Vaela – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

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

After rushing around for a full day trying to pick up all band members (consisting of Apate and Vaela) for our tour with Scourge, our biggest task was picking up the van and trailer in time due to a tight schedule. before leaving Brisbane that night, We were given the wrong address to the van hire place. With stress levels high we had 30 minutes to get to the new van pick up address which we made with just minutes to spare. Although, the stress didn’t end here.

Arriving at a 24/7 petrol station to pick up and pay for our trailer, after our transaction we realized there was no tow bar on the Van we had hired (rookie error) and noticed on the receipt for the trailer that there were no refunds. At the time the only thoughts going through our heads were “@&$&!” as we realize we’ve just thrown hundreds of dollars down the drain. Much to our luck, we called the customer service number on the receipt and they were forgiving enough to give us an 80% refund (bless).

Given the no tow bar and trailer situation we decided to head back to one of the Apate boy’s houses and load gear directly into the van. Knowing that however the gear is stacked in there it’d be staying in that position the whole 60-70 hours of driving. Boxes on top of boxes, guitar cases forming a wall through the walkway and pedal boards falling off every time someone eased on the breaks, you could say that being a passenger in the van wasn’t the least bit comfortable.

There were many other events and antics to be had but those stories can be kept for another time. Finishing our very first tour was as equally stressful as it was fun. We learned that you should always double check if your van has a tow bar and to give yourself plenty of spare time to get things ready before you hit the road. We’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Keep up with the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!