Black Absinthe – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the heavy metal band, Black Absinthe, give you their tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

1. Respect the places you crash! Sleeping in a van is cramped and hotels are expensive so we’ve always found it great when we could have someone offer their space to crash after a show. Most of the time its an afterparty too, drink some beers, blaze a joint and shoot the shit with folks that you either rarely see, have just met, are friends of friends. It’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of hitting the road that’s why it’s important not to leave someone’s place a disaster after whipping through. Grab a bag and clean up some shit, offer to help with dishes and junk if you were eating their food, say your goodbye’s and get back on the road.

2. “To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong.” The wise words of Hulk Hogan. Throw out a hail Satan and get your vitamins proper when choosing what to eat. Here is a list of things that aren’t vitamins:
-Slurpees
-French Fries
-Beef Jerky
Stopping whenever possible at a grocery store instead of a gas station is key to avoid your stomach you’ve been betraying for the last two days by stuffing Taco Bell into it from churning out nasty gas in a cramped van.

3. Be prepared for any car stereo situation. When renting a car or van for a quick two-three day stint you’re not always sure what the audio situation is going to be. Sometimes you luck out and it’s got satellite radio and aux port while other times you’re got a CD player. Have a stack ready if it so happens you’re stuck on CDs. Last summer we left for Quebec City with maybe 8 CDs on us from being caught unaware. We were lucky to have picked up Dio’s Last In Line the week before which was re-playable many times over.

4. Navigator. When doing long hours of driving it is only fair that the driver is provided a navigator. A navigator’s duties include:
Assisting in finding where the fuck we’re going.
-Grabbing shit for the driver.
-Agreeing with the driver when another dick on the road does something stupid.
-Changing tunes and staying awake.

There’s a bunch of wildlife in this place called Canada and it’s good when you don’t slam into any of it while driving. Having two sets of eyes looking for these fleshy targets will greatly reduce the chance of having a sweet deer imprint on the grill of your van.

5. DISCOUNT TOUR TIP
For those of you on a tight budget but still looking to make your way to a nearby city via a greyhound or Megabus a warning: They only let you bring a certain weight of cargo on with you. Travel lean! Trying to get on one of those with a guitar, an amp, and a full backpack probably isn’t going to fly.

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