yarn spinning.
the last twenty four have been an absolute whirlwind.
last night we were in orange, connecticut, in front of an absolutely raucous crowd. it was easily one of my favorite shows on the entire tour thus far, with the very talented denise clarke and our friends at big bar radio to thank for that. we exited the corner pocket cafe to great fanfare, with our friends from big bar quite literally following us into the streets, causing a hot, steaming pile of commotion. to quote brett michaels, “i’m not gonna lie, it was turning me on”.
we began our thirteen hour drive to cincinnati, en route to a show tonight at mainstay rock bar with the trews. this was one of the shows we were looking forward to the most. the trews are a canadian treasure, and i was really excited to see them for the first time, let alone open for them. this was our single longest drive on the tour as well. our van began to smell different than usual as we crossed the new york state border. it was no longer an overpowering mixture of balls, bologna, ciggrits and three-day worn juggalo shirts. no, this was the aroma of burning motor oil.
as the engine seized up, we found ourselves on the side of the highway, shawny vanbreadland dialing AAA as tobias and i were shivering in our cutoffs. the tow truck driver could only be described as “bumbling”. he had no tools, and therefore couldn’t figure out how to tow our trailer full of gear. he left toby and loaf on the side of the road with the trailer, toby wearing two left sandals and loaf whipping his mullet back and fourth like he was ronnie fucking dobbs. he dropped tyler, shawny and myself off outside of a motel in the middle of nowhere with no vacancy. at this point, it was approximately 4am, and we decided to start walking until we could find something, anything, that was even open. a few hours later we met up with toby and loaf at a dunkin donuts and took a taxi to a hotel, where we are staying now.
i don’t want to get into the semantics of why the van broke down, but midas of portland maine made a pretty serious mistake that has cost us a lot of money, a lot of time, and one of the best shows on our tour. our spirits won’t be broken, though. miraculously, the juggalo challenge has continued, with toby and i about to enter day five, and even more steadfast than ever.
i don’t know what’s going to happen next on this tour, but i couldn’t necessarily tell you that i was upset about that notion either. to be honest, i’ve needed this kind of excitement in my life, and i keep going back to that feeling i had in that parking lot in connecticut last night. it’s all i can think about. those people had so much love for our music that they abandoned everything else in their lives and followed us into the streets, appreciating us with such volume that we couldn’t possibly ignore it. at times like these, i’ve gotta wonder if they realize how much i appreciate them, and how much i appreciate that feeling that they’ve afforded me the opportunity to latch onto.
until next time.
