Category Archives: Uncategorized

We make it to Boulder just in time for soundcheck after a long, overnight drive, passing through three states that I had never been to before. Colorado is a first for the band, as well, and we have no idea what to expect from our show except the lowest paycheck of the tour at $200Continue reading “Slam Tour Diary: June 26, 1990 Boulder, CO”

It’s a Wednesday, on off-day and we are driving from Boulder to Kansas City, MO, right through the heart of Kansas on I-70, so I’m hard-pressed to come up with anything to write about. It’s an 8- or 9-hour drive and, based on my notebook, I’m pricing replacement RVs, so I guess the mechanic inContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: June 27, 1990 Day-off covers compilation”

When your booking agents tell you that, after Seattle and Portland, you have to drive to Boulder to find a real gig, they’re lying. You actually have 8 hours more to drive to Kansas City in order to re-discover civilization. Not that we really wanted to be playing in KC either, mind you, since ourContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: June 28, 1990 Kansas City”

It’s always nice to be in Bill’s hometown, although we might be one of the few touring bands who make a habit of playing Wichita. Bill’s parents still live in town and we usually stay at their house but not this time: the neighbors probably wouldn’t appreciate the 26-ft. RV parked in front of theirContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: June 29, 1990 Wichita”

We have entered the dog days of both summer and this tour and we have a whole ‘nother 10 days after tonight to slog around the steamy midwest before we get to New York. If there’s any bright spot, it’s that we’re playing at one of my favorite clubs in America, The Blue Note inContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: June 30, 1990 The Blue Note, Columbia, MO”

You know what you do a lot of when you’re on tour? Drive. You drive a lot, and not just on highways. You spend a lot of time driving around cities, trying to find the club, or the record store, or the radio station, or a restaurant, or the RV mechanic. Hey, I’m not complaining,Continue reading “Slam Tour Diary: July 1, 1990- Driving Day”

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 morningContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: July 2, 1990-St. Louis”

Today we are headed to one of our favorite old places to play, Gabe’s Oasis, in Iowa City. We’ve had lots of good times at the club and while we’ve never been a big draw there, we always seem to attract a small but vocal crowd that appreciates the band. But first, we have someContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: July 3, 1990- Iowa City”

Hey, Baby! It’s the Fourth of July! Unfortunately, the mood in the band is anything but celebratory, in part because we’re playing in Champaign, Illinois, and because of the holiday (and summer vacation) there’s nothing happening in town. As you can tell from the tour map from a couple of days ago, Champaign is completelyContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: July 4, 1990-Champaign”

We are back in Milwaukee and playing at the wonderfully-named Shank Hall. I don’t know what came first, Spinal Tap, or this club but I am thrilled to be playing there either way. Spinal Tap is partially a parody of heavy metal bands but there’s truth in there about every band, and we are noContinue reading “Slam Tour Diary: July 5, 1990-Milwaukee”