The CRY! – 2nd ROAD BLOG from their Summer 2015 U.S. Tour

The Portland-based rock ‘n roll band, The CRY!, is currently on their summer 2015 U.S. tour, support their new album, Dangerous Game. While they are on this tour, they will be doing an exclusive blog for us. You can check out the second entry, with photos, after the break.

Monday, Aug. 10: Had some menudo and beers for breakfast at Victor’s aunt’s before hitting the road to Vegas,. Got to the backyard show we’re playing and it started filling up fast, first two bands were pretty cool, surfy and garagey. We started at 10:30 am, and about eight songs in the cops came, so we had to stop and wait for them to leave. After 5 minutes we finished off with four songs and the Astaires played their set inside the house. Everyone packed in the living room and kitchen, and they played a killer, energetic set and even threw in a Stooges cover.

Tuesday, Aug. 11: Spent the day cooking for six hours in our van with broken AC, driving through the desert all day is no fun. Played Rogue Bar in Scottsdale, Arizona tonight. The bar is owned by a old rocker named Kevin. He was cool as fuck and told us some funny Johnny Thunders stories, and we bonded over both being from Chicago, too. The first band, Action Jets, really rocked and opened with Cheap Trick’s “Hello There.” This was the first night we met Lost Element, the band who will be supporting us the rest of the tour. They were all nice guys and looking forward to partying with them for the next six weeks.

Wednesday, Aug. 12: Had today off so we did some laundry and got Brian’s amp checked out. It had stopped working in Vegas. Luckily it was nothing serious and they didn’t charge us. Later that night we stopped by the guys we’re staying with (Dead Rock Society) band practice. They played a great cover of “Strength to Endure” and then Brian and Ray sang “The Boys Are Back In Town” with them. After that we went and checked out the new “Damned” documentary at a spot called the Filmbar downtown. Good movie, I’d recommend checking it out.

Thursday, Aug. 13: Headed to El Paso, Texas, drove six hours but forgot to compensate for time change. Get to venue and find out opening band cancelled. Fun stage to play on with good sound, really felt the bass tonight, loving it. And it had a drum riser, which I think always makes it look better. Good crowd, really got into it. Sold a bunch of shirts and CDs, those merch sales really save us on the road. I make earrings I sell at the merch table too for extra cash. Really awesome bartender who kept the shots coming and let us drink in the bar after they closed up. Another great night.

Friday, Aug. 14: Drove 14 hours today, finally got to Wichita Falls at 2 am, drunken sing-alongs all day and night in the van. Wake up to find out our two Oklahoma shows (Oklahoma City and Tulsa) are cancelled due to flooding, really sucks cause days off are money wasted and now we are looking at three in a row. Decided to drive two hours to Dallas and try to busk in the street and sell merch and jewelry on the sidewalk. Also gonna try and catch the “Straight Outta Compton” movie. Just gotta sit tight and be smart till we get back on track.

Saturday, Aug. 15: Got the word that weather is supposed to be fine in Tulsa this weekend, so we decided to spend last night in Dallas and hit the town to promote for the show on Monday, then drive to Tulsa on Saturday, stay with the promoter, and try to promote for Sunday’s show Saturday night. We all needed a little break after spending the majority of the last two days stuck in a van together, getting bad news and scrambling to salvage this weekend, but things are looking up now, at least we only lost one show. I went skating while Brian and Ray kicked it at the pool. I’m like a dog that needs to be walked all the time. Too much time sitting still in a van and I build up an abundance of energy that I gotta get out or it drives me crazy. I hate sitting still. We asked around and found out where all the rock ‘n’ roll is happening, and caught the shuttle bus from the hotel into uptown, where there was a cool strip with a bunch of bars and live music, dudes drumming on the street, and there was a killer group of dudes playing horns and drums like a little marching band. Found the bar we’re playing at Monday. The door guy was real cool, let us into the show for free, met some girls there who brought us to this biker/industrial bar that was pretty fuckin cool, kicked it there drinking and playing pool all night, made a bunch of new friends. Looking forward to being back Monday night for sure. Already filled our guest list up, should be a good one.

Sunday, Aug. 16: Met up with the promoters/owners of Blvd Trash, Tony and Michelle, at their house and had a killer dinner of homemade tacos and plenty of beers. They had to work, so we went to their bar and kept the party going with more beers and plenty rounds of Jameson shots. Tony got to cut out early and we went down to a local music bar, Sound Pony, caught a few bands there, and passed out handbills for the show tomorrow night. Left at 2 am and got back to Tony’s and kept the party going till the sun was coming up, talking about music, touring, and bonding over our shared Midwest roots. Him being from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and myself being from Chicago, we had a ton of common friends and had both seen each others old band’s (Al and the Black Cats and The Van Buren Boys, respectively) play but never formally met, or probably did but both of us were to drunk to remember.

Keep up with the band on Facebook and Twitter! If the band is touring through a town near you, make sure you check out their live show! All upcoming tour dates below:
Tue, 8/4 San Francisco, CA Hotel Utah
Wed, 8/5 Santa Cruz, CA Catalyst Atrium Room
Thu, 8/6 Fresno, CA Peeve’s Public House
Fri, 8/7 Hollywood, CA The Viper Room
Sun, 8/9 Las Vegas, NV Bunkhouse
Mon, 8/10 Scottsdale, AZ The Rogue Bar
Wed, 8/12 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace
Fri, 8/14 Oklahoma City, OK 89th Street Collective
Sun, 8/16 Tulsa, OK Boulevard Trash
Mon, 8/17 Dallas, TX Three Links
Tue, 8/18 San Antonio, TX Jack’s Bar
Thu, 8/20 Austin, TX Mohawk
Fri, 8/21 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
Sun, 8/23 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone Cafe
Mon, 8/24 Chattanooga, TN GrandFalloon
Thu, 8/27 Atlanta, GA 529
Fri, 8/28 Charlotte, NC Milestone
Sat, 8/29 Knoxville, TN Open Chord
Sun, 8/30 Raleigh, NC Cat’s Cradle
Tue, 9/1 Baltimore, MD Otto Bar
Wed, 9/2 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar
Fri, 9/4 Brooklyn, NY Mercury
Sun, 9/6 Boston, MA PA’s Lounge
Wed, 9/9 Pittsburgh, PA Club Café
Thu, 9/10 Cleveland, OH Roc Bar
Fri, 9/11 Pontiac, MI Pike Room @ Crofoot
Sat, 9/12 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe
Sun, 9/13 Indianapolis, IN Melody Inn
Tue, 9/15 Chicago, IL Fizz
Fri, 9/18 Kansas City, MO Riot Room
Sat, 9/19 Denver, CO The Toad