MrYikes
Well-Known Member
I'd like to hear about some parts of your life on the road as a drummer.
I had a good chuckle to myself thinking about the fellow passengers that got to sit next to you guys on an international flight from Europe, if your girlfriend/wife made you roll the windows down in her car...LolMy fav memory is my then girlfriend (& now wife) picking up the band at LAX after a 3 week tour of Europe in 2010 and we smelled so bad she made us keep the windows open in her car the entire way back to San Diego. 2 heavy metal doom bands in a big van with a roadie, driver & record label guy, rolling tobacco & drinking whiskey and not many showers.
But man those kids over there treated us great.
This entire scenario is part of my touring history as well with tons of band gear (double bass kit, of course!), but the clubs were along the 401 in Ontario, hitting every venue between Windsor, ONT through Kingston, ONT. The club you mention was just like a club we played in Barrie, ONT. The band played on the first floor, the strippers stripped on the second floor and we all stayed at the "hotel" on the third floor. Good times!In 1980-81 our band toured British Columbia in a converted International Harvester school bus.
Gear inventory included:
2 Marshall full stacks
Hammond B3 organ with Leslie spkr
Giant Ludwig double bass kit including 26" gong and non-collapsible drum riser
2 Ampeg SVT cabinets with SVT heads
5 Gibson elec. guitars + Martin acoustic
Full PA system & Monitors + massive lighting truss + 2 follow spots and dry ice fog machine made from a cut-down metal barrel.
Plus the 4 band members - 3 friends (our crew) + all luggage & supplies for a 4month tour.
Upon arriving at the Washington/Canada border station we were instructed to remove every item from the bus and un-cased so it could be logged for serial # identification & verification. That took about 2 hours and we got to meet Canada's drug sniffing canine staff up close and personal.
First gig there was 5 sets per night 6 nights a week at a 2 story nightclub in Prince George, BC.
Lower level was rock bands and dancing - top level was LIVE simulated sex shows. Quite often those performers would walk downstairs to watch the bands during their show breaks.
Other than high heels bracelets & earrings they were always fully nude with silver or gold body paint from head to toe during working hours.. We'd make casual but awkward conversation with some of those gals during our own breaks and eventually got to know some of 'em during our engagement there.
Like most, I've got several memorable road stories of foolish and restless youth - more later perhaps.....