THE F WORD

There are a few words in the English language that officially mean one thing but are used to describe so many other different things. Our short stay in Washington DC was packed full of so many different experiences, encounters and escapades, but all of them can be summed up easily enough with one word: FUN. To the king hen, Washington DC was f***ing fun.
We rolled up the beautiful rock creek parkway hung-over from a week of east-coast urban exploration, the hospitality of new and old friends, and—oh yes—a handful of shows at under-attended clubs. The hair of the dog greeted us at erik’s friends leena and sean’s house in the form of grilled burgers, chicken, franks, ice-cold coronas and my new favorite beer, pannsylvania’s own yuengling lager.

It’s funny how everywhere we go people have happily rescued us from the privations of the road with food and comfort—so much so that all this food and comfort have actually turned out to be the rule, not the exception.
That said, the good times and hospitality provided by lina, sean, leena’s sister seema, and court-jester jerry were truly exceptional.

Post-barbeque the DC fun machine crossed the river into Arlington and settled at our next venue, the GALAXY HUT. What appeared to be a small café was actually a bar and music venue, and the hen was squeezed into the smallest ‘stage’ yet, our backs to the storefront but facing a happy crowd.

After the all-around sparseness of our boston and new york shows this one turned out to be quite the warm oasis, with jerry cheer-leading the house and actually pretty good money from the door and from our merchandise. The sweet pop band ARDENNES headlined the show, and we should probably thank them for bringing the crowd that welcomed us equally. But for us they provided more base pleasures, such as coburn dukeheart (yes, that’s her real name) the drummer everyone fell in love with, and singer-tina’s bass, which I not-so silently coveted. Suitably heartbroken, we dutifully drank the shots bought for us by leena & co. at the bar down the street, before heading back to their place for nightcaps and more entertainment provided by good old jerry.

If that wasn’t enough we awoke to eggs, pancakes, sausage, hash-browns and coffee. Here’s to leena, the coolest Indian punk-rocker/filmmaker/photography professor/hostess/pug-owner I’ve ever met!
Needless to say things were pretty somber and subdued on our endless drive through Virginia the next day.

Now that labor day is past it’s back to school for all you kids and back to work for the king hen. After so much….er, fun over our past week in the big cities of the east coast it definitely feels like this tour is moving into a third chapter. Like everything before us we have no idea what it will entail, but I have a hunch there will be a lot more driving..