Gosh darn we've played at the Honey Bee Hive so many times it's hard to figure out new and special things to say about it.  The place was indeed packed.  Over 80 paid attendees.  Perhaps 5 of them were there to see us?  No matter.  Citizen Of The Year deserve to be adored.  I seriously can't think of a cooler band.  I told them I'd video part of their set.  I didn't.  I planned on videoing all of our set.  I didn't.  No follow through it's true.  The Modlins closed the show and saved the day.  Just what is a "Modlin" anyway?  Polish army?  Polish ship? Polish village?  Polish fortress?  Perhaps the joke is on me.  Anyway, what about Secret Apollo?  We played as good as ever.  The Bee Hive makes us look and sound good.  Provides us spiritual guidance.  Helps us carry on.  And carry on we shall.

= adam =

After a ridiculously early 8:30 load in, Secret Apollo headed up into Golden Hill so 2/3's of the band could watch the other 1/3 eat her pizza dinner. To pass the time, we skimmed The Reader and spotted the ad for our show. We also read about the girl who shops at Mojo Sounds; her favorite bands are Pink Floyd and Sublime. We were pretty sure she would not see our ad and want to come to our show.

Back down the hill to Honey Bee Hive, with provisions in store for 1/3 of Citizen of the Year. Pizza eaters unite! They had nearly managed to finish setting up in the 45 minutes we were gone. By the looks of one of the mic stands, I could only assume that Andre The Giant was making a guest vocal appearance. Citizen pleased us (well, Josh's stand-in drumming was more amusing than pleasing) as usual, despite some technical difficulties. I disappeared for song and when I came back they were all covered in some mayo/catsup crap. Apparently I missed the performance art piece of the show.

Then it was our turn. As always, Adam and Steve take about 10 years to set up, so I become a domestic goddess and busy myself decorating our "stage", putting out our delicious Red Vines, and getting water for everyone. I'm either nice, or stupid. I haven't quite decided which.

This was the first set I've picked all the songs for (Adam ordered it though) so it was pretty much a non-stop barrage of quirk-pop. Steve even did his vocal fog-horn intro to Tugboat, but I was the only one who heard it.

Our new friends The Modlins outdid us in the light-show department. And in the cd packaging department. And in the fashion department. And in the flyer-making department. If you ever need a cool poster for your show, ask these guys! Art skills galore. And their songs aren't half-bad either. =)

Thanks to everyone who came out! Thanks to Dylan for being a sport and letting me play with his curly hair (don't you dare cut it). To Sara for having dinner with me and having good intentions. To the volleyball crew for hanging in for the long haul and buying me drinks. To Steve for the collectable beer koozie. To Kevin for dropping a bomb on me (and letting me fondle his Nano). To the people who came and said hi but snuck out without saying bye. And to Matt for amusing Adam and I at post-rock burritos. Who knew so many words could come out of one mouth?

~*~Amber~*~

On our annual weekly visit to the hallowed walls of the Bee Hive, Secret Apollo whisked themselves and their audience into a sweet, sticky, rockin' mess. Highlights of the night were Citizen of the Year, The Modlins and US. The true highlight though was being told to "dig it" during the Modlins set. How do you "dig it"? Well I was afraid to ask and kinda just tried to slither out of there. Pretty fun night. No 808 kick sounds going on as previously mentioned, and the realization that there is beer besides Miller Lite, thanks to Adam's smooth switch-aroo trickery.