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.
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| 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.
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| Awesome helpers |
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| Getting down dancing along |
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| 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.
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| Thanks donuts. I DO deserve a donut! |
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!
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| The cassette tape lamps are so cool! |
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| Packed house |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The colors are so cool! |
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| Playing while standing on the drumset |
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.
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.
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:
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| Hair flip! |
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