Tour Log #3: The Grind

A few shows ago we spent the night in the van as we took turns driving the eleven hours from Phoenix to Artesia, NM. One way or another, everything you do on tour will eventually lead to a sore back. Sleeping in the van when its moving is no exception. Head-banging, playing guitar, and sitting for a liberal amount of time are other causes for the "sore-back" affliction. If we decide to hire a tour manager again, my vote is for a massage therapist tour manager who also does front of house sound and lights. All this to say that the daily Grind has set in, and we're back on the move like it's the only thing we know.

I feel like we're living with a bit of a scarcity mindset. Since our lights and scrims were stolen we've stripped our live show down to bare bones, and I think sometimes it might look and feel a little weaker than usual. Maybe we're tired of playing old songs, maybe the crowds seem less enthused, not sure. Maybe I'm less enthused. One thing I do know is we haven't yet hit our stride with our live show this year. When you have to pick 10 songs from a list of 45 released it becomes hard to iron out transitions, picking where the new songs will go and which songs they will replace. In the last six shows we've chipped away, swapped, added and done away with songs in attempt to assemble our most current and fluid set list, so hopefully it's all uphill from here. We're cautiously optimistic that Texas will be our redemption, even in the aftermath of SXSW and the over-saturation of insinscenester garbage it brings. We like Texas, so we hope to put on a few good shows for them.