After coming home from the March Tour dates with The Bones Royal and The Whiskey Folk Ramblers, we had about a month before heading out again. We made the decision to do our touring in two different circuits. Both would be east of the Mississippi to avoid the heart of the country where you have to drive seven or eight hours to get to your show. These different circuits would be divided into two: one with states north of North Carolina (in GREEN) and the other with states south of North Carolina (in PURPLE).

Notice that we are not touring the Northeast or Florida. This is purposeful but unfortunate. See, in a very short period of time, we’re trying to hit the same cities as much as possible. You could make a whole tour of just hitting places in Florida or the Northeast but we thought it wiser to go back to places that we’ve already played.

Our plan was to have eighteen days on, then come home for ten. So we’d play the North Circuit for eighteen then have ten off then play the South Circuit eighteen then have ten off and then repeat the whole process over again. Eighteen is manageable for booking.

It’s also manageable for failing.

At this stage in our career, you can have some good dates mixed in with some bad dates and it doesn’t work on your psyche too badly. Everyone in this band understands this: it starts off slow, you play to two or three people, then hopefully it builds just like it does in your hometown. We have accepted that. But if you play for two people for sixteen out of eighteen days straight, I imagine one really starts to question the value of what they are doing. Eighteen days allows you to sprinkle in some cities that you have friends and family, playing to ten people instead of two, bookending the bad nights.

Ten days off gives Mike and Beth some time to come home and work and it gives me some time to finish off the last couple of projects on the house before it goes on the market. On paper it seems okay but in reality ten days off is not a lot of time. I was able to paint the ceilings and a hallway but I didn’t have time to do the landscaping that I had planned. It’ll have to wait till July. We also have to assemble our CD’s in the next day or two and I have to figure out how to install an RV Roof Fan on the top of our van, Vandrew Blass.

Sticking to east of the Mississippi gives us two great luxuries: money and time. Most of the cities east of the Mississippi are within four hours of one another. There was one show where we woke up around eleven, got in the van and drove eight and a half hours, arrived in the city and immediately unpacked, set up within an hour and played within the next hour. That wasn’t fun. I can’t imagine doing that for three weeks. Keeping the dates within 250 miles gives you some room to breathe. Also, gas generally will cost $50 a day. The greater distance between cities, the more gas it takes to get there.

Here’s how you make that $50: two CD’s ($20), one T-Shirt ($10), door money (12 people at $5 cover is $60; divided by Red Collar and two other bands is $20). On a couple of occasions, the locals generously gave us their share.

Some days you make $50. Other days you make $10. You pray that it’ll balance out with a $90 show. $50 is way less than the actual operating costs of course. There’s van maintenance, there’s the next order of CD’s, the next order of T-Shirts, and the Publicity. Hometown shows are really, really important in trying to get ahead of the game.

And then there’s the food. Everyone in Red Collar is responsible for the cost of their own food. Hopefully on the next couple of tours, Red Collar is able to pay for everyone’s food at say a $5 per diem. In that case, we’d have to make $70 a day. This $70 obviously doesn’t include a person’s rent and bills at home, that’s what the ‘down time’ is for-which isn’t down time at all. It’s actually the exact opposite. I’ve definitely worked much more efficiently with deadlines than I did when I just did Red Collar part time. Beth said she’s the same way at her work. I imagine Mike picks up more double shifts too.

____________________________________

Pittsburgh

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, please read the whole blog. I’ll also say this: we all have bad days, days that you wish you should’ve stayed in bed. I wish I could make the claim that when I have a bad day, I don’t take it out on everyone I come across. Yet I have done that. Once or twice. Maybe three times. I wish that I didn’t, but I did. We all have days like that. Hopefully they are rare. For you and for everyone around you.

But we all have days like that. Don’t we? Some people take sick days. In this profession, there are no sick days.

Beth is from Pittsburgh and I am from Johnstown, about an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh. I always like playing there though admittedly it’s not the city that we have had our best shows for some reason. Maybe because it is a hometown, I don’t know. For this tour, we were going to play at the Garfield Art Works run by Manny Theiner. The Garfield Art Works is kinda like our BCHQ: an all ages community art space. I like playing shows at these kinds of places. We were playing with Blackbird Pie as well as The Atomic Drops consisting of two good friends of mine: Mike and Phil. We were supposed to be at the venue at 7:30 to unload. We arrived and The Atomic Drops were already there. The doors were unfortunately locked. Not a big deal. People run late. After hugs and pleasantries, this is what happened.

Mike: “So touring’s been going okay?”

Me: “It has. No complaints”
Mike: “No one would listen if you had them”

Me: “Yeah, right. What time did you guys get here?”
Mike: “Just a few minutes ago”

Me: “Cool, cool”

Mike: “So did Manny book this show?”
Me: “Yeah, he did”
Mike: “That guy’s an asshole”

I have heard this from several people over the past decade. I never met Manny, I only heard about him. I went to school at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in the early 90’s and I think I saw him at every show I ever attended in Pittsburgh. I didn’t know this until later but the reason that I saw him at those show is because he wasn’t just an audience member like me but he was the one who brought the show to Pittsburgh. He was the promoter. From what I guess and gather from conversations that I’ve had with friends and bands from the area, he’s responsible for bringing a lot of great music to Pittsburgh. At the time, no one else was doing it. Would it have happened without him? I don’t know. The job he’s done for Pittsburgh Music is pretty remarkable and I hope not forgotten by the end of this blog.

What this means, reader, is that the man has been dealing with bands and fans in a professional manner for just shy of twenty years but probably longer.

Read this statement another way:

What this means, reader, is that the man has been dealing with flakes and drunks in a professional manner for just shy of twenty years but probably longer.

I cut him some slack because I’ve been dealing with flakes and drunks for not nearly as long and, well, BIG SURPRISE, it’s not always pleasant. I also obviously wouldn’t have seen any of those shows that I went to in the early 90’s if he were not doing it.

Since the doors were locked to the venue, we walked a few storefronts down to have a beer and watch the beginning of the Pittsburgh Penguin vs. Carolina Hurricanes Playoff Game. Sports are KING in Pittsburgh, there’s no denying or trying to beat it. In North Carolina, I think my friends would still pick their rock and roll over their sports teams yet basketball games do cause mandatory intermission at rock shows.

At least the rock shows start in the first place.

I soon found out that if you are competing with the Penguins and most definitely Steelers (though probably the Pirates) it’s not the case in Pittsburgh.

8:00PM. At the doorway of the bar:

Mike: “Didn’t I tell you he was an asshole?”
Me: “What?”

Mike: “I told you…I mean…I was feeling bad that I called him an asshole, I really was. I thought maybe the guy has changed but no, this guy is an asshole”
Me: “What…?”

Mike: “He doesn’t want to have the show because he has a headache”
Me: “I don’t understand”

Mike: “Just…just come here”

The one and only Manny Theiner stood at the doorway of The Garfield Art Works. Manny looks like a punk rock Woody Allen. With a Steelers Cap.

Manny: “Who are you?”
Me: “Hi Manny. I’m Jason from Red Collar”

Manny: “Look, I have a headache okay. A HEAD ACHE. Understand?”
Me: “Do you want something for it? We have Excedrin, Tylenol…”

Manny: “No I don’t want anything. I don’t want anything. I need to just lie down. I don’t take anything. Understand?”
Me: “Okay. No problem. So you don’t want the show to happen because of your headache”

Manny: “I have a head ache. It is pounding in my head. I can’t lift that speaker…”
Me: “We’ll help with the speaker…”

Manny: “Forget about the speaker! I am being sabotaged today!! I am being ATTACKED!!” Personally attacked!!!!”
Me: “What do you mean?”

Manny: “My website has been hacked. HACKED! Last week someone was posting reviews of show here THAT NEVER HAPPENED. People are posting fake shows in the City Paper and they are pretending to be me. ATTACKED!!! You can call me an asshole, I don’t care. Your band mates can call me an asshole. I don’t care”

He started hyperventilating and grasped the doorway.

Me: “Okay. Let me understand. Just…calm. You want to cancel the show? Am I understanding you correctly?”
Manny: “I am being attacked today. Look at my website. LOOK”

He showed me his laptop and indeed The Garfield Art Works website had a simple statement:

Hacked by ICEE STUNTX (or some such name)

Manny: “YOU SEE? Sabotage. SABOTAGED! I have a head ache, I am running this place by myself. I have been sleeping on that couch for three days. IT’S A MONDAY!!! I am being attacked. There is a hockey game going on that YOU ALL WERE WATCHING”
Me: “Yes but there was no one here and…”

Manny: “I have had shows all week and every time the Penguins were playing, there was no one here. We are not going to have a show where you just play for the bands”
Me: “Manny…”

Manny: “No one will be here”
Me: “Manny…”

Manny: “No one. I don’t understand these fucking hipsters drinking Pabst and watching some stupid fucking game. All week I have lost money. The bands play for no one and they get mad AT ME. I don’t have anything to do with it. I put the show on my website, I hang up flyers”

At this point, Phil from The Atomic Drops got in his car and drove away.

Mike: “These guys drove from North Carolina and you don’t want to have this show?”
Manny: “No. There’s no point. They’re going to be playing to no one”

Mike: “But people are coming”
Manny: “How many?”

Silence.

Manny: “See?”
Me: “Let me check with all the bands and see how many people they are expecting”

“Fine”

I went back to the bar with the hockey game to talk with Blackbird Pie, the other Pittsburgh band.

“Okay, how many guys are you expecting to come out?”

“Well.. like maybe.. I don’t know…four?”

“Does four mean two?”

“Yeah”

“Okay. Okay. Mike, how many is The Atomic Drops expecting?”

“Like. Five?”

“Meaning two?”

“Yes”

“Red Collar is also expecting five…”

“Meaning two?”

“No. Meaning one because one of my ‘five meaning two’ is one of your ‘five meaning two’ so my five means actually one”

“Blackbird is bringing two, Atomic Drops two and Red Collar one. Five people total”

I went back to Manny.

“Look Manny, we’ve expecting like ten people”

“I’d do this show for ten”

“But…it’s a soft ten”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Ten means five”

“I’d do this show for five people. But you’re sure five? While the game is going on?”

Silence.

“Gimmee a minute”

I went back to the bar and was talking with all of the bands.

“Look. I don’t know if this show should happen. If it’s just a show for the bands? I don’t know. He obviously doesn’t want it to happen, I’m not going to say he’s wrong. But all night there’s going to be this vibe from him, right? The I-told-you-so-vibe”

No one had any answers. Manny walked in to the bar.

Manny: “Okay. I’ll have the show. But you’ve got to understand that I’ve been hacked. I just found out an hour ago that I’ve been hacked. Someone has a target on me. This is my business and someone wants to shut it down. Now I’ll do this, okay but…”

At that exact moment (and dear Lord I am not exaggerating…seriously THAT EXACT MOMENT), Pittsburgh scored and the place exploded in cheers, hugs and chaos.

Manny Theiner also exploded:

“AAAAGH! Fucking. Fuck Fucks. I hate this GAME. I HATE IT!! Fuck them!! Fuck you too!”

And he stormed away.

Phil came back and very calmly said:

“Fuck him. I got us a show at Belvedere’s. No cover. The show has to start after the game, but it’s a show”

“Awesome. Thanks Phil”

People finished their beers. I went back to Garfield Art Works. It was locked. I knocked, Manny answered.

“So it looks like we’re playing at Belvedere’s”

Nothing.

“I can help you with the speaker”

“No. Thank you. I’ll get the speaker later”

“Okay”

Manny sighed “Look. No one was going to be here. No one will be at Belvedere’s either”

“They don’t want us to start till after the game”

“See?”

“Three months ago, neither of us knew that a hockey game would be going on tonight”

“No. It’s a Monday too. I mean, what did you guys expect?”

“What are you going to do? Sure I wish every night was a Friday and Saturday but that’s not the case”

“I understand that. You’ve got to understand that I am being attacked and my world is falling apart”

Silence.

Manny said “I’ll email your guy Pat. If you don’t want to work with me in the future, I understand. I hope so but I get it if you don’t”

____________________________

We were getting ready to get into the van to go to Belvedere’s. Jon asked to give him a minute. He took out a piece of paper and wrote on it, got some tape and stuck it on the Garfield Art Works door.

Me: “What was that about?”
Jon: “I wrote a note saying the show has been moved to Belvedere’s”

Me: “Good idea”
Jon: “I also wrote Fuck Manny Theiner”

Me: “That’s not such a good idea”
Jon: “Fuck him”

Me: “No you didn’t”
Jon: “Yes I did”

Me: “No you didn’t”
Jon: “Yes I did”

Me: “Why?”

“Fuck him! They guy didn’t want to have a show because he had a headache?!?! Fuck him!”

“And do you think your sentiments are the same as everyone else’s? Do you think I feel that way? Does Mike feel that way? Does Red Collar collectively feel that way? Do the other bands feel that way?”

Atomic Drops (collectively): ”Yes”

Blackbird Pie (collectively): “Yes”

“Jon, I want you to think about this”

“Fine”

Jon walked to the door with the marker.
“I signed my name”

____________________________________

We went to Belvedere’s and started setting up. The phone rang.

“Is there a Jon Truesdale here?” asked the Bartender at Belvedere’s. “Jon? Anyone here Jon?”

“Yeah I am”

“Manny Theiner is coming down here to kick your ass”

Sidenote: If you met Manny, this image is a funny sight.

“Tell him to come on down”

“He’s not coming down. I heard what happened and I told him that if he came down here I’D kick his ass. I got your back, son.”
Sidenote: This image was an even funnier sight. Jon needing ‘back’ against Manny.

We had a good show. We sold a T-Shirt and some CD’s. The other bands played well. The Atomic Drops were great. They play at The Heavy Rebel Weekender in Winston so if you get out there, please check them out and name drop Manny. Phil really saved us. We had two days off before then and having a third off wouldn’t have felt the greatest.

The thing about Manny is he was right. He was absolutely right. We would’ve played the show for the bands and to a guy with a headache that had more pressing things to do. I’m assuming what Manny does at Garfield Art Works is what he does for at least part of his living. The people that work these community art spaces are heaven sent in my mind. They don’t do this for a lot of money, if any at all. Jeff at the Spazz in Greenville constantly deals with other issues besides bands and fans. The BCHQ folks, 709 Railroad Street in Johnstown, the Lemp is St. Louis. And I’m grateful. And again, we’ve all had shitty days. It seems like Manny has a lot of shitty days but it can’t be fun to be in his shoes either. I think it’s in a vicious circle now cause people assume he’s an asshole and so they treat him like one and thus he assumes everyone thinks he’s an asshole so why be otherwise?

The complaint that I heard about Manny was that he’s essentially not a ‘people person’ and I wish that he would’ve told us his reservations earlier in the day. That’s what happened in Cleveland a month before. Three hours before the show, Cleveland simply called and said:

“No one is going to come to the show. I’m not going to have it” CLICK.

We were already in Cleveland, parked in front of the damn venue as well.

______________________

Manny wrote an email to Pat, our manager, explaining the situation and it was a calmly written email. I called Manny the next day to say that everything worked out.

“How’s your headache?”

“It’s fine. I just needed to rest”

“And the website?”

“It turns out that it wasn’t a personal attack and that everyone from the particular provider was attacked not just me”

“Well that’s good…I guess?”

“Yes. That’s good. That’s better”

“Good”

“So I got a little note from Jonny Truesdale. And the only reason I saw the note was that three girls did come to see you guys, they knocked on the door and I saw the note”

“Yeah well. No one was happy that the show was cancelled”

“Yeah”

“Yeah. But in the end you were right, no one was there till after the game”

“Well these girls showed up while the hockey game was going on so you guys were right too”

“Yeah”

“Yeah”

“Maybe next time”

“Maybe next time”

“Take care”

“Good luck on the road”

And again, we all have bad days. We all have woken up with a pounding headache and we call in sick. The people in this business can’t do that. Should I have screamed and shouted at him? I don’t know. What good would that do?

I just watched ANVIL: The Story of Anvil last night. Some things are worth fighting for/about. Other shit, you have to let go and pick your battles and make sure you have enough energy left over to problem solve.

Jason