Under pressure: Vice Cooler in repose. Photo by Manjari Doxey.
We saved the worst for last. Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area musicians, writers, scene-makers, and music lovers. Here's the rest of Hawnay Troof/Vice Cooler's best (or worst) of 2008; for more, go here.
HAWNAY TROOF/VICE COOLER'S TOP 10 SHITTIEST TOUR HAPPENINGS IN 2008
1. The police stole my rental car.
On the third to last day of my first US leg we were cruising through eastern Arizona when a policeman pulled us over. He thought we had drugs and illegally searched the car. After not finding anything he was bummed. My friend Rory Rabut was driving, and when the officer looked up his license he found out that Rabut had a small parking ticket that hadn't been paid yet. He used this as a basis for seizing our vehicle.
The officer, hoping to get more dirt against us, said that he could check my ID, and if my record was clean, we could probably drive away. Of course it was, but they still drove us to the middle of nowhere, threw us and our things on the curb of a Motel 6 parking lot, and drove away with a stolen vehicle.
Enterprise rental in Berkeley was of no help. They wouldn't let me retrieve it and then popped my credit cards with an enormous amount of cryptic charges that they never invoiced me for. It sucks because now I am going to have to sue them.
2. I had to rent a U-Haul.
After the police incident I couldn't rent a car. Instead I have to think fast and rent a U-Haul. I made a reservation for the smallest vehicle the next morning. When I woke I found out that they had reserved the truck 60 miles away from where we were. I changed it and walked an hour in the rain to find out that they rented my vehicle so now the only option was the largest five-family mover on the lot, which sucked because it ended up costing $200 to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
3. I got bit by a dog.
The next day I was in LA, talking to my brother about how much this all sucked, when a dog bit my arm.
4. I cut my foot open, mid-performance, in a poisonous lake.
A few days after that I was performing in Sydney, Australia. I was in a city park on a lake, playing at a crazy electronic festival to a bunch of kids on ecstasy. I jumped into the lake and was about waist deep, in a suit, when my foot got cut open by a piece of glass. I couldn't see it because the lake was so polluted.
Once I got out, the stage manager and everyone else who lived in Sydney were freaking out. They told me that I needed to shower immediately because the lake had the highest concentration of a mysterious Australian poison algae.
5. I got eight stitches on my face.
A few days after that I was performing in Oakland. There was a giant PA, which I naturally climbed onto and then jumped off. Unfortunately my friend didn't see me jump, so when I got up, a drum set came crashing onto my head and knocked me back over. I was out of it for a second, then realized my head was fucked.
5. My plane breaks down during take off.
After a night in the hospital I took a plane to Europe. My head was throbbing, and my eyes weren't staying open. I fell asleep but woke up to the pilot reparking the plane. It broke down during take off.
6. American Airlines and British Airways lost my bags.
Once we realized that the previously mentioned plane would never take off, I got moved to three connecting flights. Naturally my only bag was lost. I arrived in Glasgow with nothing but my laptop, and I had to spend the next five days performing, sleeping, and wearing the same clothes that I had on when I'd left the states. On top of that I didn't have my merchandise, toothbrush, or other important things.
7. I sold 300 shirts that aren't heat-set.
During this tour I sold 300 T-shirts that I had made by hand. I spent days putting them together only to realize a few hours before we pulled out for the first show that I hadn't heat-set them. I told people every night to iron them before washing, but almost all of them were drunk. So basically I sold hundreds of disappearing shirts.
8. I agreed to play one of my bigger shows for free.
Whoops.
9. I didn't budget the first Europe tour correctly.
So I ended up paying to do a tour that brought in thousands of dollars. Go figure.
10. I didn't sleeping for six days.
Here and there I have missed a few nights of sleep. But until last month I'd never experienced six days of insomnia! Holy shit, was this fucked up? I was touring by myself, in Europe, carrying more than 100 pounds in bags for 12 hours a day, playing shows, then carrying them back to the hotel only to shower or check e-mail for 10 minutes. Day seven was an off-day, which I slept completely through. I still feel unrecovered from it!
digg •
del.icio.us •
sphere •
google
•
