Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday June 22, 2017 - Dayton, OH

Road Blog
Dayton, Ohio – June 22nd 2017

We had an uneventful 3 ½ hour drive down I-75 to Dayton, Ohio yesterday afternoon and checked into our hotel around 7pm. We're staying at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Dayton South I-675, and it's a fine establishment – clean, friendly and safe. We're fortunate to stay in some nicer places on these recent runs and it's a better situation all around – better for sleep, morale, van-security. We have a big room with two beds off to the side and a pull out couch so we can all spread out and have some space. We had a little time before load in so we headed over to a nearby Goodwill where I bought a bathing suit (this hotel has an awesome pool and I forgot mine) and cool new shirt for about $8.

Blind Bob's Bar is one of our favorite venues, and it can't be beat for a Thursday night show. It's in the Oregon District of Dayton, which is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It's got brick streets, restaurants, bars, record stores, sex shops and tattoo parlors. We feel right at home there. First thing as I walked in was a warm greeting from my good pal Tyler who is a bartender there. He's a big dude with a big heart and it's always great to see him. We said hello and he told me he was all stocked up on pickle juice. That's the thing here, for me at least – the Tommy Gun - Jameson's shots with a pickle juice chaser. Tyler turned me onto those the first time we played here and it's become a tradition that doesn't always end well, but it's always a hell of a lot of fun. Next person I saw was our pal Scott from Canton, Ohio. We met Scott on tour last year in Canton and he made the 200 mile drive to come see us in Dayton, which blows me away. He's trying to see 150 shows in 1 year and he's about 40 shows in (since April). It's all a little fuzzy this morning, about his mission, but he's a great dude and it was awesome of him to make the trip. We loaded in, said hi to the other bands, and ordered beers and food.

Our van is in the shop so we're downsized to an SUV for this run. We're sharing drums and bass cabs with the other bands we're playing with to save room, so last night we used 3 Piece Suit's (the openers) bass cab and ThunderTaker (headliners) drums. Both bands are made up of super nice dudes and it was shaping up to be a fun night. 3 Piece Suit went on around 9:30 as I did my first Tommy Gun. They're a great indie-pop-rock band with an organ, guitar and drums, super great songs, and upbeat arrangements. We've played with them before at Blind Bob's, and it was great to see them again. We played second to a good room of people and had a great time. We had some people out who've seen us there before and the room was rocking. Half the set is new songs and they're coming together nicely. ThunderTaker closed out the night. They're a harder rockin' outfit with a singer out front who was belting out the lyrics like nobody's business and everyone behind her was killing it. They had a great turnout and played a great set, closing with a Soundgarden and then a Darkness cover. I did another Tommy Gun with Tyler, sold a bunch of merch, said our goodbyes and loaded out. It was a great night.

This morning we woke to pouring rain and flood warnings, but we enjoyed the breakfast buffet. Patty and I hit the pool and the Jacuzzi, which was an awesome way to burn off a mid-grade hangover, and we're now getting ready to hit the road towards Kentucky. Dayton and Blind Bob's was great last night – huge thanks to everyone who came out, both of the other bands, and the awesome people at Bob's for the hospitality! We love this city and that club and can't wait to come back!

Tonight we're playing in Lexington, KY at The Burl. It's an early show – doors at 5:30, music at 6:30, and the great Lexington band Paper Bridges is opening. Lexington has always been a fantastic city for us – we can't wait to see everyone again!!!!!