Taco Bell coin drop winner
After a grueling tour with The Backstreet Boys throughout Europe, we have returned home to the USA for a short college tour up and down the East Coast. We all got about a week off between the tours, and this, for us, was a triumphant homecoming.
We had just sung for hundreds of thousands as a support group and our agents Auburn Moon had set up a tour of our own.
So imagine a couple weeks of shows up and down the US without advertising, over 2000 miles of excess miles wasted on poor scheduling, and serial miscommunication between venues and the agent.
I’m not here to trash talk so much as to set the record straight. When you are on stage, you represent EVERYTHING involved with the show….from the sound system to the flow of albums to the turnout to the weather. Oh, and the music. Audiences are smart but all of these factors become associated with you.
The nice thing about the states was that, for the most part, people that got any information did their absolute best to make it work and were friendly and accommodating.
But in many cases, they never received information about us for advertising, setup, or even what we do. So in no uncertain words, the tour was a disaster.
We were subjugated to poor planning by somebody taking a cut of the shows every step of the way. I’m nothing short of pissed off.
There were a few notable bright spots on the tour. We got to visit Jamal’s high school, Christopher’s house, and hang out for a free day in Myrtle Beach. Bama surprised us at Coker College. We saw some good old Americana sights on the East Coast. I won the Taco Bell coin drop (for a free burrito). We even got to check out a fun (but generally whack) Juicy J show (he only performed his rap verses, no full songs). We especially met some really awesome people along the way. In the face of some of the troubles on the tour, the show went on:
Saint Leo University, Florida
University of Montevallo, Alabama
(a stop in Augusta at Jamal’s High School)
Withrop University, South Carolina
Christopher Newport University, Virginia
Armstrong Atlantic State University, Georgia
(a stop in Myrtle Beach)
University of North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina
Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia
Mary Baldwin College, Virginia
Coker College, South Carolina
Juicy J
We sang our hearts out in cafeterias, outdoor gazebos, and a few theaters. People that heard about the show came excited to see us, and the people that were there liked it. But we did something I never wanted to do. At one of the final shows, we arrived to find one working speaker, 4 microphones, and no contact available. At this point we thought about performing off mic, doing an abbreviated set, or anything to help–maybe show a video and do a workshop? Anything to make our and their time worth while. We came to the conclusion that whatever we did would be at best a sub par product and we had to cancel the show. I felt so bad about it, but what is Starbucks without a coffee maker? What is United Airlines without a plane?
We finished the tour out on less of a high than the Backstreet Boys tour left us with, and decided that everybody needed a month or so off. The next shows in Australia would require some work, and the extensive touring had taken its toll on the emotions of everybody. So at the Chipotle we gave each other a break. See you guys soon 🙂