Read these first if you’d like some further context for this tour blog:
The people in the Ranges van are:
CJ Blessum – Guitarist and owner of A Thousand Arms record label and printshop
Mark Levy – Drummer
Tim Moens – Guitarist
Tom Verryken – Bassist
Chuck Goodwin – Sound engineer
Joseph James (me) – Roadie and photographer
Day 1
Friday 18 July 2025
Bookclub, Chicago, Il
w/ Outrun the Sunlight
First day of tour!
I’d been hanging out with CJ for the past few days. We’d driven a looooong way from Montana to Chicago with the gear and merch. Then we swapped CJs truck out for a tour van with 8 seats and space for the instruments.
CJ and I at Dinosaur Park, South Dakota
Last night we picked Tim and Tom up from the airport. It was their first time in America and it was great seeing their reactions to everything. They kept pointing and saying it was like things they’d seen on TV.
We spent the morning grabbing some breakfast (CJ and Tom got chicken and waffles, Tim and I got a pile of fried potatoes, eggs and avocado), stocking up on snacks and drinks for the van, and setting up at Fort Knox Rehearsal space. The problem with half the band living in Belgium is that the guys don’t get the chance to come together and practice. So they booked a practice space to get used to their gear, play through and set, and iron out the kinks.
At the rehearsal space. Chuck on the faders
I had used a trimmer to buzz my head and most my beard the night prior, leaving a small moustache similar to Mark’s. The guys were cracking up and how Mark and I both looked the same. Mark just took it in his stride and said it was a good look.
Bookclub was a cool venue. It wasn’t the easiest to find because it didn’t have signage. The staff were all super friendly and made us feel welcome. The venue had three levels. The upper level was the green room, that we didn’t really use. The ground level had a bar and an enormous TV wall where they played live footage of the bands on stage. And downstairs was the live music space. The stage was an interesting shape, almost a diamond with a mini catwalk jutting out the front and a pillar in the centre.
Van Mountain
Man Mountain arrived and it was fantastic to see the guys again. I’d met them when they’d toured with Ranges on their 2017 tour, and they toured again with Ranges a few years later. I remember they had a pillow with Nicolas Cage’s face on it, and had drawn John Travolta’s face on an inflatable beach ball (a reference to the movie Face/Off, also featuring Nicolas Cage). I bought them a small laser engraved wooden token with an image of “Saint Nicolas” burnt into it and hung it from their wing mirror. They proudly showed me their vehicle – Van Mountain – complete with a custom license plate and some enormous truck nuts dangling from the tow bar.
After soundcheck, Tim and I went for a walk down to Wrigley Field. The Cubs had just played a game and the bars in the surrounding area were pumping. We each got a Chicago style hot dog and walked around.
Bookclub in Chicago
We arrived back at Bookstore during Man Mountain’s set. They’re class musicians and I loved watching them play again after so many years. There’s a lot of subtlety and nuance to their music, and the new songs from their upcoming album were great. I also thought about how last year I’d played Borderlands 3 on Xbox, which featured a Man Mountain song.
I’d suggested that they sell beard combs at their merch table, so was very pleased to see they had some, along with CDs and pins and stickers.
Man Mountain at Bookstore, Chicago
Local prog rock act Outrun the Sunlight are great. I spent a lot of their set standing side of stage, watching the drummer in awe. It’s pretty complex sounding music and you can tell that they’re masters of their craft.
Mark had some friends turn up, and I actually remembered them from the 2017 tour. He wanted to head out to bars with them but I didn’t want to be in such a crowded, noisy space so I hung outside and called my girlfriend back in New Zealand who I hadn’t spoken to in a few days.
On the way out of town we stopped to see a fountain which had sadly just stopped 5 minutes beforehand at 11pm. Everyone nearby had love heart lights that indicated KPop stars Black pink had just played a concert nearby. Tim really loved seeing the Chicago skyline, which was a stark contrast to the buildings in Belgium.
Traffic was a nightmare, even that late at night. We were running low on gas and a lot of the gas stations had their entry blocked or were hard to access due to one way streets. Eventually we found one, which appeared to have a huge party onsite. Loads of people sitting around in deck chairs and blasting loud music. This is after midnight. So weird. We fueled up quickly and then drove off to our accommodation about an hour away.
Day 2
Saturday 19 July 2025
Dunlap’s Corner Bar, Cleveland, Oh
w/ Seeress
It was a fairly long drive to Cleveland. We didn’t have time to look though the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but stopped in to check out the gift shop anyway.
Walking to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The drive through the city felt a lot different to the insane traffic of Chicago, more spacious and green, with some neat old buildings.
Dunlap’s is a cool space. Joe who ran it was telling me how it is the second oldest bar in the area, started just after the prohibition ended, under the name Pacino’s. It was basically a residential area, and it was pretty funny watching the locals hoon past with insanely loud vehicles. It must have been a local spot for it because the same people drove back and forth along the same stretch, in all manner of crazy vehicles. I’m guessing there was a swimming spot nearby because lots of families went past with swimming costumes and towels. And we saw a beaver cross the road!
Dunlap’s Bar
The stage in Dunlap’s was only big enough to fit a drum kit, so the guitar and bass players set up on the floor in front of the stage. There were a few dim lights and a disco ball that made photography difficult due to low light, but it helped create a cool mood in the space.
Man Mountain was up first. It was really nice catching up with them again, and they kept saying over and over how happy they were to see me after so long. I really love seeing them play. Their music is so comforting and they’ve really honed the dynamics of their songwriting. I asked if they would use the floodlight I remember them using in 2017, and they laughed and said they’d retired it after a bunch of complaints from people who were momentarily blinding by it at their shows.
Tom on bass during Ranges’ set
I wasn’t so keen on Seeress. Man Mountain had packed away some of their lights so it was really dark. The music just didn’t do it for me.
Man Mountain went off to check out a house from A Christmas Story, I guess that’s an iconic film here? We went to our accommodation for much needed sleep ahead of our early start.
Day 3
Sunday 20 July 2025
Gold Sounds, Brooklyn, NY
w/ Another Demon, Precious Blood
Mark is from Brooklyn, so we all knew this would be an interesting day, being a homecoming for him. He’s been so involved in the music scene on so many levels over the years, so he seems to have a connection with almost everyone.
We had an early departure for a long but beautiful drive to NYC. Lovely to see big trees and rivers in Pennsylvania. Certainly nicer than the grassy plains or concrete jungles we’ve encountered this far. A lot of the scenery reminded me of my time in New England when I lived in Maine for a few months.
Everyone was on good spirits and the banter was free flowing, despite the lack of sleep.
Gold Sounds, the venue, opened at 2pm. We arrived at that time, only to discover that we should hold off loading in because there was a matinee show on that afternoon.
On the subway in NYC
We parked up and took the subway to Manhattan to visit Katz’s Delicatessen. There was a long queue to get in. We all ordered pastrami on rye bread with mustard and cheese. They came with a side of pickles and cost over $40 by the time we’d paid for it with a drink and tax and tip included.
Then Mark took us to a bar he used to work at for a few hours before we headed back to the venue.
It was basically a repeat of last time Ranges played NYC: same venue, same visit to Katz’s.
Gold Sounds was ok. The staff were not friendly, the green room was too small to fit much gear and became dangerously cluttered. I thought that booking four bands late on a Sunday night was ambitious, but it was a good turnout. Maybe people don’t have work Monday mornings here?
Ranges set had a few technical mishaps. The cable connecting Tom’s bass cab to the amp kept cutting out, and then his tuning pedal was playing up. Tim used the mic to chat to the audience while they sorted it. All in all it didn’t affect things too much and everyone appeared to enjoy the set.
Joseph James
After packing the gear in, I walked to a nearby taco restaurant just around the corner. Turns out my grasp of the Spanish language isn’t as good as I’d thought it was, because the simple act of ordering two tacos proves extremely difficult. At the taco place I meet David, one of Mark’s old friends who lives in Michigan, and drove a few hours to make the gig. He’s a friendly guy and we chat over our meal.
All words and photos by Joseph James