Posts Tagged ‘Cold Blue Rebels Duane Peters’

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Lord it was hard getting out of bed today. Good thing I work at Lip Service!! By the time I get in my car and on the freeway, I’m listening to Kevin and Bean on KROQ and plotting the moves for my day of bringing in sales. But sometimes my aging body lets me know I’m not the punk kid I used to be and rest IS sometimes needed! Oh boohoo, I know … well I’ve had my coffee and thought I’d start with a quick recap of last week’s sales trip and my weekend.

I flew into Eugene, Oregon Tuesday morning, picked up my rental car and drove over to Slash n’ Burn (findcoolclothes.com) to show the entire LS 2010 line including Summer/Fall, Costume/Lingerie and our new Holiday styles. This was a huge amount of garments but April and Stephan greeted me eagerly with warm smiles! Two of my favorite customers, they are true alternative fashion-heads who have a great website and also a store in front of their warehouse. They have a local guy who makes some amazing leather masks and bad-ass Steampunk goggles you must check out! They also carry some of the best alternative brands around, including Lip Service, and are a reliable and trustworthy site with great customer service!

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After wow-ing them with the new line we finished our meeting, said our goodbyes and I packed my car full to the brim with my 6 garment bags to hit the highway again, heading north towards my next destination and hotel in Portland. Beautiful state up there and the drive, although plagued by rain storms, was nonetheless breathtaking as I passed through mountains rich with thick evergreen forests. I arrived late evening exhausted and, as luck would have it, there was an Indian food buffet right in front of my hotel so I didn’t have to give much thought to dinner and, after a fat meal, I retired for the night.

Day 2 and off to the Hawthorne Blvd area of Portland to visit Metro Body Piercing, Naked City, a new account called Dysfunctional Doll, who run a great Goth-specific website, and a whole slew of Lingerie/Adult stores to spread word about the new Lingerie/Costumes lines. Another long drive and across another state line up to Seattle WA and my next hotel. This time, not so lucky. My hotel is near the airport for an easy out Friday morning and the choice of restaurants in the area is slim at best! Sucks but not worth the fuse; a quick trip to Safeway and luckily there is a microwave in my room to heat up some comfort food! Sound boring?! Trust me, the times you get to or even feel like exploring or partying on sales road trips are far and few! Night 1 in Seattle and I’m in bed by 10:00!

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With a full day ahead of me, I begin Thursday heading downtown and through a maze of stores and checks off my list. I end up at my last stop at Metro/Panache, which is a great store catering to a wide variety of alternative fashion from Goth, to punk to hipster club wear, shoes, lingerie, and some great local designers as well. If you’re ever in Seattle, check out Metro on Broadway, ask for Tom and tell ‘em Mickey sent ya!

Orders in the bag and another great sales trip under my belt Friday afternoon, I was on my flight from Seattle to Salt Lake City, then on to Las Vegas for a Gig at Diablo’s Cantina with my band the Cold Blue Rebels, with Three Bad Jacks, Guana Bats and my friend Sean Kama’s band. Also as a treat, right before our set, I got to see legendary skater Duane Peters’ new project The Great Unwashed. They were a cool-ass band, although I’m not sure Duane was really feeling the Diablo’s vibe at first. He seemed to get into it more as their set developed. A little bit old-timey/country, the band were obvious veteran players and the music was sweet. Duane played the railroad hobo character to a tee, and was every bit as convincing as Tom Waits ever was, but of course a lot more punk rock!!

This was our second time playing at Diablo’s and hats off to Steve, the club manager, who does a great job with the upstairs patio bar and treats bands with the respect we deserve! It is a class act, with all the bartenders and waitresses sporting tattoos and mohawks! Next time you do Vegas, hit Diablo’s. The food is great and the party rocks!! The Cold Blue Rebels rocked the stage, with the Zombie Rebel Dancers in tow this time, and we all got trashed and partied till the wee hours. We chilled by the pool at the Monte Carlo on Saturday and came home on Sunday, just in time to get a few hours of sleep before the Monday blues kicked in.

So there you have it, another chapter in the life of a Lip Service sales rep/occasional Rock Star!! I hope you all had a great week, too. Until next time remember…..
Fashion+Music=Life!!!!
Mickey Finn