not.
But, that's how we roll.

Love love love,
Jump jump jump,

- Brent / Menomena

Raleigh, Raleigh Awesome

Dear Menomenauts,

Thank you for staying up so late on a Sunday to see us play at King's.
Please have us back soon.
We LOVE your venue.
We LOVE "Megafaun."
We LOVE Raleigh.
You are all awesome.

Rock, rock, rock,
- Brent / Menomena

Chapel Hill, My! what an eventful night.

Dear Menomenauts,

Thank you to everyone who came out to see us at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill. We had a great time playing for you. You were a wonderful audience.

It was an eventful night:

- Walking back from dinner, I noticed a huge U-Haul driving down a narrow alley behind the venue. As it turned onto the road, it scraped The Long Winters' van, leaving a huge dent. The police came. I was the star witness. Fun!

- Thank you to Duane and Seamus for letting us crash at your place. While trying to find it at 3am, I knocked at the wrong house (I had the right house number — but I was on SOUTH instead of the north region of the road). Nobody answered. So, I began walking back to the van, where I had left Duane's cell number. A man sitting on his porch, across the street, asked me what I was up to.
HIM : My man's not home. What 'cha looking for?
ME : Oh, uh, nothing. I'm just gonna call him on his cell.
HIM : No seriously. What you need?
ME : Just a place to crash. He's a friend of mine.
HIM : Well, my man's out. [he walks from his porch to stand next to me in the shadows] I just want you to know that if you need, some, uh weed or anything, that you know where you can get some.
ME : Oh, well, hey thanks, but I just need to talk to my friend.
HIM : So you don't need any weed?
ME : Not tonight, no thanks.
HIM : Hm.
ME : Well, have a nice nigh——
HIM : Say. Can you spare 2 dollars?
ME : Sorry, I don't have any cash on me. Only plastic.
HIM : You don't have no cash?
ME : Sorry. Just the card.
HIM : Word?
ME : Uh, word.
HIM : Any chance you could draw from it? [implying I should go to an ATM]
ME : Oh, uh, no, it's a credit-card, and it won't let me do cash-advances.
HIM : No?
ME : Yeah, sorry. Well have a nice night! I gotta go.

My advice to fellow travelers : if you meet a stranger at 3am who offers you drugs, then asks for money, then asks you to go to an ATM to withdraw cash, by all means, do hang out with him alone in the shadows. Because sooner or later the conversation will turn to the Open-Source paradigm and its' implications for social justice.

So, I finally called Duane, and found the correct house. Meet their sweet dog Ajax!
AJAX : Woof.
ME : Uh, Woof?
AJAX : [wags his tail] Woof.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,
- Brent / Menomena

Thank you Atlanta, Hello Chapel Hill

Dear Menomenauts of Atlanta,

Thank you for listening to us and for dancing! We had a great time playing for you last night. We're thrilled to join up with "The Long Winters" and "What Made Milwaukee Famous" — two excellent bands, (and labelmates to boot)! We'll be touring with them for the majority of the next two weeks as we work our way up the East Coast, into Canada, and over to Detroit and Chicago.

I had the pleasure of meeting Courtney and Kasci last night at the show— they were running the Music For America table next to where we were selling T-shirts and CD-Singles. Quick link to MFA : Music For America
We wish you both the best with everything, and thank you heartily for the grub and place to crash. Your dog Joey brightened our night:

To the nice peoples of Paste Culture-Club, we apologize for our horrendous video interview. I now realize that the only things Menomena take seriously are 1. Rocking, and B. Immigration Reform. In addition, we were high on cough syrup and rubber-cement vapors, so please forgive us for being a little distracted.

Thank you as well to the sound-person for teaching us that the most efficient way to mic a glockenspiel is with equal doses of sarcasm and hostility. We apologize for being a band that plays instruments. Stairs to "heaven" = twenty-seven :

And now, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina!
We play tonight, at the Local 506. (with the Long Winters and What Made Milwaukee Famous)

And then tomorrow, to Raleigh!
We will play (headline, I think) at King's Barcade (with Megafun and Black Socks).

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,
- Brent / Menomena

It's Official

I miss my sweethearts.

Love love love,
Meow meow meow,

- Brent / Menomena

Stormin' Norman

Dear Da Opolis & Norman Oklahoma,

Thank you to everyone who came out to hear us last night at Da Opolis in Norman, Oklahoma. We had a fantastic time meeting you all. I can't believe that Erin and Dillon (Dylan?) drove all the way from Tulsa AND joined us for a deliriously sleepy 3am meal (with Madison). Thanks also to Travis, Da Opolis, and the Starlight Mints for having us at such a cool venue.

Now we drive to Atlanta Georgia, where we will play tomorrow night.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,

- Brent / Menomena

Molly's Cafe in Snowville, Utah

Belated thanks to Molly for a delicious breakfast in Snowville, Utah, and for autographing three "Mollie's Cafe" bumper stickers.

Musical Influenza

This Ukulele solo by the frontman of "the Inactivists" in Denver blew my mind.
All music is changed forever.


Jump-rope. Exercize gizmo? Or concealed nun-chuck weaponry? YOU DECIDE!



This is how Danny smiles at you when he's washing dishes.

Tonight we will play at Da Opolis in Norman Oklahoma. I'm so excited to play an all-ages show (finally).
I gotta go load-in. I can't believe CJ & Jennifer are coming to see us all the way from Dallas. We're thrilled to see them.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,

- Brent / Menomena

Emergency Appendectomy

Many people acknowledge that Justin Harris is a talented bassist. What few realize, however, is how expertly he can perform an emergency appendectomy with his bare hands.

Thank You Denver, on to Da Opolis in Norman, Oklahoma

Dear Menomenauts of the Larimer Lounge in Denver,

Thank you so much for listening to us until 1am in the morning on a monday night. We had a great time.

For those of you who shared last night's experience with us, here is a picture to remember the night by.


Next up:
Tomorrow night at Da Opolis in Norman, Oklahoma.
Then on to Atlanta Georgia at Smith's Olde Bar two days later.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,

- Brent / Menomena

p.s. Brian — you are awesome, thanks for letting us crash at your apartment, have fun in Germany.

Visit from the Future

This is me, age 83, from the future, come back in time to give Menomena my good tidings. Notice how the jumproping has paid off— still cruisin', still rockin', still wearin' the flag with pride.

Love love love
Rock rock rock

- Brent / Menomena

Denver, Here we come!

Dear Menomenauts,

I have heard reports that this website receives upwards of four (4) hits every single day. Incredible.

The road can take it's toll. It's important to stay fit. Here's the equation, for those in the know.

12 hours driving + 2 minutes jump-roping = 1 picture of perfect health.

Tonight we will rock the city of Denver at the Larimer Lounge.
In two days we will descend on the city of Norman Oklahoma, and play our hearts out at Da Opolis.

Love love love,
Rock rock rock,

- Brent

September / October 2006 TOUR

Dear Menomenauts,

Yes, Menomena will be touring for the majority of the next month. Here are the dates, cities and venues:

9/18 - Denver at Larimer Lounge #
9/20 - Norman at Opolis #
9/22 - Atlanta at Smith's Olde Bar
9/23 - Chapel Hill at Local 506
9/24 - Raleigh at King's Barcade #
9/26 - Charlottesville at Satellite Ballroom
9/27 - Baltimore at Sonar
9/28 - Philadelphia at World Café Live
9/29 - NYC at Bowery Ballroom
9/30 - Boston at Harper's Ferry
10/3 - Montreal at La Sala Rossa
10/4 - Toronto at Lee's Palace
10/5 - Detroit at Magic Stick
10/6 - Chicago at Subterranean
10/7 - Minneapolis at Triple Rock Social Club

# All of the above shows will be with our esteemed labelmates The Long Winters and What Made Milwaukee Famous, except for these three: Denver, Norman, and Raleigh

We would love to see you there.

Thanks for listening,
- Brent / Menomena