Philippe's!!

Los Angeles has much to offer in the category of cuisine and dining. A place where people migrate to follow dreams and revolutionize history with gastronomic creations. You can find just about anything that suits your fancy; from sushi to In-N-Out Burger, and tacos to Thai.

So in Chinatown, one would naturally think Chinese cuisine to be the standard fare (and it is). But there is one place that stands out, boldly serving up what it claims to be the original French dip roast beef sandwich. That place is Philippe's. Since 1918, this famous establishment has been serving this staple of lunch time fare to citizens and visitors of downtown Los Angeles. Another restaurant, Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet in Los Angeles, also claims to have started the trend of the French dip, but that's another story and another lunch.

Philippe's is a must for any fan of the French dip. The only mistake I made was not getting the "double dip", which I plan on getting next time as this is definitely a place to revisit. And the hot mustard is unbelievable.

Happy B-day Ty @ San Diego Zoo

We took the day off on Ty’s birthday to visit the San Diego Zoo. The polar bear showed some love, Jon got real friendly with a statue, and we discovered that Jaguars eat ribs very rare. Totally epic zoo. In fact, the best zoo. Other highlights include the tacos in San Diego. Happy Birthday Ty!

Fall Tour: Young the Giant in Denver

We had a fantastic fall tour through the desert and mountain regions this month. There were stops in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Aspen, and two shows in Denver. It all started with Taylor’s 21st birthday in fabulous Las Vegas. It was our first experience taking on the challenge of rocking Sin City, we did not fail. Vegas was a blast and Taylor’s birthday was spent amid the lights and swagger that are sure to remain happy, yet slightly blurry memories for a lifetime. After Vegas we went off to Salt Lake City, Utah. The drive was gorgeous and the city was warm and welcoming. Another first time city for us, we had a great show at which we made many new friends and fans. Special thanks to Matteo for taking care of us, hope to roll through again soon. The following day was off for us so we stopped to visit friends in Carbondale, Colorado. A day off in the Rockies amounts to a heavenly experience; beautiful scenery, hiking, and rafting on the Mighty Colorado River. Next stop on the tour was Aspen, Colorado. Again, it was another new town for us, but not to worry, we discovered this beautiful Rocky Mountain town is abound with enthusiastic music appreciators. We were also very fortunate to share the stage of the beautiful venue Belly Up with two fantastic bands: Chamberlin and St. Bernadette. The venue was truly one of the best we’ve ever experienced. After Aspen it was time to hit Denver for a huge sold out show at The Bluebird with Young The Giant. All we can say is wow. We had an incredible night at another fantastic venue with a stellar band. It was truly an honor to share the stage with such a talented group of young guns who are taking the world by storm. It was truly an epic night. The following day we took a trip up to the stunning Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado to soak in what is touted as the best venue in the entire world.

The tour ended with another show at Denver’s Larimer Lounge. It was great to see repeat customers from the previous night’s show amidst friends and fans. Denver is, like all of Colorado, a place where music is consumed with great appetite and appreciation. We can’t wait to return, rest assured it will not be long.


On a more scary note, during our ride back to California we had the exhilarating experience of a tire popping off of our van on I-70 just outside of Grand Junction, Colorado. At around the 3 am, those sleeping were jolted awake by a sudden POP and a resulting grinding noise accompanied by a sliding, skating sensation. Fortunately there was no surrounding traffic as it was the middle of the night, so the van was safely guided to the shoulder where we stepped out to investigate. As you can guess we were baffled to see the left rear tire….missing. Overall we were extremely lucky to be just outside Grand Junction and not in the middle of an isolated pass through the Rockies. More luck was encountered when the van was able to be repaired next morning in the matter of a few hours. Overall the tour was a great success and a lot of fun.

Moving Out – 28 North Style

As those of you who have been following us know, amid much anticipation and excitement, we are officially moving out to Los Angeles to immerse ourselves fully in the left coast music scene. While we are ecstatic about this, and feel like we’re riding high on a wave of amazing possibility, it is not without much nostalgia and heartache that we are leaving our hometown – Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh, the three-rivered jewel of the rustbelt is a blue-collar paradise – one of the last bastions of urban virility where a yinzer can wag his mullet with pride, gloatingly point out to house guests a framed photo of his deck hockey team hoisting the over-30 league trophy, and wear his Penguins jersey to work at least once a week. We love it and we’re going to miss the hell out of it.

Along with saying so long to our amazing fans and friends in the Burgh, we had to vacate our long time home in Shaler. The six and a half years of our rock and roll residence has left us with a Hoarders-worthy accumulation of stuff: instruments, furniture, computers, glasswear, and even the occasional guy on the couch who invariably overstayed his welcome (seriously Stewart, we’re moving to LA and you have to go home).
The sensible thing may have been to call over friends, girlfriends, family and anyone else who might help and to go through our belongings savoring the memories and sorting the things we’d keep from the things we’d donate. But shit man, we’re musicians and the veneer of dirt, ash, and beer that coats everything and smells like something we call ‘home’ is enough to suggest that Goodwill would consider our donation an insult and sense fled this house long ago like one of those True Blood vampires when Sookie says “you aren’t welcome in my house”.
No, we approached the problem in a way that would make our Yinzer brethren proud: we rented a big-ass dumpster, put the Iron Maiden album on repeat, and threw everything we had away. I know what you’re thinking, but take comfort friend – we carefully set aside anything heavy and glassy enough to be smashed, fired up the Flip cam and indulged our destructive impulses. Mike’s old desk that he had been pledging to clean out for five years – screw it dude, smash it. The once-white couch, now piss-colored and reeking of Floyd and vagrancy – smash it. The massive rear-projection television – SMASH IT! Indulge your own inner-Neanderthal and check out the video below.

KTLA Channel 5 Morning Show

We had a great experience playing on KTLA Channel 5′s Morning Show. What a perfect way to kick off Mike’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!

Thank you to all who tuned in. For those of you who missed it, check out the interview and performance below:

INTERVIEW

SURRENDER