Witch Mountain 2001 Tour Diary Part 1
9-28 Off to a shaky start- the club that we played last time with Spirit Caravan proved to have the same results.
Not a bad show for us and our fresh 3 piece status as of the first half of our tour anyway. Still waiting to find out if and when Johnny is planning on making it.
Right now it is after midnight and we decided that instead of sticking around Spokane that since we were basically sober (especially Nate) we would blaze to one of our favorite places we played on our last tour, Missoula Montana...a mere 3 and a half hours away...
Nate drove all night until we were about 30 miles outside of Missoula and we pulled over for a nap. It was one of those scenic pull offs and had a surreal view of a lake...Me and Dave had a laugh over the fact that we were out in the middle of the woods and that a bear could come out and mame us while you use the bathroom nature style outside the where the van was parked.
9-29 The next morning we headed the rest of the way into Missoula. First order of business getting an oil change and breakfast. Then we had to get Danno`s computer up and running. You see it decided right before we left to give him the blue screen of death upon startup no matter what you do. There was also another problem too- the inverter was giving us trouble, but we got it to work after messing with it for a half an hour.
Jay`s Upstairs was our single favourite show on our last tour so we knew we were in for a good time. The staff loved us last time and their policy can`t be beat. All the free drinks you want and free drinks we got. We played the show with Justin`s band (Disgruntled Nation, booking agent) and this other band called Maha Mu Waldi... they were serious extreme metal/grind core and the guitar player ripped, even though he had lost one of his arms in a auto accident when he was a kid. It didn`t seem to matter to this guy though- His guitar playing was a serious force to reckon with.
After the show we went to one of the staff of the clubs houses where a party was going on when we showed up. Lots of good people up there in Missoula, if you get the chance to check it out, and Jay`s it is well worth it...the most laid back place in the world while still retaining newer culture, good coffee and mission burritos...yes.
9-30 Salt Lake City- We played with the Thrones last night in Utah...
We ended up driving all day from the time we woke up until we got to the Kilby Court- we showed up about an hour from stage time, which was cutting it close, but a nice in and out. It was good seeing Joe again and the other bands sounded killer. Made some new friends and stayed with one of them. Eric- thanks! You went above and beyond the call of duty...after a good night sleep we hit the van- get some coffee and watch Danno puke up all the beer that he consumed from the previous night. 8-9 hours worth of driving ahead of us...the Denver show should be good with the Superbees@ the 15th Street tonight.
10-1 On the way to Denver we pulled off in Evanston Wyoming to go to our favorite place to eat in the states- Kelly`s Roadhouse...it`s a biker bar that has live bands...and they are closed on Monday for lunch. Shit- oh well...there is always next time! We played our set of usual numbers...I was a bit worried about my sore throat and just got a couple of shots of Jagermeister and was on my way...Superbees were good laid back stoner rock and roll, and the headliners from Seattle called the Load Levelers were this tight ass psycho-billy rock and roll cow punk stuff...complete with ripping country cow punk leads and a smoking banjo player. These guys really fucking delivered and kept my attention from the time they started `till they got done. I am glad that I got to check out these guys though... Superbees guitar player Annica(sp?) brought us a lasagna and we partied hard.
10-2 The next morning we headed out to Oklahoma bright and early because it was a 12 hour drive. We drove all night and showed up at the club called the Green Door around 10:30 right as the first band was peeling out of the parking lot...evidentally they got kind of rowdy and started knocking over the drums with these really expensive mike`s and the sound guy got kinda pissed at them. I missed the whole thing. Oversoul canceled so we played with this other band that was some kind of experimental guitar crap that had me running for the van in a heartbeat. We played our set and hung out with the Green Door owner and crew drinking beers before we went over to this guy Jim`s girlfriends (Stephanie) apartment and started drinking beers and I started to feel like crap.
10-3 Having stomach cramps all day I knew something was up. I think that it might be a 24 hours stomach flu...We are on our way to Austin right now to play one of the coolest line-ups on this tour. Clutch, Karma to Burn, Men of Porn...this is gonna be brutal.
