A Day In The Life Of...

Here's how it typically goes on a tour like this...It's early in the morning and the sun is bearing down on your crowded van and trailer, which is parked in a Wal-mart parking lot or a similar location... Hard to sleep-in when the inside of your van suddenly becomes a humid, smoldering sauna on wheels...We wake up and start driving to the venue...If the next show was only a couple or few hours away, then we've probably made it to the same town the venue is in and it will be a short drive...if the next show is very far away then upon awaking we may have a lot more driving to do...usually we make it to the venue really, really early and nobody is there to let us in yet...most of the time we go all day without eating, because we depend on the "catering" or "buy-out money" to eat...we pass the time by walking around and sight seeing, playing hackey-sack, skateboarding, kicking a soccer ball around, taking "hobo showers" with baby wipes or rinsing off in a sink at a gas station, etc., etc...When the promoter finally makes it to the venue, they open the doors up and we load all our gear (drums, guitars, speaker cabinets, merchandise, etc.) into the venue and try to find a good location for it until the show starts...Most of the time we will set-up our gear and merch table early so we can have everything ready to go for the show that night...Some more waiting around...While waiting for the venue to officially open and start letting people in, we usually have time to grab a loaf of bread and some lunch meat from a nearby store or some value menu from McDonald's, Burger King, or Taco Bell...some of us will take naps in backstage areas and such...bands and people slowly start showing up so some of us will talk with other bands and fans and just kind of mingle and wait for the show to start...When it's our turn to perform we throw out gear onstage and try to setup as fast as possible so we don't cut into our set time...We play the show...There are a million and one variables that could cause a show to range from being awesome to down right horrible...some of these factors include: nobody there/no turn-out because of bad promotion or maybe it's a Monday or Tuesday night or maybe nobody knows about the bands in that particular town...maybe the venue has a poor sound system or they don't have the right equipment to suit our needs...maybe the people working there aren't properly skilled or trained to run the equipment properly to make you sound good...maybe they don't have air conditioning and it's five thousand degrees onstage...maybe you break a string or a drumstick during your set and have to stop the show or quit playing during a song...you get the point...after we perform we try to get offstage as fast as possible because there may be bands playing after us...now you have an extreme juggling act of activities to participate in and you must try and prioritize: watch your gear like a hawk to ensure none of the local bands steal anything or walk off with a guitar or something? go to the merch table and meet some of your fans and sign some autographs? watch the other bands? talk to interviewers or media people that are there specifically to see your band and talk with you after the show? start packing up your gear and putting your instruments in cases so you can load out as soon as the last band is done playing? There's so much to do, but it usually all just kind of falls into place somehow...after the show, if your lucky enough to have a decent and professional promoter than you will get paid your door percentage or guarantee agreed upon before the tour...We load all our equipment back into the trailer...We enter our next destination into the GPS and determine how far we must drive that night...we start heading toward the next venue and we usually try and find something to eat on the way...something cheap, fast, and not always nutritious...and you just repeat this whole process night after night after night...drive, unload gear, set up gear, play show, pack up gear, load up gear, drive....so on and so on...It can be difficult to find a place to shower, find your next meal, find privacy, find time to relax and get a breath of fresh air, the van starts to smell horrible, usually don't get to wash your clothes and they start to smell horrible, especially if you wear the same outfit on stage every night, which a lot of bands do...blah blah blah...life on the road is tough, but none of us can complain because it's the life we chose and we wouldn't want to be doing anything else...this is what I gave up a normal, comfortable life for...my love and passion for music...I'd rather be broke as hell, living this rough life on the road playing my drums every night - than sitting in an office doing paperwork, working 9 to 5 and all that comes with a "normal" life...sure it'd be great to have a steady, decent paying job and have insurance, and own a car, and have my own apartment or house, having the means to buy things...but then I wouldn't be truly happy because I love playing music and performing in front of people way more than having all those things...when you die all your stuff doesn't matter anyways...it's all about your life experiences and the people you meet and the relationships you build...those things are what truly matter in life...