Brother Elsey – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the pop rock band, Brother Elsey, shares one of their stories from being on the road. You can check out the story, after the break.

A few years ago, the boys and I went out for one of our first-ever “tours.” Self-booked, run-down Econoline, terrible pay, but a tour nonetheless AND we had a stop in Nashville we were really looking forward to. We had a long trip planned all the way down to TX, but Nashville was a major stop for us on the way down.

Our first show in town was at the Country, a cool newer venue at the time. We had fun with it, our first show in town went better than expected. We had plans to stay at a friend’s house that night, so we hopped into the van and showed up with whiskey in hand. The next day we had a slot at the 5 Spot for “2 dollar Tuesdays,” and we knew that would be a real Nashville show.

We woke up early the next day to find our van doors open and our guitars and amps missing, as well as Beau’s backpack with his in-ear monitors and laptop. We were devastated, but we are a problem-solving company and we were determined to figure it out. Soundcheck for the night’s show was 6 hours away. Who would loan us guitars and amps? Did we know enough people in town to help us out in that way? The cops showed up and told us we’re one of many lost causes in this town, that our stuff is probably already sold and long gone. Then we remembered the FindMyMacbook feature on Beau’s computer.

The app pinged the laptop a half block down the road. We hoped in the van, called the cops and they met us at the house. We were met with a nice younger couple with a newborn and lots of confusion. But they had an idea of who it could’ve been. The neighbor kids across the street turns out had a pretty long rap sheet with the police. We thought that’s where it would end. Man were we wrong…

Hours passed, after the encounter with the police earlier that day they said the only way they can search their house/yard is if we have a visual on our equipment. So that was a lost cause, we decided to stake the place out for the day. Three hours left now till soundcheck and we were determined to get our things back before the show. Wishful thinking I guess.

We take to driving in circles around the neighborhood to broaden our scope. An hour passes doing this, we’re losing hope, tired, hungover. Then as we turn the corner to their house for the 100th time that day, we see a new car backed into their driveway. Sure enough two kids around lugging out our gear from their shed in the backyard to a strangers car. They were selling it off and we caught them in the act. We slam the breaks on the van, three of us hop out and split up to surround the house.

The car drives away, leaving the two punks that stole our stuff. They drop our gear and try to flee, but we had the place surrounded and we pinned them in their backyard. We told them to bring all of the gear to the street as fast as they could. I’ve never seen a person carry an amp that fast, and there we were. Some choice words were exchanged, maybe some threats. They were lucky. But so were we.

One hour to spare and we got all of our equipment back, ready as ever to play the show that night. And that night we played angry as hell. Our first trip in Nashville was one we will never forget, and you could say we’re a bit overzealous with the locks these days.

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