Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip 2010

So if you’re familiar with the Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip, you’d know that Chad and myself will be visiting 5 cities, taking in 4 baseball games, and wrapping it up with one great concert. Well, that’s all about to change.

We are adding one more concert to the itinerary: John Mayer with the Avett Brothers in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, IL.

The following will be the first in a 3 blog installment featuring the bands we will be seeing on this road trip from my perspective.

Now, I know it sounds a little off. “Why the hell would you go to Chicago to see John Mayer?” Well, we’ll get to John Mayer in the next entry, but simply, it’s not about seeing Mayer. Granted, I like him to a certain extent (again, more on that later), but my willingness to add this to our trip, for the majority, rest on the support of The Avett Brothers being on this bill.

My first encounter with the Avetts probably came much in passing. I had heard their song “Weight of Lies” played on 92.1 KNBT New Braunfels, the station which  currently work for, back in what I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was sometime in 2007. At the time I was managing Zack Walther and The Cronkites. It was Luke Leverett who really brought the Avetts to the table, however. I have no recollection of time line here, but I remember Luke had owned Emotionalism, the album which “Weight of Lies” lived on, and had brought it along on one of our many weekend trips to some (probably god-forsakened) town. I remember someone, either him or Zack, setting up the album as, “it has that song they’ve been playing on 92.1″.

Here’s what’s important: Upon reaching the end of the album, the only thing I wanted to do was listen to it again.

Emotinalism lives up to its title. It had grabbed me with its lyrics and it shook me. I was instantly attached to it.

The summer of 2008 rolls around. The band is covering “Weight of Lies” by this point. And, there’s an offer on the table to play in Ft. Worth on Friday September 12. It doesn’t pay much, but, I happened to stumble upon seeing that The Avett Brothers were playing in Dallas at the Granada Theater in Lower Greenville the night before. I approached Zack with the idea of doing the show in Ft. Worth, but heading up early the night before to catch the Avetts so long as everyone else in the band agreed. And, needless to say, everyone thought it was a great idea. Especially since we got to stay with my good friend Taylor Davis who lived in Dallas at the time and let us all crash at his place.

We rolled into Dallas and met up with Taylor, his then girlfriend at the time, and another female friend of Taylor’s, piled back into the van with our new company in tow, and headed for The Granada.

We parked on the street in the neighborhood nearby the venue. I remember driving past it, seeing the facade, and knowing that it was probably going to be the coolest venue I had ever stepped into. That thought held true.

The Granada was once an old movie theater turned venue. Owning a venue with that storyline has been a dream of mine ever since I was in high school. Two tiers. A mural on the ceiling. Two giant projection screens draping the ends of the stage. It was awesome. We squeezed our way to a decent spot in the middle of the theater. If there was an opener, I don’t remember. More than likely, because I didn’t care.

I don’t remember all of what happened during that performance, but, there were some key moments.

I remember being completely moved by the amount of raw emotion and the tenaciousness at which it was being thrown to me from the stage.

I remember having my mind blown at how four men who, through the majority of one show played mainly acoustic instruments, could have the stage presence and genuineness of a punk rock band.

And, I remember being so moved, that I shed a tear during “The Ballad of Love and Hate”, and immediately text my then girlfriend to tell her that I loved her.

It was raw. But, it was solid. It found legitimacy in its faults. I had never seen anything like it in my life.

We payed about $18 to see that show at The Granada in 2008.  I would see them again at ACL fest in 2009, and later that year in October at their Austin City Limits taping (yet another great story we’ll have to share later). And, I was there in early 2010 when they returned to The Granada as they toured in efforts of their newest album, I and Love and You.

And now, they’re opening for John Mayer, one of the biggest douches in music, in some giant, corporately-sponsor-named, bullshit outdoor amphitheater, where they sell 16oz bottles of piss, otherwise known as Miller Lite, for $10 a pop.

No, I’m not going to be that guy, I’m just going to face a truth: I’ll probably never see The Avetts at a place like  The Granada again. And, I’m going to have to be OK with that.

The real question is this: Having seen The Avetts in small intimate settings, or in other cases, being in the front row at there ACL Fest set, will I still get the same emotion seeing them hundreds of yards away, sitting on a grassy amphitheater hill, were I can barely make their figures? Disappointment is worth the risk.

The following video is a little crude, but I wanted to be authentic. This comes from the show in question above. The Avett Brothers performing “Shame” from their album, Emotionalism, at The Granada Theater in Dallas TX on September 11, 2008.

Here they are performing “Laundry Room” from this year’s appearance at Bonnaroo.

As we travel the 2700 miles necessary to complete the Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip, we will undoubtedly need to stop for gas, stretching, and/or sustenance.  Unfortunately, as we get on the open road, we won’t be able to be as choosy/picky when it comes to how classy of a place we can stop at…

I'm gonna miss you...

Most gas stations seem totally harmless to the average traveler, but a seasoned veteran of the road, like myself, can see right through the facade.  Here you will see the different types of gas stations and what really goes on at them.

1. The Service Station

What kind of "service"?

These were extremely popular back in the 50′s when everyone got along.  But now all they do is turn surly, greasy mechanics into surly, greasy cashiers.  With most of their business coming from the garage side of things, they tend to skimp on the convenience store side as well as most of the conveniences of modern technology.  The only way you could pay at the pump would be if the cash register was right next to it.  And also, to be on the safe side, don’t get anything to drink or snack on from here. It is more than likely expired…

Expired? No way!

2. The Truck Stop

The great thing about most truck stops today is the fact that they have pretty much everything you need packed into a dispenser on the bathroom wall.  It’s not a road trip without massage oils and flavored glow-in-the-dark condoms.  But beyond that, these places are usually pretty clean, good to stop at after hours, and can spark a moment where everyone bursts into Jerry Reed’s “Eastbound and Down,” the truckers anthem.

Could have made more money actually driving trucks.

3. The “I’m not sure if they are open” gas station

As you drive throughout the night and your fuel gauge gets dangerously close to “E”, you realize that you are going to have to stop somewhere and it won’t be pretty.  You see a gas station sign that isn’t lit up, but there do appear to be some lights on inside. You decide to chance it because you don’t want to be stranded. Good news! They are open for business. However, the only two products they sell are rape and crystal meth.  If you don’t need gas but you do need to do something about that 16oz Red Bull you drank an hour ago, I wouldn’t recommend stopping for these bathrooms either.  You will probably find a different kind of bathroom “attendant” here.

Old glory...not the flag

So take this knowledge with you on your next trip.  It could save your life one day, or at least ensure that you will have a glow-in-the-dark condom for the gloryhole if the lights go out.

Bring it on...

Actually, the meat of this entry is a how-to on getting the best price on Priceline.com.  I was forced to personify it because I was told to “just make it entertaining.”

As the days get closer and closer to the Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip, I am getting more and more impressed with the power that the hotel industry has given consumers with Priceline.com.  Every city on the trip (sans St. Louis) has been easily booked using the clever manipulation of the “Name Your Own Price” feature. Here are some recommendations for when you begin the bidding process:

1. Only stick with 4 Star Hotels – Most locations only have a limited number of 4 Star hotels, and they are usually located in close proximity to one another in a fairly nice area. We’ll get to why this is important later.

2. Low-ball the shit out of them - These prices are based on demand. If the hotel is only anticipating 45% occupancy, then they will be happy to take your $50 dollars a night.

3. Increasing your bid - This is where the geographic locations of the hotels come into play.  If you initial price is refused, you will be asked to change something about your reservation. Unfortunately, you can not change the price alone, unless you want to wait 24 hours.  However, if you know that there are no other 4 star hotels other areas, you can simply select an additional geographic section of the city and increase your price by $10-15.

Here are some of the deals I have been able to get for the Wild Wild mid(West) Road Trip:

Chicago – Hilton Chicago $90/night (Regular $249)

Omaha – Doubletree $75/night (Regular $169)

Kansas City – Marriott $57/night (Regular $159)

Let us know about some of the good deals you have scored in the past. Oh and “entertaining” moment you have all been waiting for.  I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats:

Paying Hepatitis C prices for Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” is the only way to go.

Anybody else had really good deals?

So The Avett Brothers are opening for John Mayer just outside Chicago at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL the night we roll in to town. It’s going to be about a $100 addition to the trip budget.

Think we should do it, or is it a bad idea? You make the call.

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Rally Monday, Houston '04

Howdy folks. Deric Garza here. Well, a few days ago my buddy Chad Davis text me up saying someday he’d like to go to Field of Dreams, the actual field where the movie was shot. Agreeing that would be a pretty cool place to visit I text him back saying “Let’s do it”. The next thing I know, we’re planning a road trip. Thus, The Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip of 2010 was conceived.

It all begins with us taking off on August 12 and arriving at our first destination of St. Louis, MO on August 13th where we plan to hit up New Busch Stadium to watch the Cards take on the Chicago Cubs.

We’ll take off for Chicago the next morning on Saturday and stick around in The Windy City for a few days. Sunday the 15th we’re headed to the south-side to U.S. Cellular Field to see the Chicago White Sox play Detroit, and Monday, I’ll head back to Wrigley for the second year in a row to watch the Cubs v San Diego.

Tuesday, the 17th, we head west toward Dyersville, IA to play a game of catch on The Field of Dreams and then we continue on to Omaha, NE where we…. well…. we don’t know what we’re going to do there yet, but damnit, we’re going!

On Wednesday we head to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO to catch the Royals take on Ted Mosby’s hometown team, the Cleveland Indians.

And, we top it all off in Kansas City, thursday night, the 19th, with Something Corporate on their reunion tour at the Uptown Theater.

Well, there you have it. The “Wild Wild (mid)West Road Trip of 2010.” Keep checking back as both Chad and I will be blogging before, during, and after the big trip.