Richard Dean Wilson Jr, - Musician, Philly Native

So - it's been a while since I've posted anything at all on this here blog. Since then, lots of things have happened. My band, Nerd Parade, has become a power trio and is in the very last days of completing it's third full length studio LP - literally as I type. The events leading up to that are a long story that's already been told in many other and enough places..

So now that we are up to date, here's the idea. I figured what better excuse to revive the old blog than to document the events of the 2010 Nerd Parade east coast tour that is beginning on Friday May 14th in Pittsburgh PA. So in the coming weeks, I will try to make daily, and if not - as often as I can, posts about what is happening on the road, reviews of the shows, setlists, and photos when possible.

As always - you can keep up with all things Nerd Parade at www.nerdparade.net

Here's the full schedule

NERD PARADE

SPRING 2010 EAST COAST TOUR DATES

May 14 - Pittsburgh PA - Howlers Coyote Cafe

May 15 - Albany NY - Franklins Tower

May 17 - Somerville MA - P.A.'s Lounge (QRO Magazine Showcase)

May 18 - Brooklyn NY - Death By Audio

May 19 - Wilmington DE - Mojo 13

May 21 - Philadelphia PA - The Khyber (w/ Cheers Elephant & Paper Cat)

May 23 - Chapel Hill NC - The Cave (w/ Jungol)

May 25 - Asheville NC - Broadways (w/ Jungol)

additional summer show dates :

June 04 - Atlanta GA - TNS Bar Room (Daylight Saving Time - CD Release Party)

July 24 - Atlanta GA - Eyedrum (Nophest)

-- Nerd Parade & The Adrian Belew Power Trio - photo by Kat --

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So...

I know it's been about a thousand years since I have posted anything here (aside from a breif "look, I cut my hair off." post a few months ago). But, that should not be taken as an indication that there has not been much going on. It has in fact, been the opposite of that. Here's a quick-as-I-can report - highlights of important events over the last 4-5 months!

1 - May 10th - NIN/JA @ Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta

Jane's Addiction is one of my all-time favorite rock bands. I had seen them previously with 3/4 of the original band intact. Once in 2001 with Martyn LeNoble (Porno For Pyros) playing bass, and three times in 2003 with Chris Chaney playing bass as part of the lineup that record the album "Strays". Having said that, I learned a valuable lesson this year about the chemistry of a band. All of the old cliches about the sum totally being greater than the individual parts is totally true. It was my fourth time seeing JA and it really felt like I had never seen them before. Original bassist Eric Avery had come back - and many of us who were a little on the young side when the band originally split at the end of Lollapalooza 1991 got our first live glimpse at one of the most amazing and influential bands of our generation. It was so amazing - that me and the wife traveled to Charlotte NC about a month later to see the show again!!! I do hope the band stays together and give us some more - at least for a few years! Thank you boys!

-- Dave Navarro being awesome in Charlotte 6.12.09 - by Kat --
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2 - May 30th - Nerd Parade @ Mountain Sports Festival - Asheville NC

It's been well documented by this point that NP loves the city of Asheville NC. Awesome things tend to happen to us there (more on that later). So - we were invited to play the headline spot on a Saturday by a friend we had made on our previous couple of visits. It turned out to be - without a doubt - the longest NP show of all time, and was also the last show before we took about 2 months away from the stage so Randy and Lynn could welcome their new daughter - Ruby into the world. It was a beautiful afternoon that went from sun-drenched evening, and kept on rocking under the bright lights after the sun was long gone. NP loves AVL!

-- Me and Randy rocking the main stage @ Mountain Sports Fest, Asheville NC - by Kat --
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3 - August 22nd - 29th - Adrian Belew Power Trio / Nerd Parade adventure - the events of which spanned Atlanta to Asheville NC! - Plus : NP returns Dirty South TV and rocks Nophest again.

So - in what turned out to be the most exciting week of the whole summer..... We found out last Saturday, as I was preparing to go watch one of my most favorite bands, the Adrian Belew Power Trio, at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta - that we would in fact be opening - for the Adrian Belew Power Trio 2 nights later at the beautiful Orange Peel in our most favorite of places - Asheville NC.

Saturday night was my 3rd time seeing the trio in person, and just happened to fall on the exact two year anniversary of the first time, and the band's first visit to Atlanta. I could go on and on with stories about how awesome it was, and how long I've been listening to Adrian's music, how much I adore Julie's bass playing and Eric's incredibly precise drumming... and of course how much fun it is to correspond with incomparable Robin Slick.

Instead I am just going to say that I am completely honored to have shared a stage with them, and am thankful for all the people I got to know over the span of a couple of days. So here's some big thanks going out to Adrian, Julie, Eric, Robin, Andre - you guys are a class act.

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-- all images below by Kat --