The Stills, USA Oct. 13-31, 2008
The Stills Day 1, Tempe, AZ (10-13-08)
It hurts. A lot. Dragging a tired self out of bed at 4 something in the morning to go to the airport after about 2 hours or less of sleep. Rough. Unpleasant. Painful.
Thankfully it was all fairly smooth. I got through security, got on the plane and promptly fell asleep on my way to Phoenix. It's a relatively short flight though, I don't think it's even 3 hrs, so it's not going to do too much to help me out...
Flight was uneventful. That's a good thing I guess. I land, grab a cab and head to the hotel, where I end up having to fight to check in and have to explain my life story to the manager who doesn't seem to give a sh*t about my plight. Finally after some phone calls and going over heads I get a room and am able to crash for another couple hours before the guys get to town for the show that night. All this broken sleep is a little rough, but whatever. Living the dream, right?
So I wake up to go to the club, aptly named Clubhouse, and wait for the guys. The Clubhouse is kind of disastrous, with falling pieces of ceiling and walls caving in, but everyone there is pretty cool so that goes a long way towards making the day bearable. The horrible enchiladas I got at the take out place next door did not help.
Eventually everyone showed up in the RV (which is a perpetual source of loathing for me), and we throw it all on stage and put a show together. Tonight we're playing with We Are Scientists, who will also be on the Kings of Leon tour with us, so it's a big get-to-know-you session. I'm a couple days late so I have a lot of catching up to do.
After dinner at a sports pub next door, we go back, put on a rock show, the kids seem to like it and we call it a day. I didn't hang around too long after as I was totally drained from my last 3 days of travel, and happily fell in to bed at the hotel. I passed out in record time...
Day 2, Tuscon, AZ
Today started with a nice, leisurely drive through the desert to Tucson. We stopped briefly at a Guitar Centre to get some supplies and kept going. We did reasonable time, even stopped at a Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way, and pulled up at the Congress Hotel.
I walked inside looking for the room and where we had to load in. There were a couple small conference rooms, but they were set up for banquets or something, so I was starting to wonder what the deal was for this show. And then I walked in to the parking lot out back. Waiting there for us was a tiny excuse of a stage, a tiny excuse of a PA and a bunch of people sitting on a patio having lunch. Amazing. So that's the kind of day it is.
We did what we had to do to make it work and it didn't turn out so badly after all. Enough people showed up to make it worthwhile. We had to leave right after the show though. We play LA tomorrow and it's not the shortest drive in the world... We'll sleep at the lovely Best Western Desert Oasis tonight and keep moving in the morning...
Day 3, LA
Today we meet up with the Kings of Leon again and we're not playing in a parking lot, to say the least. We're at the phenomenal Nokia Theatre tonight, quite possibly the best modern theatre I've ever seen. When we got there, the Kings were shooting a new video (Be Somebody, I think...) so we had to wait a while before loading in. No problem, just go downstairs to catering and enjoy some lunch while we wait...
The show itself was pretty wild. There was a good number of people there when we went on (first of three on this tour), so even 1,000 people spread out in a 7,000 venue doesn't seem like a whole lot. The people that were there enjoyed it though, and that's what counts at the end of the day...
After the show was done, I crashed at the hotel to try and catch up on some of the rest I've been missing out on the last few days. It felt pretty good to finally have a little time. Tomorrow there's no rush either. Just have a quick press thing in the afternoon and then we drive towards San Francisco...
Day 4, SF
After spending the night in the bustling metropolis of Livermore, we were able to take our time driving the 1hr in to San Fran. The Black Bear diner proved a popular choice for breakfast before heading in to the hotel. Before heading to the venue, I was happy to have time to head over to the Blue Bottle, my favourite SF coffee shop, and, as usual, their unbelievable pretentiousness delivered fantastic coffee.
We're in town for 2 nights on this one, at the legendary Warfield. It's a great old theatre/rock club where bands like Metallica got their breaks and Jerry Garcia virtually lived on stage. It's really cool to be able to experience rock history like that. It has a tiny stage, tiny dressing rooms, no internet but full of vibe.
The show tonight was great. Sometimes being in a venue like that just brings it out of you. You can do no wrong.
We finally had a chance to hang out with people tonight, and alot of us met up at the Lucky Bar. There just happened to be an "art show" at the bar put on by people who do a lot of the rock posters for SF venues, which is a pretty big deal down here. A lot of their work was incredible and it was fun to check it out.
A couple drinks, a slice of pizza and back to the hotel I go.
Day 5, SF.
It's always nice to wake up in the city you play in, especially when you have most of the day to hang out. For me, that means lots of coffee time, and I wasted none of it. Finally some time to take care of everything I needed to do...
I went to the venue a little bit early to day as We Are Scientists asked me if I could mix them tonight as well. We had been talking about me working with them for a little while, so it was nice to put that together for a night. Great guys, fun to work with. The Stills show tonight was another great one. It's hard to leave a venue like this behind.
Afterwards, I had the pleasure of settling the show with a championship poodle breeder, which provided some pretty interesting stories, and just sort of hung around the venue til it was time to leave. No crazy stuff tonight, long drive tomorrow as we head towards Seattle...
Day 6, Cottage Grove, OR
Today was mainly driving. A breakfast stop here, a gas stop there, nothing too special. The highlights included a gas station attendant who constantly chewed his own tongue with his jaw hanging wide-open, another one who tried to rip us off for $200, and the hotel receptionist who was hooked up to an oxygen tank and just sat around with her cat. Where are we????
Day 7, Seattle, WA
One of the pleasures of waking up in scenic areas like the Pacific Northwest is opening up the blinds in the morning and looking at the mountains as they look down at you in their majesty and make you feel incredibly insignificant. Or, in the case of today, opening the blinds and seeing a forest fire less than a mile away. That was our cue, we hit the road. Fast.
The rest of the drive was fine and we made it to Seattle in decent time. Unfortunately there isn't much time to hang out today, which is too bad because Seattle is a great town, with great coffee, but it is what it is.
Another old theatre tonight. Sometimes they're fun, sometimes not so much. They're usually pretty beautiful, but they have the seats that kind of take away from the rock show appeal. You do what you can though, and it always seems to work itself out... It helps when guys like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam are watching the show from over your shoulder.
After the show we stuck around the venue for most of the night and eventually walked back to the hotel.
Day 8, Portland, OR
We were hoping to get to Portland early enough today to sample some of the wonderful coffee the area is known for, specifically Stumptown Coffee. No such luck though... we had to make some stops on the way out of town to take care of some business stuff and it ended up taking so much time that we barely made it to the venue on time. Unfortunately we have to leave after the show tonight as well, so we're left floundering on this one.
Schnitzer Hall is another beautiful old theater, which seems to be the theme on this run... It was a quick in and out tonight, due to the drive after the show, but there is a silver lining... We had to stop at a bank to make some deposits, and it just so happened that the bank was next to Stumptown Coffee, which was open for another 15mins. We had the chance to run in and make a quick order and our spirits were instantly elevated for the next couple hours on the road to Pendleton. Amazing.
Day 9, Rawlins, WY
The downside of this tour is that alot of the drives are really long. It was booked that way because the headliner can afford to fly to shows and have 2 or 3 tour buses so they can travel overnight. Not being the headliner, we cannot afford such luxuries. So, we spent the day driving part of the way to the next show in Denver. Today finds us arriving in Rawlins, WY. If nothing else, the front desk clerk at the hotel opened the pool and hot tub for us after hours, so we were able to relax a bit.
And then the RV struck. One of the guys went out to grab something before crashing for the night, only to discover an overwhelming scent of gas fumes and urine. Something is wrong with this picture. It was cold today, it was even snowing for a while, so it seems that the septic tank started freezing and whatever was in it was slowly rising to the top and overflowing during the freezing process. Solving this involved a fun-filled 2:30am drive deep into the Wyoming countryside to dump the tank and hope for the best. Never could explain the gas fumes...
Day 10, Denver, CO
After little sleep from last night's tank cleansing activities, we piled in to the RV, agreed that no one could detect any fumes, and started making our way to Denver. It was a pretty painless drive and we arrived early enough to seek coffee, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It did exceed the "Better than Starbucks" rating system.
The venue tonight is the Fillmore, a stunning, classic ballroom style building that is an absolutely amazing experience. We're really lucky to be in some of the venues on this run. There were actually a lot of kids in the room tonight by the time we went on and there was a really good response. Unfortunately we couldn't stick around and hang out with them, have to keep on driving. Goodland, KS tonight.
Day 11, to Fort Worth, TX.
It's a beautiful day to go for a drive to Texas. We started out just outside Oklahoma, made the requisite Crapper Barrel breakfast stop and kept on going through the day. All was good until about 2 hours from our destination of Forth Worth, where the RV dropped the motherload on us.
Just driving along and all of a sudden a loud banging sound started coming from the engine, then smoke, the whole deal. Our brand new 2008 RV was hurt, badly. We pulled over, thankfully there was a rest stop right where the damn thing died, and promptly called CAA and the RV company to get roadside assistance. After about 2hrs, the CAA finally got their guy to us, with 5 quarts of oil. We were hoping it was just the oil that needed to get refilled, but that just turned out to be the beginning of something much, much worse...
The CAA dude checked out the engine and said it was DOA, we couldn't drive it. We checked out the oil, it was quite unhealthy, and it turns out that the engine was not properly maintained, fully neglected by the company mechanics, and the last oil change was over 25,000 miles ago!!! Unreal!
Given our new predicament, we started trying to find arrangements for the night right away. The RV place couldn't do anything for us. At all. They said they'd tow the vehicle but that they couldn't move the passengers. That's a load of help right there. I feel for the guy who was working that night because he got an earful and a half from us. He's probably traumatized from the whole thing and will never work in customer service again.
CAA was no better (or I guess AAA down there...). Anyways, they couldn't find any people transport either. They said to call cabs and they'd reimburse me, but the nearest cab company was 45mins away at best. This was not shaping up to be a good night.
This whole process had taken about 5 hours by the time we made our decision to wait for a new RV to get delivered at 9am tomorrow morning. With much anger, stress and just about anything else you can think of, we set up to spend the night sleeping in a broken down RV, no heat, electricity, etc..., on the side of the road. I-35 SB, OK. All things considered, it was really the only thing we could do. I spent the night uncomfortably crammed into the front passenger seat, the most awful sleep I've ever had.
The only positive out of all this was that the new RV would arrive at 9am, so we still have time to make the gig in Austin, TX tomorrow night.
Day 12, Side of the I-35 SB, to Austin...
9am, time for a new RV. I was actually woken up a little earlier by all the trucks and buses going by on the Interstate. Not pleasant to say the least. I was awake now, so I decided to call the RV place and see what was going on and to make sure the RV would arrive on time. I also had the worst sleep ever, my whole body was stiff and in massive pain.
So imagine my shock, anger and surprise when the guy told me that the RV was only leaving the lot in northern Oklahoma at 9am, and it would be close to 12pm by the time it got to us. Man, did that guy get ripped to shreds on the phone. I don't think I've ever been so openly and brutally angry with anyone in my life ever. I really tore the guy apart, and I have to say it kind of felt good and therapeutic, especially after last night. I don't think I've ever seriously threatened anyone with a lawsuit before either...
But none of that was getting the RV to us any faster. So we did the only thing we could do - wait. It wasn't easy. We were tired, hungry, miles from anything and everything. Literally stranded. We started moving everything out of the vehicle so at least we would be ready when the new one got here.
The other side of all this is that we have to be in Austin, TX no later than 6pm to play a show, and we can't afford to lose any money off this, we can't miss this show. It's a 6 hour drive from where we are. This math is not good. I called all the KoL people to let them know what was going on, and thankfully, being the amazing crew they are, they were totally understanding, totally pro, and totally ready to deal with whatever happened.
Back to the RV... It got to us at almost 12pm. In fact he almost missed us, it was only frantic waving that got him to stop. We made the change as fast as we possibly could, re-hitched the trailer and I hopped behind the wheel. We had a full tank of gas and there was no way in hell we were going to miss this show. I start driving, and I don't stop until we pull up in Austin on fumes, literally. We burned that tank. At the end we were calculating driving speeds to gas usage ratios to try and make sure the tank would last and we'd make it. We pulled this one out of our asses.
We threw all our gear onstage as soon as we got in, did a quick check to make sure it all worked and had literally 15mins before the show started. It was incredible. I don't think we've (or at least I) pulled off a more rock n roll situation. There was a huge crowd, they loved every second of it (The Stills are do really well in Austin to begin with). Everyone on the KoL and Scientists crew were amazing helping us get going, the venue staff were awesome. Thinking back, it's still seems like a miracle that we made that show.
So to celebrate the occasion, we did what we always do. Hopped back in after the show to start another drive. Off to Waco we go. Once we got there, in massive need of decompression, 2 of us found a good ol' Texas roadhouse where we went for a couple pints and some wings. Man, the people in Waco are *weird*. But after last night, I'll take the roadhouse and a hotel room.
Day 13, Oklahoma City, OK
Less than a day later, we were driving back up the I-35 to Oklahoma City for a show, and we passed the spot where we spent a night and looked back with anything but fond memories.
At least being in OKC is a good thing on a KoL tour. A large part of their family is there, and they all come out and treat you like one of their own. The show was in a weird community centre type place on a concrete stage, but we didn't care. We were looking forward to the aftershow party hosted by the family, all home cooked food provided.
It was worth the wait. The gumbo was amazing, as usual, there were killer deserts, moonshine, what more could you ask for in Oklahoma? It was a great night, and we also were able to stay in town tonight. Unreal. We didn't have to drive.
Day 14, to Houston, TX
We have a day off, but as usual it'll be spent driving. Heading to Houston today. We stopped for a CB breakfast, shocking, I know, and kept on moving. The whole thing was pretty painless. The only thing of note was that at various times during the drive, all the warning lights on the dash started randomly flashing and going off. That's it, we're done with the RV, game over. It's another 2008 and it's already screwed up. I spent the rest of the drive crunching numbers and making calls to ditch the death trap in Houston.
Other than that, the drive was ok, though we did end up getting in pretty late, the hotel did mess up our rooms, it was hard to find parking for the RV, but whatever. We're in the same hotel 2 nights in a row. Minor details.
So we settled in and I tried to go out and get beer only to find out that you can't buy booze at night in Houston. There were no bars nearby, and the RV was dry. Oh well. Just sucks cause sometimes you just really want a beer, but it wasn't going to happen. So I ordered pizza.
While I was waiting for delivery, things got interesting, just because there hasn't been enough going on the last few days... at 1am the fire alarm started going off in the hotel. Not fun. And it was loud, painful, annoying, etc... Everyone was a little hesitant to go out, thinking it was a kid messing around, but apparently it was real, and a few minutes later we were standing outside with a couple hundred of our closest friends for the night. And somehow in all of this, the delivery person still found me in the crowd to drop off my pizza. Awesome. So I sat outside and ate, a couple others had orders too, and one even had a bottle of wine, so at least I got some of that.
Sometime around 2:30am we went back inside and crashed. At least we don't have to get up in the morning...
Day 15, Houston, TX
Somehow, straight from the Dept. of Miracles, the RV company agreed to let us ditch the RV in Houston. It took a lot of work, convincing, etc... but they let us do it. I booked some flights, arranged gear transport with the KoL guys, rented a van and we started celebrating.
We just had to make it through the show first, at the Verizon Wireless Amphiteatre, which was some weird industrial style arena without any seats. Interesting, but cool I guess...
There was a bit of an aftershow party tonight. It's so rare that all the bands and crew can stick around after a show, so we took advantage of it. We went to a pool hall in the same complex as the venue and ended up shutting the place down. We were there for a couple hours, but the service was so bad we really only ended up with one or two drinks each. Whatever. We didn't have to drive tonight.
Day 16, to Dallas
Today the RV dies. We're done. We have all sworn an oath to never travel in an RV again. Ever. Period.
Three of us got up early to take care of the task at hand. I got dropped off at the airport to pick up the rental van and then we went out to the RV drop site where we silently hope the damn thing explodes and burns in hell for eternity.
What a difference a van makes. It was smooth, quiet, clean, comfortable. Everything an RV is not. With great joy we started driving, even stopped for a killer coffee at Caroline's, and hit the highway. There was a slight delay today as a truck somehow wedged itself under a bridge and caused a massive traffic jam, but we made it to the Pavillion in Dallas and all was good.
We had a pretty good show again tonight, highlights include the KoL crew somehow fusing our roadcases together and we weren't able to open them. Turned out to be a Top 5 All-Time road trick that I can't disclose as I plan to make good use of it in the future. I will not compromise my efforts for the sake of blogging.
We were able to stick around after the show again tonight, and the catering room turned in to a games room with a shuffleboard table an air hockey game and a beer tub. Classic. We hung out for a while, even drove one of the Scientists back to his hotel, and headed for our luxury hotel.
Another thing about the whole RV saga is that it coincided perfectly with a press op for the band that involved us staying in Dallas for an extra day and having to get to Chicago a day early to film a commercial. It all came together perfectly. So, we had to book some hotels for Dallas and Chicago (we were not going to stay in either city), and we had a budget. Westins and InterContinentals, here we come...
Day 17, to Chicago
Today is but a flight day. Incredible. Because of the events I previously mentioned, we were able to ditch a 2 day, 18 hour drive and fly to Chicago. I'm so happy right now.
This also means that we have a night off in Chicago, where I sort of lived for 2 years and have places I really want to revisit and hang out at. We ended up spending the afternoon at the Intelligentsia Cafe (my favourite espresso ever), going to my favourite hot dog joint, and eventually ending up at the Rock Bottom Bar and Grill for some wings and in-house brewed beers. Amazing. Finally a day off in a great city that kicks ass. We really needed this one...
Day 18, Chicago
Today is the last day of the KoL tour. We started off by walking back to the Intelligentsia cafe and having a (few) coffees and a bite to eat. We really took our time on this one and slowly made our way to the venue.
We had a new van and trailer today too, which was good and bad depending on your point of view. It means we get our gear back, which is probably good considering we have to drive to Canada after the show to start the Sam Roberts tour, but the van they sent us doesn't have any windows! It's a cargo van with seats in it! It's dark! Not much we can do from Chicago though, so whatever. We'll just have to deal.
The show tonight is at the Aragon, another classic ballroom style venue. The inside was made up like a medieval castle, with turrets, faux-brick, drawbridge entrance, etc.. Over the top. There were even stars on the ceiling. Anyways, it was bittersweet. A great show, on Hallowe'en (the guys all painted their faces white in reminiscence of Bob Dylan), but we did have to say all our goodbyes afterwards. It won't be the last tour with the KoL folk though; they've asked us to go to Australia with them in the spring, so we can already start looking forward to that.
The longest part of the night still remained, however. We have to drive 7 hours to London, ON, after the show, and who knows what can happen at the border. Turned out to be sort of painless. We got through with only slight delays to get all our gear cleared, to prove it did come from Canada, and I think it was about 3am by the time we got to the hotel. At least the drive tomorrow is only a couple hours to Hamilton, so we can sleep til noon or so.
It hurts. A lot. Dragging a tired self out of bed at 4 something in the morning to go to the airport after about 2 hours or less of sleep. Rough. Unpleasant. Painful.
Thankfully it was all fairly smooth. I got through security, got on the plane and promptly fell asleep on my way to Phoenix. It's a relatively short flight though, I don't think it's even 3 hrs, so it's not going to do too much to help me out...
Flight was uneventful. That's a good thing I guess. I land, grab a cab and head to the hotel, where I end up having to fight to check in and have to explain my life story to the manager who doesn't seem to give a sh*t about my plight. Finally after some phone calls and going over heads I get a room and am able to crash for another couple hours before the guys get to town for the show that night. All this broken sleep is a little rough, but whatever. Living the dream, right?
So I wake up to go to the club, aptly named Clubhouse, and wait for the guys. The Clubhouse is kind of disastrous, with falling pieces of ceiling and walls caving in, but everyone there is pretty cool so that goes a long way towards making the day bearable. The horrible enchiladas I got at the take out place next door did not help.
Eventually everyone showed up in the RV (which is a perpetual source of loathing for me), and we throw it all on stage and put a show together. Tonight we're playing with We Are Scientists, who will also be on the Kings of Leon tour with us, so it's a big get-to-know-you session. I'm a couple days late so I have a lot of catching up to do.
After dinner at a sports pub next door, we go back, put on a rock show, the kids seem to like it and we call it a day. I didn't hang around too long after as I was totally drained from my last 3 days of travel, and happily fell in to bed at the hotel. I passed out in record time...
Day 2, Tuscon, AZ
Today started with a nice, leisurely drive through the desert to Tucson. We stopped briefly at a Guitar Centre to get some supplies and kept going. We did reasonable time, even stopped at a Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way, and pulled up at the Congress Hotel.
I walked inside looking for the room and where we had to load in. There were a couple small conference rooms, but they were set up for banquets or something, so I was starting to wonder what the deal was for this show. And then I walked in to the parking lot out back. Waiting there for us was a tiny excuse of a stage, a tiny excuse of a PA and a bunch of people sitting on a patio having lunch. Amazing. So that's the kind of day it is.
We did what we had to do to make it work and it didn't turn out so badly after all. Enough people showed up to make it worthwhile. We had to leave right after the show though. We play LA tomorrow and it's not the shortest drive in the world... We'll sleep at the lovely Best Western Desert Oasis tonight and keep moving in the morning...
Day 3, LA
Today we meet up with the Kings of Leon again and we're not playing in a parking lot, to say the least. We're at the phenomenal Nokia Theatre tonight, quite possibly the best modern theatre I've ever seen. When we got there, the Kings were shooting a new video (Be Somebody, I think...) so we had to wait a while before loading in. No problem, just go downstairs to catering and enjoy some lunch while we wait...
The show itself was pretty wild. There was a good number of people there when we went on (first of three on this tour), so even 1,000 people spread out in a 7,000 venue doesn't seem like a whole lot. The people that were there enjoyed it though, and that's what counts at the end of the day...
After the show was done, I crashed at the hotel to try and catch up on some of the rest I've been missing out on the last few days. It felt pretty good to finally have a little time. Tomorrow there's no rush either. Just have a quick press thing in the afternoon and then we drive towards San Francisco...
Day 4, SF
After spending the night in the bustling metropolis of Livermore, we were able to take our time driving the 1hr in to San Fran. The Black Bear diner proved a popular choice for breakfast before heading in to the hotel. Before heading to the venue, I was happy to have time to head over to the Blue Bottle, my favourite SF coffee shop, and, as usual, their unbelievable pretentiousness delivered fantastic coffee.
We're in town for 2 nights on this one, at the legendary Warfield. It's a great old theatre/rock club where bands like Metallica got their breaks and Jerry Garcia virtually lived on stage. It's really cool to be able to experience rock history like that. It has a tiny stage, tiny dressing rooms, no internet but full of vibe.
The show tonight was great. Sometimes being in a venue like that just brings it out of you. You can do no wrong.
We finally had a chance to hang out with people tonight, and alot of us met up at the Lucky Bar. There just happened to be an "art show" at the bar put on by people who do a lot of the rock posters for SF venues, which is a pretty big deal down here. A lot of their work was incredible and it was fun to check it out.
A couple drinks, a slice of pizza and back to the hotel I go.
Day 5, SF.
It's always nice to wake up in the city you play in, especially when you have most of the day to hang out. For me, that means lots of coffee time, and I wasted none of it. Finally some time to take care of everything I needed to do...
I went to the venue a little bit early to day as We Are Scientists asked me if I could mix them tonight as well. We had been talking about me working with them for a little while, so it was nice to put that together for a night. Great guys, fun to work with. The Stills show tonight was another great one. It's hard to leave a venue like this behind.
Afterwards, I had the pleasure of settling the show with a championship poodle breeder, which provided some pretty interesting stories, and just sort of hung around the venue til it was time to leave. No crazy stuff tonight, long drive tomorrow as we head towards Seattle...
Day 6, Cottage Grove, OR
Today was mainly driving. A breakfast stop here, a gas stop there, nothing too special. The highlights included a gas station attendant who constantly chewed his own tongue with his jaw hanging wide-open, another one who tried to rip us off for $200, and the hotel receptionist who was hooked up to an oxygen tank and just sat around with her cat. Where are we????
Day 7, Seattle, WA
One of the pleasures of waking up in scenic areas like the Pacific Northwest is opening up the blinds in the morning and looking at the mountains as they look down at you in their majesty and make you feel incredibly insignificant. Or, in the case of today, opening the blinds and seeing a forest fire less than a mile away. That was our cue, we hit the road. Fast.
The rest of the drive was fine and we made it to Seattle in decent time. Unfortunately there isn't much time to hang out today, which is too bad because Seattle is a great town, with great coffee, but it is what it is.
Another old theatre tonight. Sometimes they're fun, sometimes not so much. They're usually pretty beautiful, but they have the seats that kind of take away from the rock show appeal. You do what you can though, and it always seems to work itself out... It helps when guys like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam are watching the show from over your shoulder.
After the show we stuck around the venue for most of the night and eventually walked back to the hotel.
Day 8, Portland, OR
We were hoping to get to Portland early enough today to sample some of the wonderful coffee the area is known for, specifically Stumptown Coffee. No such luck though... we had to make some stops on the way out of town to take care of some business stuff and it ended up taking so much time that we barely made it to the venue on time. Unfortunately we have to leave after the show tonight as well, so we're left floundering on this one.
Schnitzer Hall is another beautiful old theater, which seems to be the theme on this run... It was a quick in and out tonight, due to the drive after the show, but there is a silver lining... We had to stop at a bank to make some deposits, and it just so happened that the bank was next to Stumptown Coffee, which was open for another 15mins. We had the chance to run in and make a quick order and our spirits were instantly elevated for the next couple hours on the road to Pendleton. Amazing.
Day 9, Rawlins, WY
The downside of this tour is that alot of the drives are really long. It was booked that way because the headliner can afford to fly to shows and have 2 or 3 tour buses so they can travel overnight. Not being the headliner, we cannot afford such luxuries. So, we spent the day driving part of the way to the next show in Denver. Today finds us arriving in Rawlins, WY. If nothing else, the front desk clerk at the hotel opened the pool and hot tub for us after hours, so we were able to relax a bit.
And then the RV struck. One of the guys went out to grab something before crashing for the night, only to discover an overwhelming scent of gas fumes and urine. Something is wrong with this picture. It was cold today, it was even snowing for a while, so it seems that the septic tank started freezing and whatever was in it was slowly rising to the top and overflowing during the freezing process. Solving this involved a fun-filled 2:30am drive deep into the Wyoming countryside to dump the tank and hope for the best. Never could explain the gas fumes...
Day 10, Denver, CO
After little sleep from last night's tank cleansing activities, we piled in to the RV, agreed that no one could detect any fumes, and started making our way to Denver. It was a pretty painless drive and we arrived early enough to seek coffee, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It did exceed the "Better than Starbucks" rating system.
The venue tonight is the Fillmore, a stunning, classic ballroom style building that is an absolutely amazing experience. We're really lucky to be in some of the venues on this run. There were actually a lot of kids in the room tonight by the time we went on and there was a really good response. Unfortunately we couldn't stick around and hang out with them, have to keep on driving. Goodland, KS tonight.
Day 11, to Fort Worth, TX.
It's a beautiful day to go for a drive to Texas. We started out just outside Oklahoma, made the requisite Crapper Barrel breakfast stop and kept on going through the day. All was good until about 2 hours from our destination of Forth Worth, where the RV dropped the motherload on us.
Just driving along and all of a sudden a loud banging sound started coming from the engine, then smoke, the whole deal. Our brand new 2008 RV was hurt, badly. We pulled over, thankfully there was a rest stop right where the damn thing died, and promptly called CAA and the RV company to get roadside assistance. After about 2hrs, the CAA finally got their guy to us, with 5 quarts of oil. We were hoping it was just the oil that needed to get refilled, but that just turned out to be the beginning of something much, much worse...
The CAA dude checked out the engine and said it was DOA, we couldn't drive it. We checked out the oil, it was quite unhealthy, and it turns out that the engine was not properly maintained, fully neglected by the company mechanics, and the last oil change was over 25,000 miles ago!!! Unreal!
Given our new predicament, we started trying to find arrangements for the night right away. The RV place couldn't do anything for us. At all. They said they'd tow the vehicle but that they couldn't move the passengers. That's a load of help right there. I feel for the guy who was working that night because he got an earful and a half from us. He's probably traumatized from the whole thing and will never work in customer service again.
CAA was no better (or I guess AAA down there...). Anyways, they couldn't find any people transport either. They said to call cabs and they'd reimburse me, but the nearest cab company was 45mins away at best. This was not shaping up to be a good night.
This whole process had taken about 5 hours by the time we made our decision to wait for a new RV to get delivered at 9am tomorrow morning. With much anger, stress and just about anything else you can think of, we set up to spend the night sleeping in a broken down RV, no heat, electricity, etc..., on the side of the road. I-35 SB, OK. All things considered, it was really the only thing we could do. I spent the night uncomfortably crammed into the front passenger seat, the most awful sleep I've ever had.
The only positive out of all this was that the new RV would arrive at 9am, so we still have time to make the gig in Austin, TX tomorrow night.
Day 12, Side of the I-35 SB, to Austin...
9am, time for a new RV. I was actually woken up a little earlier by all the trucks and buses going by on the Interstate. Not pleasant to say the least. I was awake now, so I decided to call the RV place and see what was going on and to make sure the RV would arrive on time. I also had the worst sleep ever, my whole body was stiff and in massive pain.
So imagine my shock, anger and surprise when the guy told me that the RV was only leaving the lot in northern Oklahoma at 9am, and it would be close to 12pm by the time it got to us. Man, did that guy get ripped to shreds on the phone. I don't think I've ever been so openly and brutally angry with anyone in my life ever. I really tore the guy apart, and I have to say it kind of felt good and therapeutic, especially after last night. I don't think I've ever seriously threatened anyone with a lawsuit before either...
But none of that was getting the RV to us any faster. So we did the only thing we could do - wait. It wasn't easy. We were tired, hungry, miles from anything and everything. Literally stranded. We started moving everything out of the vehicle so at least we would be ready when the new one got here.
The other side of all this is that we have to be in Austin, TX no later than 6pm to play a show, and we can't afford to lose any money off this, we can't miss this show. It's a 6 hour drive from where we are. This math is not good. I called all the KoL people to let them know what was going on, and thankfully, being the amazing crew they are, they were totally understanding, totally pro, and totally ready to deal with whatever happened.
Back to the RV... It got to us at almost 12pm. In fact he almost missed us, it was only frantic waving that got him to stop. We made the change as fast as we possibly could, re-hitched the trailer and I hopped behind the wheel. We had a full tank of gas and there was no way in hell we were going to miss this show. I start driving, and I don't stop until we pull up in Austin on fumes, literally. We burned that tank. At the end we were calculating driving speeds to gas usage ratios to try and make sure the tank would last and we'd make it. We pulled this one out of our asses.
We threw all our gear onstage as soon as we got in, did a quick check to make sure it all worked and had literally 15mins before the show started. It was incredible. I don't think we've (or at least I) pulled off a more rock n roll situation. There was a huge crowd, they loved every second of it (The Stills are do really well in Austin to begin with). Everyone on the KoL and Scientists crew were amazing helping us get going, the venue staff were awesome. Thinking back, it's still seems like a miracle that we made that show.
So to celebrate the occasion, we did what we always do. Hopped back in after the show to start another drive. Off to Waco we go. Once we got there, in massive need of decompression, 2 of us found a good ol' Texas roadhouse where we went for a couple pints and some wings. Man, the people in Waco are *weird*. But after last night, I'll take the roadhouse and a hotel room.
Day 13, Oklahoma City, OK
Less than a day later, we were driving back up the I-35 to Oklahoma City for a show, and we passed the spot where we spent a night and looked back with anything but fond memories.
At least being in OKC is a good thing on a KoL tour. A large part of their family is there, and they all come out and treat you like one of their own. The show was in a weird community centre type place on a concrete stage, but we didn't care. We were looking forward to the aftershow party hosted by the family, all home cooked food provided.
It was worth the wait. The gumbo was amazing, as usual, there were killer deserts, moonshine, what more could you ask for in Oklahoma? It was a great night, and we also were able to stay in town tonight. Unreal. We didn't have to drive.
Day 14, to Houston, TX
We have a day off, but as usual it'll be spent driving. Heading to Houston today. We stopped for a CB breakfast, shocking, I know, and kept on moving. The whole thing was pretty painless. The only thing of note was that at various times during the drive, all the warning lights on the dash started randomly flashing and going off. That's it, we're done with the RV, game over. It's another 2008 and it's already screwed up. I spent the rest of the drive crunching numbers and making calls to ditch the death trap in Houston.
Other than that, the drive was ok, though we did end up getting in pretty late, the hotel did mess up our rooms, it was hard to find parking for the RV, but whatever. We're in the same hotel 2 nights in a row. Minor details.
So we settled in and I tried to go out and get beer only to find out that you can't buy booze at night in Houston. There were no bars nearby, and the RV was dry. Oh well. Just sucks cause sometimes you just really want a beer, but it wasn't going to happen. So I ordered pizza.
While I was waiting for delivery, things got interesting, just because there hasn't been enough going on the last few days... at 1am the fire alarm started going off in the hotel. Not fun. And it was loud, painful, annoying, etc... Everyone was a little hesitant to go out, thinking it was a kid messing around, but apparently it was real, and a few minutes later we were standing outside with a couple hundred of our closest friends for the night. And somehow in all of this, the delivery person still found me in the crowd to drop off my pizza. Awesome. So I sat outside and ate, a couple others had orders too, and one even had a bottle of wine, so at least I got some of that.
Sometime around 2:30am we went back inside and crashed. At least we don't have to get up in the morning...
Day 15, Houston, TX
Somehow, straight from the Dept. of Miracles, the RV company agreed to let us ditch the RV in Houston. It took a lot of work, convincing, etc... but they let us do it. I booked some flights, arranged gear transport with the KoL guys, rented a van and we started celebrating.
We just had to make it through the show first, at the Verizon Wireless Amphiteatre, which was some weird industrial style arena without any seats. Interesting, but cool I guess...
There was a bit of an aftershow party tonight. It's so rare that all the bands and crew can stick around after a show, so we took advantage of it. We went to a pool hall in the same complex as the venue and ended up shutting the place down. We were there for a couple hours, but the service was so bad we really only ended up with one or two drinks each. Whatever. We didn't have to drive tonight.
Day 16, to Dallas
Today the RV dies. We're done. We have all sworn an oath to never travel in an RV again. Ever. Period.
Three of us got up early to take care of the task at hand. I got dropped off at the airport to pick up the rental van and then we went out to the RV drop site where we silently hope the damn thing explodes and burns in hell for eternity.
What a difference a van makes. It was smooth, quiet, clean, comfortable. Everything an RV is not. With great joy we started driving, even stopped for a killer coffee at Caroline's, and hit the highway. There was a slight delay today as a truck somehow wedged itself under a bridge and caused a massive traffic jam, but we made it to the Pavillion in Dallas and all was good.
We had a pretty good show again tonight, highlights include the KoL crew somehow fusing our roadcases together and we weren't able to open them. Turned out to be a Top 5 All-Time road trick that I can't disclose as I plan to make good use of it in the future. I will not compromise my efforts for the sake of blogging.
We were able to stick around after the show again tonight, and the catering room turned in to a games room with a shuffleboard table an air hockey game and a beer tub. Classic. We hung out for a while, even drove one of the Scientists back to his hotel, and headed for our luxury hotel.
Another thing about the whole RV saga is that it coincided perfectly with a press op for the band that involved us staying in Dallas for an extra day and having to get to Chicago a day early to film a commercial. It all came together perfectly. So, we had to book some hotels for Dallas and Chicago (we were not going to stay in either city), and we had a budget. Westins and InterContinentals, here we come...
Day 17, to Chicago
Today is but a flight day. Incredible. Because of the events I previously mentioned, we were able to ditch a 2 day, 18 hour drive and fly to Chicago. I'm so happy right now.
This also means that we have a night off in Chicago, where I sort of lived for 2 years and have places I really want to revisit and hang out at. We ended up spending the afternoon at the Intelligentsia Cafe (my favourite espresso ever), going to my favourite hot dog joint, and eventually ending up at the Rock Bottom Bar and Grill for some wings and in-house brewed beers. Amazing. Finally a day off in a great city that kicks ass. We really needed this one...
Day 18, Chicago
Today is the last day of the KoL tour. We started off by walking back to the Intelligentsia cafe and having a (few) coffees and a bite to eat. We really took our time on this one and slowly made our way to the venue.
We had a new van and trailer today too, which was good and bad depending on your point of view. It means we get our gear back, which is probably good considering we have to drive to Canada after the show to start the Sam Roberts tour, but the van they sent us doesn't have any windows! It's a cargo van with seats in it! It's dark! Not much we can do from Chicago though, so whatever. We'll just have to deal.
The show tonight is at the Aragon, another classic ballroom style venue. The inside was made up like a medieval castle, with turrets, faux-brick, drawbridge entrance, etc.. Over the top. There were even stars on the ceiling. Anyways, it was bittersweet. A great show, on Hallowe'en (the guys all painted their faces white in reminiscence of Bob Dylan), but we did have to say all our goodbyes afterwards. It won't be the last tour with the KoL folk though; they've asked us to go to Australia with them in the spring, so we can already start looking forward to that.
The longest part of the night still remained, however. We have to drive 7 hours to London, ON, after the show, and who knows what can happen at the border. Turned out to be sort of painless. We got through with only slight delays to get all our gear cleared, to prove it did come from Canada, and I think it was about 3am by the time we got to the hotel. At least the drive tomorrow is only a couple hours to Hamilton, so we can sleep til noon or so.
posted by t. at 8:45 PM
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