Evergreen Terrace Celebrate a Decade of Decadance

In honor of Evergreen Terrace's 10th anniversary, we decided to stroll down memory lane with guitarist Josh James and extract their best and worst moments in a 10-year career of moshing, California dreams, a show with a single person in attendance and with no place to sleep and the prospect of 10 more years of Florida metal! Their worst show ever was actually an adventure that sounds lifted from a script!

What was the worst show of the decade?

We've had our share of bad shows over the years. Summer of 2001 in Gloucester, Mass. at Lemp's Art Center. The show had been advertised with the wrong date. Only three people showed up, two of which we snagged off the street, so technically, only one person was there to see us. I'm not kidding: three people total. We were on a self-booked tour with no support, and the other bands that played that night didn't even stay to watch us. We played our full set to the three victims. Afterward, we faced the problem with having no place to sleep. We asked the 'crowd' and they all turned us down. We asked the venue and Lemp himself turned us down.

We then went out to the streets and started stopping cars as they drove by, none of them would let us stay at their place either. After 30 minutes of us stopping cars and asking strangers that were passing by on the street, Lemp came out with a map of the town drawn in crayon. He gave it to us and explained it was a map to a 'safe place' on the beach to sleep. We went there; it was covered in fish heads and there were two homeless men getting beaten up by the police. Now that I think of it, the show was bad but the adventure was great.

What was the best show of the decade?

This is a hard question. We've played over 2,000 shows in our decade, most of which were amazing. One of my most memorable shows was in 2002 at The Showcase Theater in Corona, Calif. It was the first time we had ever toured the West Coast. I was 18 years old, and it was farthest I'd been from home. [I was] curious as to how we were going to be received on the other side of our nation. The show was sold out, people were jumping off the balcony and everyone was singing along. It was extremely intense and extremely intimate. It was one of those moments when you feel like you are making an impact on other people's lives.



One thing they've learned in 10 years as a band?

If someone says "I'll do it if you do it," it's probably a really bad idea.

Are there 10 more years in the Evergreen Terrace tank?

Well considering the fact that everyone knows the world is going to end in 2012, it's unlikely. But if we do, then it's probably because we have perfected the craft of convincing people that we are smart, funny, good looking musicians that can put on a good show.

Amen to that. Congrats on the first 10 years and looking forward to 10, or at least two, more.