The First Day of the Rest of The Tour

We rehearsed last night…we were all a bit rusty from not having played the songs live for a few months (since we took a month off, then spent the last two months working on and making a new record).  It goes predictably roughly.  Tempers flare, predictably.

As we get ready to leave in the morning, get up, shower, grab breakfast…the usual routine.  We hop in the van, turn the key, and…nothing.  It doesn't seem to be a dead battery – the starter is turning – but the van just won't turn over.  We try jumping it.  Then, we realize that we're going to have to find an alternate way to the show.

Thankfully, being in Boulder we're in good shape – our label and our manager are here.  Kyle immediately figures out a plan and sets it into motion.  So, even though we're leaving a few hours later than expected…we're still leaving, with a chance to get to the venue on time.  We've got a rental van and we're on our way.

Our set goes well – it’s a nice warm up show before the Boulder and Denver shows.  Unfortunately, since the rental has to be back by the morning, we have to immediately pack up and head back…through the treacherous mountain passes in the middle of the night.  Then unloading the gear at the studio, putting the seats back in the van, returning it…then to sleep.

Go West, Young Man

The leaving is the same, as all leavings are the same.  No amount of not unpacking or repetition seems to make it any different – there's never enough time for the amount of coffee required to get going, and I still somehow manage to forget something important.  This time, its my pillow.

Still, we get going.  Our first few days are ambitious:  The first day is spent from DC to Lexington, KY.  We stop briefly to pick up a few members, and then we're on the road to St. Louis.  Its basically a sprint to Colorado so we'll have some rehearsal time.

After a winter spent hibernating, and a new year spent making a new record, we're back on the road again – back on tour, into the thick of things.

Canada!

We made it into Canada!  Including Colin!  There is a minor paperwork hitch at the border, but we basically charm our way through.  (Actually, the people at the border had just ordered lunch and it showed up while we were there…so they probably just wanted to expedite the process as much as possible).

Falling asleep on a bench in the club in Toronto, I dream that we're back in the UK – both the club and the city seem so much like there to me.  When I was younger, I spend a bunch of time with my family there.  Its very cool to come back as an adult and experience the city anew.

The 401 stretches up to Montreal, and we follow it as it winds along the lake.  Despite the cold, it’s a sunny winter day – we haven't had much sunlight on this tour, and it seems to rejuvenate everyone's spirits a bit.  We also got a decent night of sleep in Toronto (the first 7 hour sleep of the tour for everyone)…and we have three shows left this year.

Ames, IA

The audience at Ames's historic M-Shop is the polar opposite of the St. Paul crowd.  Everyone sits and is dead silent, until we stop playing.  I like playing small, receptive listening rooms – there's something about people being able to hear the unamplified guitar strings ringing out, or the click of a pedal that takes the mystery out of a live show – in a good way.  Seeing people play up close takes away your ability to hide behind smoke and mirrors (and sheer volume) – it just becomes a matter of trying to connect, on a one-to-one basis.

 

Minneapolis

Its great to play a show again, especially at the Turf Club.  Early on, we decided that we wouldn't take nights off, if possible – even if we only make a few bucks on a Monday night in a small town…we at least made a few bucks, played a show, and then maybe next time it'll be better.  Or – as has been the case a few times, the Monday night might be the best show of the tour.  We're so used to playing, I was worried about being rusty – even though it was only a few days.  I do realize that we're a little different than most bands in that regard, though.

The Turf Club in St. Paul is one of my favorite venues in the country – great sound, great staff, fun green room.  Miles ends his set with the Replacements "Here Comes A Regular" and I jump up on steel and Robby on harp and drums.

We Made It!

We made it.  We made it!

It seems anticlimactic to pull into a Days Inn and stop moving.  And then we get a phone call from the Miles crew.  They didn't make it.  In the same snow and ice, they crashed. 

They're ok (as ok as you can be crashing your van).  And Miles finds a plane ticket to Minneapolis.   So his band is going back to NYC, and Miles will ride in the van with them.

For all the miles we drive, I think we take our safety for granted.  And now and then I'm reminded exactly how fragile this all is.

Vancouver to Minneapolis

We have a few days off so we can get from Vancouver to…Minneapolis.  Almost 2000 miles.  Overnight stops in Butte, MT and Fargo, ND.

We hit snow – first of the tour.  Few things are as terrifying to me as guiding our big rear-wheel drive van through snowy mountain passes, in the dark.  And every time the snow briefly lets up…it gets foggy. 

Finally, we reach my cousin's arts complex in Butte.  It’s a huge, 6 story building for artists, build into an old YMCA.  Complete with basketball arena.  It is just another surreal part of an already surreal day.

We again cross endless plains of snow, trees covered.  Aside from the stray truck, we seem to be the only car on the road.  Vague shapes appear in the blinding white haze -farms and boxcars, or the ghosts of farms and boxcars.  We could be the only people left in the world, for all we know.