Tour: Part 2: The Return: This Time It's Personal (Part 1)

A year ago, we (Big Quinn and the Broken Hearts Band) went on tour. Shoe-string was a good word to describe that tour. Money was tight, gigs kept falling through, and we sat crammed in Chevy Tahoe for 6-15 hours straight every day.

This year we’ve headed out on tour again, a little wiser. The planning was better, the vehicle was slightly larger (a Ford Windstar with a luggage rack), and gas prices were way higher.

We had a CD release show on the 11th in Livingston. Turn-out was great and everyone seemed to have a damn good time (except for one very angry - and very drunk - old man). It was a fun way to kick-start a tour. (And, of course, Garret and his band were quite good themselves)

The next day we left Bozeman and headed for Missoula. As with the last few times we’ve gone out west, stopping at my parent’s house for the night always helps shorten the trip.

We had a leisurely start from Missoula and started driving for Ballard, WA (a suburb of Seattle). Anyone who’s driven through eastern Washington knows that this drive is not particularly entertaining. So, after a long drive, we found ourselves on the outskirts of Seattle calling other bands for directions. Naturally, the directions we got were bad and it took us nearly an hour and a half in Seattle rush-hour traffic to find our way up to the gig.

The show itself was in a record store, which seemed a strange place for a show. The Damage Done, a local band who were quite good, opened the show and we ended up closing. All in all it was a fun show in a strange place, although when one audience member requested a Rolling Stones song during our set and we gave him one (Dead Flowers), he quickly admitted that he didn’t actually know any Rolling Stones songs. After the show, we headed down to Rochester, WA to sleep and get ready for the next show.

Saturday night was a show at the Matrix Coffee House in Chehalis. We’d played there before, and I was excited to see the place again. It was a fun show (although I played rather poorly). Fortunately, Go Get The Scissors (the band we will be spending the next few weeks with), managed to save what had felt like a rather lackluster evening. Still, a good time was had, both during and after the show, and I had some delicious nachos.

Yesterday we spent the day at GGTS’ house in Rochester. There was laziness, Chinese food, a BBQ, a fire, and the Magnificent Seven to while away the time. Great day.

Today it feels like the tour actually starts. We’re headed to Bend, OR to play a show at a bar called Longshots. It should be a lot of fun.