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news

30 July 2008: Cleveland, OH
we've been having some trouble with the van the past few days; it's been losing a lot of coolant, so we purchased duct tape as a quick fix. duncan donuts was for breakfast. it seems like duncan donuts, subway, and burger king have been the majority of our meals. seeing familiar faces when entering into cleveland was great - it's been over a week! after checking into the hotel rooms, we went to "quiet bob's bar." this place was a joke: no stage, no sound system, management didn't seem to know what in the hell was going on and they informed us that none of our young friends would be able to watch. that was stressful, so somehow stanley and brian found us another venue, "anthony's", in a better part of town. the show went very well, and it was wonderful to see so many of our close friends and family. we sold several cds and got a lot of money from tips as well! we had a few people over to the hotel, including friends from home and friend from cleveland. i can't believe we're done now. this has been a brilliant trip.

29 July 2008: Rochester, NY
this is a very nice city. i like the people. we played at a place called "boulder coffee co." with a wonderful band called "the instruments band", whom we played with last year in cleveland. check them out. they brought out a brilliant crowd that really seemed to enjoy our music. stanley sold several cds tonight. the show went great. we finished early enough to have time to lounge at the hotel. tonight is our last night being with only ourselves, as tomorrow we will see many friends and family in cleveland. i can't believe how fast this tour is going :-(

28 July 2008: Gloversville, NY
gloversville reminds me of a nowhere town you would find somewhere in the south, except for the northern accents. we had to drive quite a bit to get to our venue, the upper deck. unfortunately, being a monday night, we didn't have a large audience, but the stage, lights, and sound system made up for it. we had a blast performing for our manager, and he still managed to get us payed. the stage was probably the largest we have been on. tonight was an interesting show, but a good time as always.

27 July 2008: Boston, MA
we had a short drive to boston. upon arrival, we met with my brother (chris wagner). he was nice enough to offer us a free place to sleep in his apartment. before the show, chris showed us around boston and we found some delicioius food, including delicioius lobster. boston was another amazing city to see. i feel like we've been able to enjoy so many nice cities. midway cafe was a cool place. the opening act, "soap stars", was very entertaining. the performance went smoothly, and we had two familiar faces to fill the bar, as well as a decent local audience. after playing, we went to a bar next to chris' apartment, hung out at his place for a few hours, then went to sleep.

26 July 2008: New London, CT
woke up, drove to new london, relaxed, went to the show, played with "amber blues" at "bean and leaf" venue, drove back to hotel, had fun, went to sleep.

25 July 2008: Newport, RI
the holiday inn receptionist was kind enough to give us a late checkout today. traffic wasn't friendly this morning on the road to rhode island, but we still made it there in good time. we left for the show early and opened for a band called "those guys." the show went wonderfully. it was at a great venue called the dockside, which had a $20 cover. newport, rhode island is a really nice city. it seemed to attract several tourists. at 12:30 AM, we got dinner at burger king, being the only restaurant open. now it's almost 3 AM, i'm tired, goodnight. check out the new music on our music section or at http://www.myspace.com/thepricklies.

24 July 2008: Day Off
we took advantage of our day off today: we walked through new york and central park, enjoyed the weather, ate some food... after repairing the u-haul, the drive to connecticut was nice. the hotel here is excellent; we've got a nice pool, restaurant/bar, raquetball court, and free apples. we took the night to relax, have fun, go to arby's, and get some rest. tomorrow will be fun in rhode island.

23 July 2008: New York, NY
we arrived in mexico today, and my head was swelling like a watermelon in early june. i tried on my friendly-o-meter, but all that approached was a large sacata bug. we arrived in new york today around 3 PM, checked in to the hotel, walked through time square, and went for dinner at the house of brews. we're about to leave for the show...
the u-haul trailor broke down on the way to the show, then a few construction workers tied it back on with some rope. the show went very well at arlene's grocery. the venue was one of the nicest we've played at. thanks jim rogers for coming out :-). after the show we walked through the city, found some delicious food, and met a few locals. this has been one of the best days. new york city is a beautiful place.

22 July 2008: Philadelphia, PA
philadelphia is an interesting city, but friendly and alive as we always appreciate. the m-room was a very impressive venue. our opening acts (the quelle source & shining tv screen) brought in a nice-sized audience to enjoy the music, even for a tuesday night-scene. All went very well overall, and we acquired some new fans. after the performance. tomorrow will be a new and exciting day, especially for those of us who have yet to see new york!

21 July 2008: Newark, DE
we took the metro to see the national mall today (the lincoln memorial, and the president's white castle). the drive to delaware was short and sweet, and our hotel suite was also a pleasant welcome. east end cafe was very friendly, as were our opening artists. the diligents played just before us; the lead singer, geno, was a friendly fellow, who had us over to his place after the show for a bit. at the hotel, we all enjoyed our donated food - alex especially enjoyed his peanut butter, jelly, chewy bar, and fruit snack sandwich. the show was wonderful. it was a good day.

20 July 2008: Washington DC
we are writing this for the sake of ourselves and anyone who may be interested, but primarily to keep these memories. today we arrived in DC for our first stop. after checking in to our inn, we met up with an old friend, jeff holko, to grab a bite. subway couldn't figure out to use our free-sub card, so they kept it and made brian pay 20 dollars. the show went very smooth at the asylum, with a wonderful sound engineer (flash) and opening jazz act (hello society). the late-night was very relaxing: our hotel provided us with a balcony overlooking the city to enjoy. we're all exhausted tonight from the early rise, but the days ahead will be more adventerous. this is going to be a fun trip!

30 June 2008
we are proud to announce that the tour has been successfully booked, consisting of 10 shows between the 20th-30th of july. thanks to band manager andrew maggard ;-), the pricklies are now being sponsored by superga, a very respectable shoe company. additionally, we will be performing at "happy endings pub" in pickerington (10 PM) on the 17th of july for the local mass. all of us are very excited for the upcoming opportunies, and appreciate all of the support. however, even with the significant sum of money we have received from numerous previous shows, we are still at an unhealthy financial standing for the tour (after calculating gas & hotels). if you have any urge, please click on the donate button and do what you can. otherwise, your support is also greatly appreciated through attending shows. thank you!

22 May 2008
nearing the start of yet another summer, and a fun one we expect! last night was a great time at jackie o's, and throughout the next few weeks we will be playing around the stages of athens. on another note, if you have yet to check out alex's side project, please download and listen to the music at http://alexhelinmusic.net/ .

13 April 2008
i thought a quick update seemed necessary. booking for the tour is coming along very well, as well as scheduling of local shows and performances. we have been working on some new music, which should be revealed gradually as time passes. finally, we will be performing this saturday at harvest moon coffeehouse in canal winchester. it will be a free event. have a nice day!

20 February 2008
okay: we have scheduled a few shows and have begun to plan a summer tour. we will be making our way over to the east coast, up to boston, and back in (about) a 10 day trip. also, we will have t-shirts on sale soon (through our website and at shows) to raise money for this summer's tour. finally, we have added a donate button to both our website and myspace. donations are very much appreciated. :-)