"Seven men, hundreds of pounds of gear, and two gigantic pieces of machinery." The Silent Comedy set out from San Diego on a two week, west coast tour with Mississippi Man. This tour's strategy of hitting smaller markets paid off in new fans, cocktail recipes and a load of great images and stories.
Josh: Injuries are bound to happen on tour, and this one was no exception. In fact, the cuts, scuffles, and general rowdiness of this trip led to it being coined, Blood and Bruises Tour. Dave (Mississippi Man) models the wound received on the second night at La Cave in Orange County. Details are foggy, but a broken bottle was involved.
Jeremiah: We had played Orange County the night before and left right after the show to drive to Monterrey. It took longer than expected with the trailer and the mountains so around ten AM I found parking by the venue and pulled the bunk down in the trailer for some much needed rest.
Justin: …and little did he know, in a small venue in Monteray, he would find his people. (Actually, it was a mustache party in our honor. Almost as epic.)
Ian: Sometimes you need jumper cables. Sometimes you just have to sit in the front seat of the van for six hours before the show, visually tapping a tee ball bat into the palm of your hand toward the would be break-in-the-van, gear-stealing, crack heads creeping in the alley next the bar. You play a show– an awesome show- at The Hemlock– and you meet a dude named Hawk, who loved the show, and parked right in front of the van. Thanks for the jump Hawk.
Josh: There’s no better time to handle business than the middle of an all night drive from San Francisco to Portland. This is what the “navigator seat” of the van usually looks like when I am filling it. Despite the obvious challenges of drunkenly trying to count money at four a.m. in a dark van, it works out pretty well.
Justin: Chad trying his damnedest to teach me how to whistle. This image could have been from anytime during the last half of the trip, I still can’t do it.
Ian: When life gives you Corvallis, Oregon on a Wednesday night, well you make…well, you make it happen. Who knew, but Corvallis, better known as the home of Oregon State University, also has a thriving barely legal ladies/western night bar scene. Here are our two favorite ladies making a little square dance happen.
Ian: There are some shady ladies in Sacramendy…well only one that we remembered. After our show at Old Ironsides we walked over to Sacramento’s finest cocktail lounge, The Shady Lady. We pretty much stepped into a private party in the Great Gatsby. Live jazz and perfect vintage craft cocktails like Horse’s Neck, Blood and Sand, and Manhattans for miles and you know we’ll be back to find out the rest of what they have. I should just copy and paste this to Yelp. Whatever.
Jeremiah: We were almost to Bakersfield and thought we’d hit something on the road. Then Justin said it looked like sparks were coming from the one side of the trailer. It turned out we narrowly avoided a blowout on one for the trailer tires. We got out the spare, fixed it up quick, and were on our way (feeling manly and what not)….
Jeremiah: Joe spent drive time tempting motion sickness by watching DVDs on his laptop. I think Big Bang Theory just took an unexpectedly surprising turn….
Josh: Occasionally the mind-numbing hours spent on the road pay off with a little piece of absurdity like this one. It’s as if the gods of experimental flight and recreational vehicles conspired together on a visual gift for weary travelers.
Josh: I have been known to enjoy myself a good late night adventure. Whether it’s reigning havoc on the sleepy village of Alpine after the SDMAs, or climbing this railroad crossing signal in Sacramento, I can often be found roaming the streets of whatever town we find ourselves in.
Josh: Oh the wonders that Bakersfield doth hold… This collection of goodies was one of the classiest décor touches we could find at local watering hole, The Mint. Good call on the double padlocks, boys. You wouldn’t want the unwashed masses to raid the stash.
(Note: if you’re having trouble reading the advert on the far right, it reads “AT LAST! INSTANT PUSSY! Not intended to replace the real thing)
Josh: Bakersfield actually turned out to be one of the best surprises of the tour. What looked to be an unfriendly crowd at the beginning of the night morphed into an unruly mob of beer-chugging ruffians in the end… Which was a very good thing. We gathered a few of our new friends for a group photo to celebrate the transformation.
Josh: After a certain number of days on the road, Justin’s ‘stache is in need of some serious maintenance. With a little help from some handy tools, and the trailer mirror, he manages just fine. Considering that the ‘stache is the most recognizable member of the band, we spare no expense to ensure that it is properly maintained.
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Check out the Photo Gallery for the rest of the tour pics, including a photo by photo guide on how to score digits in Corvallis, Oregon.