I realized that the last post titled Lansing MI wasn’t really about Lansing at all. haha! So I am going to hit up Lansing MI on this one.
Macs Bar in Lansing MI was a very cool venue. The staff was extremely nice and willing to help. When the bartender/manager saw us loading in the TVs, he asked if we wanted more for the live show. Apparently he uses some images during his band’s set as well. So he and I took a walk into the basement, and sure enough there was at least 8 more TVs. We had 4 already (3 for the crowd and 1 for Paul’s visual monitor), we only brought up another 4 TVs. But it made for 7 TVs in all towards the crowd, and quite a site on stage!
This was the 1st venue of the Tour where smoking was still allowed inside. It was quite a change for us because smoking hasn’t been allowed in New England bars/venues/restaurants for at least 5 yrs. And it really took a toll on me. By the time we went to go on I could really feel it in my chest. Looking back, I really should have spent more time outside. But one thing I am really big on is supporting the entire show, including all of the other acts/bands. But it made a mess of my voice for the rest of the tour. But that’s OK, we made it through and I would never cancel. I’ll just know better for next time!
One thing we all picked up on was the graciousness of all the venues. Bartenders, sound and door people, everyone throughout the tour was extremely nice to us. And some went way out of their way to accommodate us. We don’t see much of that in the New England area. But maybe that’s because we live here and we are so used to the bitterness people seem to have. I’m sure that is everywhere, but we were extremely happy to have such great responses.
The two opening acts were not really my thing, but the show was a blast and we had fun. The turn out was very small, but the people that were there really seemed to enjoy the noise. And we sold some more merch, which was great, then we headed out. Not sure exactly what time we left, but it was around 2am. Along the way we made our 1st stop at Denny’s, which was around 4am. Paul and I went in for some foodage, while Jim muttered something in his sleep like “flihd blblaa dddmaa”. Which we could only take as “go ahead, I’m staying here”. The restaurant was swarming with the local “goth” crowd. There must have been some local event because it was crazy the amount there were. I have been known to go a little nutty with stuff like that, but some of the getup was, well, way over the top. I’m sure there was at least more than one of them that were positive they were a vampire, or a zombie, or something. Just make sure you keep that separation of actual and make believe and you’ll be OK.
We arrived in Columbus, OH around 8am. My Aunt and Uncle were extremely nice and invited us to their place for some rest, showers and food. And rest we did! Besides showers we basically slept all day. One of the great things was when Jim woke up Paul so we could get ready for that night’s show.Â
JIM: “Paul, wake up, it’s 7 o’clock and we need to leave”.
PAUL: “7 in the morning or at night?”.
Yeah, it was official, we were on tour 🙂
Thank you for all of the support and more recaps will be along shortly!
Chris
www.StreakBand.net
