Smallpools – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

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

So I wouldn’t say that this is a “crazy” story per say but it’s certainly a memorable one for us. In 2013, we were booked to play our first festival which happened to be an opening slot on the Main Stage at Austin City Limits Festival. We were all thrilled and it worked out perfectly because Austin was on our way to join up with the Walk the Moon tour which we were booked on as the opener.

We hadn’t met the guys yet but we were set to play a secret pre-ACL show at the Empire Garage with their Talking Heads cover band alter-ego, Kaleidoscope Space Tribe. The show was a blast & WTM crushed all of the Talking Heads classics. It seemed to be the perfect start to our ACL experience but as we were loading gear back into the Sprinter van, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour began.

The next morning we woke up to the news that the entire ACL fairgrounds were underwater and that the festival was canceled! We were crushed. We quickly learned that most other bands felt a similar type of disappointment and talks of throwing together a pop-up show began. With the help of a few thoughtful people on our team, we were able to book a last minute show with the Mowgli’s at small bar/restaurant named Lambert’s.

Both of our bands blasted the news on Twitter and hoped for the best. Keep in mind, this was very early in our band’s career so we literally had no idea what to expect. I was pretty confident we’d be playing to an empty restaurant but fuck it, we came to Austin to play music and that’s exactly what we were gonna do!

To our amazement, there was already a line around the block when we arrived to meet the Mowgli’s. By the time we went on stage, the room felt as if it were about to burst and the crowd was extra rowdy. We couldn’t believe it! To add to the craziness, Grouplove and Walk the Moon played impromptu surprise sets in the middle of our sets as all musicians shared guitars & gear. There was this ineffable overwhelming sense of friendship and family between all of the people on stage and everyone in attendance. By the end of the night, it felt as if we all had forgotten about the canceled festival and were perfectly happy with this unanticipated evening.

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