TESLA guitarist Dave Rude has issued the following update on his DAVE RUDE BAND:

"So after the Vegas excursion, it was on to Long Beach in our home state. Thanks to the usual southern CA traffic, we spent most of the day in the van and arrived at The Blue Lamp right before the gig. It was essentially a blues club, and a nice one at that. Kind of a last minute gig, but it all felt right once we got onstage. Started to feel our road legs even more at this one.

This machine is getting tighter. Aaron took a coupla pictures from the crowd at this gig, which are in the DRB Tour 08 album of our Pics page.

Like all the shows we did on this inagaural mini-tour, there were rad DRB-ers who travelled long distances to see us play and we appreciated that so much!

You die-hards make the tough gigs better, and the great gigs even greater!!

Against the better judgement of Dr. Jobes, we decided to drive the fuck outta Long Beach after the gig and make it as far north as possible before pullin' over for rest. Made it past the Grapevine before the imaginary goblins I'd been chatting with persuaded me to stop for the night. Even my fatigued hallucinations needed some shuteye. And who could deny those cute little bastards?!?!

Next morning we headed out to extra-northern CA for a private party above Sacramento. And thanks to Sac traffic spent most of the day in the van again and arrived just before show time. Sweet!!! But once we got there it was a blast from the word go. Those folks were ready to PARTY!! Great people, great vibe, great evening. They wouldn't let us stop playing! We did every song we knew (even the few select covers)!!! But alas, it was bittersweet. For we knew that after the load-out, we'd be heading home.

Mini-tours like this are teasers - by the time you get into the rhythm of the road and really find your groove, it's time to go home.

But it's alright. It just whetted our appetites for more, longer tours in the near future. Already got a big gig down south with some good friends, but we can't announce it just yet. Guess who???

And until then, we'll have to pack all this road-sick desire into our next hometown show - which isn't far away at all. This Saturday, August 30th at the Stork Club in Oakland. We're happy to support Guitar Zack. He's a cult, indie-shred, young Zappa who's been supporting STEVE VAI for the last year. Badass SF band CALLOW opens. BE THERE FOR OUR TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO THE BAY AREA!!!"