The day starts off fine as we gas up and take the “legitimate” way out of Prescott and not the back-asswards way we came in the day before. Most of it is downhill and we come across a fancy-schmancy shopping center and decide to stop for some eats. Hellfiend, Thorgrimm, and I opt for some Mexican fast food (though Hellfiend and I eat salads so as to keep our trim and lithe figures) while Abominator and Bodybag head for Subway. The highlights of this place are the bathrooms though. Immaculate with not only individual stalls for pooping, but they are almost like small rooms with no spaces underneath where you can see other peoples feet or hear the sounds of straining and grunting as someone tries to pass a big brown football out of their ass. We all partook of this last bit of luxury before hitting the real open road.
The trip to Austin, Texas is a long drive and mostly through the sweltering heat of the Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas deserts. By the time we hit Texas, it is night which alleviates some of the discomfort of the heat. But it was brutal. The SUV would constantly heat up and once it went past a certain point on the temperature gauge, the windows would roll down and the heater turned on. We stopped at this gas station in the middle of the desert and we all bought ice cream, slushies, cold water, whatever and didn’t bother eating or drinking, we just shoved them down our pants. Heaven!
I take over the last bit of driving as we head toward Austin to our friends Haily and Jayson’s house. They live about 10 minutes away from the venue and they welcome us with open arms (luckily)! We’re all tired and cranky from driving for about 24 hours straight and everyone starts to pull their bags out of the stuffed trailer. Thorgrimm notices one of the tires on the SUV has a deep gash in it. As the rest of the guys head in to catch up on some sleep, Thorgrimm and I realize there won’t be any of that for us yet. The bitch about it is that this is a brand new tire. Jayson tags along with us and points us to a tire place nearby and we spend $200 for a brand new one. Fuckin-A. Luckily it doesn’t take too long and we get back to the house in time for Thorgrimm to crash out for a bit.
I stay up and chit-chat with Haily and we eat like a dozen mini-oranges between us. I guess I needed a significant boost in my vitamin C intake. They bbq a shit ton of ribs and sausages and Haily makes this BADASS potato salad in which I shovel down my gullet. Unfortunately time is short and we all get ready to head to the venue, aptly titled “Beerland” in downtown Austin.
We get there a bit too early as the place isn’t even open yet. Usually that isn’t a problem but Austin has to be a sweltering 90-something degrees and the humidity is 100%. As soon as we step out of the SUV, we all immediately begin sweating. Holy shit, you can cut the air with a knife because of the humidity! Shane from the grind band Phobia shows up and we all start shooting the shit. Not knowing when the place will open, Hellfiend, Bodybag, Shane, and I take off to try and visit some bars in the area. We don’t get far as it looks like Beerland is opening up for business so we head back and get to work.
Beer tickets are handed out and Hellfiend, Bodybag, and I start drinking. I haven’t had Lone Star in a while so I grab some bottles and down them. Cold beer on a hot day rules.
People start showing up and filing into the venue. Overall the attendance on a non-weekend night looks promising. We meet old and new friends. Tom (from Nokturnal) and Eloisa show up who are great friends of ours. When Gravehill was out in Texas doing a short mini-tour with Hod, they came to every show! Haily and Jayson show up as well. We all take a bunch of goofy pictures with each other and of course I look like the biggest creep in all of them. I hate getting my picture taken. It’s one of the reasons I wear a helmet on stage. Another is that I’m fugly.
Birth A.D. hit the stage first and though the music is more punk/metal, they fit in well and sounded great. Plus they were funny mofos which upped them in coolness points.
Cardiac took the stage next and near the end, their bassist Dave gets his hair caught in the guitarist Tom’s axe. They have to finish out their set next to each other and it is hilarious to watch! They take it in good stride and pull off a memorable performance.
The decision was made to have Hod headline this show (and several others) since this is pretty much their territory and most people would hang out for them so Gravehill takes the stage after Cardiac.
The night goes well until it is time to pack up and leave. The original plan was to head back to Haily and Jayson’s pad, crash for a few hours, and then take off to Kansas City. Then we decided it was probably best just to get on the road. We can’t make up our mind.
Dennis from Hod, Tom from Cardiac, myself, Thorgrimm and a few others try to load up the trailer. But a chink has been thrown into the mix. Hod decided to hire a full-time driver to be behind the wheel of the van. While in theory, this isn’t a bad idea, in practice it is a fail. The trailer is full, the SUV is full, and van is full. There is no space for any extra baggage or people. So as we are packing the trailer, extra gear shows up that wasn’t in the trailer before. There just isn’t any room. Dennis gets pissed because shit just isn’t fitting right and he finally breaks and leaves the trailer packing to a few of us. I don’t blame him though. The space situation was already an issue from day one so I am exasperated by it as well. Small arguments erupt from various band members and there’s some shit-talking. Not the joking around kind of shit-talking either.
I start to see the cracks in the camaraderie I thought we all had. I tell Abominator this in private and realize one of my worst fears was coming true. The tour we had all worked and spent a shit-load of resources on was faltering.
Gravehill decides to leave the venue after the trailer is stuffed (we can barely get the door closed) and the SUV is packed to the gills. We tell Hod and Cardiac that we’ll see them in Kansas City and take off back to Haily and Jayson’s to shower up, catch a few winks, eat, and be on our merry way.
Several calls come through on Thorgrimm’s cell and Abominator’s. I don’t know the content of these conversations but I only watch as Hellfiend grabs one of the phones and talks to one person and Thorgrimm talks to another at the same time in different rooms. Bodybag, Abominator, and I try to keep things light with Haily and Jayson because we don’t want them to be involved at all with our drama so we snack and wait
.
Thorgrimm comes into the kitchen to tell us that Hod is dropping off the tour and I’m shocked. I thought, or I hoped, that whatever was happening would just smooth over and we would all be on our way to Kansas City.
Up to this point in the tour, our pay for shows was mediocre at best. Some, like Prescott, didn’t even pay enough for gas to the next gig. What money we made from merch sales went into gas tanks or food in our stomachs. There was never any money left over and apparently Hod really felt the bite. The catalyst (in my eyes at least) was the space issue and that just boiled over into the realization that financially, Hod just could not continue.
You see folks, promises of getting paid and actually getting paid are two different things. If there’s nothing in writing, no booking agent involved, etc... you kind of just have to eat the loss. Sure, you can threaten the promoter with violence, but where would that leave you? With a hundred bucks in your pocket (if you’re lucky) and a guarantee you would never play that venue again. It’s a finicky world of politics, business, and last of all music wrapped up into one. It’s fucking tough.
So Hod is gone. Gravehill heads back to the venue and we all unload gear in front of Beerland at 4:00 AM in the morning. It’s awkward. I can tell there’s bad blood already between some members of Hod and Gravehill. I get it. Words have been exchanged, egos bruised, accusations made, blah blah blah. But I will genuinely miss having the guys on the road with us. Hod is a powerhouse of killer, Texas-style, blackened-death metal and I always enjoyed watching them play. I wish them nothing but success.
There is a decision to be made though. Cancel the rest of the tour or continue on? Cardiac Arrest steps up to the plate. Between us and Chicago, there is one show and that is Kansas City, Missouri. If we can use a local backline in Kansas City, once we hit Chicago, Cardiac will pull their gear out of storage and we can finish the tour with their equipment. That fucking rocks! There is no way I want to go home and I’m ecstatic that the tour can continue. Logistically, there are problems with finishing all of the tour dates but we can figure that out later once we hit Chicago. But for now, the tour is back on track!
Cardiac and Gravehill head back to Haily and Jayson’s house, shower, nap (maybe an hour or two), eat, and haul ass out of Texas in the morning. I just want to say thank you so much Haily and Jayson for your hospitality and letting us crash at your pad! You guys rule so much. I hope it wasn’t too traumatic for you!
For every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. With Hod now gone, the trailer and van are significantly much lighter. Abominator hitches a ride with the Cardiac guys while the rest of us chill in the SUV. The room is a luxury and soothes some of the tension of the past couple of days. Kansas City would be a fresh start...if we can get there on time...
