Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday October 14, 2017 - Lawrence, KS

Road Blog – Lawrence, KS
Saturday October 14, 2017

We started yesterday with some record shopping around the Westport District of Kansas City. Mill Street Records is a great store with super friendly people, and they're also carrying our new album "Don't Worry, It's Not Contagious" now! We each walked out with some new wax. Gabe took the wheel and we made the drive 40 minutes west to Lawrence, Kansas. We stopped in Lawrence about 4 years back to the day, in the middle of the night, for 3 hours of crappy sleep at a Super 8 on an overnight haul we were doing between St. Louis and Fort Collins, Colorado, so none of us has really seen the city before. We stopped at a record store called Love Garden Sounds, which had a great selection of new and used records and I found a couple gems in the racks. We hit a guitar store and then checked in to our hotel, which was on the south side of town.

Gabe and I went to a nearby Taco John's's for lunch. People east of Wisconsin might not know about Taco John's, but it's sort of like Taco Bell's troubled little brother. I got the street tacos and it was enough to take the edge off for a couple hours while we chilled at the hotel. Apparently there's a dog show in town, so there's perfect little mutts with their owners all over the pace.

Pat and I spent some time trying to figure out what was going on with the show that night. It had been somewhat of a debacle from the start with poor communication from the venue and a lot of confusion between the bands on what exactly the logistics were. It may not seem like a big deal, but it's very unsettling to drive across the country without knowing what exactly you're getting into. We didn't know the lineup, the times, the money situation, any information that we always have up front before a show. We'd done some promotion, with an article in the Kansan, the KU student newspaper, and sent posters, but our name wasn't on the venue website or even any of the social media postings about the show. We had a bad feeling, but eventually got a hold of The Ephinjis, who are a Colorado band that initially booked the night before we were added. They were as frustrated as we were but had a little more information, so we had no choice but to roll with it.

We loaded in early. Jackpot Music Hall is a cool room – long, with a stage in the back, some booths along the side, and a pool table up front by the bar. It is a bigger place, sort of cavernous, but a good rock and roll vibe. We talked to the Ephinjis a bit, then Brody, the manager who we'd met the night before in Kansas City. Logistics were finally in place, and we set off for some dinner. We got some good salads next door, and were feeling a little better about things, but it was pouring rain outside, and that wasn't helping our other concerns about the show. Afterwards we walked around the downtown area and stopped into a couple shops before the boys went back to the bar and I went to the van to change my shirt and call home.

After another hour or so, a glass of good rye whiskey, and a game of darts, it was finally showtime. The Ephinjis went on first, then Lower Ranks, then us. We played ok to a thin but appreciate crowd. I broke a string in our middle section so we cut our set two songs short. After us, 88er played, and by the end of the night it was pretty empty. We settled out (big thanks to all the bands for helping us out with that!) and headed back to the hotel where we crashed for about 4 hours.

It wasn't a great night, especially for a Saturday, which are supposed to be the best nights. We gotta lick our wounds, climb back into the van, and drive to Dallas, Texas today.

See you tonight at Adair's Saloon for 3 sets, starting at 8PM!