| Andrew's Tour Diary- November 2001 Page 3 |
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| Colleen the Merch Girl getting faded on her 40 oz. |
| 11/15/01: Naperville, IL. Back in Naperville. We pulled in about 3 or 4am, after a long-ass drive from Kalamazoo, MI. Tonight, we play Chicago. Last night’s show at the Mastadon in Kalamazoo was the best so far. It was in the basement of a small house in the middle of a college neighborhood. We arrived pretty late and saw that load-in was downstairs. The Pavers were about 30 minutes behind us. The basement was really pretty small, so when the rest of the guys got there, we decided to just use Josh’s drumset and pair down gear as much as possible. We didn’t even load in until the 2nd band was finished. By that time, there were quite a few crazy, drunken college kids in this house and you could tell it just might be a good one. After adjusting the fuck out of Josh’s drums, we finally got ready to start playing. The room filled-up with kids instantly and they rocked out like they knew every song. Of course, they didn’t, but that didn’t seem to matter. We played a long, sweaty one and the fact that the kids were going off only made us play longer and harder. I seriously didn’t want it to stop! It was definitely one of those sets that make all the crappy shows you do worth it. When we finished, I took my spot up front to watch the Pavers. They were, of course, amazing, and again the crowd went off for them. A lot of the kids DID know their songs, but even during a brand new one, “Teacup,” they showed that they catch on quick when they started banging on the metal heating shaft in rhythm to Josh’s syncopated drum beat that he plays at the end of the song. After each song, they’d bang on the heating shaft. It was awesome, and sounded almost like a stadium gig or something. After the Pavers played, the kids talked Scott into playing “Silver Moon” on their Casio keyboard upstairs. The kids all sang along, barely getting the words right. Scott swore they did a better job than he would have. We left after we loaded the gear up. I think the Pavers stayed at a truck stop that night. Today, we slept all day. Leaving soon for the show at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago. The Fireside is closing it’s doors forever soon, so it should be a pretty good show. 11/16/01: Chicago, IL. At Ted’s house. Last night in Chicago could have been disastrous. We arrived and there was some sort of billing fiasco, where we were either supposed to go on 3rd out of 4, or 2nd. Of course, no one wanted to go on 2nd, but Ted had a video crew filming us and we’d told them we were going on 3rd, so we ended-up with the billing we wanted. After we got that out of the way, got loaded-in and ready to play, Brent, Tony, and I went to get some food. Tony went to a pizza place. Brent and I went to a Mexican joint and had burritos. As we were walking back to the club, I started to feel sick to my stomach. Didn’t think much of it, since I’d been eating crap for over a week. Then it hit me. I still don’t know what it was, if it was food poisoning or just the stomach flu, but it was about the sickest I have ever been in my life. And we were going on in less than an hour! In front of a video crew, no less. After cursing all known deities and my bad luck of the gastro intestinal kind, I pulled myself together mentally and convinced myself that 8 or 10 songs wouldn’t kill me. I called a quick band meeting, told the guys to write a 10 song set, and that I was playing the show no matter what. I loaded up on stomach medicines and waited for the 2nd band to finish. Somehow, I played the set as if I was feeling like a million bucks and we got a great response. I made sure Brent told the audience that I was sick, just in case I sucked. Nonetheless, I was still glad when the person at the soundboard cut our set down to 8 songs. As soon as we got off stage, I was “down with the sickness” again, but managed to catch the Pavers set. When we were loading out, Scott told me that I should be proud of myself for sucking it up and playing the gig, even though I was really sick. That meant a lot to me. We were supposed to all go to some after party that Ted was throwing, but I was fading fast, with a fever and the whole nine. So the guys decided that they’d get me to Ted’s, where we were staying that night. Of course, we got lost on the way to Ted’s and by the time we got there, the party was over and there was no hope of much else happening. Ted was sick, and so was I. I took a shower, made an ice pack out of ice and a Ziploc bag, and did all I could to break my fever. The next day was going to be a big show, and I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from it. I crashed on Ted’s huge L-shaped couch, and just as I was falling asleep, I was awakened by some sort of grunting sounds, when I realized that a certain band member and the girl he’d been hanging out with all night were engaged in some physical activity- THEY WERE FUCKING! I’m deathly ill, but he’s getting laid. So, I was laying there, holding back the urge to take a leak because I’d been drinking a TON of water to try and break this fever, but they just wouldn’t stop. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore as my bladder began to feel as though it were bulging through me, and I got up. They stopped, like two animals watching a predator. I finally made it to the bathroom, and hung out until I heard them leave for a cigarette. More ice on the head, more water, and I finally got to sleep. Getting ready to leave for today’s gig in Valparaiso, IN. We are playing with Big Wig, who will be the headliners tonight. I am still really sick, and can barely eat anything, but I’ll do the show. (click here for pictures from Chicago) |