I’ve got a house, I don’t even live there.
One week on the road is nothing. It’s a vacation, fun time… an escape from home and the usual routines. Two weeks on the road is where exhaustion starts to settle in and road routines are developed. The nomadic lifestyle becomes the norm, you can’t really catch up on sleep ever, and you’re often a zombie right up until show time. This is when you really start missing home/loved ones/your own bed/etc. By three weeks in you’re simply ready to get back to that house you don’t even live in as soon as you can. Thankfully for us, this tour is only three weeks long and we’re already home, even if the tour isn’t over yet. I’ll explain.
The drive from Pittsburgh to Baltimore was relatively easy, and we arrived early enough to meet up with Kenny’s girlfriend Keri (who has family in Baltimore) and attempt to go bowling. Attempt, I say, because we couldn’t find a lane that had non-league bowling. But then we did find one, a rrreally old school self-score one. We bought shoes, went to the lane, and… tiny balls, tiny pins?! What the? It was duckpin bowling. Kind of like bowling with a bocce ball, or a heavy softball. The pins reacted very differently when struck, the ball was very tough to aim, and you got three rolls per frame. Odd game, that. We all gave it a shot though, and I believe Keri had the high score.
The show in Baltimore that night was at The Talking Head club, a perfectly sized little room with great sound. We were set to play third out of five bands, right before the excellent band Rosetta. In fact, all of the bands on the bill were pretty awesome. I’d say it was the best lineup of bands we’ve played with all tour. Sadly, the audience was there more for the stoner/sludge metal of the other bands than they were for the kind of stuff Goes Cube has to offer. The room was pretty full, but most people appeared nonplussed at our set. Regardless, we played very well and had a blast. Rosetta, on the other hand, had their guitars turned up so loud that you couldn’t even hear the drums, much less any hint of vocals. That was a bit disappointing, yet I still bought their album on vinyl. I’m a sucker for vinyl records.
That night we stayed with Keri’s folks (in a house!) and spent a good portion of the next day doing some work and relaxing before hitting the road for New Jersey. That’s right, New Jersey! Back home (almost)!
The original plan was for our three ladies (Keri, David’s wife, and my wife) to drive out to meet us at our show in Asbury Park, NJ and then for the six of us to head back to the city after the show. Sadly, my wife’s grandmother just recently passed away and she left New York earlier this week to attend the funeral and be with her family. Honestly, I can’t tell you how tough it has been on me to not be able to be with her and her family during all of this. To have her hurting so much, so sad, when I talk to her and to not be able to be there for her to comfort her and help celebrate the wonderful woman her grandmother was; all the while constantly trying to put on a show face each night to perform. It has been incredibly trying. In Chicago I was faced with an impossible choice to either cancel the entire tour or continue on and not be there during one of the toughest times in my wife’s life. I decided to continue on with the commitment I made to the band and any people/venues planning to have us play in their town, and I’ve been doing my best to be there for my wife via phone/text/email each and every moment she needs me. Thankfully, she’ll be back in New York in time for our homecoming show on Friday night in Brooklyn, and I can’t wait to see her.
Needless to say, my wife didn’t make it out to the show in New Jersey, but the other two Goes Cube ladies did. David and Kenny both couldn’t have been happier to see their girls, and I was happy for them. As planned, we played first (had one of our tightest sets yet) and then hit the road to get back home last night. I got back to my apartment at about midnight, and though it was empty, it still felt really great to be home. Got to sleep in my own bed, make my own coffee, and snuggle with my cat. In a few hours we will meetup in Brooklyn, climb in the van, and head out to our final out of town date in Connecticut. Then, tomorrow, it’s homecoming time for Goes Cube and the Tyson family. With all that’s been going on the past few weeks, it feels like I’ve been away for months.
I can really feel my dogs barkin’.
*if you haven’t yet, please listen to this song by the band Three Fortys who played with us in St. Louis. The song is unreal… “Feelings For You” by Three Fortys
