#left astray

LEFT ASTRAY Bandcamp / @leftastrayhc

March 26, 2016 Dynamite Vinyl Fresno, CA Pink Teeth DIY

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My accounts: YouTube / Twitter

This is the 3rd installment of posts of the band’s experiences in 2015. We’re picking up where we left off last time during our U.S. tour, leaving Charleston, SC en route to Asheville, NC.

Day 10 Asheville, NC

This was the longest day ever, starting at 5am and ending at like fucking 1am the next night. We began our drive to Asheville late at night. The drive was pretty easy, and there weren’t too many cars on the road either. Ivan took the wheel for a few hours while I caught some sleep. I took the third shift, it must have been about 7am or so and now that the sun was up we could really admire all the lush green forests around us softened by a light mist. Maybe after 2 or 3 hours we finally got into town. From the highway the city looked like Endor or some other forest planet, or at least that’s what came to my mind. By this time we were all hungry and decided to find something to eat, we settled on going to a Whole Foods in Asheville, Erik spent $17 on his breakfast consisting of items from the hot food bar, Yerba maté and a muffin. We hung out for about an hour before going to a Guitar Center. I think we went because Alex’s hi-hat stand was broken and he wanted to use his coverage to replace however the store gave him the runaround and said he had to take care of the issue at the location where he originally got his policy. I ended up sleeping in the van for a bit in the drivers seat for maybe an hour. I woke up because I left the window down and sky started sprinkling and stopped once I woke up, cruel. Afterwards we stopped at a record store for a bit downtown and found a park to hang out at. I fell asleep in the park, I’m not sure how long it was. Erik, Ivan and Alex were playing with the soccer ball for the most part. Like an idiot I woke up with more bug bites on my arms and legs. When we were done with the park we spent the next few hours in a CVS parking lot. Watching Erik skateboard, eating snacks watching videos of our friends playing shows that we’re going on back home while we were gone. By this time now it was maybe about 7pm and I got a text from our contact, James, that we could head to the house we were playing at, Fox Manor. The house was not far from where we were but it required us to drive through a path that went through the woods. There were maybe only 3 or 4 houses going down this path and Fox Manor was at the bottom of a steep hill. We unloaded gear into the house and decided it would be best to park the van at the top of the hill instead of leaving it at the bottom. We figured that when we loaded back up again the van may have some trouble trying to climb the hill plus the weight of us and gear. We met up with James and his band Asherah inside the house and they introduced us to the owners of the place. They fed us vegan-chili-mac and it was so good I think we spent about 45 minutes hanging out before anyone played. The first band that played was James’ band, Asherah. They were the first crust band we played with on this tour and it was so refreshing to see and play with something other than emo or screamo bands for a change. We played second, we felt really good about the set that night. Erik started the set with a few words regarding Charleston, I remember getting chills and I’m pretty sure everyone else in the room felt the same way. Afterwards the third band played, I wish I could remember the name they were a really fun to watch. Once the show was finished we spent probably another 2 hours just hanging out with Asherah, they were so sweet and made us feel super welcomed. The third band that played moved there van downhill to get their stuff. They packed quickly and tried driving up but had the most difficult time. We could hear their engine working like crazy and a few times there van started skidding back. They needed people to help push before they got out. We then started packing up our gear by carrying all our shit up the hill. It was so tempting to want to move the van downhill but we chose to tough it out, plus Asherah gave us a hand so it wasn’t too bad. Once we said our goodbyes we made for Richmond, VA.

Day 11 Richmond, VA

I don’t remember most of this drive, I think I took the 2nd shift. I do remember waking up in the morning at like 9am as we got into Richmond and still being tired. The show tonight was at a house called Haunted Mansion where our friend Will from Caust and Swan of Tuonela let us come by early before the show. The rest of the guys decided to check out a river with Will and his housemate Stephanie. I was too tired so I set up my sleeping bag in the basement. I slept for like 5 hours and looking back I wish I went to the river. When I woke up I went upstairs to see if anyone else was around but no one else was in the house. I went outside to the front porch and sat in a rocking chair for a good hour just hanging out. Though I hate the summer heat, humidity and smelled like shit, I felt at peace in that rocking chair, felt really fucking American. I remembered it was Father’s Day so I gave my dad a call and talked with him for a bit. Eventually everyone came back and we waited around for the show to start, we brought out the soccer ball once again and killed time by playing soccer in the backyard until one of us (probably Erik) kicked the ball underneath the patio. We didn’t get it because there were spiders and shit in the way. Finally the show started, I believe there were three bands playing, including us. I wish I could remember the first band, I believe they were a straight edge band or something, the next band was Venomspitter. They were a really cool chaotic hardcore band with a guitarist who shredded like no one’s business. They were really friendly people. We had a good time playing here and I’m surprised people came considering it was a holiday. After the show we helped clean up the place and Will let us stay the night again. Ivan and I decided to use the money we made from donations to buy food for all of us and we went to a Kroger to get stuff. Stephanie came along with us as our guide and hooked us up with her discount card. We returned back to the house where we were all able to cook food and wash up. We ended up watching an Insane Clown Posse/Juggalo movie that both Will and Erik were super stoked on. After the movie we talked for about an hour and went to sleep.

Day 12 Washington D.C.

Once we left Will and Stephanie’s place we made for D.C. This was our first proper day off that we actually planned for. We were all excited to spend a day hanging out. The drive from Richmond to D.C. was pretty short and was the start of the short drives for the rest of the east coast dates of the tour. We got into D.C. around noon, maybe a little later. Driving from this point on in the tour was a lot busier than the southern states so we had to be a bit more careful with the van. While looking for a place to park we noticed that all the signs had very short time limits/confusing wording on them so we figured it be best to find a meter. Erik and Ivan got out of the van because they had to use the restroom and we told them to go on ahead and we’d catch up with them after we parked. Alex and I spent the next fucking hour and then some trying to find both parking that didn’t have a bunch of confusing restrictions and enough clearance for a 15 passenger van. It was a fucking nightmare, it was hot as fuck humid as fuck, and the air conditioning is busted. Luckily Alex kept me sane as we made conversation during the hunt for parking. I remember accidentally running a few red lights because of how confusing the streets were, a guy jogging yelled at me. Finally we found street parking at the very end of where all the monuments were. We paid the meter and made our way to regroup with Ivan and Erik who were waiting for us at one of the museums scattered around D.C. Once we all met up we made our way to the Washington monument and took pictures of all the touristy stuff around. This was one of the few places where I personally took pictures since I had been lagging or forgetting to document the tour via photos but I kept a log of the tour in a note book and you’re reading it here so shut the fuck up. After the Washington monument we made our way to the Lincoln memorial and saw the reflection pool. We made our way up the steps of the Lincoln memorial and took a few more pictures. I talked Erik into sliding down the the side where the steps were at and filmed it, he slipped and a few little girls started laughing and it was really funny. My good friend Mike (Kimchi Murda) who Was in drumline with me high school was now going to college in the city and with wanted to meet up with us before we left D.C. We headed back to the van and met Mike outside of a Whole Foods and grabbed dinner. I haven’t seen him in more than a year and it was great catching up with him. He even paid for all our dinners, we were all super grateful. After dinner we said our goodbyes and drove to stay the night with our friends Daniel and Tanya at their house just outside the Baltimore area. The drive was short and when we got to their place we all hung out for a few hours listening to records and hearing Daniel and Tanya’s stories about their move and time spent on the east coast. We then spent a little bit of time goofing off before falling asleep.

Day 13 Baltimore, MD

By the time we woke up Tanya brought us all a bunch of muffins for breakfast, it was really sweet. We were all able to shower which is always a luxury and felt extremely good because the heat and humidity sucks so fucking bad. We then all decided to drive into Baltimore and Tanya and Daniel came with us. We stopped at a cool record store and browsed around for a while. I purchased a copy of Rogue State’s “EMIC vs ETIC”, shoutout to Ethospine Noise! We went to a bookstore/comic shop on the same block and checked out what they had. The area we were was pretty cool and really quite. By the time the show was was getting ready to start we made for the venue. Tonight we were playing Charm City Art Space, I was so excited to be playing here, I heard nothing but great things about this DIY spot for years.while we were unloading our gear into the space the weather outside was becoming stormy. This unfortunately affected the space as there were several leaks in the ceiling. Luckily this didn’t stop the show and everyone just hoped that the storm would just pass through quickly. There were 5 bands playing tonight and we were up third. We were definitely the band out of place as everyone who played and attended the show were very much into a really macho/tough guy hardcore. Lots of camo clothing and varsity font band shirts all around. The opening band was their first show. They said a few basic 101 anti-racist statements that I commended them for, but a few songs in they then said some stupid misogynist bro shit about that turned me off to them. The 2nd band was a bit more melodic but really wasn’t my thing, they were really nice though. By the time we played more people started to fill in the space. Before we played I said what we I usually had to say that we didn’t need to beat the shit out of each other to have a good time and respect everyone’s space. I’m glad people stuck around, there wasn’t much of a reaction but for the most part people were pretty receptive of our set. The next bands that played were some bro macho bands. One of the bands started their set by telling everyone the exact opposite of what said and said “don’t be a coward, beat the shit out of someone.” They decided it would be a good idea to fuck up the space by throwing the box fans and buckets catching leaking rain water into the crowd. It was ridiculously dumb and I felt bad for volunteers of the space who ended up cleaning up the mess, we could hear them muttering under their breath from frustration. Once the show was finally wrapped up my cousin who lived in Baltimore met us for dinner at a cafe down the street from Charm City. Once we were done with with we went back to Tanya and Daniel’s place to sleep.

Day 14 Hammonton, NJ

After leaving Daniel and Tanya’s place we were on the road to Hammonton, NJ. The drive was only two hours long and we got into the city around maybe 2pm or so. Upon arriving at the location we noticed that some of the area looked like it got fucked up with trees uprooted and traffic lights inoperable, it looked very strange. We were told that there was a tornado or hurricane that swept through the city the day before or something. The show was being set up by a group of local promoters called Grandaire Booking at what looked like a small veteran’s hall. Apparently when they book shows they are like mini fests that run all day. We met up with one of the bands, Teeth For Teeth, who were my contact for the show. We hung out with their guitarist Anthony and vocalist Brandon for a bit. Since the space was still preparing for the rest of the day we decided to grab a late lunch and brought Anthony with us. After eating Erik was a bit concerned with his amp and Anthony took him to his amp guy to get it fixed. While setting up merch I was able to talk to Brandon from Teeth For Teeth and was surprised to find out that he was very into the DIY punk/emo/screamo scene back home in KALI like Calculator, No Tongue and Dream Caste. I recommended him some of my current local favorites such as La Bella, Tenthousandleagues and VRIL. By the time Erik and Anthony came back the first bands were playing. The lineup was pretty mixed as there were pop punk, emo and hardcore bands playing. We played towards the latter end of the show and had a really fun set. This show was a bit different as there seemed to be some younger people in their mid teens present at the show amongst people in their twenties. Everyone at the show seemed to have a good. Kids in New Jersey mosh funny though, they aren’t hurting people but they do this weird running man move into a donkey kick in their circle pits and everyone was all about it. some of these people definitely looked coked out of their minds. There were two other bands that played that were pretty cool and then Teeth For Teeth played. Teeth For Teeth were definitely the local favorites and everyone went fucking nuts for them, they were a very melodic yet frantic hardcore band. They closed out the night and we went to a gas station to get some snacks afterwards, Brandon then invited us to his apartment for us to stay for the night.

Day 15 New York, NY

This was another day off for us. As we were leaving Hammonton we stopped by to pick up Erik’s amp from Anthony’s tech guy. Once we picked up the amp we made for NYC. The drive was short which was nice but right as we crossed the bridge from NJ to NY we were pitted directly into the chaos that is the driving of NY. I remember every moment being tense and since I drove into city, I was automatically the person who would be driving the van for the remainder of the time spent here. Erik told us about this all vegan diner called Champs and we decided to eat there. The food was good, but the waiter got on our case because he didn’t get a good enough tip, dude was a butthole. We then met with Erik’s friend, Dylan who used to live by Erik back home. I also learned that making right turns on red lights in New York are illegal, luckily Dylan warned me before I was I got into trouble. We parked the van in a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood, we got weird looks being that we looked like outsiders. We were told that those neighborhoods are safe and our van wouldn’t get fucked with if we parked there. We took the subway and Dylan served as our guide taking us all over the place. Visiting Time Square and Grand Central Station was really cool, again this was probably the only other time I personally took pictures. Once we had our full of sightseeing we decided to head back to the van. We drove to Dylan’s apartment where the rest of the guys including Dylan went out for pizza and to a bar, I was pretty tired and didn’t feel like leaving the van unattended. Dylan warned me that the neighborhood he lived in was known for lots of car break ins especially if the vehicles had out of state license plates. So I decided I would sleep in the van underneath a streetlight to make sure all our stuff was okay. It must have been around midnight but I couldn’t fall asleep because of how hot and humid it was in the van. By the time I was getting tired it was about 3am and I was dozing in and out of sleep until I caught this car drive slowly down the street and once it passed the van it suddenly braked and went in reverse and got directly behind me and was slowly getting closer and then parked. FUCK. I was scared shitless and was thinking of what I could possibly do. There I was in the van in my underwear and a dumb emo shirt holding onto my pocketknife. I then decided to sit myself up on the bench seat that way the car behind me could see me through our back window. This whole instance lasted about 15 seconds but felt like forever. Eventually the driver pulled back a little and then drove slowly past me down the street until he was out of my sight. This kept me up for a while and I decided that I would sleep propped up against the window in case anyone else had a similar idea. I eventually fell asleep, then all of a sudden the van doors sprung open and Alex rushed in quickly asking me, “DID YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED?!” My first thought was oh fuck, the people from last night came back and somehow fucked with the van while I was sleeping or something, Alex laughed and calmed me down then eloquently said, “Dude, same sex marriage is finally legal in America now!!”