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	MARK'S DIARY
	COUNT THE STARS & JUPITER SUNRISE EAST COAST: 12/29/01 - 1/22/02 12/29/01 - Albany, NY - Valentine's - Going away show Nervousness isn't really an appropriate word for how I felt for this show. In fact, I was pretty sick every time I thought about it, and that started about three days prior. It was probably a combination of wanting to impress my family and friends, the other musicians, the press, the rather large audience, etc., and then thinking about all the ways it could turn into a disaster (It must be the OCD). However it didn't turn into a disaster. It turned into one of the coolest shows I've ever played. The energy level was so high. The crowd was bigger than any local show I've ever seen. (After all it was the first local band sell-out in years.) Each group played like rock stars. Breaking Pangaea blew me away as usual. Jerk Magnet was worried that if they played first there wouldn't be a big crowd yet. HA. I bet they won't worry next time. And CTS looked like they belonged in a stadium. Everyone worked so hard to make this happen and it's so cool to be a part of it. Dave from CTS deserves the bulk of the credit though, because if it wasn't for him none of us could be doing this. What a way to start the tour... 1/02/02 - Travel day There's nothing like driving away from your house and knowing that you don't ever have to come back. On the way to the first show Ben and I hit the Palaisades Mall to sell CD's. We've never done this before but without tour support we don't really have another choice. Dave from CTS is the king of selling CD's in the mall. So we did it, and to our great surprise we had a blast and met tons of cool people. So look for us in the mall. 1/03/02 - Village Pub - Somewhere in Long Island Somewhere between Albany and Long Island I forgot how to play guitar. The opening band got there late and the show was pretty screwed up. Everyone argued and the vibe was bad. Later that night we got lost trying to get to the crash pad and I got in a fight with Clarke from CTS. I was just so tired. He threw a lighter, I yelled and acted like a jerk. So then Ben and I drove to Danbury without them and slept in the van. 1/04/02 - Danbury, CT - Empress Ballroom This show was better. Ben and I opened the show to about 20 people, but by the time CTS played there was 200! They played one of the best shows I've seen them do and made lots of fans. After the show I apologize to Clarke and we made up. Lots o' hugs. 1/05/02 - Brooklyn, NY- Some tavern with a chrome door This was originally a party that was canceled so we just played in a bar around the block. We had fun. Ben played a few extra songs and CTS did something very gross to him that I won't mention. Let's just say that it rhymes with gesticles. 1/06/02 - Plaistow, NH - Sad Cafe Ben and I almost didn't make it to this show because we crashed at Ben's mom's house without CTS and slept in until 1 pm Eric the tour manager went crazy trying to get a hold of us. So we skipped the showers and flew warp factor 10 to the show. I love New Hampshire. Every show I've done there has been fun and people actually listened to our sensitive acoustic music. We stayed that night at Grace's house in Derry, NH. Her family was too nice. They opened their whole house to us, let us watch dvd's, fed us a lot, and made us feel at home. We were all very suspicious that the were fattening us up to eat us later, but it would have been worth it. It was tough leaving. 1/07/02 - East Hampton, MA - Flywheel Show canceled due to big snow storm so we ended up at Eric's parents house. Don't slam doors, or make any noise there. Some friends from NH and Albany who tried to come to the show partied very quietly with us that night. 1/08/02 - Brooklyn, NY - North Six Cool place. The guys from Douglas Leader did a great job setting it up. Some metal kids were heckling us on the stage so I messed with their heads for a while. Afterwards they said that I couldn't beat up under age kids and I said "why? will I go to jail?", and they said "yes", and I said "well, then I'd be right back where I came from" while I made a crazy twitchy face, and they didn't think it was as funny as I did. 1/09/02 - Travel day Went back to Albany to pick up stuff we forgot. Got a call from a record label that wants to sign Jupiter Sunrise. hmm..... 1/10/02 - Travel day Peddled CD's at a mall in Syracuse. Tina and Lene didn't think we'd mention them in the diary but we did. Ha! Our good friends Jeff and Sarah let us crash at their place. Jeff is my partner and the best promoter in Syracuse! All bands call Jeff! 1/11/02 - Erie, PA - Docksider Tavern Jim Welle did an amazing job setting up this show. There were tons of people and the headliner was insane. He paid us very well even though we were satisfied with less, and he made a late night breakfast for Ben and I. I have to admit however that I would much rather play all age shows. The bar crowd just doesn't care. 1/12/02 - Scarsdale, NY - Scarsdale Teen Center On the way to this show I had to use the bathroom so bad that I backed the van into a gaurdrail trying to park at a gas station. I limped to the dirty john and was so happy to relieve myself that I didn't even get mad about the dent. We love Scarsdale Teen Center. Young people who listen and care. Our friends Dan, Heather, Katrina, Tanya, and others came all the way from Albany to see the show. CTS are stars in the making, Ben and I are nerds. (other things that happened are censored) 1/13/02 - Philadelphia, PA - Pontiac Grill Great show. CTS fans came out and actually knew some JS music. After the show we talked to a guy that had been working there for 11 years. He has chilled with hundreds of legendary bands, and he told us that the first time Nirvana played at the Pontiac Grill between bands, crew, and fans there was less than 40 people! He said we did better! Wow. Never give up. We stayed with Will from Breaking Pangaea. You must see this amazing band. They are just as nerdy as Ben and I, but they rock much harder. Will and I laughed for many hours because Hanson fans had signed the CTS guestbook. Hanson fans are people too right? 1/14-16/02 - DC area We've had some days off to promote and book more shows. So we went to the mall and met really cool people at Hot Topic. My dad was in DC on business so Ben and I are staying at his hotel as I write this. The monuments here are beautiful. I watched Blink 182 on Jay Leno and Saves the Day on Conan O'Brian. I remember doing shows with both of those bands back when they were much smaller. Saves the Day on national TV is freaking me out. I'm glad to be in this scene. And I'm glad to be in this hotel too. It's a 5 star Embassy Suite with a pool, hot tub, sauna, free food, luxury. Thanks Dad. 1/17/02 - Washington, DC - Metro Cafe Cool venue. Nice people. Good sound. Bad smell. Made more good friends at the mall today and our boys from Roosevelt Roosevelt rocked out. The drummer used to be in Ben's old band. So Ben drank a lot of beer, including beer that he did not own. I drank water. But oh did I drink a lot of it. Call me wild. 1/18/02 - Severna Park, MD - Holy Grounds Youth Center Fun show, great crowd. During the set I broke a string on my guitar and it scared me. Then I had to play out of tune and without a guitar for a couple of songs with Ben. Normally that would have freaked my out but it was actually kinda funny. Our friends Pauline and Christine from the Philly show took a bus all the way to Baltimore just to see us again, so we let them crash at our hotel since their's was a rat infested slime hole. No exagerating. There was a rotting deer head in the driveway. 1/19/02 - Arlington, VA - Galaxy Hut Went to the mall again and sold CD's to some really cool people. Then went to the show to play poorly. A combination of technical problems and misunderstandings just made me feel like it was a bad show. I was so ticked off that I moped around outside for a while, but then later people had really nice things to say, so I began to feel like a crazy person. As if maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Which I obviously don't. So if you see me or Ben moping around after a show then we probably think we suck or something. Fortunately for us this night ended on a high note. CTS and the last band Palomar put everyone in a great mood and we met some people that are coming to see us in Chapel Hill, NC on Tues. Crazy. 1/20-21/02 - Travel days We made our way down to Chapel Hill after a short detour to a VA mall. Here we picked up the first signs of that gorgeous southern drawl. Rachel, one of the girls we met from Chapel Hill, took us in like so many stray animals. She is kind and her roomates had a laugh since she only met us the day before. That night we went to a party with people from UNC. It was a surreal, southern, "Animal House" type affair complete with screaming frat boys and lots of beer. One of them got on a table and yelled about how he and his buds were going to find some guys that was peeking at the girls in the bathroom. We left soon after that. Later that night I decided for various reasons that I had to drop off the tour after Tuesday and head for Florida. I was sad for that and had a tear or two, but it's all for the best. I talked with the boys and slept in the commons room of Morrison dorm. I was cold. The following day Ben and I spent some of the day with Rachel and her best friend Emily. Emily was not at all impressed by me and wasted no time in busting on me for "bragging". I was no match and loved every minute of it. We went to thrift stores and got attached to Chapel Hill. It's a special little place. In the evening Ben and I sat at a coffee shop and I had a double chocolate mocha creation. Ben had too much caffeine and acted strange for a while. Then we connected with Ben's brother's old roomate Andy. We stayed at his house that night and under Ben's recommendation watched a beautiful movie about a gay Cuban poet. There were many man loving scenes that made Andy squirm. I was mildly amused that he was such a good sport. I was coughing again. It's time to get to warm weather. 1/22/02 - Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle Ben and I practiced during the day to ensure that our last show together was a special event. We watched the rain churn the red clay in the swamp behind Andy's apartment. It looked like so much light orange paint spilling around every tree and dead twig. We left for the club and made stops to eat subs that are toasted in an oven. The Cat's Cradle is the epitomy of rock clubs. Dark, oddly shaped, with a high stage and pristine sound. The best sound. We had the most fun playing this show. Girls from UNC came and people we met in Chapel Hill only the day before made good on their promises. It was a nice crowd. Open minded with smiles. The B-Sides closed the show and played by far the best encore I've ever witnessed in my life. With full glory and splendor they did the most acurate rendition of Bohemian Rapsody I think anyone has ever done. I've heard live recordings of Queen themselves that didn't sound as good. We all raised the rock sign and thrashed our skulls. It was the perfect end to a wonderful experience. After the show Ben and I said emotional good-byes to the boys and took Jo-Jo, their merch girl, back with us to Andy's apartment. We laughed at Conan O'Brian and were sad inside. The next day the three of us packed up and headed to Burlington, NC so I could drop off Ben and Jo-Jo at the Greyhound station. Then I was alone. And now the real adventure begins? This page is supposed to contain pictures and stories from the road. Any contributions to this section can be sent to [email protected]