On the Road: As tour nears end, band feels lucky
By Jon Busdeker on Jul. 05, 2007
We’re nearing the end of the road and as our journey winds to a close I can’t help but feel extremely lucky. Since our last update we have played in Trenton, N.J. (and survived), Manchester, Conn., and Voorhees, N.J. Monday was our only day off and we spent it in Ocean City, N.J. at the beach.
Tuesday we played at the Pussycat Lounge in New York City in the financial district. The road has taken its toll on our bodies and minds, but after our day off we were pumped to play and who wouldn’t be excited to play in the Big Apple? The show was fantastic; two friends from Lynchburg College who moved to New York to pursue acting came to our concert and it was refreshing to see familiar faces other than those of the seven of us on tour.
Wednesday we played at a private Fourth of July party in Worcester, Mass., with a band I met on my last East Coast tour named Trebek.
This tour is becoming somewhat of a blur as we continue our trek up north. Sometimes I forget which city we are in. Steve Goldberg and his Arch Enemies have unofficially dubbed this the “Cheesy Western Tour” after sampling the Lynchburg delicacy. It is difficult to stay healthy on the road and keep costs down; practically everywhere we go we receive free beer, but rarely healthy food if they even give us any food at all.
It is also difficult to be with six other people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but once you get on stage and begin playing music, all of the stress and tension associated with this tour immediately washes away. The most notable non-musical tour moment would have to be spinning out on I-95 as the driver in front of us slammed on his brakes — talk about an adrenaline rush — I-95 is one of the busiest interstates in America and that day was no exception.
Other than the very minimal obstacles, this entire touring experience has been very smooth and has gone better than I had ever dreamed it could.
We will wrap up this last week performing in Worcester, Mass.; Albany, N.Y.; Southbridge, Mass.; and Brattleboro, Vt. We couldn’t have done it without the help of many people — whether it was Lynchburg Music letting us use their equipment, or just someone letting us crash on their floor — everyone we know has encouraged and supported us.
We would be doing this even if we made no money; we do it because we love it. Its not an easy lifestyle to maintain and it can be risky, but I’d rather fail than live with regret. If you want something like this you have to go out and get it, you must claim it as your own and live it.
I often find myself asking “Who does this?” or “How did I get here?” and I always feel extremely lucky.
By Michael Chagnon, The Burg/evinquiries@yahoo.com.
Lynchburg musician Chagnon and his band ciao roma are touring the East Coast with Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies from Pennsylvania. Chagnon is sending notes from the tour to The Burg. To read more, go to http://www.the-burg.com.
To see where ciao roma and Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies will be stopping along their tour, or to find out more about their music, check out http://www.ciaoroma.cc and http://www.stevegoldbergmusic.com.
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