July 22nd, 2009
I’m ready to get out of this hotel. Sometimes we just wear these places out and start feeling like it’s some sort of dirty time warp sucking you in deeper, the longer you stay. It’s a cool hotel, Holiday Inn, and a decent location downtown LA, and clean, but after a while any hotel starts to feel like the walls are closing in. Somehow the climate in hotel rooms never reaches a comfortable temperature for me. It’s always too hot or too cold and this room is no exception. Our van call is is 2pm and we all meet downstairs. We take off on the highway towards San Diego or more specifically, Solana Beach, where the venue is located close by. As we are on our way, all of a sudden we hear a huge pop, thump, and a rumble in the back of our van. Timmy swings across two lanes over to the right onto the shoulder of the highway. Our tire popped and shredded so we are stuck.
Timmy gets underneath the van and unlatches the spare to find out that the spare has a hole in it as well and is also flat! What-the-fuck?! So basically we were riding on the spare the whole time and it was never replaced by whoever used this van last. Very considerate. We call AAA and wait for them to come. During this time we are twittering what is happening and where we are. After a little while a car pulls up in front of us. One person gets out and walks up to the window and asks if we need any help. It is a fan who caught our tweets. By that time Todd left with the AAA dude to get the new tire so we didn’t need a ride anywhere or anything like that so we said no and thanked him for stopping. It was really good to know that our fans are good people who are willing to bail us out of a jam. About 15 minutes later a black beemer pulls up in front of us and a girl comes walking up. She is another fan checking up on us. At this point we have realized how powerful twitter really is. Todd gets back with the tire within 5 minutes of this happening and we thank her as well and send her on her way and she says she’ll be at the show. The AAA guy fixes it and we’re off. We pull up to the Belly Up and I remember playing here with Aesop a little less than a year ago. Something about San Diego makes me feel good. It’s beautiful here and maybe the most beautiful place in the United States that I have ever been to. The beach is right down the block from the venue and I headed there on foot with the camera in hand. It’s a perfect evening at the beach and there are still people in the water. I chill for a second, take it in and return to the venue. It’s approaching showtime and for some reason I don’t feel well. I have a lingering cough from when I was sick and it’s annoying. I pushed through the set and the thin crowd was appreciative, nonetheless. Some days on tour are more rough than others and some shows are better than others. It’s the nature of the beast. Somehow we always bounce back. I love San Diego. It’s a special place. After the show we hit the hotel. There is a Denny‘s right next to it so Todd, Cage, and I decide to eat some unhealthy food before bed.
Todd and thaty damn beach! AAA and you have a great relationship..