Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday June 11, 2015 - Dayton, OH

Tour Blog – Dayton
June 11, 2015

We left The Detroit area a little after 4pm and hit the Ohio line and Toledo before 5pm. It seems like the whole USA is under construction…but we made it to Dayton in good time. We usually play Blind Bob’s in Dayton and this was our first show at a new venue – The South Park Tavern. It’s primarily a pizza joint, in a house-like building on a strip just west of downtown. We were fed some great pizza and served some fine local beers by the super friendly dreadlocked waitress. We went with ham, sausage, spinach and banana peppers if you’re keeping score.

After dinner I stepped outside to take a walk, as I am prone to do before a show. Helps to get away from my annoying bandmates for a few minutes (I kid, of course), walk off some pizza and get a feel for the lay of the land. The neighborhood (South Park) was pretty cool – local pizzerias, coffee shops, antique stores and a tattoo parlor, next to which is where I met one of the locals – an adolescent ring-tailed, masked bandit. He wasn’t too shy at all – as curious about me as I was about him. He would later be dubbed Travis by the above mentioned dreadlocked waitress.

Before long it was load in and set up. Kinda cool to use a power strip that apparently belonged to one of the Deal twins, who have played there several times, branded with "Breeders" in black Sharpie There was a decent crowd, mostly affixed to the TV where the Cavs were getting their asses handed to them by the Warriors. This didn’t help the mood of the locals, but Patty and I were quietly enjoying seeing the beat down. The SPT doesn’t serve liquor, just beer, so we snuck out to the truck for a quick shot of Buffalo Trace before the set. When we started playing their attention was diverted and most of the people seemed to appreciate the distraction. Heads were bobbing and they were very appreciative. We took a short break (conveniently timed to halftime of the game) and did a few more tunes before calling it a night. We got a lot of great feedback after the show and sold more merch than we usually do, so we were pretty happy about that.

We were loaded out and beers empty by 12:30am and we hit the road again. 5 hours in Dayton was a quick stop, but a good time and a good show. We had to get a couple hours of driving in because we have to be in Nashville this morning at 11am for a noon set. We hit Cincinnati by 1:30 and were in our shared hotel room by 3am. 4 hours of shitty sleep, some shitty hotel lobby breakfast, and we’re just east of Louisville now, headin’ to Nashville where we’re making our second appearance at the CMA Festival. It’s gonna be interesting, We’re not exactly the fare that CMA fans tend to expect…but last time it was a hoot so we’re optimistic. We’re playing at noon at Tootsie’s then at 8pm at Rippy’s (across the street). More adventures to report tomorrow.