MyFriendCleveland

Touring is weird. When you’re a band at our level, you can’t go into it expecting every show to be amazing. You’re definitely going to have your awesome shows where everything seems to be perfect and then you’re going to have shows that sort of fall apart right in front of you. There are too many factors to count in what could make something really awesome or really awkward.

Our first show was in Columbus, in a basement of a house we’ve played before, the 15th House. The people there are super awesome and our last show was a pretty big success, so we were pretty confident. After a week straight of rehearsals with the two new touring members of the band, I had no reservations about the songs not sounding right. There were a few people in the crows who noticed / asked about Josh and Shannon, but I’ve seen a ton of touring bands that have different members than their usual line up, so I didn’t think this should seem too out of the ordinary for us.

The 15th House is good because it’s a mixture of people being allowed to drink and a place where we know a bunch of people. Columbus benefited from the mass exodus of a bunch of Cleveland kids a few years ago, so we know a lot of them. Also, when you get a bunch of mid-20 somethings drinking, there is a solid chance they will like any music.

We played well and people were into it, so it was a great night. By the time we played, kids were well boozed up and we hit the songs well. We partied until about 3 in the morning, so it was a pretty good night.

Day 2 was Cincinnati, a city who’s name I am never sure how to spell. We got into town pretty early and then hung out at a record store for a while where I spent more money than I should have on records I won’t be able to listen to for 3 weeks. Not the greatest idea. We then rushed over to a BBQ (in name only). Free food is always awesome, but this food was actually really good.

The show wasn’t as successful as day 1. We had equipment problems. It was sort of a hardcore show that we got added to so the crowd wasn’t really into our style of music. There weren’t a ton of people there. But we did play really well (when we were able to play), and there was a guy with a broken foot who still managed to dance for most of our set. So at least we had that, which is nice.

Today is day 3, and we’re on to St. Louis. It’s about a 7 hour drive, so we’re told, and the show we’re playing has 7 bands. Long shows like that, you never know.