Cold Kingdom – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the hard rock band, Cold Kingdom, talk about some of their crazy moments from touring. You can check out the feature, after the break.

Jason
We had the privilege of playing at NAMM this year thanks to our friends at Electro-Voice. The whole experience was pretty surreal as I walked around the convention and tried to figure out how it was that we, a band that just a couple of years earlier played our first show in the middle of some volleyball courts, were at this place. But there we were in Anaheim, CA with our pictures on the new line of EV microphones and playing in front of thousands of industry reps.

The whole week was a dream come true but for me, the best night of the whole trip was the last night when the whole EV crew and all the artist went out to dinner at this little German restaurant. We walked in like 20 to 30 deep and there was a dude up on the stage in lederhosen and an accordion with maybe another 4 older couples in the restaurant. The moment we walked in everyone stopped and looked at our group and realized dinner was about to get rowdy. Mr. Lederhosen’s eyes light up and within no time the shots and schnitzel were flying off the shelf. By the end of the meal, the whole crew was dancing on tables singing Ziggy-zaggy- ziggy-zaggy-oi-oi-oi! I think it may have been the best night of Mr. Lederhosen’s life. Thanks again to Electro-Voice and Mr. Michael Doucot for an evening I will never forget.

Evan
We had just finished up a packed show at the Mankato Brewery for their release of a new beer. It had been a great night until we loaded up the trailer and tried to start the van. We turned the key and of course, in typical Cold Kingdom fashion, it wouldn’t start. We gave it half an hour and tried again, and magically it sputtered to life. Not wanting to deal with the issue of why it took so long to start, we quickly set off on the short drive to where we were staying for the night. We were eager to get there, so right off the bat we took a wrong turn. Chris is in the driver seat, I’m in the passenger seat navigating. We start down the road, and at the end, we can see it’s a dead-end sign, but Chris says “That’s fine, we’ll just turn it around once we find some room.” But the road kept going and going, and suddenly the street lights were much closer to the side of the van than before. In fact, as I look down I realize the road we’re on is only barely wider than the van itself. Yep, we’re driving down a bike path. Here we are at 1AM in the middle of Mankato, in a van, pulling a 5×8 trailer down this tiny strip of asphalt, ironically not even 20 yards from the highway. To make matters worse, Jason was following behind us in his own car. So I give him a call, and when he picks up I say “Hey, I think we’re on a bike path.”

“I KNOW WE’RE ON A BIKE PATH!”

Luckily, we eventually crossed a road and were able to escape the awkward fate of having to explain to an officer how in the world we could’ve possibly made such a mistake with sober minds.

Chris
We were in Mesa, AZ playing a show between Shinedown dates and staying at a motel for the evening. The show date happened to land on Zac’s birthday, so what a perfect excuse to get a little tuned up right? Cases of Coors Light and, Zac’s favorite, Caribou Lou (151, pineapple juice, and Malibu for those non-Tech 9 fans out there) were flowing like water. We were turning Cards Against Humanity, Joking Hazard, and Speak Out into drinking games, then slowly but surely the game aspect of it all kind of went by the wayside and it was only drinking.

At some point through the evening, a relaxing hangout in the hot tub sounded really good. Mind you when we went swimming earlier in the day to beat the Arizona heat, we wouldn’t come within 20 feet of this hot tub. It honestly was the same color as lemon-lime Gatorade. But it was dark, we were three sheets to the wind, can’t see it if it’s not there right? Until there was a bit of splashing going on we hear our roadie Mike say “It got in my mouth *gag* itgotinmymouth!” We immediately abort the hot tub plan as we book it back to the room.

We survive the night and wake up the next morning to survey and clean up the damage from the night before. On our way back to the van, we look at the hot tub all with the “I can’t believe we actually got in that cesspool” look on our faces. We went back, showered, and still felt completely filthy. But that’s rock and roll, right?

Dani
I’d like to share a story that we like to refer to as the Sac-Town Crackhead story. We had been on tour with Shinedown experiencing mountains and ocean and desert and forests. All the altitude and climate changes left all the vocalists on tour with pretty extreme vocal and health issues. Singers always get sick, of course. I had decided to use my day off for some rest at the hotel (by hotel I mean shady-ass motel) while the guys went out for a drink or twelve. The problem presented itself as I realized that I didn’t have a key and was stranded in the room with no food and no way to leave. On the road, with 6 people we often had to only put 4 names on the hotel room and sneak the other 2 in. I was one of those 2 which meant I couldn’t ask for a new key from the front desk.

While attempting to poke my head out of the room to check for vending I was greeted by a skinny toothless over-complimentary young man asking if I wanted to party, asking if I wanted to hang, asking if he could come in my room. This happened several times as he was waiting outside my room on the chance I would poke my head out again. After he learned I wouldn’t leave he started banging on the door asking to be let in, and eventually even pounding on the windows requesting of me a “good time.”

Terrified and trapped I texted the guys wondering when they would come home and asking for a key. I had no clue where they were or when they would come home. They requested that I met them out (like hell I was leaving that room with my new friend waiting for me outside) and they requested I call the cops (like hell I was going to involve the police in a situation where I wasn’t officially staying in that hotel). So I turned off all the lights and made sure the door was dead-bolted and tried to make myself invisible.

Later I received a text from Zac that they were coming back and I should let them in. I heard pounding at the window again and dropped to the floor in between the beds to hide and remain as quiet as possible. Then a knock at the door. I realized it was probably the guys so I unlocked the door.

A man burst into the room screaming. Before I could realize that it was just Zac and Groethe, I burst into tears terrified it was the Crackhead. They thought it was a hilarious joke. Needless to say, I didn’t stay at that hotel that night.

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