Uh Huh Baby Yeah – 1st ROAD BLOG from “The Better Down South Tour”

The pop rock band, Uh Huh Baby Yeah, is currently on “The Better Down South Tour” with Lion In The Mane and Dreamcatcher (ex- The Dangerous Summer). While they’re on this tour, they will be doing an exclusive blog for our site. You can check out the first entry, with photos, after the break.

March 7th, 2015 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – USA
It’s difficult to park a van and trailer in downtown Pittsburgh. This goes double during St. Practice Day, an annual event held a week before St. Patrick’s Day, complete with Green Beers, Pub Crawls, and babes wearing very little in spite of the biting winter weather.

Tonight, we arrive at the Smiling Moose, one of downtown Pittsburgh’s happening bar/live music venues. Load-in is treacherous, braving large crowds of party animals, snow, ice, and a flight of stairs so large, Rocky would celebrate at the top. This is night one of The Better Down South tour with Baltimore’s Dreamcatcher and Brooklyn’s The Lion In The Mane. We quickly find all the guys (and gals) of these bands to be our long lost family members, and we discuss our similarities and differences through green-beer-stained mouths at the bar.

Sometimes you lock your keys in your van. Sometimes the van is still running. Sometimes you get lucky enough to not be the one to which this happens.

Kevin is good at opening vehicle doors using little more than a coat hanger, as was made apparent when he successfully rescued one of our fellow touring bands from sure disaster when they locked their keys in the van. This was done in record time, a mere minutes before we were to take the stage. He’s handy when it comes to things like that.

On an unrelated note, he also makes a tremendous Pina Colada.

The set goes well tonight. I believe our live show may have taken the crowd, as well as the other bands in our tour package, by surprise. In a world of backing tracks and autotune, we strive to put on an old-fashioned, loud, live rock ‘n roll experience, without the assistance of Pro Tools or even a metronome. Sometimes mics get thrown. Sometimes things get knocked over. Sometimes Kevin bleeds on his fresh white tee. Sometimes Blake nearly chokes to death on gum. This is a typical night for Uh Huh Baby Yeah! We are met with chants of “YES! YES! YES!” and “This is Awesome!”, which would have surely brought a tear to Hulk Hogan’s eye.

Load out isn’t much easier than loading in. I fall asleep almost immediately upon entering the van. I wake up congested somewhere in Ohio.

March 8th, 2015 – Newport, Kentucky – USA – North America
Newport has a tremendous aquarium. They also have Ghost Shops, Gambling Museums, and Churches with bars in them. These bars have bartenders that resemble Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons. They also have stairs. LOTS of stairs.

Day 2 finds us at The Southgate House Revival, a former church-turned-bar-slash-music-venue outside of Cincinnati, OH. After taking in some of the local attractions and local cuisine, each of the touring bands meet up for a little pre-show pow wow. We discuss last night’s show, quote our favorite movies, decipher the finale of LOST, take a few photos, and then we load a serious amount of gear up a more serious flight of winding stairs.

We are happy to see some very familiar and loving faces come out to the show tonight, both local and those that traveled from afar. We again surprise the newcomers, including the sound guy, with our live show. Afterwards we hang with our friends, take photos, and learn that a very special person in our lives kept a very important promise to us that she made over a year ago. If you are reading this, we love you very much, and we know you will continue to be strong.

After load out, the dance battles begin outside. What ensues is a cross between the Beat It music video and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, with myself being a mix of both Michael Jackson and O-Zone.

We drive. We don’t make it far. We sleep in the van. I dream of stairs. I wake up sweaty.

March 9th, 2015 – Indianapolis, Indiana – USA – North America – Planet Earth
On Warped Tour 2013, we met some of the realest dudes we’ve ever encountered in a band called Letlive. They were the breakout act that year, we were the lowest homeboys on the totem pole. We gave them a copy of our record with the hopes they may actually give it a spin. Not only did that CD survive immediately being discarded, it actually did make it into the stereo of someone at the Letlive. camp. It was with some surprise that the next day, we were informed that everyone liked what they heard, and we were welcomed into their fold. Over the course of the summer there were hangouts, meals shared, contacts exchanged, and months later, we found ourselves in LA recording our newest album with their guitarist, Jeff.

Jeff from here on out may or may not be referred to as “The Hott Fudge”.

Tonight, we take a small break from the Better Down South Tour to share the stage with our friends in Letlive. at The Emerson Theatre. Morale is at an all time high. The show is high energy, beginning with the openers, continuing through our set, and topped off by the sheer live spectacle that is Letlive.

It’s a wonderful feeling to make new friends. To welcome new people into your wolfpack. We received a great reception from those watching. To everyone that came out, thank you and we love you.

After the show, The Hott Fudge was Jeffried. We chugged beers and baked goods, watched Middle Earth Rangers battle Orcs on the Playstation Video Game Console, laughed, and discussed the difference between a Foyer and a Voyeur over a game of Heads Up.

After some sad goodbyes and the purchase of a lot of beard oil, we met up with the Lion In The Man boyz for some hashbrowns at the local Awful Waffle, complete with full Michael Jackson soundtrack on the jukebox.

Tonight was a night full of love. Love from our family. Love from our friends. This is what being in a band is all about. This is why we leave our lives and our homes and our jobs. This is why we sacrifice our time and our money and our health and our sleep. To feel the way we felt tonight.

Plus the chicks are great.

-Sean

Keep up with Uh Huh Baby Yeah on Facebook and Twitter! Also, catch them on a date of this tour:
March 7: Smiling Moose – Pittsburgh, PA
March 8: Southgate House – Newport, KY
March 9: Irving Theatre – Indianapolis, IN
March 10: The End – Nashville, TN
March 11: TBA
March 12: Rockhouse Live – Memphis, TN
March 13: Prophet Bar – Dallas, TX
March 14: TBA – Ft Worth, TX
March 15: 502 Bar – San Antonio, TX
March 16: Boneshakers – Corpus Christi, TX
March 17-22: SXSW – Austin, TX
March 22: Mango’s – Houston, TX
March 24: The Beatnik – New Orleans, LA
March 26: Handlebar – Pensacola, FL
March 27: TBA – Orlando, FL
March 30: Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL
April 1: Architect Bar – Raleigh, NC
April 2: U Street Music Hall – Washington, DC
April 3: North Star Bar – Philadelphia, PA
April 4: Arlene’s Grocery – New York, NY