Year of the Gun Tour 24.04.
We left Huntsville (Alabama) for Austin, Texas around 1am the night we performed our last home show. The show went great, and everyone (all 13 of us) was excited to start the tour. Van Rad, Team Awesome rode in the purple van – me, Andy, Natasha, Tommy, Robert Daniel, Summer, and Matt our driver. White Van, Team Suck was Neal, Ben, Clem, Sasha, Michelle, and Casey the driver. 12 hours and a sunrise later, everyone’s mood was shocked and discouraged. It was snowing in Texas and it made the drive 5 hours longer. Our first show was canceled because it was an outside event. We went to the venue anyway to see if there was a show somewhere we could jump onto. For about three hours everyone piddled around (and froze). Finally, we heard of some metal show at a bar we could play the spot one band canceled on. The show went surprisingly well and the crowd had a lot of fun. I think it had something to do with the corsets and guns…
The next night we played at Beerland. Since it was more of our crowd and the venue had been promoting the show, it was a much more satisfying performance. Thanks to Brooke and Natalie for letting me, Andy, Casey, Michelle, and Neal stay with them. The others were spread out between Libby’s and Paul’s. Our third day in Austin was an “off” day. Everyone went a did their own thing until we all met back up at Nat and Brooke’s for a cookout turned dance party ’til 3am.
From left to right: Casey, Michelle, Natalie, Brooke, me, Natasha…that’s what beer and Pat Benatar do to you.
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Our next drive was to New Orleans. We left Austin at 8:30 the morning after our dance extravaganza. Once again, it took about 4 hours longer than expected…except this time there was no snow to blame it on. In fact, the weather had completely changed. It was warm and sunny. When we finally did arrive in NOLA, we headed straight for the venue – The Greenhouse Project. It’s a warehouse of sorts located right on the edge of the the Lower Ninth Ward. Being in New Orleans really put you in your place. You could still see all the markings on buildings that revealed if people were found dead or alive. “TFW” was spray painted along most of the houses in certain neighborhoods. It means Toxic Flood Water.
Our guides around town were also the kind ladies (Robin, Asia, and Happy) in The Leah Quinelle All-Stars. Half of us stayed at Happy and Robin’s, while the other half went to Asia (and her boyfriend’s) house. Casey, Michelle, Natasha, Andy and I got the privilege to use Asia’s amazing outdoor shower. It was the two best showers of my life. Our second day was very relaxing. Robin took the group of us that stayed at Asia’s to the place where both of them worked, called Surrey’s, for breakfast. It was so delicious. Afterward, Casey, Michelle, Robin, Andy and I went to the store to get the necessities for the house party, which equaled to 9 cases of beer. Later that night we played a house show at Happy and Robin’s along with their band and another called Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship…which were (are) absolutely fantastic.
Asia’s outdoor sanctuary.
New Orleaners
Asia, Robin, and Happy – The Leah Quinelle All-Stars
Neal and Juiceboxxx (the resident dog at Happy and Robin’s)
On our last day in New Orleans, we had about an hour and a half to eat and do whatever. The other half of the group went to Surrey’s, while us that had already gone hunted down some Cajun food. We got to spend a little bit of time in the French Quarter…which was so beautiful. That’s the only bad thing about tour though, you don’t get enough time to do it all. After we ate, we only had enough time to get back to the van and pack everything up.
Notice the gargoyle climbing up the house
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As luck would have it, our drive from NOLA to Mobile, Alabama took twice as long. Once again, no explanation. Mobile was like a blink in time compared to the other stops. We got into town, ate at Picklefish, played, slept in very cramped quarters since we all had to stay in one place, woke up early, and took off to our last stop.
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Since it was only an hour drive to Pensacola, and we had all gotten up early, we hung out at the beach for most of the day. Andy and I broke off from everyone and went to a seafood restaurant. It was nice to have some alone time. That night we played at Sluggo’s with This Bike is Pipe Bomb. It wasn’t until afterward that it sunk in that everything was over. No more corsets, guns, wooden swords, or TV’s. We had a nice house to stay in that night (thanks to Terry from This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and her boyfriend Ashley, owner of Sluggo’s) and the only thing left was the drive home. hah.
Terry shows off how excited Clem and I are about beans and some little girl wrote Terry a cute message in front of her house.
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The drive home. First, we drove straight through tornadic weather until Rad Van, Team Awesome could go no more. Literally. The van stopped moving. Matt got out and tried some things, then eventually got it moving again. Twenty minutes later, we were off on the side of the road again. Neal and Matt removed a piece of the van that apparently wasn’t needed, and we coasted towards home. Two hours later, we’re back at square one. Once again, another part of the van comes out from under the hood and placed under the seat, and we try again. This time we have to stop because Robert accidentally stepped in an ant hill and the van was being swarmed. After the chaos of hitting Robert’s legs and everything the ants have covered, we try again. An hour from home, and the van has to pull over. We let the engine cool down for 15 minutes, and continue. Once we reach the 565 exit, we see cop cars all around. Both sides of the exit were blocked. Apparently, there was a bad accident. We drive 20 more minutes North to the Athens exit, and finally get off…only to have to pull over and let the van cool down. When we finally get going again, we determined more than ever to make it home. I’ve never been more relieved to pull into the parking lot of Lowe Mill. When we finally stopped, there was dance and celebration. We had finally made it home.
A week or so later, I finally finish this post.