This last weekend I went on a “fake” tour. I travelled with two friends up to see Lannen Fall play shows in Vermont and New York. For one reason or another I had never even been to Vermont except for the time that Christina and I had to rescue them from their broken down van after their first long tour in 2007. I was definitely excited to see the scene up there and I had heard it was going to be a good show.
On the way up we were stuck in a ridiculous amount of traffic on the Mass Pike compounded with a crazy amount of rain it took us almost 5 hours to get up to Vermont. We rolled into the venue and I was able to catch the end of Go Crash Audio’s set. Of course Matt was being a drummer nerd and watching their drummer play, and of course I sat down to be a nerd right along with him. It’s wild to see such a big dude play the drums! After their set I headed next door as I heard a rumor that Horse was over there enjoying some beverages, and we all know how much I like those. I enjoyed some drinks, heard some crazy news from Matt and then back to the show to watch Lannen Fall play. I was a jerk and didn’t pay attention at all as I was absorbed with texting/IM’ing buddies on my new sidekick.
All in all it was an awesome start to the weekend. I got to see and old friend and catch up on his life. He’s had a kid since the last time I’ve seen him and he’s only a few weeks older than me, its crazy!! The bar right next door was pretty cheap and of course I found it necessary to buy myself and everyone else one too many drinks after the show. Somehow we ended up in a hotel room at the end of the night where I got to sleep off my drunken stupor. Woke up in the morning and went to breakfast and then it was off to the next show in New York.
Jay had decided to stay with us that night so he ended up driving to New York for us. We got there wayyyy ahead of Lannen Fall (nothing new there). When we pulled up to the venue we saw a van pull in with Arizona plates, and of course I got a little excited about that, and then Jay tells me they have a chick drummer on top of it!!! It was definitely going to be an interesting night. We hung out with some of the bands, ate delicious sandwiches and helped a bit with load in. I watched almost all of the other bands on the tour that night in New York. It was the third show of this particular tour that I had been too and I hadn’t yet really watched the other bands play so I wanted to check them out.
I was most excited to watch The Summer Set, the band with the chick drummer. Decent women in music are rare to find as it is, but the rarest of all is the infamous girl drummer. I hated to admit it but when I first saw her walking around the venue I figured she must be selling merch or something for one of the bands. She was just too cute and little to be a drummer!! I was happy to discover that she is also a really good at what she does!! Honestly, nothing gets me more excited than to see women actually playing instruments in bands and playing them well (sorry girl vocalists/keyboard players don’t get a lot of points with me). And to see a drummer no less! Those of you who know me know I usually have a thing for drummers as it is, and the fact that she was a girl was no exception. Amanda and I watched her whole set, and by the end we were in love. Best thing of all is they are also the band from Arizona so I will absolutely be seeing them again soon for sure!!
After their set Amanda and I again set out on the task to not be sober by the end of the night. Something we are getting almost too good at these days. Between the bar in the venue and then drinking 40s with some of the dudes in Go Crash Audio, we were almost too successful at our goal. One thing that will prove to be Amanda and I’s downfall in the future is the lack of foresight we have in who the hell is gonna drive us once we’re belligerent……
One of the most surprising things about this weekend was that I spent hardly anytime with Lannen Fall, the buddies I was going to see in the first place! I didn’t even watch them play in New York. I know I’ll be forgiven for that at least. I’ve probably seen them play more than anyone. I just couldn’t help going out and making new buddies. It’s what I do best!! Plus it was interesting to hear what other people and bands have to say about Lannen Fall/music/touring etc. I’m so close to all of them I don’t realize that other people might think differently about them and their music. It was also awesome to make some new buddies and get exposed to some new bands from places outside of New England. I ended up staying with The Hint and Go Crash Audio that night. I slept in their van and was woken up by their drummer, Sean, pulling out weights and shit from the van. Yeah, he works out on the road, talk about extreme!! Guess that explains all the muscles though……..
Later we all met up and headed out on the road back home. A quick stop at Friendly’s for some chicken strips baskets and then hours of driving. I was not happy to be getting back onto the Mass Pike. I had zero desire to be back in MA, let alone the fact we still all had horrible memories of traffic on the way up. The weekend had just been too good!! I hadn’t yet processed all of the things that had happened over the course of the weekend but I had a feeling that the effect it would have on my life was going to be huge………..
but more on that later………
Thanks to everyone for making it such an awesome weekend!!
Also check out some awesome bands!!
