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Entry Six: a summary of events from July 24 through July 28, 2004

Dearest Tour Diary,

It was with regret that we left our homies and newly-converted homies of the Northwest, but we were excited to have another shot at rocking middle America. The first stop on our return trip was Colorado, where a pair of library shows awaited us. But first, there was much traveling to be done.

The Potter mobile has been an unhearalded champion of this trip, and this past weekend was no exception. In two days it brought us from the shores of Puget Sound, across western Oregon and Idaho, through Wyoming (oh why god, why, Wyoming?), and down into the shelter of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Along the way it slayed many fierce insects that dared to cross it's path, and even survived (although not without some battle scars) the attack of a strategically planted wooden crate in the middle of I-80. Finally, Colorado was ours for the taking.

the Impaled Potter Mobile---------->>>

The Littleton library was our first victim of the day. We arrived at the library nice and early and had time to do some library type things like using the Internet and the pay phone. Joe got a study room with the intention of updating the tour diary, but instead he used it for sleeping. Apparently our campsite on the side of the Wyoming highway had no adequately provided Joe with a restful night of sleep.

We performed outside so that the entire neighborhood could partake of the wizard rock, and once again, the gods made their presence felt during our set. Our show was intense and rated high on the emotional impact scale. It was too much for the gods, and they opened up the heavens to rain down tears of joy upon the expectant crowd.

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Littleton welcomes us

Later in the evening we traveled up to Broomfield to rock yet another Colorado library. We were greeted by a dozen Krispy Kremes, making this the 5th consecutive show that involved doughnuts. Please make it stop!

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We get comfortable backstage at Broomfield

To our dismay, we found that the Broomfield library has a 100-decibel noise limit, so while they weren't trying to stop the rock entirely, they were certainly interested in limiting it. Anyone who listens to Manowar knows that "all men play on ten," and that is exactly what we like to do.

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Decibel limit? Outrageous!

Tonight though, we proved that Harry and the Potters can rock hard even under sonic restriction. We climbed over everything climbable and tangled ourselves in everything tangleable, and in the end, the crowd was rocked as if there had been 100,000 decibels coursing through their eardrums. Yes, no one can stop the wizard rock.

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We will no be denied!

The following day featured more action inside the Potter mobile as we were confined to it for a good 9 hours while we drove through the industrial-sized flatness of Kansas. But finally, Lawrence! While Republicans may control the bulk of the big K.S., they will not take dear Lawrence! No, Lawrence will remain ours.

We played a most victorious show at the Dusty Bookshelf. Again, the books could hardly contain themselves, and they flew off the shelves just like in that crazy first scene of "Ghostbusters."

There was a fire in our bellies, and with our energy levels approaching nuclear, we rocked with unrepentant fury. Many in the crowd were splashed by the sweat and saliva that we unleashed upon them in great quantities. It was as if there had been an intense evil just outside the bookstore, and the only way to clear a path to safety was to rock our way out. The audience helped, and together we stayed the hand of evil for yet another July evening.

After the show, we were the inaugural houseguests at Kate's brand new apartment. This apartment is so new that it has no furniture. So air mattresses were shipped in for our stay to make it a little more comfortable. Meredith gave Joe a haircut, and then we dared each other to drink Taang - not normal Taang, but the Taang that comes in those CapriSun-type packages and tastes extra gross. We told her that if she drank a bunch and then threw up, that we would write a song about it. This apparently was not enough to entice her. We must give Meredith some special credit for really going above and beyond the call of duty for our visit to Kansas. Not only did she put together an amazing rock show, but she also proved herself to be the Potters equal when it comes to partying. She rocked out until daybreak, slept for an hour and then went, and bought us breakfast. She is a legend. Well done Meredith, well done.

As fond as we were of Lawrence, our time was limited, and the following afternoon we departed for Saint Louis after snagging some amazing sandwiches from Wheatfields. The driving got done, and we soon found ourselves at the Genesis Coffeehouse, but we did not need any coffee this evening. Tonight, we were fueled by a desire to take Saint Louis to a new place - a place where wizards and muggles rock together in harmony. Here, at the Genesis Coffeehouse, that mission was accomplished. Through music, we were able to transfer some of the magic from our world, into the muggle-hearts of Saint Louis. I'd like to see Nelly do that!

We have eaten enough doughnuts-->>>

Number of Shows: 27
Number of Insects Splattered on the Windshield: well over 10,000

- Paul 07.29.04