Hi and welcome to the blog. We've returned safely from our 21-day tour of the east coast. It was quite an amazing time and best summed up by Chase (our road manager and friend since childhood) as "Four months of life in three weeks." So , I'm going to be recounting our happenings with pictures and videos. I hope you enjoy them. Feel free to leave comments. Especially if they come at Alejandro's expense. :D
June 11, 2009: Orlando! Host to the happiest place on earth. I've always had fond memories because as a tot, I was lucky enough to go every few years.
That morning, we slept in a little and set off for the 90 minute drive at about 11. Because Ale (who at about this time was making his way to Bonnaroo) and Dan had joined The Juice just a few weeks earlier, I tried to book us for as many shows as possible the week before the tour. As of the 11th, we had played something like 8 out of the last 11 days. So by the time we got to Orlando, we didn't want any more days off. We were ready to roll.
You know you're in Orlando when your hotel looks like a box of Fruity Pebbles
(One thing I feel I should preliminarily explain is that as a young, regional band, it's very difficult to find gigs outside of your town. You could have the best music in the world but all that the venue cares about is..."will you bring a crowd?" Of course, we knew only a handful of people in Orlando so we weren't expecting to play the civic center. But the idea is to either play a very good venue with an established band of the area or play a spot that has a built-in crowd.)
We were booked at this place called "The Dungeon." And, it was...strange. As we drove up, we noticed the house directly across the street had hung weird signs on their fence.
We didn't understand and I'm not sure we wanted to
Here's Colin's account of the night:
"This was the first real show on the tour, and when we arrived we all couldn't help but laugh at the situation. It was located in what looked like an abandoned building behind a hardcore biker bar. But the venue turned out to be pretty nice, if not a little off-genre for us. The stage was big and the sound was good, but the interior was decorated like a literal dungeon. There was a cage off to the side of the stage for dancing that had a sign above it that read "Walk-ins Welcome." The walls were painted with images of skulls, fire, demons and battle axes. And above the stage was a giant ghost/skeleton, holding a can of PBR. It was kind of surreal to play the songs in that atmosphere."
Surreal, indeed.
The people and staff were very cool though and if we ever evolve into a Slipknot cover band, we'd go back in a heartbeat.
Next up: Pensacola
