Ekoostik Hookah Sticks it to Toledo.....and I was There!!!!

It was cold on the way, but it didn't take too long to get warmed up as Ryan and I headed north to Toledo to see Hookah again. This week was my turn to play rich chick since I just got my tax check back. So, we got a nice little room at The Comfort Inn about a mile and a half from Headliner's where Hookah was playing.
The pictures don't do the sun justice, but after all this crappy weather we've had, I thought it was way worthy of a few pictures!!!! Even with the snow on the ground, it felt nice and toasty in the truck.
We drove along the Maumee river for quite awhile. It was beautiful.

After enjoying an awesome drive up there, Ryan and I got into Toledo early enough to go out for dinner. We ran into a couple of our friends from Indy, Kegan and Julie, while we were eating, so we stayed there with them for awhile and discussed all the fun stuff we missed the night before at the show in Chicago.



I wanted to go to that Chicago show so bad, but I was so sick last week that it was kind of pushing it to even make this show. So, I just lapped up all the details and lived vicariously for a few minutes through my friends who were lucky enough to be there. It was a sold out show...in Chicago.......Im really happy for the guys. The band is getting a lot of recognition now that they have deserved for a lot longer than I've been around their scene.



After dinner, Ryan and I had a little extra time, so we just went back to the hotel and watched some cable ( we don't have that at home...so that's a real luxury to us!!!!!) until it was time to leave for the show.



This show in particular was really imprtant for us to be a part of because first of all, it was free...WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Second of all, an aquaintance of ours, ( I think it's safe to call him our friend now) who we met at Hookahville was actually throwing this big free party!! He was promoting his music/head shop that he runs in Toledo, as well as the Ohio music scene. It was really awesome to see how many people showed up.

There were a couple other bands that played before Hookah came on, but the only one we were really interested in was The Macpodz. They rocked!!!! The lead singer was a little too present on the stage....he kinda got on my nerves, but the trumpet player made up for everything the crazy lead guy did by far.



I really enjoyed their music. It was very different from the run of the mill opening band that I've seen so often. They had songs with a lot of meaning to them, and were trying to spread good positive messages through their music. Not like so many other band that are looking for a good hook to catch the ear of the next sixteen year old that comes across their Myspace page...........

What can I say? I really appreciate a band with some background to their music, and with members willing to lay their feelings out in words, on stage no less, for other people to share, interpret, and feel.


Speaking of feeling the music........I know these pictures aren't great, but I think you can tell that ol' Mr. Sweney was feelin' his guitar that night. Check out that face :-) I'm really surprised his guitar isn't smoking in this picture....I thought he was gonna spontaneously combust a few times that night. Sweney is truly MY rock God. At least out of this generation of music. Past generations: I would compare the feelings I get from him to what I think it would have been like to see David Gilmour play when he was my age....amazing.
Like I said, this was basically a big party....so what kind of party would it be without balloons?!?!? They dropped from the ceiling a little off queue, but no one seemed to care. As you can tell, everyone had fun with them....... Amazing how little it takes to entertain me :-)
Cliffy on bass. I like calling him Cliffy, because that's what I call Uncle Cliff. it makes it seem more like family :-) Yeah......Ryan had fun with the ballons too. Hey Bitzky....that practice at making balloon animals at your house came in really handy last weekend :-)
We hung out by the mike stands most of the night because our friend Kegan was taping and we wanted to hang with him. Plus, it's always nice to have an extra person looking out for your equipment with a bunch of drunk asses dancing all around it. And, in this case, a huge net of balloons dropping on top of your stuff when you're not expecting it. There wasn't a seperate area for tapers like there is at a lot of these shows we go to. So, we tried to look out for our buddy. We obviously lost the battle to the balloons...................

Here's a rarity......Sweney singing. Once again...crappy picture, but so worth it to me to have a pic of Sweney with his lips to the mike. It doesn't happen often, and it was weird it happened this night..........he's chiming in on a spontaneous "I've Been Working on the Railroad" that came from who knows where......................Yeah Cliffy is wearing a zebra striped scarf....what?
Me and my baby......has anyone ever noticed Ryan has a "show shirt?" He wears the same thing to every show we go to. I sneak it away and wash it when I can. But he doesn't like it when I do that.........guys...........
The boyfriends meet...............

This is Ryan and my friend Steph's boyfriend Joel. Steph and I have beend fellow Hookahheads on their website for a long time. We talk almost every day that I'm at a computer. I finally got to meet her in real life last weekend, and her man too!!! Ryan had no idea who any of these people are because he's never on Hookahheads. But he hears me talk about them all the time.
This is me and Steph. She's always all decked out with glitter, tails, etc...................She had sequins glued to her eyes.....crazy girl!!!!

Dave was on fire in Toledo. His vocals were flawless all night long. And he jammed out quite a few songs on the acoustic guitar. I love it when he hops up from the keys for awhile. All the songs he plays guitar on are tons of fun!!!!
AAWWWWWWW.....I got my sweet little smile from John Mullins again. I swear I have about fifteen of these pictures that look exactly that same. I'm in the same spot, he's in the same spot, he's got the same shirt on (must be a man thing), and I always catch his attention for a sweet smile and a pic of those sweet eyes. I actually wrote a poem about his eyes once.....I wonder what I did with that....huh? Sorry....thinking out loud right now.........Ryan wanted a picture of me in my hippie jeans since I always wear a skirt to the shows, but I was sick, so the jeans were the warmer choice. I thought that was the smart thing to do. Got 'em at Goodwill Yo!!!

This was right before bed at about 5:00 AM. Ryan was three sheets to the wind if you can't tell. I was just full of cough medicine....oh and just a little wine after we got back to the hotel :-)

So........Ryan and I made it back to our hotel with no problems this time. No hoofing half the way like in Columbus a couple weeks ago. We were staying at the same hotel as most of the people in from out of town for this show, so it was one huge party until about 6:00 AM.

Check out time was 11:00. At 11:01, we recevied a phone call asking if we would be checking out today, or if they could go ahead and charge us for another night.

I think they were ready to get rid of all of us, but dang, give us a minute...literally!!!!

One thing that is just kind of an unwritten rule as a Hookahhead is: you ALWAYS tip your housekeeper if you leave them with a mess. Ryan and I are typically pretty tidy when we leave the rooms, but a lot of people aren't. So, to make up for it, and to make sure the Hookahheads will always be welcomed back with open arms, we always leave good tips. If we come across a room that a housekeeper is complaining about....or if you can see in and you know there was part of your crowd there last night, you just automatically grab some ones out of your pocket and hand them over as you walk by. It's actually turned into a big deal to all the Hookahheads who party together. I like the way we all kind of look out for eachother. It all works out in the end.

At about 11:03, ryan and I made it up front to check out and get headed home. I would have liked to have stopped at the Toledo Zoo just because it looked really cool, but we were worn out, and a little skeptical of the winter display, so we just kept driving.
This crosswalk was painted really cool with a bunch of animals all over it....best I could do in a moving vehicle :-)

Well, that's about the end of that little story. Nothing to exciting to tell. Only the same mind blowing experience I have every time I see Ekoostik Hookah :-)