Tour Blog: Villains On The Road – Part 1

By Art Daniels

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… And we’re back! How have you been? Did you miss us? If the answer is no, that’s OK. So where did we leave off? Oh yeah, I was in Kentucky waiting for a ride. Well, a lot has happened between then and now. Future Villains played a bunch of shows in LA, maybe you read some reviews on this website. Also there was a quickie tour to Mexico that wasn’t too spectacular. And as you may recall, we tossed the rhythm guitarist off the last big tour we were on and he has been replaced with Ronnie Simmons. Ronnie as most recently been on tour with The Raskins, who were the opening band for the Final Motley Crue tour. We are very confident that Ronnie will behave a lot better than the last guy. Until we meet up with Steel Panther in Maine in seven days, we have some solo shows of our own. Let’s get started!

Los Angeles, CA

So we were loading up at the Villain’s Lair, somewhere in the Valley. All systems go… except for our trailer lights, which have crapped the bed. This seems to be an ongoing problem no matter what tour van or bus I get on to. It’s either that or the tires. I guess it’s better it happened here rather than somewhere out on the road. Life on the road is unpredictable at best. After a few hours of trying to fix the lights, we replaced them and went on our way. We finally got on the road, but made the mistake of feeling good about ourselves and the fucking trailer bounced off the back of the RV. Have you ever gotten out of your vehicle on a major highway and reattached a trailer to it? It shouldn’t be high on the list of things you want to do with your day. It wasn’t too bad as the trailer jack saved it from actually hitting the ground. It won’t save us from that if it happens again because it was sheared clean off. Good times.

imageLas Vegas, NV

So after all the trouble with the trailer, we roll into Vegas very late, which was actually cool, because this is a place I wouldn’t want to spend too much time in. The venue is called The Dive Bar and let me tell you, it lives up to its name. I hate to talk about people’s style (because I have almost none) and wardrobe but let’s just say it was the late 1990s/early 2000s in this bar. More than a few people looked like they were going to try out for Linkin Park the next day. This just isn’t my scene. The boys did, however put on a great first show and a good time was had by all.

Salt Lake City, UT

After an overnight drive and a few hours of sleep in a Wal Mart parking lot, we woke up to find something that we don’t see often. Snow. There wasn’t a lot but it was coming down pretty good. I remember snow from growing up but I’m not used to seeing it in May. SLC is a cold place.

The venue was pretty good, a biker bar called The Barbary Coast. The bands surrounding us were all very metal (which happens a lot to us) but the crowd was good and the entire place rocked out. The people were very friendly and a woman even gave me pistachioes and beef jerky. This is not something I am used to. We got extremely drunk and slept in the parking lot.

imageLittleton, CO

One thing I have learned to appreciate after going on tour all these years is strip mall venues. This one was the cream of the crop, it had a huge stage and great sightlines. We set up and then… nothing. The first band had almost no draw and we had very few people show up. I’m glad there were a bunch of regulars there and once the guys started playing everybody that was there rocked out. Kenny announced that if somebody put five dollars in the tip jar, he would play a song with no pants on. A woman literally empied her wallet into the jar and Kenny played a song without pants. That’s a good time!

Wichita, KS

After a quick jaunt across Kansas (God kill me, it’s so boring) we arrived at the Lizards Lounge. We were pleasantly surprised to find out we had a great crowd waiting for us. Apparently we made quite a good impression from last year when we came through with Panther. After a quick set up, the boys put on quite a good show and the whole bar sang along with the songs. That was heart warming.

Also at that show, I got to do something that I had never done before. A string on Clay’s guitar broke and I got to step in and change it. It was pretty exhillarating to be able to do that so the show could go on. I was pretty proud on myself for not totally not screwing that up.

We celebrated a good show by getting hammered in the RV behind the bar and told some wild, locker room type stories. I know a bit too much about some people in the band now, but it was awesome.

imageOff Day in Altoona, IA

We have very few days off, so any time we have to not drive somewhere is always much appreciated. We didn’t quite know where we were going to end up so we played it by ear and ended up at an RV park attached to a theme park. It was pretty awesome, we were next door to a casino and across the street from a badass BBQ joint. I want to make this very clear… I don’t like to spend a lot of money on anything on the road but when I’m somewhere in the midwest and there’s BBQ involved, all bets are off.

After settling in and relaxing for a bit, the group split up. Myself, Dusty, David and Kenny went to get BBQ and Clay and Ronnie hit the casino. The BBQ place was amazing and we hit up the casino afterward. After losing $20 I ran out of the place. No need to lose all my money in a casino in the middle of America when I have Vegas about four hours from where I live.

Clay stumbled in drunk at 3 in the morning and fell right on top of me while I was sleeping. I’m sure some other people might feel differently but that’s not how I like my night to go.

Chicago, IL

What goes on in Chicago that makes drivers even angrier than the drivers in Los Angeles? The cold weather? Being Cubs fans? Not being NYC or LA? Anyway, we played The Live Wire lounge and it was a great spot. It had karaoke after the show and there were plenty of people that weren’t necessarily there for the band. That was cool though because that’s just more people to convert into fans. That’s pretty much what happened, as we had more than a few people hit up the booth with cash in hand.

On to Maine/Steel Panther

So after a quick 20-plus hour drive, that brings us up to speed and completes the first leg of the tour. We will now be meeting up with Steel Panther for five shows over the next 10 days. The madness awaits …

Update: Read Part 2

imageRemaining Tour Dates:
05/15 – Portland ME USA – Maine State Pier (w/ Steel Panther)
05/16 – Hampton Beach NH USA – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom – w/ Steel Panther
05/17 – Montreal QC Canada – Metropolis
05/20 – Toronto ON Canada – Bovine Sex Club
05/21 – Hamilton ON Canada – This Ain’t Hollywood
05/22 – Toronto ON Canada – Sound Academy (w/ Steel Panther)
05/23 – Cleveland USA – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica (w/ Steel Panther)
05/24 – Louisville USA – Diamond Pub Concert Hall

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