THE VITAL MIGHT

Click here for a ton of pictures from this leg.

We just covered a ton of ground and played a bunch of shows in the past 6 days. Last we left off, we we’re heading out of Florida after a couple days off. I hope you’ve got a few minutes because this one is gonna be long.

Tuesday we rocketed up to Columbus, GA, About half the ride was not on major highways, so we got to see some small towns of Georgia. Some really nice views of sprawling fields, farms, grazing cows, an occasional shack, and lots of multi-colored trees.

The Soho Bar & Grille in Columbus was another charming strip mall bar. There was an open mic before our set and a surpisingly large amount of people were around for a Tuesday night. It was another military town, so most of the patrons were service men and women or girlfriends. Real nice people. We played a tight set and then were immediately attacked by the local pizza joint guy who offers bands who play free pizza. He brought us a free pizza and insisted we try the “TARZAN” pizza. This thing had like 2 inches of toppings on it. And it was delicious.

Wednesday we took another long jaunt from Georgia into Alabama and then a slice of Mississippi en route to THE BAYOU. We skimmed by New Orleans and went straight to Baton Rouge. We didn’t get much of the Baton Rouge scenery since the venue, Clicks, was right off the highway in, you guessed it, a STRIP MALL! (btw, the food at Hooters SUCKS) The venue, Clicks, was huge and had a ton of pool tables, air hockey (Ben was the reigning champ this evening), and Golden Tee. The stage was large and had some seriously pro sound. Some decent sized bands had come through recently, Drowning Pool, Nonpoint, Smile Empty Soul. They also had a green room, which we savor these days since we don’t often have anywhere to sprawl out, relax, plug in all our various electronics to charge, and whatnot. We met some cool peeps there for the open mic and also in the band that played after us. Brad and company put us up for the night, which was mighty kind! Thanks Brad! Some of his friends told me that when they call us “yankees” down there, it has a slight negative connotation, which made for a sweetly awkward moment. It also pains us to be called “yankees” for obvious reasons.

Thursday we peeled ourselves off of Brad’s couches and hit the road for New Orleans. Needless to say, I was SUPER pumped to check out this city. I knew it wouldn’t be quite the same as it was in the past, but I still couldn’t wait. We were pretty beat up from the last couple nights, so we got a hotel and crashed for the afternoon. A quick bit at Voodoo BBQ left us full and satisfied before we rolled down to the venue. Tipitina’s turned out to be, in my opinion, the best venue we’ve played on tour. It was huge and just reeked of history. It had huge high celings, a balcony, tons of concert posters of big name acts that had come through, and definitely the best sound we’ve had. The guys doing sound were characters, Glenn and Yohann (I think?). We mentioned how steamy it was that day, and they laughed at us and said, “Come back in August!” The bartenders and merch guys were also super cool, hooking us up on our beers and whatnot. Met a bunch of people after our set, including some with Boston roots. It was still early when we finished so we packed up, dropped the car at the hotel, and headed over to Bourbon St. Even though this wasn’t a peak time of the year, it was crazy as expected. Huge Ass Beers and Hurricanes could be purchased anywhere on the street, scantily class dancer chicks and hype-men beckoned from the front of every club, and beads were tossed up to balconies at every step. We popped in and out of a bunch of places, checked out some bands and some bad karoke. A couple places simply had a dude on stage, singing/rapping along to the music, and getting people (mostly girls) to dance on stage with him. This guy got more ass rubbed on him than a toilet seat. A Grenade and a slice of pizza later, that was about our New Orleans night. In the morning, we grabbed some cajun burgers, gumbo, and jumbalaya before rolling out of town.

I highly recommend that you make plans to go to New Orleans. Go down there, check out the history, the amazing vibe, the music, and SPEND MONEY. The people are genuine, the food is real tasty, the architecture is unique, and you can have a blast. They could use your patronage.

Also, I really enjoy saying “y’all” rather than “you guys”. It flows so much better and makes more sense. So there!

Cracker and I almost ran out of gas on the way out of NO as Dids slumbered in the back. That was fun. If you’ve never driven out of New Orleans, there isn’t SHIT on the outskirts for a while. Next stop was a last minute show in Jackson MS. WC Dons was an interesting place. They served New York Style Hot Dogs. Loubey and her mom trekked a long way from Texas to see us. Thanks for everything y’all! (ha! I said it!) We played the loudest set we’ve played all tour. The 3 sound guys loved us and we hung with them for a while. One of them had the biggest subwoofers in his car I’d ever seen and he blasted Tool at a volume I don’t think I’ve ever heard, or felt rattling my chest quite so much. One of the guys went on a rambling, drawl-laced, nearly incoherent rant, that actually made PERFECT sense. It sort of freaked me out a little bit, because of it’s brilliance. It more or less was a “follow your dreams” speech, the kind of speech we’ve gotten several times on tour. On one hand, I usually reply, “Check it out, I am” but on the other hand I don’t think it needs a response. It’s pretty much the opposite of “don’t quit your day job”.

A Waffle House feast and then the road again up to Memphis. We went to Graceland during the day. No need to discuss this day. It’s Elvis. He’s the King. We’ll let our photos speak for themsevles: Check ‘em out

The venue seemed sketchy at first but turned out to be a diamond in the rough. The South Park Bar & Grille was in a bit of an unsavory part of town. On one hand, a patron told me, we’d have some pretty ladies at our show, but on the other hand, there’d probably be a few fights. Sweet! We played 2 sets, one at the beginning of the night and one after the other band, Mojo Filter, local guys. Jae and Erin made it out with some friends, awesome to see you guys! At the end of our second set, a big group of people got right up in our grills, and danced along to every song. It was particularly fantastic to have them dancing to Measure, especially the end part when it gets heavy. Good stuff guys! After the set, we stayed until the place closed and hung out on the patio with the bar guys and a few other people. Studabaker, the bartender, told us some great stories about bands coming through town, the limited-edition corn he cooks for a big festival in town, and the drink he invented while bartending in St. Johns. Bo and Philip also hung out, and regaled us with competitive paintball stories. Ronnie showed us negatives that Walgreens wouldn’t develop of girls dancing on their stripper poll. Danny and his wife were so very helpful getting this night together, thanks a lot you guys!

The last night on our 6-night run through the dirty south was in Nashville last night. We hung out near LP field, where the Titans play, and had brewery beers and chow. I got a little cocky, thinking we were playing at like 11pm, so I had a full rack of ribs. We got to the club and had to load-in, set-up, and play immediately. Oh god, the ribs hurt so bad. We had the feeling it was going to be a hardcore night, which it sort of was, but the kids really dug it and we made a lot of new friends. The local guys were a trip. Really random stuff but it all seemed to work somehow. The last band, “from WESTERN FUCKING FLORIDA!!!” were all painted like Halloween on meth. One dude never took his gorey pumpkin mask all night. The singer was about 70 pounds and painted like he’d been burned alive. They had a ton of samples behind their music and were entertaining as hell to watch. The gas can that the singer poured on his head and on everyone else was a nice touch.

Alrighty then. Bored yet? We’ve got today off, so we’re en route to Chicago. We’re going to stop off in Indianapolis to watch Sox opening day and the basketball championship. No show today, just SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS!

Looking forward to getting back to our beds this weekend. Come root us on Saturday night at Harper’s!

Best billboard on tour might be: “One nation under me. -God”

-Andy (Diddle and Cackles)
THE VITAL MIGHT

Click here for a ton of pictures from this leg.

April 2nd, 2007
Categories: Tour Blog . Author: thevitalmight

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