Shakers Tour Diary: West Coast Rockers Feel the Boston Love

[Editors Note: Earlier this year, we gave away 'The Weight,' a killer tune by L.A. foursome the Shakers. So smitten are we with their bluesy, blustery rock 'n' roll sound (some liken them to an unholy union of AC/DC and the Supremes) that when they offered to guest blog about their latest East Coast swing -- a three-date run prefacing the release of next month's 'Rescue Team' album -- we couldn't resist. In this third and final episode, frontwoman Jodie Schell recounts the band's adventures in Beantown and warns of the dangers lurking in certain types of sandwiches.]

We ignored the 10AM checkout time rule completely. The combination of air conditioning, clean beds, and hot showers was impossible to tear away from. Also, Nick Woods was in golf heaven watching the British Open on TV. But, we had a lot to do that day, and there were no Wawa's in these here parts. We had to scoot. Before heading to Cambridge for our 3PM interview with Full Scene Ahead, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for the delicious breakfast-sandwich experience. Chris Lee did not have a good experience. Next time you see him, ask him on a scale of one-to-diarrhea how good his breakfast sandwich was.

We got into Boston a tad early after a very uneventful drive up and a not-so-exciting "Hold Your Breath" tournament between Chris Lee and Nick Woods in every city-tunnel.  I needed to complete Day 2 of the tour blog, so I asked to be dropped off at the Atomic Bean in Cambridge. Luckily there was a music store nearby to keep the boys busy. I will admit, I am fairly more hormonal than usual and underslept, so when the wifi simply failed a few times, I about pile-drived the barista. I'm not proud of my tantrum, but the guys were back in time to take over laptop duties while I buried my face in a latte. In other news, Chris Lee discovered they could heat the pastries, so he immediately forgot about his indigestion and eagerly ordered a hot cinnamon roll (bad idea? probably). Thank you Atomic Bean. You were lovely.

We still had plenty of time to kill, and our interview with Full Scene Ahead TV was postponed a few hours, so we headed to a thrift shop for shenanigans and handsome new shirts. Five detours later, we found the Goodwill. I believe Nick Woods scored a new get-up or two. I had family coming down from New Hampshire, so I had the boys drop me off afterward in downtown Boston at Jacob Wirth's. This is our third visit to Boston, and I've made this biergarten my home base. The guys were in the mood for a new spot, though, and our friend (and den-momma) Kelli was coming in early to meet 'em for dinner. They opted to hit the venue early and eat there -- I think they missed out on some rad Fish n Chips and Paulaner Hefeweisen. Next time you see Chris, ask him how his pulled-pork sandwich and cheddar-sour-cream-bacon waffle fries were on a scale from one-to-total-lower-intestinal-destruction.

When my aunt and uncle had to jet back to their train, I was car-less in Chinatown. Chris Lee called to gently ask me to get a cab since we scored the perfect parking spot in front of the venue. I said of course, which was a lie, since I now had a mischievous bone telling me to ignore the 2013 "no wandering" policy. I wanted to explore Boston on foot and took about a thousand pictures on my walk up Tremont, past the Commons, over to Merrimac and back to the boys at McGanns. (Cue photo montage.)

McGann's was already packed with rad local acts like the Few, Nicole Alexandra, SkunkMello and more, booked entirely by our buddy Dave Crespo. We made a lot of new friends, and even though our set would be the tail end of the night, we were happy as clams ordering pints from bartender Jason and cracking each other up. We're slowly getting more delirious from this schedule, but we're keeping each other sane … kinda. (See photo of the set list made entirely of acronyms.)

The energy of the room was killer when we took the stage, and we had some dancing fools/new-friends in the front row. It's strange how long it takes to get to a gig and settle in/set up … only for the set to FLASH by. The night was over before I knew it, and we had to hightail to den momma Kelli's house if we wanted even a shot at six hours of sleep.

Kelli is a saint and had everything a traveling band could want, from a new A/C unit, new air mattresses, blankets, towels, new toothbrushes and a new kitten for us. Though the kitten was really for Kyle, I think. ;) We collapsed hard and ended the day in one room together, cozy and quiet. Tomorrow: Philly.