2006 Tour Recap
Posted December 7, 2006
To be read like an exuberant newscaster in the tradition of Citizen Kane (opening scene)
Touring in 2006 ended for us in a deluge of snow, power outages, nausea, and roadhouse karaoke. Far removed from the humid humble summer beginnings of four months ago, the sub-artic highways of East St. Louis lead us back home away from a city facing a blackout and pockets of looting. It was good to see the Christmas spirit arriving early.
As Tall As Lions joined us for our first run in mid-August where we reacquainted ourselves with portions of the Northeast we hadnt seen in over a year. It was on this tour that Dave Fridmann came to see us perform, after which he said, in the clinical and straight-faced countenance only he can manage, It was fun. It was on this tour that we hadnt quite nailed down how we were going to interpret live songs about ghosts named Adelaide.
We met up with Lola Ray soon after and, fast as gangrene, became friends. It started in Lansing with Johnny Balicanta yelling from the audience, I want your hair. I knew then I had a confidant. The tour took us across the breadth of the belly of the bulk of the Bible Belt of the U.S.. Some nights were awfully great. Some nights were greatly awful. [Personal note: I hope no one ever has to drive thirty-two hours straight through in a crowded vehicle more than once in your life. Ive done this at least six times, one of those times being on this tour. The part of the brain that processes the passage of time and distance has long since turned to mush and seeped out my ear.] The Roraray Tour, as I renamed it one night after too many Pacificos, ended with an exceptionally phenomenal show at the Chain Reaction exceptional because weve never had a phenomenal show at that venue until then. Im not sure we could do it again.
After much beer and Filipino food, we embarked on a string of college shows that were less than stellar. I wont say much except that they were free (good for the students, bad for us), they were at noon (bad for the students, bad for us), and most of them were outside. In the Southwest. In the summer. (Good for the students, bad for my melanoma.)
Just when things couldnt get any worse, we picked up with the band Say Anything and soon everything was right with the world. We were only reprimanded twice, once for smashing beer bottles and once for shooting confetti cannons on the stage. Otherwise, things went smashingly.
Our final run of the year paired us with Smile Empty Soul. I could say there was a third entity on the tour, that being Jagermeister who sponsored the tour, because its presence was clearly present every night. The tour took us through roadhouse after roadhouse in towns like Bellefontaine, OH, and Evansville, WI. A freak snowstorm dumped almost two feet of snow on us overnight, stranding us for five hours in a hotel parking lot. All we could do was drink gallons of free coffee from the lobby, and soon we were able to urinate our way out.
2006 left us with a boatload of new friends and the licorice aftertaste of strong German herbal liqueurs in our mouths. We can only hope 2007 will bring more of the same.
(Black and white stock footage of people waving excitedly, stuff being loaded onto ships, little kids eating lollipops all slightly sped up.)
