Why Not – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the noise rock band, Why Not, shares one of their stories from being on the road. You can check out the story, after the break.

Located 20 minutes outside of Kansas City, Independence Missouri, a sacred place to many of the Latter Day Saints and the birthplace of rapper Tech N9ne, was the first stop on our summer tour of 2019. It was a house show. What came as a surprise to us was the nature of this “house show.” From our understanding, we were playing a mini, outdoor music fest/ house party that was thrown once a year and I guess you could say we were pretty pumped. As we pulled into the long, winding driveway of the property however, our pure excitement turned to curiosity tinged with dread.

It was immediately apparent that what we had stumbled into was more along the lines with a family barbeque than a rager of a house show. We parked the car next to our buddies in Heart to Gold, who we were touring with, and hauled our gear up the hill into the garage. It was around 3pm. We had almost 3 hours till the show officially started so we drove into Kansas City proper to check it out. We stumbled across what looked like a castle. It was abandoned and was covered in graffiti. Ominous but begging to be explored. We wandered through the abandoned structure for an hour or so, speculating as to what it once was. Upon further research, we learned it was the Vine Street Workhouse, a city jail that had been abandoned since 1972.

When we arrived back at the show it was in full swing. Heavy Metal was blaring (more specifically the Alien Ant Farm cover of Smooth Criminal) and the resident dads were crackin’ open a few cold ones and stacking the grill high with burgers and brats. Guys bein’ dudes. The first band started playing shortly after and wow, I mean WOW. I have never ever EVER seen a more confident frontman. The band was what I can only say was metal but their sound gravitated between songs that sounded like Tool to Nu Metal bangers. As their first song ended the singer shouted, “Fuck this venue up motherfuckers!” referring to the outdoor patio they were playing on. He only got more intense as the set went on, at one point screaming “I WANT YOU TO FUCKING DESTROY THIS VENUE!” A couple of local teens jokingly moshed and a three-year-old girl rode her tricycle across the lawn. I’ve never seen a frontman more hellbent on the destruction of a venue and his audience members and for that reason I have nothing but the utmost admiration for him. Keep on truckin brother! The pit cleared out and the night continued.

The sun went down and as the night came to a close the family fired of bottle rockets into the night sky, illuminating the darkness as we played our set. We slept at the guy who booked the show’s house and as we drifted off to sleep a decal of a quote on the wall struck my eyes and my mind. “Life will flash before your eyes, It’s worth watching.” – Gerard Way

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

Tour Dates:
3/10 Ames, IA at The Record Mill
3/12 Tulsa, OK at The Vanguard
3/13 Denton, TX at Killer’s Tacos
3/14-3/17 Austin, TX at SXSW
3/19 Tucson, AZ at House Show
3/20 San Diego, CA at Queen Bee’s (w/ Slow Caves)
3/21 Santa Ana, CA at FTG Warehouse
3/22 Los Angeles, CA at Hi Hat
3/25 Denver, CO at Seventh Circle Music Collective
3/27 Lincoln, NE at The Bay
3/28 Sioux Falls, SD at Luigi’s Mansion