Howdy Folks, as promised, here's the start of the tour blogs.
Expect a few more articles from me and various contributions from Rosie and Mr Wizard over the next week. This story will take a while to tell, so sit back, pour yourself a coffee / frosty mug of something and join us as we
Blog The Heck Out Of our first US tour.
Ahem.
Right.
For those of you in the know, you'd be aware that getting our final confirmation of a visa was tough. It's not a thing to be trifled with. A few folk asked me 'why don't you just go without one' and well, we opted to do the right thing. I was trying to avoid an unexpected gig in Guantanamo.
With final official approval, we began our trip on a traditional grey skied Sydney day. As we were pulling out from the drive way Theo played 'Chicago' by Tom Waitts and we knew it was happening for real. Maybe things would be better, in Chicago.
Our tour would take us to Chicago first, where we'd pickup gear, rehearse our Hired Gun bass player and then head for our first shows in Indiana, then loop back through Kansas City and then back to Chicago. A mid west loop.
To get to our first destination (Joliet) we had to do the Sydney-LA flight, followed by the LA-Chicago flight, a roughly 18 hour ordeal with a dud entertainment system...
When we finally reached O'hare and went to collect our baggage, we found...
Spelling? Not so great. Limo? Out of sight!
BTW United no longer hates guitars, Mr Wizards arrived fine.
The boys seemed to adjust to this form of transport quite willingly
We headed from Chicago to Joliet, where we were staying and rehearsing.
Of course being a small, little band, we were obliged to stay in the most economical accommodation we could find...such as the casino :-) where we were met by Joliet native son and Bass player for the tour, Mr Paul Recht.
When we found that the local food eateries were already shut, Paul took us home where the wonderful Mo, Mary and Katie looked after us with a home cooked meal. A great way to start.
Afterwards it was time to plot our next days actions.We needed to confirm our rehearsal space, get the gear, get a van and start rehearsing.
Breakfast In America #1
Mr Recht took us to an outstanding local diner on Route 66
Where we discovered the portion sizes were a tad...err...over the top.
The lovely Elena looked after us.
The whole place is decorated with classic signage
With our stomach's lined with skillety goodness, it was time to go...instrument shopping (oh if only I had known...)
The boys had decided to bring less guitars than they needed, on the basis that there were plenty of guitar places to check out. They weren't wrong. So began a day of trial and terror, as they visited shop
after shop
after shop
We visited pawnbrokers, music stores and anywhere that might have a bargain on a a guitar. ye gods.
After a trip around the fringes of the city, we plunged into Chicago itself.
Our first successful stop was at West Side Buy and Sell, where Theo found his drum kit.
I kind of got the name wrong whilst filming...oops.
From there we headed into the heart of downtown Chicago to the actual Chicago Music Exchange..
This one single guitar store could have fit the entire inventory of every guitar store in Sydney into it. No kidding.
It just went on
and on
and on
And what else do you need with your outrageous new guitar but a rare vintage amp. Hope your credit card has some spare space.
And how about a stack of Marshall stacks?
To use a colloquial expression, there was more guitar related stuff than you could poke a stick at.
Did I mention they also did drums?
Fortunately, Theo already had his kit so that was moot. God I love that man.
Meanwhile, the boys were testing guitars, kicking some tires and with such choice, I sought out the harmonica section. Now this ought to be mind blowing, right? right?
Err, no.
Curses, foiled again!
So as I was saying, the boys decided to test out what felt like every guitar in the place. Mr Wizard found himself a bargain and was over the moon.
Theo and I waited whilst Rosie and Mr Wizard kicked tires. The Chicago Music Exchange had some amazing vintage rock posters up on the walls which at least gave me something to look at.
And so did we find what we were looking for? Not quite. Mr Wizard was sorted but Rosie wanted to visit yet more stores.
So we took a break and went to pick up the rental amps from Studio Instrument Rental in Chicago where the great, the famous, the awesome...and us...rent their stuff for tours!
Cesar rocks.
So are we done yet?
You want to go to ANOTHER guitar Store????
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!
As darkness fell and I contemplated Bad Things to do to Guitarists, Rosie FINALLY found what he was looking for. Crisis averted.
To soothe our jangled nerves, Mr Recht took us to a Mexican place so I could soak my head in a vat of Pico De Gallo. All those guitars. Traumatising.
Day 3 - Vans, Rehearsal Plans and no, I am not going to anymore @^*@(!)@ guitar stores
I left the boys to organise rehearsal time and went to get the van. Thanks for the ride Mo!
Downtown Chicago residential architecture :-)
Meanwhile the boys started rehearsal at Third City Sound, courtesy of Bill. Cheers Bill!
Bill's also in a band, I spotted some of their artwork.
and instructions form management
plus the occasional random curio
Whilst the boys rehearsed, I drove back up from Chicago with the van. Driving on the right hand side of the road, huge van, yikes. Thankfully my trusty GPS did me proud and I got back by late afternoon to join rehearsal. By midnight, we had run through 4 sets of material and were good to go. All that was left was to eat, sleep, pack the van for the morning and head off for our first gigs.
We travel to Indiana and are joined by Roscoe, much awesomeness ensues