On The Road With TPPI/KX Day 3 (Friday): A Legendary Homecoming
We started the day with another Cracker Barrel stop, which has become the official breakfast place of the tour. After that is was time to hit the road again. The fact that a touring band spends a majority of their time in their transportation was something I knew before this, but I don’t think I fully appreciated that until about this point. Being in such a close proximity to various other humans for an extended period of time, where there is no escape and you have to deal with everyone else’s idiosyncrasies, it is an abnormal scenario that can lead to a wide range of outcomes. So far, it has been the perfect conditions for a constantly growing comradery between all involved.
As we were approaching our destination, we were listening to various sing-along sort of songs like Tom Petty hits, Beatles songs, ironically hilarious rap joints, and whatever else while the two bands were jamming again on their percussion toys and the melodica. Riding along the road in a place I had never been before while everyone is singing and laughing and having such a great time, well, it made me wonder how some people can live a normal, 9-5, straight laced sort of life. I mean I just felt so lucky and happy to be savouring this strongly positive experience. I can’t recommend going on tour enough.
We arrived in Lynchburg, Virginia in mid-afternoon and hung out at the house we were staying at that night. This was the hometown of Kebert Xela‘s Chris Howe, and we were greeted as liberators because of it. If you don’t know, Lynchburg is the home of the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, so there was certainly an aura of the so-called “Culture Wars” in the town, and we were quickly co-opted into the seemingly tight knit counter-culture contingent.
Kebert Xela‘s historical ties to the town proved to be an asset for the show, as the small coffee shop the bands played in was packed. After two lightly populated shows, it was great to have a respectably larger audience for these guys. This Piano Plays Itself‘s set had to overcome some technical difficulties, but they showed these Virginia folks how we do it in the A. Kebert Xela were the superstars for this one, commanding an enthusiastic crowd. It was truly a heroes welcome. After the show, we all returned to the house where we were crashing at that hosted a rather large post-show party. Lynchburg is certainly not the sort of place I would ever want to live, but the kids there received us with style and grace, so I’ve got nothing but love for them.
Enjoy some videos I took from the night:
This Piano Plays Itself:
Keber Xela:
- Posted by Davy Minor on July 20, 2008 at 2:27 am
