Tour Journal

Carrboro
Wednesday August 6, 2008

Venue: Reservoir Bar
Bands: Pink Flag, Blood Red River

There is a picture on this blog of a guy driving a truck with a sticker that I can't believe exists. Scroll down.

Driving into Carrboro from the northwest, we noticed that there was NOTHING. Just fields and trailer parks. The drive took about 6 hours + some fucking around. Bill from Amish Jihad/The Scaries/Colussus was doing trivia night at Reservoir bar, which featured some super nice artwork (large-scale wall murals) by a guy with a blog named Snakehawk . Anyway, Pink Flag played first and even though their instruments were quiet, we enjoyed it. The best song was "Roman Candle". I remember unloading the van, thinking there was no way this random assortment of bar crowd people was going to dig our set. They told us to turn down after the sound check. We had a lot of fun playing, despite the fact that everyone sat down for our set. They clapped and took pictures, but no one bought any merch. We sold one demo to a girl from Pink Flag and she was probably just being nice.

We were all worried after seeing that the show was free. We were, however, given $40 and combined with the demo purchase made $43. I think we spent about $60-65 driving there. The van also cost a fortune to rent. Whatever. Now, Matt's driving us to Asheville, and I'm hoping that this one is a little better.

Not bad for our second show out of town. We finally got paid to play.

Asheville, NC
August 7, 2008

Venue: Static Age Records
Bands: Black September, Kakistocracy

It took us about 4 hours to get to Hendersonville from Durham, but we weren't in a hurry. Matt drove most of the way and Carrie and me listened to Jake and Matt make too many fart jokes. Once we got off I-40, I took the wheel. The road was super windy and the air was crisp. We stopped in Bat Cave, NC to get some boiled peanuts. A woman with a hat that read “I’m a rebel” talked to Jake about the craze over pickled watermelon rinds because they have an effect on the body similar to Viagra, albeit natural. "Don't even need Viagra no more."

We unloaded our shit and then I went and had dinner with Ma and Ted at a fancy Japanese place that sucked. They asked us to start playing around 8:15. There were a bunch of crust kids assembled to watch us, and I doubt they knew what was coming (i.e. un-crust). It was awesome that Richard Goldberg showed up and enjoyed it. And my mom.

Kind of a weird show.

We recharged at my ma’s place. Enjoyed some Yuenglings which still aren’t sold in Georgia.

Myrtle Beach
Aug. 8, 2008

Venue: Hangovers Bar
Bands: Attalaya, Right Wing Conspiracy

We stopped by Marty's house and went to the beach prior to the show. It was so relaxing. Marty cooked us spaghetti with salad.

We realized that the venue was very close to the strip where tourists crowd the streets. Although I was calm, the rest were fearful because of the way the place looked. Attalaya was already playing some indie/power-rock when we arrived.

We moved a pool table, which was situated right in front of the playing area. The sound was pretty decent, and we had chugged a few beers, so were feeling good. I fell down during "pessimism". Some old redneck dude was super into us. We sold more merch than we ever had and made $78 at the door. Talked to some kids from At Half-Mast after the show and hopefully we can set something up with them later on. Exchanged some funny tour stories.

My favorite part of this show was the fact that Kevin showed up. He ended up being the only person I knew there, which is pretty sad.

I dropped Matt and Jake off at a party, where they preceded to get trashed. They also met a guy named Gavin who could take his eyeball out of its socket.

We were all in good spirits when pulling away from the last house. The whole experience was much better than the days prior. The next show would be in Cocoa, FL, about 8 hours away. A long trip down highway 17 and I-95 awaited us.

Cocoa, FL
August 9, 2008

Venue: The Loft @ The Ultra Lounge
Bands: Trash City Rockers, Cassettes On Fire

It took FOREVER to get to Cocoa. We entered the ghetto as soon as we got off the interstate. I felt as though I were at the end of the world, but Florida actually keeps going for another 200 miles + Key West. The venue was situated in a nice shopping district that seemed abandoned this time of night.

There was a beatboxer and solo artist performing downstairs. Trash City Rockers started upstairs. We were all frustrated because a rumor had spread that this show got cancelled. So there were probably 8 kids there + the bands.

We started drinking Yuenglings in the van. Cassettes were fucking great. They reminded me a lot of seeing Majority Rule. They were also super nice kids.

We played our fifth straight show very well. My thumb was killing me and my hand was bleeding again.

We made $76 plus another $50 or so in merch. Jake wore a head wrap I got him at a gas station that said "Feel the Wind." A biker dude who bought $20 worth of merch donned similar headwear.

Much to our dismay, we began our trek home, realizing that it was already getting close to 3 am and we had to be back in Athens by 4 pm the next day. I drove for about 2 hours and started dozing, so Jake took the wheel for the rest of the way. Like always, we passed the time by making fun of each other.

After over 2,200 miles of driving, we pulled up to the Holman House and unloaded.