Pitchfork

As the legendary Mission of Burma make their way down the West Coast on a week-long trek, guitarist Roger Miller shares his tour diary with Pitchfork. Stay tuned for daily entries ("Of course, it depends a bit on free WiFi," Miller says.)

Here's part six, in which Burma heads to Sacramento and covers Flipper.

Read part five here.
Read part four here.
Read part three here.
Read part two here.
Read part one here.

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Tuesday, September 19: "To Sacramento"

After coffee we drove an hour to the Hi-Lo restaurant in Weed, CA. Bob swore we had to eat there, and his swearing bore fruit: great grub. All satisfied and satiated (blackberry compote? cherry pie?), we piled back into the van. SF Sorrow (by the Pretty Things) was the soundtrack as we drove past Mt. Shasta and southward. Interesting how right at the California border the flora changes from Northwest rainforest to coastal sage scrub-- it's rare that botanists are in charge of state lines, but, hey, this is the U.S., where reason prevails.

They seem to have these things all over the U.S.

We got to the charming venue Harlow's in Sacramento after a pit-stop at Guitar Center for strings, picks, drum heads, etc. Harlow's has almost a swank lounge vibe, but the people working here are very cool, posters looked cool, all boded well. During soundcheck Pete got on bass and began "Sex Bomb". Well, that was the call for me to get up on drums, and shortly afterwards Clint picked up my Lead I.


Burma having a go at "Sex Bomb" before soundcheck

The show tonight was pretty good, though oddly off for us. Maybe it was the memory of the fun retro feel of Eugene (Wow! More than five people showed up!), or maybe it was the candles on the tables that denuded the frenzy of the rock, but none of us were fully there. Well, yeah-- for two or three songs here or there we knew we smoked, but then it'd downgrade. And this is no slag on Sacramento-- how do we know about anything? Last time we played here was in 1982 when we paraded around the Psychedelic Furs' dinner table like Indians around a Phony Wagon Train. Well the crowd was into it, if subtle. Or maybe we just weren't subtle. Beats me. But no one was complaining, even us.

My nephew Obidiah Miller was at the show. Great talking with him, catching up with him and his family. One of the good things about touring is that you hit a lot of cities, and a lot of friends/relatives. Since July I've hung with at least five nieces or nephews (counting Alloy Orchestra tours).

OK, Pete and I are at the hotel. We just discussed having Kristin (of 50 Foot) do the Ramones' "I Don't Care" with us tomorrow eve. Sure would be fun-- we'll see. Now Pete's trying to figure how to dial a collect call. I'm typing into this laptop. You're probably asleep.

09-20 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
09-22 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour *
09-23 San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick *#

* with 50 Foot Wave
# with Kill Me Tomorrow