The Foxies – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

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

New York City is the city of euphoria, misery, and everything in between. It’s got pretty much everything, all the time. Oftentimes, the New York stints cram all of the best and worst moments of one tour in 2-3 days, such was the case for us the first time we went to the big apple. Our Wednesday night show at a sweet little club in the East Village went so well, and sold out so fast, that the venue actually asked us to jump on another show with them just 48 hours after. We were already planning on being in the city for a few meetings, showcases, etc., so we were riding high. We scored an incredible parking spot on the street, dispersed to sleep for the evening, and had efficient plans to make our way uptown for our appointments that Thursday afternoon. Grab the van at 10am before the meter expires at 11. Plenty of time to get to Hell’s Kitchen by 3pm for a 4pm showcase… Only problem was when Jake got to the parking spot to pick up the van, it wasn’t there.

We asked on the street, in the local restaurants/bars, and although people were much friendlier than usual, no one knew anything. The only man who gave us more than a second’s thought muttered, “it could have been towed until we noticed the parking sign. This particular spot was available at the time we parked, but on Thursdays, unavailable from 5am-7am. In that time, the car was apparently towed. Ruthless. Jake hopped on the subway to the port authority – if you’ve toured in New York before, this isn’t the rarest of occurrences. 11am. 30min line to speak to someone at the Port Authority….

“You can’t have access to this car because you’re not the owner.” Did I mention this van was a rental? 12pm. No problem, all we gotta do is retrieve the rental agreement. Back in line, another 30 minutes. Finally retrieved the van. No rental agreement in the glove compartment. By now the rest of the band has arrived. 1pm. Our towed tour van is sitting 100 feet away from us with all of our instruments, gear, luggage, and snacks. We’re not allowed in.

After another hour or so, and quite a bit of debit card charges to the city of New York, we’re in our van not a moment too soon, with a brand new faxed rental agreement, all 3 Foxies, and well on our way to our showcase. Rocked so hard. We finished our set just in time to drive back to the lower east side in rush hour traffic. Thankfully, NYC also has some great spots to grab a drink and blow off steam. Needless to say, the second show went even better than the first, and years later, haven’t been towed since.

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