Here is is, friends. The tour has finally hit it's last crazy week. I'm definitely going to miss living in a horrendous smelling van with 4 boys and eating chip sandwiches.
After we left New Hampshire, we went straight to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This show was really interesting because we were playing with the band Scarce. They were getting pretty big in the 90's, when their singer/guitarist had a brain hemorrhage and went into a coma. They broke up, and then re-formed about 3 years ago. Very nice people. Pawtucket was cold, and I didn't see any beer referencing Family Guy. Lame.
The next show we played was at Broadway in Amityville, NY. Pimps and Ho's party. I was seriously dreading this show, because Zeke and I had no idea what to expect. Are we going to have to play funk covers for 3 hours, while frat boys walk around with fake canes and fuzzy purple hats, hoping to hit on whatever whorish college girls drank too much that evening? It was the exact opposite, and one of my favorite shows of the entire tour. We showed up, and the first thing we hear is Bayside on their stereo. Followed by a playlist that is strikingly similar to what we have been rocking out to in the van for the past 7 weeks.
It turns out that Broadway is owned by Victory Records band The Sleeping, and is totally awesome. The party was a bunch of New York punks who just really liked having themed costume nights at this bar. Everyone there was rad, and it was a welcome change to not have Nirvana or Drowning Pool playing as we load in our gear. They even bought us a genuine NY pizza. Soooo delicious. We got really drunk, and Matt had a dance off on the dance floor. Zeke was the DJ. He put on "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I think there's video footage of it somewhere.
Earlier in the day, we drove by the infamous "Amityville Horror" house on Ocean Avenue. I got out to take a picture of the house, and 4 kids rode up on bikes, yelling "that's not the right house!". When I asked where the correct house was, they all pointed in different directions. Then they yelled that it's illegal to take pictures of it. I took pictures of them and they rode off screaming "stranger danger!!". Apparently that's what kids yell when they're about to get kidnapped? Or kids in Amityville watch too much Simpsons? I dunno. I got my pics and we drove off.
The drive over the next 2 days was pretty brutal. We had to get from Amityville, NY to Chicago, Il. It was a little over 800 miles, but we're totally used to that now. No biggie. We got to Quencher's in Chicago, and were told that we couldn't play that night due to Matt not having a valid ID (since his wallet was stolen in the first week of tour). We were all pretty bummed, but they gave us free food, $10 in drinks each, and Zeke did a solo set. He played with a band called Plastic Head Trip. I'd highly suggest looking up their videos on YouTube. Seriously, go do it now. I'll wait.
Finished? Okay good. From Chicago we drove to St. Louis, MO. The weather was really bad, so we showed up right before load in time at Cicero's. The sound guy was not a happy person, but the bartender Patrick was awesome. He gave us a really good pizza and some beer. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: on the road, free food is the best thing ever. I found a knife in the parking lot that looked like a murder weapon. I kept it until I looked closer and realized that the red stuff on it wasnt rust. I left it in a McDonald's parking lot.
No time to enjoy St. Louis, we have to be in Salt Lake City in a day and a half! considering it's a 22 hour drive in a normal car, this would prove to be one of the hardest drives of the whole tour. I was driving most of the trip, but this one I couldn't do alone. Zeke and Shawn drove through the first night, and by morning I was ready to drive. Once we got into nebraska, an amazing thing happened: the ground started turning white. We were in snow, in the same van that one month prior was too hot to sleep in with the doors closed. We stopped at a gas station, and were told that the roads were closed. So naturally, we hung out and sold copies of Devour. It was funny until they started playing our CD in the gas station.
The roads cleared up, and we were on our way. It was great driving through it, until about 8pm, when the "freeway closed" signs popped up. we were forced to exit into Kimball, NE. When I pulled up to a police officer to ask what was going on, he replied, "Freeway is closed because of the snow. Been closed since tuesday. Don't know when it's opening.". We were stuck in Kimball, in 11 degree weather, and we had to be in SLC the next evening. Great.
Being snowed in isn't nearly as fun as movies make it sound. Shawn and I still tried to make the most of the situation, by having snowball fights and using guitar cases as sleds. Btw, that actually doesn't work. It just makes your case really wet. The next morning we parked by the freeway and patiently awaited it's grand re-opening. we were the third car on the road.
We showed up at Salt Lake City JUST in time to go onstage. However, the drive completely wore us out. I should mention that this was Halloween, so the place was full of hardcore kids dressed up. Turns out, the whole show was a hardcore show. We didn't know that, and played anyway. The crowd hated us, but the promoter "Rick Shoes" was great. If you're gonna book a show in SLC, look him up. Halloween was a bust.
On to Portland! We were playing at the Hawthorne Theater, which is actually an awesome venue. Their walls were covered in show posters of some great bands. If I lived in Portland, that's the place I'd be going. Unfortunately for us, the show was a locals night pay-to-play gig… with 7 BANDS on the bill. When we explained that we didn't have money for them since our booking agents set the show up, they put us dead last. 11:25pm.
I was wondering around the venue, when I stopped in my tracks after noticing someone in the crowd. Our good friend Rachel Clare flew out from CA to see our show!! I was so surprised by it. She recorded some video footage of the set too. It's on YouTube (and below). Rachel and I wandered around Portland, only to discover that everything in that town closes at 9pm.
After the show, we drove to Seattle and got to stay with one of Matt's friends in the city. She was great to us and made us lots of food. That night we played at the Comet Tavern and had a lot of fun. There was a good crowd there and we killed it. Seattle is a really cool city, and I hope to spend more time there in the future.
Back to Portland! At this point, we're all exhausted and just counting down the days until we get to sleep in beds again. This Portland show was an in-store appearance at Music Millennium. They have our record for sale. Go buy it. We played in their upstairs balcony area while people browsed albums. After our set, Zeke did a solo set of some of the material he's been working on since we hit the road. They also gave us free t-shirts.
After we left the store, I drove straight to San Francisco. We were staying with Matt Martin (Missing Words Records), so we immediately ransacked his kitchen while he was at work. I ate 2 TV dinners and a bunch of his soups. Don't tell him. That night was the last night of the tour. After 44 shows in 7 weeks, we were stoked to be doing the final gig. It was at a great venue, The Rockit Room. We played our set, and got pretty into it. I threw my guitar after the last song...and smashed the headstock right off. I'm still pretty upset over this. This was my favorite guitar, and the one I used at every big show ET has ever played. It's also the only guitar you hear on Head Over Heels. RIP Samick.
All in all, this tour was a crazy, ridiculously hard, ridiculously fun trip. We learned a lot and maybe even grew up a bit. We are all adjusting to sleeping in beds and showering when we want to. I wouldn't trade this trip for anything.
- TOTAL MILEAGE DRIVEN: 14,895
- TOTAL DOLLARS SPENT ON GAS: too much
- GUITARS COMPLETELY DESTROYED: 2
- OIL CHANGES: 2
- CHEESEBURGERS EATEN BY MATT: 200 (seriously.)
- HOTEL ROOMS: 3
- LONGEST DRIVE: 22 hours
- HOURS SPENT CLEANING THE VAN AFTER RETURNING HOME: 4, and I haven't even touched the fridge yet.
- PARKING/TOLL TICKETS: 6, in different states. I really need to pay those.
- SYLVESTER STALLONE MOVIES PURCHASED: 7
- TIMES WE QUESTIONED WHY WE WERE DOING IT: several.
- TOTAL STATES TRAVELED THROUGH: 38
- TOTAL SHOWS: 44
Thanks to everyone for all their help in making this tour a success. Wether we slept on your floor, or you bought us a drink, or you put together a show: we owe you. See you next year.
-Jordan
End Transmission.
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