Ok, so two weeks ago, we packed up our van to the breaking point and hit the road, going around new england opening for a hugely talented solo acoustic act (
www.myspace.com/foreverinmotion ). I was kinda nervous because, hey, this is my first real tour and stuff, and I was taking along a brand new amp I hadn't gotten a chance to demo with my band.
Anyway, there were problems leading up to the tour. The booking agent in charge of booking shows in the outer reaches (Maine, NY/NJ) simply didn't do his job (he won't be seeing any cash from us) and left us with 3 empty dates. Then one of our favorite venues we were planning on hitting up got closed down. So, with 5 days before leaving, 4 dates out of 11 were open. Then, there were problems with the acoustic act we were traveling with and he had to pull out of all but 3 shows.
Needless to say, we spent the days leading up to leaving in a panic trying to fill up dates and replace our tour partner for the filled dates he couldn't play... the schedule ended up like this:
1st- Southern CT
2nd- Boston
3rd- Southern NH
4th- supposed to be maine (booking fail)
5th- Northern VT
6th- Southwest VT
7th- supposed to be NY (booking fail)
8th- Supposed to be NJ (booking fail)
9th- Supposed to be CT (venue closed)
10th- Northern MA
11th- Northeast CT
We were able to replace the 4th show with one in Western MA and yesterdays show in Southern NH, giving us two days off, one of which is today. Also, the stretch from the 4th to the 10th (excluding the 5th) we were able to catch up with a buddy band of ours to tour with so things kinda worked out.
The shows started to get a little shakey near the end, but the show last night we were right back on form after a nice day off.
It was a great bonding experience, being stuck together in the van. Fortunetly for us, we were able to find a warm, free place to sleep each night and due to our thrifty ways we ended up in the green on band cash.
Tomorrow is sort of our homecoming show at a large summer festival that's sure to be a great time, run by a well-sorted production company, and after that is sort of a weekend filler show we're headlining, so we're looking forward to that.
We're planning an East Coast tour with the band we caught up with (messing around with them the last few days was I think instrumental in getting our mojo back) in the winter, which is something I'm now seriously looking forward to!
