The Post Trailer Crash End of Tour

We made it to the Gallup, NM show without anymore problems. However after loading in, we got to deal with all of the problems caused by the trailer crash. All of merch had to be organized, re-sorted, put into bins for the table and back stock, bins re labeled, etc. All of the drawers where I keep supplies, tape, Emergen-C, Stickers, etc., were essentially one big mess and had to be sorted. On top of all of that, I had to set up all of merch as usual. Jeff and Junior helped sort and fold the shirts, and we managed to knock it all out before doors even opened! I thought for sure I’d be behind the table still organizing through out the night whenever I had down time.

All set up and ready to go!

The boys also had to set up the stage as usual while also checking all the gear for damage. As many of you know by now (if set length allowed), they were bringing Mike and Jordan on stage to do a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” (I have video from the nights they played it, bur that’s a whole other beast to sort through). This night, they decided to skip it so they had the back up guitars and amps just incase something failed in the middle of the show.  Thankfully nothing broke or went wrong during the show.

The birthday boy helping with Scorpion Death

Last show of the tour was Las Vegas!!!! There was a late load in that day, so we stopped for some brunch and balloon hats.

This show was finally at an all ages venue!!!! Usually in Vegas we play at the Dive Bar which is 21+ only. And I’m soon glad we finally got to do an all ages show! There were many really young kids there, as well as teenagers who had never been able to come to a show!

The venue was actually an Eagles’ Hall. There might not have been a stage or anything but regular ceiling lights, but they had an area set up with monitors and speakers. Kim and Junior rocked it, and Mike made it look amazing! Because of the lack of stage, I couldn’t really get any good pictures. But that’s ok, I got to hang out and enjoy the last show of tour!

The next day we spent a fun, day off in Vegas before heading home. But that will have to wait until next time :P

The (not so) Great Trailer Crash!

Here it is. A blog about the great trailer crash. I was asleep for the first part of it, but here’s what I understand happened.

After the Tulsa show, we drove to Kim’s cousin’s house where we could park for the night, and shower the next day. Junior got up early because the bus brakes weren’t as responsive as they usually are, so he wanted to get them checked out before we headed to New Mexico. We’re driving down the road, Kim’s cousin Tony leading us, when Junior notices the trailer is no longer in the back up camera!!!! He called Tony and asks him to see if he can find the trailer since it’s hard running all over the place in a giant bus.

This is what he finds:

We turn the bus around and head to where he found it. The trailer hitch completely broke off from the BUS! The safety chains and things that engage the brakes are all attached to the hitch, so when that came off, there was nothing stopping the trailer. Except the big metal pole… As unlucky as it was that it hit that pole out in the middle of the country, rather than slowly rolling to a stop in the middle of the field, we got lucky in so many other ways.

We found it on the other side of the road. That means it crossed the center line. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone!

There were also small wooden poles every so often along the road. We could have potentially taken out one of those and knocked out power.

We were in the city where Kim’s cousin lived so we had someone to help us out.

It was a day off, and early, so we had some time to deal with this without having to cancel a show. Plus, he happened to have a trailer we could temporarily put everything into to get it out of the field.

It was daylight out, and not raining (it did start sprinkling a bit), so we could see what we were doing.

I can’t even imagine what would have happened if this had happened on the highway, late at night, on the way to a show! It’s scary to think about.

When we got to the crash site, the boys and Junior got out to take pictures (lol), Tony went to grab his trailer so we had somewhere to put everything, and I had to put real clothes on and grab some coffee because I had literally just woken up!

The front of the trailer hit the pole on the right side. The sudden stop caused the left side of the front to rip open and everything to go flying out! Towards the end of the clean up I was wandering in the field making sure we got everything, when I found a carved skull a fan had given Kim at least 10 feet away from everything. It must have FLOWN and then rolled in order to get way out there!

The grates I use to hang shirts were against the right side of the trailer, they ripped open the side door and got mangled. You can see them sticking out in front of the pole in the first picture.

We quickly got to work throwing shirts into garbage bags (pretty much all of the merch tubs were smashed beyond recognition), and putting gear into some sort of organized manner. Soon I felt a bit of sprinkling in the air, so I ran around grabbing all paper merch (posters, Aaron Bordner art work, comic books, etc) and threw them on the bus. Luckily the rain held off.

One thing I don’t understand was the trailer hitch was embedded into the ground pretty deep. Junior and Tony literally had to dig it out of the ground so we could get the piece that attaches to the bus. I’m surprised that the trailer was stopped by a pole and not digging itself into the ground. That had to have been some force!

That's part of the trailer to the left side, and a giant mound of dirt covering the hitch in the center

As we were working, the police showed up. He understood that it was an accident, filled out a report for the insurance, and made sure we had some way of getting the trailer out of the field. By then things were mostly in order and Tony was there with his trailer, so Junior, Kim and I went to the repair place to get the hitch reattached.

If you’ve ever seen a live OED show in person or in videos, you know Kim does a lot of thrashing around, heading banging, and whips all 4 feet of her hair around. Well Kim woke up that morning in a lot of pain, barely able to lift her head. They didn’t have her normal chiropractor in the area, but she found a Chinese massage place that may be able to alleviate some of the pain. Junior stayed with the bus while Kim and I Ubered over there.

We get out of the car, and there’s a chiropractor in the same complex. Kim doubted that they accepted walk-ins and probably charged $300. But it said right on the window “walk-ins welcome.” I told Kim the worst that could happen is we go in, ask them how much it is, and leave if it’s a lot. So we went there first. It was almost exactly like the chain Kim usually goes to, but a local one that’s trying to branch out! She hit it at just the right time, there only ended up being one lady ahead of her, and it only cost $30 for an adjustment! I sat in the room while he did it, Kim had some serious cracking going on! The guy seemed really into it too. He was finally putting his skills to use, not just making minor adjustments on soccer moms. Lol.

Our good luck didn’t end there. We went over to the massage place, but there were only 2 guys working and they both had clients. They told us 30 minutes, so we decided to wander around. We got as far as the Pakistani restaurant next door, when a guy came running out. He excitedly told us to come in, he’d give us samples. We’d just eaten with Junior before leaving the bus, but he kept saying “free food,” which apparently is the magic word. We came in, let him know Kim didn’t like spicy and I’m a vegetarian, and he gave us amazing samples accordingly. It was so good, we decided maybe we’d get something small to split, but instead he told us if we bought one, he’d give us one free. It was so good, we both ended up eating almost all of ours, even though we didn’t think we were hungry. THEN, he came out with a FREE kheer rice pudding dessert for us, which was SOOOOOO good! THEN he brought us each a little pack of Saunf - it’s like an after dinner treat mix with candy coated fennel and things. His only request was that we leave a review on Yelp, which we did. I’m torn because I want to tell you guys the name of it so you can all go support the business, but I want it to be our secret place! Kim and I are also thinking we should have girls’ days more often because sometimes people treat you differently, in a positive way, when you’re not surrounded by a gang of boys. Lol.

Eventually we made our way back to the massage place. Junior had texted Kim that the bus was done, he was going to come pick us up soon, and he had possibly found a new trailer. :( So we only got 30 minute massages rather than 60 minutes :( It was still relaxing though, but I think we both really wanted more. Once we were done and all paid, Kim had another text from Junior saying that he was going to get the trailer before getting us, and we should go ahead with the 60 minutes *cries*

There was another complex across the street that had a lot of shopping places, so we wandered over there while waiting for Junior. The first store we went into was Five below, where we ended up doing a ton of shopping and staying until they closed. Oops… After that, we were tired and just wanted to sit down and relax. We were hoping to find a coffee shop or something, but there didn’t see to be any around. We did see a sign for Target, so we headed over there (as we were leaving, we saw a sign for a coffee shop that was in the same area, lol). The Target’s Starbucks was closed, but at least there was a restroom we could use and a bench we could sit on while we waited for Kim’s cousin (who reads this, hi! *waves*) to come pick us up. 

We got back to the house, the new trailer was attached, new merch bins were bought, the boys had switched everything over, and managed to grab some quick showers before we headed to Gallup, NM.

I can’t figure out if Kim’s cousins are good luck or bad luck. These are the same cousins that let us stay at their rental property on the first Otep tour back in 2013. They also saved us when the bus broke down on the Witches Tour last year. Either way, we are so grateful they’ve been around to bail us out of possible disasters. Thank you guys so much!!!

The merch tubs were destroyed, an entire box of posters were bent, but we weren’t able to tell the extent of damage to the gear until we set up for the show the next day. Junior’s kick drum was completely smashed.

The case that holds Kim’s white Witches guitar took a beating as well. From what I’ve heard, there may have been some cosmetic damage, but the guitar seemed to work fine.

I believe part of the mic stand broke too, but luckily the Gallup venue was also a music shop, so Junior got a new piece for it. We borrowed a kick drum for the last 2 shows, and nothing else seemed to be broken. Only time will tell though. 

Despite most of the gear being in tact, we didn’t get off easy. Trailers, bus repairs, bins, etc aren’t cheap :( In order to raise money to cover the costs of the crash, the band was giving away pieces of the kick drum with a minimum of a $10 donation here. There are only so many pieces, so if you’re reading this a week/month/year from now, it may not be available anymore. But, if you’re ever feeling generous, you can always make a donation here.

More stairs, a naked photoshoot, Chinese food = Tour life

After The Gathering we needed a day off. Instead, we had a show in Pittsburgh. Jeff found us free parking around the corner from the venue where we stayed over night. Load in wasn’t until 3, so we had a bit of time to relax after waking up.

While we were waiting, there was a sudden downpour. I was sitting on my bunk when I heard a noise and saw a shadow fly across the window. I looked outside, and the cover to the AC unit was lying in the yard next to us. Then water started leaking in through the AC vent on the ceiling. I grabbed a trash can to catch the water, and Mike saved the day by running outside in the storm to grab the cover and set it back on top. However, Junior came back to the bus, and the AC was still running. Oops… It never occurred to any of us to turn it off since there was water running through it… Fortunately the AC still worked. Unfortunately, something happened to the generator which is needed to run the AC (I’m still not sure if the 2 were directly related or if it was a coincidence that the generator problem happened right after the rain storm).

The rain only last a few minutes, fortunately, because we had to load around the corner and up a flight of stairs. Again, no elevator :( Also because of this, one of our fans couldn’t make it to the show :( (Hi Robert! We miss you!) The show was a smaller turn out than last time we were there, but it made for a fun, enjoyable show. We even had a fan who left The Gathering to come to the show after finding out we were only 2 1/2 hours away. Dang!

Our foggers set off the fire alarm at this show. Oops! 3 Firemen in full uniform came in to check on things…

Pittsburgh also did that weird thing that places do sometimes and booked a late show after ours. Because of which, OED had a short set, and we had to rush through meet & greet. But, because it was a short set, Kim did a sped up version of the story about “Nudie Bar” which was hilarious. I really hope someone posts video, it was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. 

Kim, doing her signature back bend while playing guitar

After a short meet & greet, we did a rushed pack up/load out (down the stairs…) and were out of there by about 10! Since we had plenty of time, we decided to get some real Pittsburg food. Unfortunately it was a Saturday night on a busy street. We managed to find a legit sandwich place that had a quiet back area. I had a Deluxe Egg Sandwich, topped with cole slaw and fries, the Pittsburg way.

Next, we were off to Detroit, MI. Usually we try to load in at least 4 hours before doors. It only takes me 1-2 hours to set up mech (lol, “only”). But it takes the guys about 2 hours to set up all of the equipment and lights. Then there’s a line/sound check which takes another hours, then the hour before doors the band has VIP and the locals are loading in, setting up, and sound checking. Most venues are pretty good about it. Once in a while they don’t want to get there early/think we’re exaggerating how much set up we have, and then doors usually end up getting pushed back… (FYI, usually if times/prices/age restrictions change last minute, it’s out of our control. Please don’t get mad at the band, they try their best for you guys!) Even though we’ve played Token Lounge before on the Halloween tour with Stitched Up Heart and Run 2 Cover, they decided to double book. There was a burlesque group/strippers or something having a naked photo shoot in the venue, so we weren’t able to load in until 5, with doors at 7! Luckily, the venue let us park in their parking lot and we could plug in and run our AC, which we hadn’t been able to get working yet. The boys were also able to load the gear into a back hallway, so all they had to do at 5 was load in merch and set up the stage. We managed to get it all done and they had a sound check VIP.

Awesome helpers

Getting down dancing along

Kim playing for a little helper

Our awesome comic book artist Aaron Bordner (eBay site here) and his wife came to the Detroit show! Always great to see them and get our fans to fanboy/girl him :) He also brought us a new goodie, 10 limited art prints. We sold 7 the last week of tour, which means there are only 3 left, so keep an eye out online/next tour because I’m sure they’ll go fast!

The next day was a day off. I believe we started by going to a shop first thing in the morning to get our generator fixed so we could run the AC again. Stuff like that happens before I wake up, plus it was a week ago, so I don’t remember the details. When I woke up, we were at a truck stop. I went in to wander around, and the donuts sounded really good. However, gas station and prepackaged donuts are never that good. So I texted Junior, and told him I was craving legit donuts. He found a place, and we headed there when we were done at the gas station. They were definitely better donuts than what we could have gotten at the gas station.

Thanks donuts. I DO deserve a donut!

The rest of the day was a pretty typical, boring day off driving. We did stop and do laundry, as well as a little grocery shopping. Eventually we made our way to Des Moines, IA.

Des Moines always does that thing where we play an early show, they kick all of our fans out, then they have a late show booked afterwards. This time wasn’t quite as bad. There was stand up comedy after the show, and they didn’t kick all of the fans out. This show was also different because we weren’t headlining, Hed PE was!!! Well, technically each band got an hour, but HPE went last. It was a fun show, something a little different, made some new fans. There were also cute little kids there to see HPE who fell in love with Kimberly!

The cassette tape lamps are so cool!

Packed house

Hed PE

After the early night, we went and got some asian fusion pizza (sadly we could’t go to Zombie Burger again because it was really early and fans know that’s where we usually hang out after the show) and headed to Wichita.

In Wichita we played at this little place called The Elbow Room. We played there with Stitched Up Heart last fall as well. It’s a really small little bar, but there are fancy lamps and decorations throughout. It’s made me want to buy some cheap lamps at the thrift store to dress up for my bedroom.

My spider webs were blinged out thanks to Shelly!

They also have their greenroom/back lining area directly behind the stage. It’s through a small doorway, down a few stairs. Poor Jordan hit his head on the doorway at least 2-3 times. Then I guess he ran into one of the cables of the trailer while loading out :( Not a good night for him.

Show went well though. Lots of fans, good crowd, lots of fun. We did get the random drunk people at the bar by the end of the night, just like last time (I thought one lady was going to start a fight!), but they weren’t quite as disruptive.

The colors are so cool!

Playing while standing on the drumset

That night after the show we ate at this AWESOME Chinese place on the way out of town. When I first started this blog, I liked to give shout outs to all of the little mom and pop places we went to, hoping some of you guys would check them out and give them some business. It’s to the point now that we can’t talk about places we like because we want it to be our secret place for next time. As much as we love you all, we need to relax after the show. That, and if Kim spends all night talking, she’ll lose her voice. So we usually try to get out of town a bit, and to somewhere not very busy so we can enjoy some quiet time.

This Chinese place not only had good food, but the woman waiting on us was AMAZING! She asked about the bus, and traveling, and kept asking us to bring her with us. She was absolutely adorable and so excited about us getting to try her authentic cooking. Her and Kim talked about how crazy and advanced Shanghai is, and how she likes living in the less busy country now.

I don’t think I got any pictures of our meal, but Junior ordered a half order of prawns. Out came a roughly 9x9 pan absolutely overflowing with prawns! Somehow him and Jordan finished them off. They also had eggs with tomato, one of Kim’s favorite dishes when she lived in China, but something that’s hard to find at Chinese restaurants in America. This place was great and we’ll have to stop by next time we’re in the area.

Last show before another day off was Tulsa. Again, somewhere we were last fall. One of the openers, Morgan did a cover of Zombie by The Cranberries for their soundcheck, then opened with this cover of “House of the Rising Sun,” complete with sax solo.

A video posted by Melinda Colburn (@silvermelinda) on Jul 28, 2016 at 6:26pm PDT

The other opener, Voodoo Dolls was a cool industrial band, but they’re a bit younger and need to be careful what they say. I don’t want to go into detail or embarrass them, but instead take the opportunity to make a bit of a PSA.

If you’re a public figure, a band, celebrity, politician, store owner, a touring merch girl that write a public blog, etc. you have to be EXTREMELY careful about what you say. You might not think anything of it and say it on a whim, but that can cause a lot of problems if you offend someone. Extreme examples, think of Paula Dean and Michael Richards using the “N” word and how much back lash there was against them. To a lesser degree, people use “That’s gay,” “That’s retarded” or “Like a girl” with out a second thought. However, all of those phrases are EXTREMELY offensive! If you’re going to be a public figure, you need to be careful about anything that singles out a group of people in a negative way. Or even if you’re not a public figure. Watch what you say on Facebook, to your friends, etc. Just because YOU don’t find it offensive, doesn’t mean it’s not!

It reminds me of something that happened when I was in high school (does this count as trivia, Ben?). For some reason at my school it became slang to say "That's Jewish." A friend of mine wrote for the school paper and wrote a whole article about how that, and some of the phrases I mentioned before, was offensive. You're using the term Jewish negatively, which is insulting a classmate who may actually be Jewish. You might say "that's retarded" in the hallway, not knowing the person standing at the locker next to you actually has a special needs sibling. Etc. She received an anonymous letter (if you have to write it anonymously, you clearly know something is wrong with the side you're on) saying it was "cool" to say "that's Jewish" and "that's retarded" and her and her "cool" friends were going to continue to say it. WTF? Please, PLEASE call people out who use offensive slang nonchalantly.

Anyway, sorry to bring it down, here’s some pictures from the show:

Hair flip!

After Tulsa was a day off, and as many of you know, the great trailer crash disaster. That will have to wait until next time though :)