Tour Diary #2: White Wives
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based White Wives (featuring members of Anti-Flag, Dandelion Snow and American Armada) are currently on their first extensive American tour in support of their debut full-length Happeners, and they'll be periodically sending us diaries from the road throughout the run. Here's the second chapter.
Night drive to Kearney, Nebraska completed. 11 a.m. acoustic show at “Igloo House”, set up by and in the home of KOJI's friend, Nathan. Chris 2, Josh, Chris Stowe and Roger opted to spend the night in the van not quite knowing what the weather would have in store for the early morning hours ahead. They woke up to about six inches of snow covering the streets, cars and homes of Kearney. The show must go on as they say though, and after breaking the ice off of the trailer lock, we managed to grab gear to greet the early bird crowd huddled inside. As snow continued to fall and Josh stared in awe, the show kicked off with a passionate set by Kearney natives We Are This (including a surprising saxophone entrance). Soon after, Chris 2 and Roger had the floor performing some acoustic renditions from the Wives repertoire. KOJI then closed the early morning jam session and after thanking the tenants of the “Igloo House” for rounding up such a great crowd so early in the morning, we set course for Denver, Colorado.
The drive to Colorado was scheduled to be around 5.5 hours. However, the weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse. Snow coming in at every angle, roads were beginning to get icy, and the amount of cars and trucks that had careened off of the highway quickly became a bit unnerving. It was at our next gas break where hands went in and the “1-2-3 Arrive Alive” pact was created. We slowly made our way back to the highway taking the drive easy all the way to Denver. “Drive slow homie, you never know homie.” The Marquis Theatre in Denver showed us some nice hospitality. Doors opened later which also gave us time to indulge in some free pizza meals provided by the staff. Unfortunately, the weather made us miss a Peta2 organized meal at Watercourse Foods—the only bad thing about our time in Denver. Temperatures outside had dropped to a miserable 12 degrees, but we survived! The city of Denver was unphased out in full force donning Santa, reindeer and elf costumes everywhere. Fuckin' drunks. The show went off without a hitch and towards the end, Denver began to let loose and sing along to our songs along with KOJI’s. After the show, we made our way around the corner to be treated to a free meal from an amazing burrito joint called Illegal Pete’s. Needless to say, it really hit the spot after a long exhausting day of traveling through the harsh winter conditions. The hospitality that we have encountered on this tour has been tremendous, and we can't thank those of you enough who have fed us or let us sleep on your floors!
12/04. After all of the Denver festivities, we were set up by our friend, Dante, with a sweet crash pad. In the morning, we grabbed showers and drank coffee to prep for the haul to Salt Lake City. Once again rebirthing our “1-2-3 Arrive Alive” pact, we set off to the mountains where again we experienced plenty of snow and icy roads. Hours later, finally coming down from the mountains, the weather began to clear and we arrived in SLC right at nightfall. We were greeted that evening with a friendly crowd over at Kilby’s Court. Everyone gathered in close to fight off the cold temperatures. Though the night provided a small show, we had plenty of fun meeting new people and the local bands that brought all of their friends to come hang. Afterward, we were kindly offered a few suites at a local hotel by our friend, Kevin, who helped provide the rooms using a loop hole in the Marriott employee discount system… Shhh!
The worst of the driving conditions were finally behind us and it was time for some much needed R&R: warm showers, clean laundry, comfortable beds. Any band on the road will tell you that it’s the little things that breathe the air back into you.
12/05. After the fantastic stay in our suites, we set a course for Boise, Idaho. We’d survived the mountains and needed to treat our van to an oil change. Taking the extra time to grab lunch, we left soon after to try and find a good spot to see the Salt Lake or the Flats. We made a quick stop off the highway at a place that looked promising but offered no good view of anything. Defeated, we walked back to the van to find Chris Head, Roger and Stowe nearby whispering to a few horses in a pasture (we may have accidentally left Chris Head behind before we found out where he was). Once again arriving in Boise after nightfall, we unloaded into our coldest venue yet, The Shredder. Complete with a mini-halfpipe and classic arcade games, Shredder’s atmosphere was perfect. Tyler and Josh duked it out on Mortal Kombat and soon after, we all headed up the street to a nearby bar & grill called Solid. After a warm hearty meal, we made our way back to Shredder in time to catch KOJI warm up the crowd in Boise. Folks sang many harmonies to KOJI’s melodies and continued to stay vocally driven throughout our set as well. Thank you to all in Boise for your tremendous love and help to make our first appearance there a memorable one.
