My Experience Following a Kingspade Band Tour

Do you love music? Do you love to travel? Well maybe you need an adventure like I had two years ago. July 2004 I decided my life was going nowhere and I needed to live a little, change up my scenery. A band I knew pretty well from local shows and even some parties I went to found there selves a great deal touring with an underground band for a decent sum of money. They bought an RV that wasn't the best; as a matter of fact it was pretty old and a bit broken down. They sold some equipment they didn't need to raise some money and they set out on tour.

When they came to my local venue of course I came to see them and gave them all the support they could handle. My friend Melissa, Joe and myself also drove to Philadelphia to show our support, a good two and a half hour drive never hurt anyone.

During these shows I met the other bands they were on tour with, The Kottonmouth Kings, OPM, and Big B. I really enjoyed their energy and vibe at the show. At the Philly show I loaded them up with some food I brought to help them out on tour. I knew my friends didn't have a lot of money to spare and I didn't want to see anyone go hungry.

So a week or two passed and that's when it all clicked, my life was going nowhere. I needed some adventure. So I and two friends decided to hit the road and join the tour.

We started in Massachusetts and set off to Maryland where we did our packing up and set off to tour. Of course first we gathered some extra money and made sure our plans were solid. I called the band and let them know what was going on they were excited. The original plans was to drive to New Orleans and meet up there and continue for the leg of the tour but after about 10 hours of driving we stopped over night at a small broken down hotel and stayed the night. My friend Sarah was 8 months pregnant, 16 and really down on life so she decided to go with us. It was a bit weird and we didn't think it was the best for her but she hated her adopted family and just decided she had enough. Becca I actually met about 2 days before we left tour. She was what every one of us wishes we were sometimes, loud, honest, and a lot of fun. The long car ride with Becca flashing oncoming cars and Sarah's silent but deadly preggo farts were too much at times and the crappy hotel was like paradise at the time, and a nice shower.

Here I decided to call the drummer and let him know of our progress and that we were in Tennessee. He told me it would be very awesome if we could backtrack and meet up with them in Memphis Tennessee, so we did.

The first show was really nice. We met another group that was following the bands. Brandy, Lisa, and Jess, I called them the trio. They were very much into the music of the Kottonmouth Kings and even worked for the record label promoting.

Sarah had to go back home after this tour date due to unfortunate circumstances she put upon herself. We joked with the lead singer of the kings earlier that day and he asked how we would make the money to go on the leg of the tour and we jokingly told him we would pimp out the preggo girl, little did we know she would sleep with a crew guy in the back room later that night. That looked bad on us and we decided maybe a bus back to Maryland would just be the best. So from then on it was just Becca and me. The next night was Becca's birthday in Little Rock Arkansas and it was really little, the venue that is. But we got a little tipsy and enjoyed ourselves, free of the worries back home and free of the drama Sarah started.

Then it was off to New Orleans! That was a very interesting part of the road trip. From little Hick gas station where the gene pool was so shallow you'd break your neck if you dove in to the road kill of alligators all up and down the highway it made for a long and interesting drive. In New Orleans we got a chance to roam the streets of the Old French quarters and even gamble a bit in the casino, I walked in with 10$ and walked out with 60, not a bad job I must say. We looked at antiques with John from Strawman and even a voodoo shop. Becca grabbed a two dollar beer and then we had another drink with Dan at a nice little restaurant/bar close to the venue. The night made interesting when we found out John ate one, maybe two drug laced crab cakes and passed out in the RV. I however somehow ended up messed up and only remembering half of the night part included J.P. pissing on the sidewalk and me telling Jonathan not to step in it and me dancing on a picnic table to Big B's song Hooligan. I do however remember I ate a wonderful bowl of Jambalaya.

Next leg was to Dallas Texas. We were so tired and I don't even remember how we got to where we fell asleep but we manage to find a place. We were suppose to drive straight to Dallas because it was a 10 hour drive and we had to pick up a friend Rob from the airport there and then get to his hotel to drop off his stuff and head to the venue. However me and Becca fell asleep a little too long and ended up having 6 hours to make a 10 hour drive. So to say the least I got stopped twice for speeding and made it a little late. We made it to the airport at 3 when we were supposed to be there by 1. Then we stopped by McDonalds to freshen up in the bathroom and my trunk breaks what luck so far. Then we get to the venue and when the show is done we have a parking ticket. Luckily a nice shower at my friend's hotel room freshened up the drive to Houston.

Houston was a good show. The after party was a taping for the Kingspade video where I finally got to talk to D-Loc because up till then I thought he was a complete dick and hated us, but he came up and asked me for a hug, not a bad guy at all.

The trip to Austin was the most memorable by far. It started off a good little ride then we stopped for gas, that's where it started. We pulled off the ramp and saw a van; it belonged to one of the bands, OPM. We sped up and passed them and waved and they waved back. Then a little ahead of them was the Trio plus one because after the Arkansas show J.P. joined.

Again we honked the horn and waved and continued on our way. We saw that the van and the car were right next to each other for quite a few and found that curiously strange but we continued to drive along. After a few we noticed the headlights approaching fast. We looked bad and saw it was OPM so thinking nothing of it we rolled down the window and said hey. It was then that Mr. Chucky Styles also known as Mr. Dgaf leaned out of the back window and threw a taco at the side of my car. Now mind you at the time we had no idea what was thrown all we knew was it was brown and looked nasty. Then Big B starts shaking up what looks like a beer or soda and I hit the gas and cut them off. Then the trio drives by and throws empty beer cans out.

This made Becca upset but I told her I'm sure they were just having some fun as any band does on a cross country trip. Cleaning off the car was amusing as I laughed and almost peed myself and Becca gagged and complained and said she thought it was puke, and I said if it was puke it definitely had cheese in it and I laughed for a long while. In Austin Becca decided to corner J.P. and let him know she wasn't pleased with the stunts on the drive last night. He told her that OPM through a taco at their car and a soda into the window and hit Jess while she was driving in the head, funny yet dangerous. I decided to take it to the source though and chased OPM's van down and Big B through some fire crackers out of the window resulting in a near by cop to pull them over that made me giggle a lot. In Austin we met a bartender named Paul. He was very nice and showed Becca around town. I decided to stay for awhile and chill out with the keyboardist to OPM and talk and relax. We laughed about the taco incident and the drummer insisted he had no parts in it and he was asleep. I got to see the van and their ghetto television on a milk crate strapped down with chains. We all had a smoke in the van and then I just hung around till the show started.

The next stop was San Antonio and it was so hot down there. We stopped at a rest area and out of all places and people we bumped into the trio plus one and they followed us to the venue. In front of the venue was a fountain and me and Becca both thought it would be fun to get soaked. I was drenched but my skirt then became see-through so I decided to sit it out till it dried.

We thought San An was going to be our new home for awhile because at this point we were dead broke. I had to call my grandfather and beg my way to enough money to get home. So the next day we drove to a money transfer and he sent us just enough to get us home. Well we decided since we had to drive home we might as well hit up the last 2 shows that were on our way. However we didn't have the time to make the show in Okalahoma so we made it for the after show get together.

Becca decided to park the car so I went in and hung out with Jonathan from OPM. After awhile of no Becca, Shane from Strawman and I set off to look for her. Not finding her or my car made me a little nervous so I tried to call her and the phone was dead. The Kings and OPM had left earlier and Strawman kept telling me they couldn't help me so they just left. The triple krowner for the Kings stayed with me and made sure I was ok and eventually a lost Becca found her way back and we started on our way to Kansas.

Wichita Kansas was our last stop of the tour. It was a great night. I met a new friend, said goodbye to the ones I met throughout this journey and cried as we made our way out.

Our trip home was so long, without all the stops along the way it all seems that much longer. We stayed at Becca's aunts' house in Illinois, we found a stray dog at a rest area and rescued a turtle from the roads and put him in a new home in a pond.

All in all that was one of the best experiences of my life. I met people of all walks of life, saw places I never dreamed I would see, and took in so much culture, music and memories to last a lifetime. Even through all the bad points and the hunger, the bathing in rest areas and the cramped sleeping quarters of my car, I never once fought with Becca. I learned that real friendships are one of a kind and I made so many new friends and also saw some so called friends for what they really were. If I could go back in time and do it all again I would do it over and over and over. I'll never forget summer 2004!