Waking up early in Berkeley, we headed out to drive across the central valley of California on our way to Los Angeles. The central valley is extremeley boring. Maybe not as bad as western Kansas or Wyoming, but it comes close. Finally we made our way into the LA basin and traversed the sprawling metropolis. See the picture of downtown LA? It's covered by that lovely greyish brown blanket called smog.

The Hub Cafe is in Fullterton, a suburb of LA in Orange County. It's basically a coffee shop/cafe with a really nice outdoor patio and seating area, right among a mix of nice shops, restaurants, arcades, and so forth. We really enjoyed the venue becuase of its atmosphere- just a bunch of laid back people listening to music and hanging out on a cool California evening.

We were up first and played a nice short set for everyone. We were pretty well received and the sound setup was pretty good that night. We're all trying to save some energy and our voices for our big show at the Troubadour tomorrow, so this type of show was perfect for a warmup.

Second up was local band the Healing Thieves. They were a progressive rock band, as they called themselves. It was basically striaght up rock and roll. We appreciate that they brought the PA for everyone to use, and that they did sound for us, too. Following the Thieves was Low Cloud Cover from San Diego, pictured below. They described themselves as a hardcore band-gone-spacey, minimalist shoegazer rock. We suppose that's as good description as any, and they put on a great show.

Finally, Waterline Drift, also from San Diego, finished up. These guys were definately one of the most interesting and original bands we've ever played with. You might call them shoegazer rock as well, kind of a cross of slow, yet driving indie rock, Sigur Ros, and My Bloody Valentine. The guitarists had a couple dozen pedals and patches to provide every type of guitar sound, and a keyboardist, playing some beautiful piano riffs. Doug personally recommends checking them out.

After a satisfying show, there was only one thing to do: IN-N-OUT BURGER! If you've never been to California, you should definately hit up this place if you ever go. If you're from California and haven't been there, what the hell's wrong with you? It's straight up burgers, fries, shakes, and soda (not pop in this part of the country,) and the best you'll ever have. Adam Tatro informs us that out of all the fast food chains, In-n-Out has the highest quality meat, and the best corporate responsibility in terms of meat processing, the environment, and employee wages. Also, they have the sweetest hats ever; just check out the photo below. Tomorrow is one of our most exciting shows to date: opening for Josh Todd and the Murderdolls at the Troubadour in Hollywood. We can't wait.

-Once a Hero