11/20/01: Somewhere, Illinois. Been a while since I wrote. We are now on our way to St. Louis for the last “away” show of the tour. After this show, it’s 3 more in Colorado, and then it’s all over. It’s the kind of thing you never want to end.
Well, turned-out that there was nothing wrong with Brent’s guitar. After finally finding a music store (Green Bay is not exactly hopping with them- especially ones open on Sunday morning). We got to the club way early, and of course it wasn’t open yet. So, we went to the bar next door (I think it was called the Speakeasy) and they told us that since there was a game on, they were serving free pizza. So, we loaded up on that. I started to wonder when I noticed that they weren’t charging us for drinks, either. Finally, the bartender told us that she knew the guy that booked Rock N’ Roll High School (the club we were playing at) and he gave her all the CDs of the bands that were playing there. Turned out, she really dug us, recognized us when we walked in the door from our picture in the Press Kit, and decided not to charge for anything. Well, thanks to her, ‘cause that made the hours pass much quicker. I tipped her with what little scratch I had.
Of course, the club didn’t open when they said they would. We also found out that instead of the show being just us, the Pavers, and Mediocre at Best, there were about 4 or 5 other bands, that were playing 30 minute opening sets and the show was supposed to start at 4. I don’t think we even got in there until 3:30. Once we got situated and set-up, a few of the guys went to some nasty strip club while I split my time between the Speakeasy and hanging out at the Merch Booth.
By the time we finally took stage, we were all pretty tired, but we still played a good set and made way for the Pavers to close the night. They rocked hard, even though most of them were still sick. We packed up, said our goodbyes as the next day was a day off, and headed off to Taco Bell for more fine dining.
On the drive from the club, Brent was pulled over and arrested in the fine state of Wisconsin for speeding. I knew it was bad when 4 cop cars pulled up for a speeding stop. The cop asked Brent to get out of the van, told him that he was under arrest unless he posted bail immediately (to the tune of about $180- which was pretty much all the money we had). The cop told Brent they would accept Visa or Mastercard! So, we fuckin’ drove down to the station following this cop. Brent went inside, paid the fine, and we were off. Fuck Wisconsin!
As for yesterday, I slept most of the day (until 4 or 5pm). Brent and Tony took the van in for a much needed wash and cleaning out, and Seth went and saw the Harry Potter movie. We tried to hook-up w/the Pavers, but they were already on their way to St. Louis, so we just stayed in Naperville, ate pizza, and watched bad movies.
After a late start, we were off late this morning. The drive is about 5 hours, and we’re about half way there now. Right now, we are driving into the sunset and listening to Credence. Kind of surreal. After tonight’s show: an all-night drive from St. Louis to Colorado Springs. It will be cool to be back on the home court, but I’ll definitely miss playing in a new place every night.
11/22/01: Denver, Colorado. Back home! Today is Thanksgiving at Brent’s. We’ve got Mark, Eric, and Colleen and the band going over to Brent’s for dinner today. Michelle and Camille are manning the kitchen.
The St. Louis show was great. The club, Creepy Crawl, was way cool. The owner guy bought us some pizzas and we got free drinks. There were 5 bands on the bill, so it was a bit of a long one, but we had a great time. By the time we took stage, we were ready to kick some serious ass. And kick ass we did. Probably one of the better shows of the tour. We met a couple from Michigan that told us we “renewed” their “faith in rock n’ roll.” Whoa! They were way cool and we hung out w/them for a while.
The Pavers slayed. Josh decided to breathe fire and asked me to stand by the side of the stage with a bottle of water in case he “went up.”
After the show, we stole Josh so we could have another driver for the long haul. We stopped at a Denny’s and got some food to go, and we were off. I stayed up until 8am (in Kansas somewhere) making sure the drivers didn’t go off the road and kill us all. Josh drove for a long time, and I sat up front with him and we talked about the Ramones, Marky Ramone, drums, and all things rock n’ roll. Cool guy. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore as I’d been up for 24 hours, so I crashed out in the back.
When Seth was driving, we were pulled over again! That’s like 4 times in one tour for us! That really should get us some sort of an award.
We rolled into Colorado Springs about 4pm, with a few hours to spare before load-in. Someone got a hotel room, and we all got showered & headed off to Perkins for dinner after some naps and free cable in the hotel room.
We’d been at the club for about 20 minutes before Michelle and Camille showed up. It was so great to see Michelle after 3 weeks. She finally got to meet all the new friends I’d been talking about and we hung out while I was setting up my gear.
This was another one of those shows where the Pavers weren’t headlining. Local heroes JJ Nobody & the Regulars were to be headliners, with the Pavers 2nd to last, us playing the 2nd slot, and our good friends the A-Holes opened. It was a lot of rock for one show. We were all tired and sick. The drum riser at the Industrial Nation is really small, and my right side crash cymbal kept falling off the riser, so once again, super-roadie Josh came to the rescue. After the show, we all said our goodbyes for the night and returned to some semblance of normal life. Mark and Eric Paver stayed with us & our crazy cat (how are your toes, Mark?), Colleen stayed with Brent, Josh and Scott stayed with their respective families. It was weird to drive away from the show in something other than the van. It will be even weirder to take the van back today. Still, two more shows to go, so it’s not over yet!
(click here for pictures from Colorado Springs)
NEW!
On to Page 7, the Final Installment of the November 2001 Tour Diary |
