Happy Memorial Day! We hope that however you chose to spend the holiday weekend, you had a better go of it than Willie Randolph. But on to sunnier subjects…

We kicked off our summer with a trip down I-95 to Wilmington, NC, where we helped open this year’s WE Festival. WE Fest (the “WE” stands for Wilmington Exchange, by the way) is one of the few indie music fests that has actually managed to stay indie since its inception. It’s run by Majestic Twelve frontman Kenyata Sullivan, who gave us a really nice shout-out (or, as he would say, “props”) in a recent interview with Blender.com (he mentions us on page 2 of the interview). Thanks to Kenyata and everyone at the Soapbox Laundro Lounge for making the evening such a great success. (Also, thanks to whoever owns the Soapbox for beating me to my dream of opening a bar with a rock venue, laundromat, and video arcade attached. Thanks a lot.)

One of the great things about this year’s WE Fest was how hard Jersey represented. On hand from the get-go was the always convivial Andy Gesner of HIP Video, as well as super DJ Jared Migden of WRSU and noted scribe Jim Testa from Jersey Beat. We also ran into our friends Anthony Fiumano, The Milwaukees, Terminal Reynaldo, and Joe from The Magnificent Disaster. It was like Jersey south!

This trip also marked the first time we’ve ever traveled with another band. Thanks to Tommy Strazza and the Model Citizens for being model traveling companions as well; having another band around made for some pretty close quarters in the van, but it was smooth sailing nonetheless. And thanks to Tommy, I was finally able to see Juno. My verdict: it was quality, but I don’t think anything could live up to the buzz surrounding that movie, not after several months of it, anyway. Am I wrong on that one?

SPIRALING FUN FACT: Fireworks are legal in North Carolina. Very legal. More on that later.

SET LIST: Cold Open/The Future / The Concept… / You Might Say / The Girl on Top (of the Piano) / Victory Kiss / A Face for Radio / All Kinds of Love / Transmitter / Choices / Are You Here / Borrowed Time