A Roadblock?

I have some time on my hands after finishing a massive paper for school (yes, an aging metalhead who is still seeking higher education...surprised?) and I am bored so I may as well knock out more of this tour experience out...

So, we are getting ready for the tour and I get a call from Thorgrimm...things fell through with funding and we were now stuck...Either call the whole thing off or figure things out...We decided to figure things out...

Corpsie talked in detail about this...no need for me to rehash...Just check out Corpsie's Blog for the detailed info...

Now, I truly believe most bands would have said "fuck it" and stayed home...Maybe a wise decision. However, after playing music for over 20 years in the underground death metal scene, this was just too close...I have never toured and really wanted it. I'd be damned if I was going to be a quitter...So I figured out a way on our end. We will see if I will regret my actions...

So fast forward another week and I get yet another call from Thorgrimm (Jezze...the way I talk, you would think he is the prophet of doom or something...Bad News Thorgrimm!! ) Anyway, I had to get ahold of the Hod guys because of the rental van situation...One thing was said at first, but that didn't happen...So, more self funding to get our transportation in order...Again, this was just too close...I did everything in my power (on our end) to insure this tour would happen...

Ok, all is settled now...

Cardiac was rehearsing our tour set for about a month now. We were ready!!! Last practice involved going through the set a couple more times and the breakdown of gear that was going to be taken. We traveled light since we were flying to Portland. In Portland, we would be meeting up with Hod and Gravehill. This would be on Friday, June 2nd, the first day of the tour...

Cardiac decided to fly out June 1st...Why?? Well I'll tell ya...

You can never trust airlines...Flights get delayed, canceled, baggage can get lost...I figured we should have just a day of travel. I used to do that when I actually worked...Day of travel, go to work the next series of days, day of travel to get home...Besides, I knew we would be roughing it the next few weeks, so I sprung for a decent hotel (which included a bar...c'mon, it's me) so we could all hang out and relax before the tour started...

I flew separately since I am a primadonna like that...Heh heh...Actually, I wanted a direct flight...didn't matter to the other guys how they flew...So I got to Portland and got everything secured on the ground awaiting the arrival of my Cardiac brethren...

So, I had alone time...What did I do? Wouldn't you like to know...Actually, surprise, surprise, I hung out in the hotel bar. And something really cool happened to me...I'll never forget this...

So I am sitting there eating lunch...And I was talking to the bartender and asking about the area. A military recruiter (I think he was a recruiter...seemed to be a lot of military based stuff in that area) came in and sat near me at the bar. I was talking to the bartender and of course, the band question came up. So I oblige and talked about the band a bit. As the military guy was about to leave, he addressed me...

"Excuse me...I don't want to bother you, but I overheard that you are in a band?"

"Yes"

"Metal?"

"Yes"

"Like what? Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel?"

Ok, I was shocked...I hate describing to people what kind of band I am in...most never heard of metal bands other than the super mainstream...When I heard Morbid Angel, my interest was really piqued...

"Yeah...so you are familiar with death metal then?"

He proceeded to tell me that he had been playing guitar for a number of years and he really enjoyed playing death metal. He would never be able to do it in a band because he felt that he was not good enough a player to pull it off...I told him to not worry about that and just play...If I can play guitar, especially in a band, anyone can...

We talked for a bit longer, but here was the really cool part...He asked if he could buy my lunch and a beer...I was dumbfounded...He said he could imagine touring was rough and wanted to save me some cash...I told him he didn't have to but he insisted...I agreed, but not before I ran back to the room to grab him a Cadaverous CD...I would have gave him the Haven CD and a T-shirt, but those were not in my possession as they would be arriving in the evening...He seemed thrilled as hell though...He split and the bar was closing for the afternoon...Which sent me on my next mission...Find beer and smokes within walking distance...

Which I did, thanks to my GPS...

So I was well stocked and had quiet time until the other dudes from Cardiac showed up...Once they did, it was party time...All night...Our new merch arrived, probably drank the bar dry, we were joined by Tiff and Kelli (who brought more beer) and just partied in the room...Truth be told, I don't remember much...and the tour would be starting the next day...Ok, I'll get some rest and behave during the day...Yeah right...

Next post will be the start of the tour...I promise!!