20th Apr 2008
tour day 24
On Thursday morning we had one last breakfast with the Yeargins and left for our show at Vino’s in Little Rock, AR. The venue was really cool and treated the bands well. We got a free large pizza, salads, some beer and $100. The first band brought a ton of people but the majority of them left right afterwards - they were mostly kids and parents and had to go because it was a school/work night. Too bad though because I think the kids would have liked us. The band after us was a screamo-ish band and their fans weren’t all that interested in us except for a few. We did end up selling a couple of things and the promoter said she would have us back with bands more stylistically similar next time. All in all not bad.
We found a place to stay with the last band but they were planning on partying and we were in for a long drive the next day. We decided that getting one hotel wouldn’t hurt since we’ve made a good amount of money so far on the tour. We stayed at a decent little hotel for and booked a room for two adults with two double beds. We usually have two of us check in then sneak all four of us in the room to save some money. This time proved to be much more difficult than usual because there were cameras all around the building and a security guard. Never fear - we are covert masters and knew their “security” would surely be no match for us!
Aaron and I hid in the van while Katie and Joe brought all of our stuff in only to find that the guard was watching our room from his car. It was probably pretty obvious when they brought a ton of stuff inside if they hadn’t already seen all of us in the van. The security guard drove around the building and soon as I saw his lights I screamed “Get down!” and we both dropped to the floor - are you jealous of our stealth skills? At one point 007-Joe brought the ice bucket to the van with the room key hiding under it.\
After about a half hour of this nonsense we just gave up because the security guard still hadn’t moved and we didn’t want Joe’s Travelocity account to get overcharged - it said four people in a room was like $175 on the door and we could’ve gotten another room for less than that. Joe called down to the desk and found that it was only $10 more for each person added to the room so Aaron and I joined them fair and square. Our secret mission failed, but it was still pretty hilarious.
The next morning we got our sub-par but free continental breakfast, checked out, and headed to Kansas City, MO. It was about a 7 hour drive, but I slept a good chunk of the way so it wasn’t bad. We met up with our friend Brandon from The Architects at his house before the show. He made us the best dinner ever - I swear he is a gourmet chef. We really appreciate all meals even if it’s simple “promoter pasta,” but his super fancy meals from scratch can’t be beat. He denies the fanciness but he doesn’t give himself enough credit. The salad consisted of watercress, chopped fennel, green grapes, and a orange/wasabi vinaigrette. He made a “poor man’s coq au vin” which consisted of chicken breast fried in bacon fat then simmered in red wine with potatoes and onions. Even our vegetarians ate it because it was that good. He also made sauteed mushrooms to top a super fancy macaroni and cheese made from a bechamel sauce, spices, and two kinds of cheeses. It was incredible!
We followed up dinner with a fabulous show at The Riot Room. We played with three other great local bands: Little Lost & Innocents, Lights & Siren, and The Kinetiks. We were worried about our spot (we were 3rd of 4) since we haven’t been lucky with crowds staying/liking us a lot but we were pleasantly surprised when we had a nice sized crowd and everybody seemed really into it. We sold some merch and met a lot of cool new friends. There was a guy who came to see us that had played with us back in 2003 at our first KCMO show! Several drinks later we went back to Brandon’s and stayed up until 5 in the morning talking crap about bands and sharing fun stories. Good times all around.
We had breakfast this morning with Brandon and his wife Jen, then headed to our next show in Minneapolis, MN. We’re about an hour and half away and I’m keeping Joe company in the front seat while he drives. He is a driving machine lately - he drove all of yesterday and today (about 14 hours all together). It’s my turn next so I’m not complaining. Normally we rotate every 5 or so hours and have assigned seats (girls in front/boys in back or vice versa… yes we’re little kids…), but I’m letting Aaron get some sleep since he’s been in the passenger seat for so long. We are good at sharing… sometimes.
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