Slam Tour Diary: July 2, 1990-St. Louis

I haven’t mentioned our remaining crew members enough and they deserve major credit for keeping us sane on the homestretch of the tour. Jim Vincent, our roadie, we met from the rock scene back home. He was a drummer in one of the versions of Salem 66 and a long-time participant in our Sunday morning softball games. When he expressed interest in joining us on tour, we were surprised. The Salems had recently broken up (had they?) and maybe he just wanted to get out on the road again. Whatever the reason, we were lucky to have someone who knew guitars and drums and could get along with everyone in the band. He was quiet most of the time but exuded a positive attitude and didn’t let the tsuris in the band get to him the way that Nic and Woody had. On previous tours, we had done much of our own crew work, but Jim wouldn’t let us touch a thing. He set up for soundcheck, moved the gear for the openers, and set the stage back up for our set. It was so nice to just walk on stage at night and have everything perfect. We should have made him a medal for making it through the entire tour, I’m sure it wasn’t a lucrative gig. Thanks, Jim.
Rod Doak had joined us as tour manager after Nic left in Seattle and immediately won us over with his wry sense of humor and calm demeanor. Nothing could phase him; maybe doing the job for the volatile Screaming Trees had inured him to the turmoil of rock bands and we probably looked like the Cowsills compared to his former clients. One story still makes me laugh: we had the day to kill in St. Louis before soundcheck and I was watching Gary play the video baseball game in Randy’s den. Rod came in and watched Gary silently for a minute and then asked him “How’s my little champ?”, causing Gary and I to collapse in laughter (it was all in the delivery). He finished out the tour with us, tamping down further drama, and keeping us all entertained along the way. Thanks, Rod.
The St. Louis gig was at 1227, a downtown dive that was a short walk from the Gateway Arch and the Mighty Misissip, The Ol’ Miss, the Old Man! The Sneetches opened, of course, cheering me up every time I watched their set. The cute gal from the record store in Columbia made the trip to St. Louis and I took that as a sign. I spent the night chatting her up, and, even though she declined to come to the party after the show, I did get her address and I started a correspondence with her that eventually led to a road trip many years later which would make the Slam tour look fun in comparison. But that’s a story for another day.
Tomorrow: Gabe’s Oasis in Iowa City.
(Here’s a live Salem 66 video which starts around the 12-minute mark after Chris Stamey)