I didn’t get much done this weekend, or at least not as much as I had planned. I’m still fighting this cold/cough combo that grabbed me in the temperature battle royale last week. I should actually be in the other room finishing up some concert photos, but when I walked into the kitchen to toss out the Chinese food I saw a few stars peaking out from behind the clouds, so I decided to settle down and crank out some thoughts in my “cafe.” So… back to the tour.

Day 2: Buffalo
The booking agent – I want to beat him senseless. That was one of thoughts drifting through my head while driving the 4.5 hours from Albany to Buffalo. Not so much because of the Albany – Buffalo leg, but because of the Buffalo – Vermont leg which would take me through Albany again. Kind of like going from NYC to Chicago by way of Los Angeles. Not exactly… but kinda…

I can’t remember much of the drive anymore and that’s probably a good thing. It’s probably worth clarifying at this point, that the show wasn’t actually in Buffalo, but in Williamsville, which isn’t much more than a couple of strip malls and crap load of car dealerships. I drove down to the venue first, which I passed by twice. I was looking for the band’s name on the marquee, but it wasn’t there, so I kept missing it. It seemed a little odd.

After locating the club, I drove to the motel which was a straight shot up the road. I found the tour bus, so I knew I was in the right place. Now at this point, only the tour manager knows I’m following them around so when I spot the bassist walking down the hall, I decided to hang back a bit (I don’t want them to think I’m stalking). I got the little key card for my room. After some fumbling with the lock the door swung open, and I was greeted with a smell, that can best be described as “ass.” Not the good kind, as in “I’m getting some ass later.” It was the bad kind, as in “geez dude, your room smells like ass.” Ugh. I noticed the ass smell all over the hotel as I walked around, so I decided not to try and get an assless room. I dropped the bags off, locked up the camera and laptop, grabbed my Rolling Stone and decided to make for a cafe to kill a few hours before the show. On my way out, I run into the drummer who gives me the “what the hell are you doing here” look. I just shot him a quick remark, something along the lines of “swanky pad huh?” Then I bolted.

Now in this little “city” there are basically two roads, so I decided to try going left. After about 15 minutes I found a Starbucks in one of the many, many strip malls. So there I sat, with my Rolling Stone and my mocha frappe. I sat and read. And sat and sipped. And sat. And sat.

Yeah. Weeeee.

I finally decided to head back to the motel. My hope was that the ass smell as gone, or at least less concentrated. On my way, I spied an Arby’s and just had to have a Beef N’ Cheddar. I used to be ashamed of my Arby’s love, but after talking to a couple of “normal” people who shared my little food fetish, I’m proud to admit that I enjoyed my Beef N’ Cheddar, and the curly fries that came with it. So there.

So I’m now, finally returning to the EconoAss. As I’m walking through the lobby my cell rings. I can’t place the area code on the display, but I answered anyway. Turns out it’s the bassist. I’m not exactly sure how he got my number but there are some theories. At any rate, he’s wondering if I can help them out with a little errand and so about fifteen minutes later, my SUV is packed with a guitarist, a bassist and a guitar tech, and we’re in search of a health food store. We had the address so we started driving down the road. We cruised for about 20 minutes and we seemed to be heading in the right direction – the numbers were going the direction we wanted them to. We were looking for 5415. We ended up stopping at 5417 or something like that, but there was no health food store in sight. What the hell? We call the store and they inform us, “Yeah, you can’t count on the numbers in this town. They don’t mean anything. You’re about 20 minutes away in the opposite direction.” Doh.

We finally get to the store and everyone proceeds to shop. I’m so stoked right now. I’m running errands with the band. A band I really love. How cool is that. Maybe a little pathetic, but still pretty cool. There’s another stop to be made at the Williamsville equivalent of a Rite Aid. The bass player heads into the store. The guitar tech is on his cell, which leaves me and the guitarist, who I always act like a dumb ass around. Except, something has happened. I’m having an actual conversation. We’re talking about the state of radio. I’m explaining what I do for a living. He’s telling me about a new project he’s working on. We’re just chatting. And it’s good. And I’m not a dumb ass. I guess there’s something about getting lost with someone else in Williamsville that kind of bonds you. Or at least gives you the ability to carry on a conversation.

I drop them back off at the bus which is now at the venue and I park around front. I made a couple of phone calls and then went inside. The venue was great, great sound, decent lighting, nice bar. However… by the time the guys come on, there are maybe 8 fans standing right in front of the stage, and maybe another 15 in the rest of the venue. The promoter dropped the ball. The guys put on a fantastic show as always. And, I got a song dedicated to me – “Folsom Prison Blues” – Johnny Cash, very cool. But also a little strange. During the quest for the health food store, I told the guys about this dream I had the night before that involved Johnny Cash & Soundgarden… but I didn’t tell the guy who dedicated the song, and neither had they… spooky.

After the show they invited me on the bus for a beer. I tried not to overstay my welcome, so I took off after a few minutes.

Next leg… Vermont.

SONG OF THE MOMENT: Sonic Youth – “100%”

Yeah… it snowed. And of course I’m sick. I’m sitting here with a belly full of burrito & chips, topped off with NyQuil and a cup of tea with honey. There’s a good chance I’ll doze off before I finish this… but here goes.

So the first week of March, I decided to finally take a vacation and hit the road. This wasn’t a random road trip – it had a purpose and a destination (several of them in fact). I was following one of my favorite bands around. I just happen to do some work for them on the side, so all the shows were free admission, I just had to provide the transportation and board.

Day 1: Albany
Albany isn’t much of a haul from here, so I didn’t pickup the car till midday. Even though I was to be the only one in the car, I decided to get an SUV – which came in handy later in the trip. I printed out multiple directions from Mapquest, grabbed my road atlas, loaded the car with my two bags, aimed it north and hit the gas. The drive was entirely uneventful but I was bouncing the whole time listening to Rage Against the Machine & System of a Down… which is very bouncy music to drive to. My directions took me right to the club. I decided to try and park so I could scope the venue and surrounding area out. It was surprisingly easy to get a spot, so I hopped out of the car with my laptop bag (no way I was leaving it on the street) and walked across the street to the show. I was pretty early, but I spotted the guys’ bus, so I decided to lurk around for a second. While I was on my cell phone checking messages (there were none) I scoped the bass player in the laundromat adjacent to the club. I couldn’t decide whether to approach him or not. We had met several times before, but I get shy in these situations. I finally decided to walk up and say “hi.” We exchanged pleasantries for a second, but he seemed to be concentrating on his laundry, and I was feeling awkward, so I bolted with a “I’ll see you at the show – gonna grab food.”

Rather than grabbing food, I decided to find a hotel, if nothing else, so I could drop off my laptop bag and the rest of my gear. I wanted to find someplace relatively close to the club. My aim was to be within walking distance, so I could drink… but there didn’t seem to be anything close by. I came to the conclusion that if nothing else, I should at least be someplace that was a pretty straight path to the venue, so I could find my way back and forth. I ended up staying at the Crowne Plaza which of course was expensive, but worth it – it had a WiFi connection in the room. Sweet. I dropped of my crap and headed back to the club.

I was able to park in the same exact spot I had left but a half-hour prior. Nice. There turned out to be a fairly clean looking diner next to the club. I settled into a seat at the bar and ordered a burger. It was heaven. My waitress/bartender was new – it was her second day, but she was doing pretty well. Of course she was wearing low-rise jeans, and a low-cut shirt, so even if she had spilled scalding water in my lap, I probably would have thought she was doing a bang-up job. Of course, the seat I chose was the one closest to the mumbling older gentlemen who kept trying to talk her up all night. She kept coming up to me to talk to escape him, so I obliged her with some mindless chatter. If she hadn’t been desperate to escape mumble-guy, I don’t think I would have been so chatty. Of course she probably wouldn’t have given me the time of day either, so the point is moot.

Oh my, the NyQuil is kicking in. And the tea is pretty good.

While I’m enjoying my burger the guitarist & the road manager come in to eat. There was no way I was going to disturb them during a meal, so I kept my position and finished my food and then slipped out quietly.

At the club I found a comfortable bar stool (keeping a lookout for any potential mumblers) and hit the bartender up for a Jack N’ Coke – just one… to settle down a bit. After all, I was driving later.

The performance space was actually upstairs over the bar, so I made my way upstairs. I walked up to the merch guy and introduced myself. He was a really nice guy. The kind of guy you’d say was “swell.” Very chatty, very into whatever you were saying. The kind of guy who kind of flirts with everyone. With the ladies, it’s flirting, with the guys it’s the kind of flirting you do just to be nice. It’s not a sexual thing, he just wants to be your pal. A genuinely nice guy.

I decided to go ahead and sacrifice my hearing early into this tour, so I scoped out a place near the stage. I was standing there maybe ten minutes, just people-watching when a gentlemen in a goatee and short hair makes eye contact and says. “Lance?” Oh man the guy looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew him from until about 15 minutes into the conversation. Turns out he was one of the guys I got into “business” with a few years back when some of the guys for tonight’s band were in another band. Things started looking shaky, so I jumped ship early into the process with everyone’s blessing. The deals soon fell apart, and I was the only one to survive to go into business with the band the second time around. So there’s a little bit of awkward small talk (at least on my part), but thankfully the band came on and torched the place shortly thereafter. It was a great show, the guys were in fine form and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Afterwards, I went over to hang at the merch table when I spotted the tour manager. I introduced myself and he remembered me from the last tour. I hit him up for hotel info since I hadn’t made any lodging plans yet. He was very gracious, and invited me on the bus to lay out the next few days for me. That was my first time on a tour bus – very nice. I got all the info down on a sheet of paper. Said howdy to the drummer who remembered me from previous encounters and headed back upstairs to say “hi” to the rest of band.

The drummer is super easy to talk to, so we chatted for a while. The bass player is pretty friendly too. Actually they all are… but for some reason whenever I talk to the guitarist, I always feel like a dumb ass. He’s sitting there asking me how it’s going, how’s my life… and he’s really curious, and all I could think to say was “work kinda sucks right now.” Ugh. Hopefully I can redeem myself later in the tour. After doing a ton of autographs and meet n’ greets, everyone piles back outside. The band onto the bus, myself out to the car, and off to the hotel. Tomorrow is a long drive, and I’m exhausted already. A little WiFi session, and I was off to sleep. Buffalo, here I come.

To be continued…

SONG OF THE MOMENT: Air – “Alpha Beta Gaga”