The HO 2004 Tour Diary

The HO
The World's only "Live at Leeds" era Who cover band

Welcome to Tommy's Rock 'n Roll Camp!

hiwatt city

cobwebs and strange

young man blues

dial in that tone

joey's always in costume...

TAD

the mello outs!

The Magic Sub!

on the road

the van library

The HO in Santa Rosa

John Shaft Entwistle

Pete!

above four photos from Santa Rosa by uncle mikey

more photos!

July 2004 West Coast Tour

Sunday, July 18

Dave, Joey and Lucio drive the Ho's MAGIC SUB - Steve Lucky's late model Dodge extended cab Van - from San Francisco to Portland, OR. We spend some time putting up posters for our show in Portland the following week and then hang with David Hayes (who put out The Ho's version of Whiskeyman on his Very Small Records Drinking About Songs compilation) and his dogs Mingus and Pesto...Joey scored some cool bellbotom pants and a fringe belt for his costume at vintage store near the Bagdad Theater.

Monday, July 19

Tommy's Rock n' Roll camp begins in earnest as The Ho is reunited in Seattle after 2 years and thousands of miles living apart. It is a day spent setting up gear and running through the songs a few times. It feels good to rock and things sound a whole lot better than we thought they would the first time through. Joey has remained in costume since he got in the van in Portland...

Tuesday, July 20

A day of hard work. We've all got some aching bones and ears from doing two long rehearsals a day. The second day is always the hardest (ever taken up jogging?). Dave especially is feeling the pain - Keith Moon was seemingly oblivious to such human pitfalls (perhaps because he was always "medicated, teeny boppers!") - but he's taped up the blisters and rocking through it.

Wednesday, July 21

Much better day. The vocals are really coming together and the band is absolutely rocking. One of the special things about the HO is that it really is a band - one that has developed over the years. Perhaps that is why we don't see ourselves as a "tribute band." We do what we want with the songs - we have no qualms about jamming or changing arrangements. And each of us is alot like our respective heroes - Lucio is the intense intellectual, Joey is the mystical working man, Tim is the steady, quiet dark side and Dave is the 35 going on 13 emotional catalyst.

Thursday, July 22

One last rehearsal. The Ho's new manager, 8 year old Charlie Snapp, comes down to check on the band. "You call this a band? You boys are lazy! I've got bands in my stable that make you guys look like amateurs!" After browbeating the band into submission, we do it once again with feeling. Satisfied, Charlie takes the band out to a fancy lunch in Seattle - the whole time smoking a fancy cuban cigar while closing deals on his cellphone.

*** SHOWTIME! ***

Friday, July 23 - Seattle, WA
Catwalk Club

Our first show of the tour was a tough one - swelteringly hot and due to some rockstar politics we ended up playing last after both headliners (the guitar player in Matt Cameron's band had to go to work early the next day?). Consequently, there were not alot of folks left for our set. We were cut off after 35 minutes and Dave was warned "not to kick over his drums." So we obliged by not playing My Generation. Where was our new manager, Charlie Snapp when we needed him?!

It was a good show to get out of the way. We were sloppy and Dave and Lucio were plagued with equipment problems - but we still rocked. In fact, the other headliner - Tad, who definitely rocks and is a really sweet person - told us "dudes - you fucking rocked."

Backstage scene: Slightly chaotic with alot of people wandering in and out. Joe Snapp was ushered in and to his disappointment there were no drug fueled orgies going on. Lots of Heinekens though.

Show rating: 5.5
Setlist

Saturday, July 24 - Portland, OR
Sababla's Mt Tabor

We played a scorching set, putting any bad memories of the night before six feet under. The stage and sound were great and we made some important adjustments from the lessons learned Seattle. Dave set up his kit on the front of the stage with the rest of us (not on the drum riser) - like the Who used to do. It made a huge difference. We rocked from the get-go and never looked back. Hightlights included a blistering Young Man Blues and an raging encore of Baba O'Riley. Dave was brilliant, Lucio was on fire and Joey crooned and Tim rocked hard. Smiles all 'round.

Backstage: Cramped and funky, but Bob, the stage manager was great and saw to all of our needs. He even BBQ'd a big plate of chicken for us.

Show rating: 8.0
Setlist

Sunday-Monday July 25-6
Portland, OR & Davis, CA.

We spent the day chilling in Portland and visting Powell Books, etc. Chad Simmons from Portland has joined us on the road to help us with the tour. In layman's terms he's a roadie, but with the HO - he's a HOdie. All together, we made the splendidly big drive to Davis, CA.

Tuesday, July 27 - Davis, CA
G Street Pub

Really fun show in Davis. Fun crowd. It was a smallish venue and stage, so we had to plot our stage moves carefully...We changed the setlist around quite a bit and included some songs we've rarely played or practiced. We were not as tight as we can be, but the tradeoff was more than worth it.

Highlights included Dave's amazing drumstick trick during Pictures of Lily - throwing his stick up into the air ricocheting it off of the ceiling, shooting down onto his floor tom and bouncing right back into his hand - all without missing a beat. New tunes included The Real Me (Quadrophenia), Odorono (Sell Out) and rocking version of Gettin' in Tune (Who's Next). The audience demanded and received an extended second encore - which we ended with a blistering version of Baba O'Riley. Yummy sustinance for the long show was provided by our lovely hostess, Miss Kathleen Reed.

Show rating: 8.5
Crowd rating: 10
Setlist

Wednesday, July 28 - Santa Rosa, CA
Last Day Saloon

This turned out to be a great show. The crowd seemed a little thin early on, but as soon as we went on all these people just came out of the woodwork and rocked with us all night long! The crowd was not satisfied with our first encore and started up a very rowdy and loud chant of "HO! HO! HO! HO!" Of course, we were enticed out of our comfy "green room" for a second encore...

Ricardo Esway has joined us on the tour for the next three shows with his one man act, The Militant Children's Hour. He shocked and awed the local crowd with his antics. 20 Minute Loop were superb as always - unveiling some great new songs.

Our set was a long one - with highlights including another new song - and acapella version of Cobwebs and Strange/Heinz Baked Beans with Dave banging on some catering trays found in the green room hallway in lieu of his drumset which was scattered around the stage after the first encore.

Backstage Scene: Just us, but we were rowdy as heck. After the second encore we wet on an adrenaline rampage kicking kitchen pans and carboard boxes all over the place, to the venue manager's chagrin.

Show Rating: 9.0
Crowd Rating: 10
Setlist

Thursday, July 29 - Lake Tahoe, CA
Whiskey Dicks

An okay show. We played well, but seemed to be at about 70% energy-wise. The stage was small and ceiling very low, so our stage antics were rather restrained - although Joey's mic twirling did take some plaster out of the ceiling...

Show Rating: 7.0
Setlist

Friday, July 30 - Reno, NV
The Zephyr

Good Show. Sort of like the Stones doing a surprise show at dive bar in Jersey...The stage was the size of a postage stamp but we somehow managed to fit everything on it. It was so tight that when Dave threw his low tom away during A Quick One he managed to wipe out the entire supply of beer and water glasses onstage. Being in Reno, we decided to gamble a bit so we played two songs that we've never rehearsed - See Me Feel Me and Magic Sub (Our version of Magic Bus - dedicated to our tour van). It paid even money. There was a rowdy crowd present and during the encore Baba O'Riley was requested. Unfortunately, Lucio's capo, Joey's harmonica and the soundman were all MIA. We couldn't play the backing track CD but we made do with some hilarious crowd participation. It was so effective, that we may try it again at Slim's...Best song of the night: Gettin' in Tune.

Militant Children's Hour did their best set of the tour, inspired by the deliciously sleazy funkiness of the bar and Reno in general.

After show antics: Dave Hart and his friend Tanya showed up from Sacto, supplied us with brandy, general rowdiness and inspiration - and then paid for two rooms at the Sands Regency for all of us. Apparently, we were up late...

Show rating: 8.5
Setlist

Saturday, July 31 (A Blue Moon!) - San Francisco, CA
Slim's

The big show and what this whole tour was about, really. We simply rocked. As Advertised! The Slim's stage was perfect for us, the sound and lighting excellent and the staff incredibly helpful and respectful (thanks!).

We were all a little bit nervous and wound up before the show - it's funny where expectations can lead even after doing so many shows. We had received some great press in SF and there was alot riding on this show being a success. After the late night antics in Reno and the epic two hour traffic jam getting to SF (missing our scheduled soundcheck by hours), we were tired and crusty. But the moment we launched into a blistering version of Heaven & Hell (the traditional opening number for both the Who and the Ho) it all melted away.

By the third number, Prostitute (our version of Substitute) we were on fire and knew it. There was an amazing mosh pit of friends and fans up front and we fed off that energy big time. It was great to be playing to all those smiling faces. Odorono, Young Man Blues and A Quick One were fantastic. The Tommy set was great - especially Sparks - and we even tried See Me Feel Me again. We muffed the ending but, so what, it rocked.

To chants of HO! HO! HO! we did a four song encore featuring some of our Who's Next material. My Generation took on some serious punk intensity and Dave declared the evening over by sending his kit all over the stage. The crowd chanted for more but this time there would be no second encore - we were simply spent. Gloriously so.

Special thanks to The Opal Book Club and 20 Minute Loop for playing great sets and spreading the word on the show. A great evening of ROCK.

Show rating: 9.5
Crowd rating: 11
Setlist

After show antics: Back at the Commodore Hotel (the choice of rock stars), things were drunken and loud. Rumor has it that Dave Hart was found asleep in the lobby without any shoes on sometime around six am by the hotel janitor...

The future? As Daltrey once said - "Rock 'n Roll hasn't got any future." But just so you know, a booker approached us about doing a (lucrative) tour of Eastern Europe... Warsaw, Prague...We'll believe it when we see it in writing but maybe, just maybe we'll be back.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE SHOWS AND HELPED MAKE THIS TOUR A SUCCESS!