Monday, October 24, 2005
Touring with the Fast Easy Women is like touring with gay men. Everyone has shaving gel, moisturizer, hair products, shoes with heels are not uncommon, and some have multiple outfits. One difference is that they don't take very long to get ready, and the big difference is that they all like women. Love women, in fact. I couldn't have toured with more gentlemanly men. All so gracious and hilarious, very understanding of my needs to change and do make up, everyone was so encouraging and excited. We could talk about music, performance, and the importance of eye cream all in the same conversation.
All the shows were great, and we met some unbelievably nice and generous people.
Day one was Buffalo. I had never been to any of the places that we stopped on this tour..so Buffalo. Well, the drive there was gorgeous. Western Mass and Western NY are incredibly beautiful. The streams rolling under bridges, foliage in full bloom, farm houses and cows. It was all pristine and fantastic. Then we get to Buffalo which is a very odd place. We got there at about 6ish on Thursday and the streets were empty. They were empty at 7pm too. There were a lot of buildings boarded up, and for being a college town it was really.....well, empty. I mean there were some people on the streets. And they all seemed to tell that we weren't from around those parts. I don't know how? We walked around to find some food..we ended up getting some kickass slices at this pizza joint, where we also witnessed some guy giving himself insulin in his stomach at his table. That was appetizing.
We played well that night, and there was a bigger crowd there then we expected. Everyone was very vocal about the music, lots of cheers and claps which is always nice, and the drinks were wonderfully cheap so we made sure to take advantage. Before we arrived, Ad had gotten word about this couple (Susan and Marty) that were known around town for putting bands up while they were in town. We stayed with them that night in their beautiful house, all of us with a proper bed. In the morning they went out and bought us bagels, made tea and coffee, grabbed tomatoes and fresh herbs from their garden and basically are the nicest people in the world.
Thank you so much, guys.
Day two was Detroit, we had to leave Buffalo at 7:30am because Ad had gotten a radio interview at 2ish. The drive there was long. We were tired. I could barely put a sentence together and pretty much couldn't stop laughing. When we were almost to Detroit, Ad called the DJ to get proper directions and to find out what their frequency was so we could tune in and listen on the way there. That's when we got word that there was no frequency. The show was only broadcast via streaming audio on the internet. There was a moment of silence in the van, and we could have been bummed out but instead we all just started laughing. Oh well. Streaming audio....I guess I know a few people that listen. Glad we all got three hours of sleep.
We get to the radio station around 2:30 after literally passing 15 strip clubs on one street. My favorite was a club that said 'enter in rear' on their front door. We do the interview, and the DJ plays almost every cut off the album. After he plays the first song, a student comes up to the booth and asks who that last song was by because he loved it? He was pretty darn excited to find out that the band that played the song was there and doing the interview. And in the end, it was all worth the lack of sleep and the long drive.
We stayed with another friend of the bands that night and played in a club called Small's. The venue was awesome. Huge stage, huge system. Another really appreciative crowd. That night was probably the best one. I was exhausted but still managed to stay up till 3. Rock [n' Roll] is a powerful drug.
Day 3 was Chicago, and this was the night I was most excited about. I have always wanted to go to Chicago and it did not disappoint. What a great city. The architecture, the boutiques, the diversity, Kanye West. We stopped by at another friend of the bands place, grabbed some food in the Wicker Park area and waited to go to the venue (also in Wicker Park). The show turns into a bit of a disaster; it's behind a taco stand, the night is over booked with 6 bands...most of them veer to the punk rock genre, and our set is now 20-30 minutes. But whatever, we suit up to play. There is a big crowd, they know a lot of Ad's songs, things are going well and then the PA cuts out in the middle of the third song. No vocals. Deflated, we wait and wait and wait for about 10 minutes until someone fixes the PA. We play two more songs with vigor and excitement. We will make up for these set backs! And then the PA goes out again. He have now probably been on the stage for 45-50 minutes, and really feel like we need to get off the stage, but we really need to play one more song. The PA goes up again, we play it, it was awesome. Crowd goes wild, we managed to not get beat up, and the show finally is over. I go to my keyboard case and put my keyboard in and it won't close. I try 160 times, and it won't close. I'm about to cry because it's new and I want to get the fuck out of there, and with my last breath of hope I try again and it closes.
I roll it out to the van, I open my other bag to get my shoes out and reach in and my shampoo has exploded. Fuck! I'm stressed out, but I decided....fuck it. We are in Chicago, the jaunt is over, let's have a good time. So we all go to another bar, hang out till 2 Central time, and then leave half the band in Chicago while Ad, Eric and I jump in the van and proceed to drive 16 hours to Boston.
It was so much fun. Thanks to everyone that came out, bought CD's, gave us compliments, and for putting us up. Special thanks to Susan and Marty, Abid (sp?), Neal, and Oz. You all rock my world.
Now, I just need to finish some recordings, find some people to play with, and tour for my own stuff. All hail the ROCK! or gay pop...
All the shows were great, and we met some unbelievably nice and generous people.
Day one was Buffalo. I had never been to any of the places that we stopped on this tour..so Buffalo. Well, the drive there was gorgeous. Western Mass and Western NY are incredibly beautiful. The streams rolling under bridges, foliage in full bloom, farm houses and cows. It was all pristine and fantastic. Then we get to Buffalo which is a very odd place. We got there at about 6ish on Thursday and the streets were empty. They were empty at 7pm too. There were a lot of buildings boarded up, and for being a college town it was really.....well, empty. I mean there were some people on the streets. And they all seemed to tell that we weren't from around those parts. I don't know how? We walked around to find some food..we ended up getting some kickass slices at this pizza joint, where we also witnessed some guy giving himself insulin in his stomach at his table. That was appetizing.
We played well that night, and there was a bigger crowd there then we expected. Everyone was very vocal about the music, lots of cheers and claps which is always nice, and the drinks were wonderfully cheap so we made sure to take advantage. Before we arrived, Ad had gotten word about this couple (Susan and Marty) that were known around town for putting bands up while they were in town. We stayed with them that night in their beautiful house, all of us with a proper bed. In the morning they went out and bought us bagels, made tea and coffee, grabbed tomatoes and fresh herbs from their garden and basically are the nicest people in the world.
Thank you so much, guys.
Day two was Detroit, we had to leave Buffalo at 7:30am because Ad had gotten a radio interview at 2ish. The drive there was long. We were tired. I could barely put a sentence together and pretty much couldn't stop laughing. When we were almost to Detroit, Ad called the DJ to get proper directions and to find out what their frequency was so we could tune in and listen on the way there. That's when we got word that there was no frequency. The show was only broadcast via streaming audio on the internet. There was a moment of silence in the van, and we could have been bummed out but instead we all just started laughing. Oh well. Streaming audio....I guess I know a few people that listen. Glad we all got three hours of sleep.
We get to the radio station around 2:30 after literally passing 15 strip clubs on one street. My favorite was a club that said 'enter in rear' on their front door. We do the interview, and the DJ plays almost every cut off the album. After he plays the first song, a student comes up to the booth and asks who that last song was by because he loved it? He was pretty darn excited to find out that the band that played the song was there and doing the interview. And in the end, it was all worth the lack of sleep and the long drive.
We stayed with another friend of the bands that night and played in a club called Small's. The venue was awesome. Huge stage, huge system. Another really appreciative crowd. That night was probably the best one. I was exhausted but still managed to stay up till 3. Rock [n' Roll] is a powerful drug.
Day 3 was Chicago, and this was the night I was most excited about. I have always wanted to go to Chicago and it did not disappoint. What a great city. The architecture, the boutiques, the diversity, Kanye West. We stopped by at another friend of the bands place, grabbed some food in the Wicker Park area and waited to go to the venue (also in Wicker Park). The show turns into a bit of a disaster; it's behind a taco stand, the night is over booked with 6 bands...most of them veer to the punk rock genre, and our set is now 20-30 minutes. But whatever, we suit up to play. There is a big crowd, they know a lot of Ad's songs, things are going well and then the PA cuts out in the middle of the third song. No vocals. Deflated, we wait and wait and wait for about 10 minutes until someone fixes the PA. We play two more songs with vigor and excitement. We will make up for these set backs! And then the PA goes out again. He have now probably been on the stage for 45-50 minutes, and really feel like we need to get off the stage, but we really need to play one more song. The PA goes up again, we play it, it was awesome. Crowd goes wild, we managed to not get beat up, and the show finally is over. I go to my keyboard case and put my keyboard in and it won't close. I try 160 times, and it won't close. I'm about to cry because it's new and I want to get the fuck out of there, and with my last breath of hope I try again and it closes.
I roll it out to the van, I open my other bag to get my shoes out and reach in and my shampoo has exploded. Fuck! I'm stressed out, but I decided....fuck it. We are in Chicago, the jaunt is over, let's have a good time. So we all go to another bar, hang out till 2 Central time, and then leave half the band in Chicago while Ad, Eric and I jump in the van and proceed to drive 16 hours to Boston.
It was so much fun. Thanks to everyone that came out, bought CD's, gave us compliments, and for putting us up. Special thanks to Susan and Marty, Abid (sp?), Neal, and Oz. You all rock my world.
Now, I just need to finish some recordings, find some people to play with, and tour for my own stuff. All hail the ROCK! or gay pop...
posted by Sarah RabDAU at
6:49 AM
1 Comments:
"Then we get to Buffalo which is a very odd place. We got there at about 6-ish on Thursday and the streets were empty. They were empty at 7pm too. There were a lot of buildings boarded up, and for being a college town it was really.....well, empty. I mean there were some people on the streets. And they all seemed to tell that we weren't from around those parts. "
Buffalo is fucking scary. It is because it used to be a big thriving city and then the economy went to shit so.. then you get what you saw when you were out there. virtually nothing to do, no night life, everyone's too stupid to care about anything interesting. I know this from experience, i lived around that area my entire life growing up.
As for being a college town - the locals don't consider it as such. The college is pretty much confined on it's own with a run of bars that the kids bus out to on the weekends. It's not much of a college town at all, in the end. People just know it as that because UB is pretty famous.
It's actually just a sick, sad city.
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