After NYC it was on to Cincinnati. We had another day off, but it was mostly spent driving. We stopped at a truck stop along the way for some food, and I made Riggs buy matching shirts on clearance with me.
Once again we were in Ohio, so lots of super fans. Show was great and I got to take some photos with the amazing Parker.
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| This pretty much sums up Erik and my friendship |
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| Stitched Up Heart. Either I didn't get a Run 2 Cover photo, or it was blurry |
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| Helpers! |
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| They're so cute! And sang along! |
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| Parker got pulled up on stage |
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| Riggs and Erik playing |
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| Erik and Riggs playing |
After the show I climbed a tree/some pillars behind the venue. I got an epic bruise on my elbow, but Dorian and I had a pine cone fight, so it was totally worth it.
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| Northern Kentucky Gambling Museum...? |
Next was good ol’ Cheers in South Bend, IN. Another place we see a lot of super fans. Usually this is where we see Joel and the 2 of us work on the One-Eyed Doll ceiling tile, but this tour Joel saw us in Detroit. Before the show, Christian of Run 2 Cover gave Erik and I a ride to Meijer to pick up some things. One of Brandon’s hats with sitting in the front seat so I started wearing it around. I looked pretty awesome in it so Brandon let me borrow it for a few days. Hopefully none of their teenage girl fans read this or I may have an angry mob out to kill me.
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| I'm not sure who is who anymore |
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| Karl and Me |
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| Grr! We're scary! |
Next was supposed to be Louisville, KY but last minute it was moved to a venue that was technically in New Albany, IN. Despite the change, it was a decent turn out! The venue was also a HUGE change from the night before. Cheers is more of a bar than a music venue. This place was an all ages, no alcohol, event place. They sold pizza and pop at their little concession stand and there were no drunks at the bar talking over Kimberly and doing shots :-D
Many of the regular Ohio fans made it out to this show. Dan was there again, this time with a Snork book for me. I was looking over it the other night and the author’s name is Melinda.
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| Cory got a custom, one-of-a-kind Snork poster |
Next was St. Louis. Again, lots of super fans. Really, anywhere in the midwest or Texas we have shows with lots of super fans. Not to say there aren’t any in other parts of the country, those 2 places just seem to have the highest concentrations. Anyways... This venue was really small, and PACKED! My merch was in this awkward little corner right by the stage. Not good for selling merch throughout the show or trying to quick run to the bathroom, but awesome for watching the show.
During Stitched Up Heart’s last song, Mixi saw me rocking out and sang my name into the song. Kim did the same during Be My Friend. I fan girl-ed on Facebook about it, and Ben pointed out that there was no shout out from Christian. I keep meaning to have a little talk with him... That night we also had the pleasure of seeing “
Insomniac Folklore” preform. The lead, Tyler, is Kim’s friend from high school. I’d met him and some of the band at a previous show, but this was the first time I got to see them preform. They were incredibly unique and entertaining! Definitely a different style than live OED, but luckily it was an awesome and opened minded crowd that night and they fully embraced them. I’ll have to look into them more when I’m home from tour.
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| Blurry Run 2 Cover |
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| Stop moving around so much |
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| Christian's blocking Brandon |
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| There he is |
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| Why did I take so many photos? |
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| Christian playing upside down |
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| Decker hiding behind a cymbal. |
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| Mixi, Randy and Dorian. Merritt was in the shadows |
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| If I was in a slightly different position this would be an epic picture of Dorian |
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| Kim in the crowd. |
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| Backbend |
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| Human footstool |
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| Taking notes from Christian and playing upside down |
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| Jr footstool |
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| Insomniac Folklore as special helpers |
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| Creeper in the corner was watching the whole show very intently |
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| "Put your little rock n roll fists in the little rock n roll air" |
It was also a sad night. The show was dedicated to Alli Cat, a young fan who had passed away. Because of how Facebook filters things, I had no idea she had passed until Kim did her dedication. Her dad brought the last OED shirt he bought her (I remember selling her a shirt, then exchanging it because she didn’t want to have the same one as her dad) for Kim and Jr to sign so he could have it framed. Hopefully you don’t mind me posting about this, and if you’re reading it, you’re still in my thoughts and I’m sending lots of mental hugs.
Now that I’ve bummed you all out...
After the show we grabbed some food at a local diner and headed off to Springfield, MO. This venue was not only smaller then the last, but there were less people :/ AND, load in/out was up a steep incline then a small set of stairs... Because it was a smaller show I hung out in the audience with Decker and Mixi dancing to R2C’s set, and made Christian hang out in the crowd with me during SUH.
There were a big group of us hanging out behind the merch tables during OED’s set. That is, until the last song. Of course once everyone abandons me and leaves me there by myself some random guy decided he needs to come over and keep talking to me. He finally left me alone when, after asking if I was from around there, I showed him my tour badge with all of the tour dates on it.
After we loaded out, we decided to have some fun and do a photoshoot with this giant “V” we were parked next to. Apparently it was part of a hotel, and while we were there a worker, Jeff, came out for a smoke break (and probably to check on us). He was super nice and took some photos for us. Then he went back inside and came out with little chocolates for each of us. We told him all about the band and loaded him up with stickers. He’s already tweeted Kim to say hi :)
We made sure to leave early enough that night so we could wake up in New Orleans. And Jeff and Riggs woke up and headed out first. We were hoping to find some sort of Haunted House or Cemetery tour we could all go to. Riggs wandered into a shop and started talking to a cool guy named Zombie. Turns out he’s an OED street teamer. (He came to the show the next night and he looked really familiar, turns out he moved there from Denver and I met him at one of those shows!) Zombie gave us directions to a cool open graveyard to check out. Sadly it wasn’t within walking distance so we never made it :( We did do lots of other cool stuff though.
Erik and I left together and wandered over to the statue of Ignatius J Reilly, the main character of the book “A Confederacy of Dunces” which takes place in New Orleans.
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| Ignatius J Reilly |
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| Blue Dogs on a building |
We then got lost wandering over to Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral but made our way there eventually. Jeff and Riggs met up with us there.
Riggs wanted to go back to the bus to charge his phone, so Erik, Jeff and I went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. Afterwards we wandered over to a store called Road Kill I told myself I wouldn’t go to. I spent too much money... I’ve got a birthday coming up though, so it’s acceptable, right?
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| Dresses, Petticoat, Boots that glow in the dark |
On our way back to the bus to drop off my million bags of dresses, we came across a pet supply store with cats and a dog in the window. So we went inside to pet them... By the time we dropped the stuff off, I was hungry again so I found “Dreamy Weenie,” a cool sounding place that had vegan hotdogs.
We wandered around Bourbon Street for a while, then stopped into a little courtyard area that had coffee and live jazz to kill some time. Riggs, who spent the afternoon getting a One-Eyed Doll tattoo, eventually met us there. Right about the time we were going to leave to go check out the cool hidden bar we found last tour, Kim and Jr showed up. We hung out there for a bit with them, but we'd been there over an hour and a half and we were getting jazzed out. So Erik, Jeff and I wandered out to “The Dungeon.” No photos, because they’re not allowed inside.
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| Had to wait until 9 |
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| Alleyway to the Dungeon |
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| I didn't feel like wearing shoes, luckily there were these foot rests right in front of me! |
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| Listening to some live jazz while we wait |
Hi Johnny Zero!!!
