6, 5, 4, 3, 2.... 1

by Pete

Tuesday November 28 2006

6 days
5 shows
4 vans
3 tour managers
2 saviours
1 broken amp

Hence was our last run, which took such a toll that it is only now we are already on the road for the next run of shows that I get a decent chance to reflect on it all. We had a good time out there, and some great shows, but those 6 days felt like half a decade by the end! It was almost impossible to believe that when we returned we had only left our Tirrenian sanctuary 6 days prior. By the time our van rolled in on Monday afternoon I had almost fully succumbed to a head cold. The rest of Monday was hence lost to sleep, and then yesterday we managed a productive day in Pisa. You know those rare hours in life where you manage to achieve one thing after another? Most of this occurred in a shop akin to an Aussie $2 shop… where both the wares on offer and the good folks behind the counter tend to originate in China. We were like kids in a candy store, finding numerous items for which we had been searching fruitlessly for weeks -
* needle and thread for me to repair my rapidly deteriorating shirts
*toothbrushes - since the robbery we had both been using airline toothbrushes. And I’m very happy to report that Italian toothbrushes come with little travel hats by default… a habit the rest of the world should surely employ
* a knee brace for Karl - who is still suffering after smashing his knee while hauling himself onto the back of the tow truck during the famous broken down van incident
* as many types of power point adaptors as we could put our hands on – there seem to be no less than four different types of power plugs that one can find in Italy in any given situation, and it is a complete brain bender
* and le piece de resitence… a granny trolley for the merchandise. Although its true functionality, and more to the point its durability, are yet to be tested, I am very enthusiastic about the concept. You see, not only is life on the road about mountains of heavy and expensive gear that we need to lug around and protect from thieves, there are also mountains of flimsy cardboard boxes which house our merchandise – which is essentially our bread and butter and the only means by which we make any real cash. But after only a few weeks in, these boxes have already all but lost their integrity, and as the layers of packing tape around them increase, so decreases any means by which to tell them apart. Enter the granny trolley (concept): my vision is that we can load up the trolley each night after the show which a predetermined ample supply of the various merch – easily accessible and highly mobile – which the motherload can exist in a way that doesn’t require our constant interaction. I guess that time will tell whether we have found the holy grail of managing merchandise while on tour.

Anyway, we had a good time our there last week, and thanks to everyone that helped us out along the way, both to avert disaster, and to make the shows fun. Lets hope that the week ahead brings much good luck. Tocca ferro…