UPDATED - July 31, 2001

Whew, sorry about the delay in updates, but I was on a three state killing spree.

The Ramones tribute was rather successful. A full report will be filed in the show review section.

August 25th was supposed to be the date of the Dagwoods reunion/farewell event, but it's been delayed. No make-up date has been announced.

It's been real...

-M.J.

The above lines (from Screeching Weasel's "My Friends Are Getting Famous"), having been going through my head lately. I have put the emphasis, however, not on giving up, but on the three chords.

Initially, when my last rock and roll venture folded, I was very resistant to starting all over. Anyone who has gone through the process of forming a band can relate when I say it's a pain in the rear. Finding the right people and discovering the right sound is not an easy thing to do. Of course, there is also the task of getting shows and getting the band name to the people. Did I really wanna do that? My musical abilities (Jay-O's too) have dramatically improved since '98 and I've become hip to different forms of music. But, I have to say that nothing other than this stupid group has ever fulfilled my musical appetite. So, to answer my question, yes, I did wanna do that.

Another factor in raising the 'Wood from the dead is simple, yet complex in its simplicity: I'm getting older. The Dagwoods were finishing up high school in 1998. In 2001, we're engulfed in college, jobs, and the quest to find ourselves and our place in society. For me, the Dagwoods can be an escape, a vacation from the everyday - holding onto youth, if you will. On these terms, the music takes a backseat for the performers (though, believe-you-me, it is still important for me to write good songs), and instead, this will be a chance for me to be an immature, wacky, fun-loving 17 year-old again (instead of the the less immature, less wacky, 20 year-old I've become).

This being said, I don't want a record on Epitaph Records, I don't want to tour the world, and I don't want girls flashing me at shows (okay, maybe the last one), if it means this band does not fit into the mold I have created in my mind. I want a representation of the person I was three years ago. I want to think high school football games, diners, driving aimlessly without ever reaching a destination. I want sipping pina colada slurpees outside 7-11 at 10pm, paying 5 bucks to see many way too many shitty Blink-182 wanna-be's, and I want two minute three chord songs to be impressive again. Most of all, I want to have a place I can go where I had the most fun of my life. The future's coming too fast for me and I hate it. The Dagwoods is simply my way of flipping off the fears of failing in the real world, at least every now and then. Feel free to join me.

- M.J. Dagwood