From Chad McDonald:

It’s 6:40 AM. We arrived in Baltimore last night at 10:30 pm after an 18 hour van ride back from Baton Rouge, LA. We drove straight back to Baltimore after the show, which I think is the reason I am now awake at 7 AM on a Saturday. Over night van rides always mess with my sleeping schedule.

The last few shows of the tour were fine. Birmingham, Alabama was one of the better shows of tour for us. A few guys came up to the merch table and said they had seen us play in a garage outside of Birmingham 4 years ago. I vividly remember that show because we kept getting shocked during our set because the garage’s power supply wasn’t properly grounded. It’s odd to think how different that tour 4 yearsago was from this one. Two completely different experiences in the punk touring spectrum - from house shows and art spaces to bar venues and music halls with a well known band.

I wrote this a few years ago in the summer of 2010 after returning from a 41 day tour that was mostly house shows and art spaces:
Tour is fun because of the uncertainty that goes along with it. Not knowing what the show will be like, what kind of people you’ll encounter or where the night will end is a liberating feeling that you don’t often get to experience. You have the slightest bit of control over your daily destiny and it is up to you and your band mates to figure out how you’re going to eat, where you’re going to sleep, who’s going to drive, etc.

If I were to write an end of tour round up right now it would go:
This tour was unlike any of our prior tours. Each day we had a scheduled arrival time, load in, sound check and set time. Uncertainty regarding the shows did not exist. We were never surprised by a broken PA system or a dilapidated punk house or no one showing up or not getting gas money at the end of the night. Everything just seemed to fall in to place, which is very unusual. We entered a new touring reality where punk time does not exist and everyone involved with the show is a professional. Shows start on time and run smoothly and at the end of the night the promoter pays you what you agreed on beforehand. The audience didn’t seem to like us very much, but some people said nice things after our set. We got a lot of blank stares and disinterested faces in the front row each night but eventually your skin thickens and you play harder.

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From Chad McDonald:

Day 8.  Our second day off on this tour.
Yesterday was Cinco De Mayo so we got our celebraish’ on.  We ate lunch at a Mexican Restaurant in Athens, Georgia called Taqueria El Sol De - I would recommend it, good green sauce.  The restaurant’s building was connected to a gas station and had previously been a waffle house.  A fine lineage for a mexican restaurant.  Had a few $3 dollar margaritas to start the Cinco celebraish’ off right.  After lunch we went to a Goodwill and bought some sombreros and breezy Hawaiian shirts.  Showed up to the venue over dressed for the occasion.  Feeling inspired by Dad Boner (@DadBoner on twitter) Zac and Mike went on the search for some Bud Light Margs to keep the celebration rolling all day long.  DadBoner’s twitter feed may be the most ingenious viral marketing campaign ever devised.  Just a theory.  Luckily a guy at the venue knew a liquor store that carried them - so that was the drink of choice for the rest of the night.  While it’s not the best Margarita I’ve ever had, it’s in a can so it gets some points for convenience.  Some guy waiting in line lamely bantered in spanish with me for a bit - aside from that interaction, the Cinco celebraish was contained within our band for the most part.

It’s strange how insular your reality becomes while you’re on tour.  You lose touch with the events happening outside of your band.  You live in a tour bubble.  That’s why getting drunk in the afternoon and dressing up like assholes on Cinco De Mayo becomes acceptable behavior.  When you’re together with a group of people for months at a time you develop a special kinship.  Ours seems to revolve around trying to get each other to laugh at farts and childish humor.  I guess that can become a slippery slope.  When will we reach the point where farts are no longer funny?  What will come after?  Who will be the first to poop their pants for a laugh?  You don’t want to become so self-involved to the point where you lose objectivity.  That’s how you become an asshole and end up making bad records.  Maybe that’s what happens to bands that completely morph into shit over the course of their career?  I don’t know, just spit balling here.

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Pianos Become The Teeth are out on a big tour this spring with Coheed And Cambria and Moving Mountains. The band will be doing a Road Blog for PropertyOfZack to keep fans updated from the Road, so check out the first update below and come back each week for more!

From Chad McDonald:

Hi, my name is Chad McDonald. I play guitar in a band from Baltimore, MD called Pianos Become the Teeth. We are currently on tour with Coheed and Cambria & Moving Mountains. Here’s a rambled tour journal. 

Day One. Today was hectic. wake up at 530 am. drive girlfriend to airport. picked up by mike at 730. at kyle’s by 8. mcdonald’s drive thru. iced coffee is shockingly sweet, undeniably gross. Caffeine mixed with little sleep puts me in a haze.  arrive at practice space. unpack the van, run the set, pack the van & drive to the show. 4 hours later - arrive, load in, wait, wait, wait & sound check. nervous energy for the first show. get on stage and play. no one throws food at us or boo’s. that’s a good sign. load out. Watch moving mountains play their set. eat free mexican food. Watch coheed. wait, wait wait. pack up merch. walk to the van. Dude across the street is blasting coheed from the back of his suv while fans stand in groups on the sidewalk waiting for them to exit. realize how surreal this situation is. back in the van. put on headphones and pass out. wake up two hours later at a super 8. 5 of us in one room. turn off the lights, lay down. someone has to pee, turn on the lights. see a cockroach scutter up the table. wake up, check out - complain about cock roach. no price break. They obviously get these complaints all the time and do not care. back in the van and onward we go.

Day 4. Sitting in the backseat of the van while Kyle drives us down to Mi-a-mi. Or actually, right outside of Miami - Pembroke Pines. Tour has been smooth so far. The two dates that we played with Coheed were surreal. Their fans are diehard. It’s a real pleasure to watch Coheed and Moving Mountains play each night. Three fans gave Kyle a huge birthday card that they had people sign at the show last night. Very sweet of them.

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