Tour Blog: In The Lair Of The Huntress

Besides the vocal performance, of course I’ve come to learn a few other aspects of touring with a band fronted by Jill Janus. She ensures that the touring vehicle is clean at all times, and a week in, this is already the cleanest tour I’ve ever done in that sense. Wth the makeup she has to spend time on before every show, the availability of a dressing room/green room is much more imperative than it is for most all-male bands, but Jill is versatile and makes do even when there isn’t such a room at the venue. But the one thing I commend her most for is her interaction with fans. Jill and everyone else in the band is more than willing to meet fans, specially after the show, but Huntress definitely brings out some folks that wouldn’t leave Jill alone. The way she handles them and the amount of patience she has is incredible. The best example is the 18-year old kid after the gig in Springfield, Missouri starting a conversation with Jill by saying his favorite band is “vintage Avenged Sevenfold”. It was just Jill and I in the van at the time, I ducked down and pretended to be asleep as soon as I heard the words ‘M. Shadows”, but Jill talked to this dude for several minutes and took a picture with him. In other instances, Tyler and Eli in particular have shown tremendous patience with endlessly talkative folks too. I am fascinated at the prospect of coming across more such fanboys and seeing how Huntress handles them. Moving on from Springfield and before arriving at the hotel just out of town, we stopped at a Taco Bell and raked in a bill of nearly $50, which is no mean feat in itself, and there were no leftovers.

No leftovers
No leftovers

The last show of this headline run was at Fubar in St. Louis, Missouri. Upon reaching the destination, the first question that came to mind was, “Why have I been here five times in the past two years?” Again, zero promotion behind the event and no posters or flyers at all. The venue is totally fine in terms of layout, stage, lights and sound system, but based on my past tours through here with bands both big and small, it seems like nobody attends shows at Fubar, which is a pity. That said, there were some really dedicated Huntress fans at this one, and it wasn’t their fault that the place wasn’t packed, so of course Huntress gave them the full headline set. I’ve seen quite a few bands on tour that cut their set short for smaller crowds and half-ass it, but Huntress is not the kind to do that. Fubar is also notorious for bands’ touring vehicles getting broken into, but thankfully none of that sort happened to us. As soon as he stepped off the stage, Eric came to the merch table with a piece of Tyler’s broken cymbal. “10 bucks, we’ll all sign it”, he said to the dude hanging around the table, and sure enough, it was sold instantly. That’s just an example of what Eric Harris brings to the table, pure rock n’ roll spontaneity.

Huntress & September Mourning end-of-tour photo
Huntress & September Mourning end-of-tour photo

Day 7 (9/15): Jumping On The BandWagon

After the show in St. Louis, it was goodbye to September Mourning and an overnight drive to Bowling Green, Indiana where we would pick up the BandWagon bus. A Waffle House family dinner later, Tyler drove us through the night, and at 8 AM, the BandWagon office opened. While their staff transferred our trailer from the van to the back of the bus, we were asked to sit in a room full of comfortable reclining couches, and a two-hour BandWagon tutorial video was played on the TV screen. Three seconds in and I was asleep. This was the fastest I’ve ever fallen asleep, and I am glad to finally discover an instant sleeping pill. Jill was kind enough to send me a YouTube link to said tutorial for future reference (and insomnia remedies). At 11 AM, all was in readiness for us to move to the bus, and we left the van in this BandWagon compound, from where we’ll pick it up on our way back to California at the end of the tour. Touring in a bus is a luxury I’d never experienced prior to this, and I’m more than chuffed to call this thing home for the next six weeks.

Family time at Waffle House
Family time at Waffle House

Blake drove the bus to our first stop of the Trivium tour at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. Due to all the formalities and wait time involved with getting the bus in the morning, we were a couple of hours behind schedule, but still had plenty of time to load in, set up and soundcheck. Ohio has been very kind and warm to all the bands I’ve come with, and Huntress was no different as people not only arrived early to see them but clearly loved the set and spent good money at the merch table. The standout feature of Huntress in this lineup is their use of real amps and cabs, as opposed to the direct input methods, computers and pre-recorded samples/backing tracks applied by both Sabaton and Trivium. Attendees would certainly appreciate and recognize Huntress for this everywhere the tour goes, or at least that’s what I hope. Not that there’s anything wrong with D.I., and to each their own. The full headline set is obviously better, but I thought Huntress are nailing the song selection for the 30-minute set they’re getting on this run, representing all three albums in the set list and in the process compelling people to buy all of them at the merch table. Plus, the importance and luxury of traveling with your own sound guy cannot be stressed enough, and Luis is bringing the best out of Huntress every night. There were a lot of people at this show, more than what I’ve been used to seeing, and it was in every sense a successful first night of this big tour. Eric blasted ‘True Survivor’ from the Kung Fury soundtrack at maximum volume in the bus after the show, and listening to this song together signaled the real start of what’s going to be a fun-filled tour, as the Huntress bus is sure to be a full-on after-party zone.

Home
Home

Day 8 (9/16): Wally World

Next was Baltimore, Maryland, at the famous Baltimore Soundstage, another packed house and a great response to Huntress. Sabaton has had a bigger draw than Trivium so far, and they’ve undoubtedly had the busiest merch table as well, but it’ll be interesting to see whether that changes as we go along the tour. It was really great seeing my old tour mate of nine weeks Mr. John Gallagher of Raven in attendance here in Baltimore. After the show we went to a WalMart and I realized that doing so in a stoned state is both the best and worst idea ever. Now we’re on our way to Spartanburg, South Carolina for an off-date headline show of our own. Seeing a band night after night on a tour can go one of two ways, as in I may become a much bigger fan than I previously was (for example, my tours with Raven and Skull Fist), or I may end up hating the band completely (Anvil). Based on the first week of this tour, I can safely say I already love Huntress far more than I ever did, and my rekindled respect and appreciation for them will most likely grow further as the tour progresses. As for Trivium and Sabaton, I’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned for many more stories from the lair of the Huntress!

Update: Read Part 2 here.

Tyler - blazed and blazing through WalMart
Tyler – blazed and blazing through WalMart

Dates Completed:
09/09/2016 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater ^
09/10/2016 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Dive Bar ^
09/11/2016 – Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater ^
09/13/2016 – Springfield, MO @ Front Of House Lounge ^
09/14/2016 – St. Louis, MO @ Fubar ^
09/15/2016 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall $
09/16/2016 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage $

Remaining Dates:
09/17/2016 – Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero ^
09/19/2016 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade $
09/20/2016 – Little Rock, AR @ Clear Channel Metroplex Event Center $
09/22/2016 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall $
09/23/2016 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater $
09/24/2016 – San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater (Ozzfest) #
09/27/2016 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex $
09/29/2016 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium $
09/30/2016 – Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights $
10/01/2016 – Braidwood, IL @ Top Fuel Saloon ^
10/03/2016 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live $
10/07/2016 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar $
10/08/2016 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom $
10/10/2016 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE $
10/11/2016 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza $
10/14/2016 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium & DCU Center (Rock & Shock Festival) %
10/15/2016 – Binghamton, NY @ Magic City Music Hall $
10/17/2016 – Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm $
10/18/2016 – Tampa, FL @ State Theater $
10/19/2016 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live $
10/21/2016 – Orlando, FL @ House of Blues $

^ = Huntress headlining dates
$ = Trivium, Sabaton & Huntress
# = Huntress festival appearance
% = Trivium + Huntress festival appearance

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