Atomic Tom – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, Luke White, of the alternative band, Atomic Tom, talks about one of their crazy moments from touring. You can check out the feature, after the break.

Van Breakdown

We had just landed an amazing support slot playing first of third in front of thousands every night. All the details were set. We were packed, ready to leave Brooklyn in a fancy Dodge Sprinter stacked with widescreen screens, leather commander chairs, video consoles and promises of a comfortable ride across the US of A.

I got four blocks from the rental location when our dream transportation began pouring smoke from its engine. I called the rental company and they promised to quickly bring a replacement. Turns out, the replacement was a beat up old minivan that had curtains in the windows. We were in trouble. But, we had no choice. All the best vans in a 50-mile radius were booked. We begrudgingly worked with what we were given and set out for Philadelphia.

The first two weeks were amazing night after night as we trekked across the midwest, down the west coast and then finally into Texas. The first stop in Texas was the northwestern city of Amarillo. Apparently, the promoter in Amarillo didn’t know how to sell jack. The show was 10% capacity at best and we pulled off our “I’m not really disappointed” face until the final bow and we rolled the gear behind the stage.

We had a six-hour drive to the next city. We headed out as soon as everything was loaded in the trailer. We made it just outside the city when, at midnight, the van sputtered and halted. It never started again. After every attempt at fixing the van ourselves, we called the driver of the 18 wheeler carrying all the gear for the headliners and he graciously swooped by and grabbed us and our gear. The driver, his wife, our tour manager, and my band squished into that cab and hooped and hollered for an hour before crashing on the one twin bed in the back of the cab.

Four dudes. Sleeping on one bed. In the back of a cab. All the way to Dallas.

We never rented from that company again.

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