October 18, 2023
Medford, Oregon
Day Off!
I made a TikTok, REEL, Facebook Reel, and a YouTube short explaining this, but perhaps you missed it…
We are new at days off. Honestly, until we toured with Reel Big Fish a few years back, we didn’t take days off, unless we absolutely couldn’t make a show happen. If we were on tour and had a day with no show, we tried to make a show happen. Acoustic, pop-up, in-store…whatever we could do.
You see, the machine still turns whether you play or not. You still have to pay the crew, bus rental, gear rental (depending on where we are)…Plus you have to feed everyone. You get it. It’s expensive to have a day and not be able to put a few bucks into the mix. Not to mention, it’s a day away from home…Wives, kids, dogs, favorite chairs…So our philosophy was always: If we are gone, we work!
People thought we were crazy! Bands thought we were insane! Support bands would get the itinerary and see 26 shows in a row and think there was a mistake. Even our management and agents would always worry a bit about burnout.
Well, we did a summer of co-headline shows with Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake. When you have another band that is as invested in the tour as you, you have to agree on a lot of things. These bands took days off. So we agreed with no pushback. If nothing else, we would have a pool day at a hotel and eat something that isn’t a sandwich or pizza.
Turns out, we warmed up to days off very quickly. Haha! Quite frankly, it was past due. We all have issues with parts of our bodies that stem from years of touring. Some of it is performance stuff. Arms cramp. Knees buckle. Some of it is just from not sleeping. Other things are from years of travel…Basically, we aren’t young anymore.
So days off usually go one of two ways now. We find a hotel with a pool. We get two rooms…1 for the driver and 1 for all of us to shower in. We take a cooler of beer to the pool and then later that night, we get a nice meal.
The other type of day off we do is what we are up to today! We got an Airbnb for the day! We got in around noon today, which was very nice of the place to let us in early…Usually, it is 3 or 4. We are hanging out. Enjoying each other's company. We cooked breakfast. We are grilling out later and enjoying some playoff baseball! GO RANGERS!
Everyone is enjoying a long shower…Laundry is getting done.
Many bands split up and do separate things on days off. Lots of bands don’t see each other on show days until the show! One of the things I love about my band and crew is we like being around each other. We eat together. Drink beer together. Laugh a LOT. We genuinely love spending time together. 30 years in, and it’s still the same!
So days like this, I get to be thankful for something besides the amazing crowds we are getting at shows these days. Today, I get to acknowledge my thankfulness for my band & my crew…My friends…My family. We have seen the world together. We have had amazing days and we have had days that made us question what the hell we are doing! But through it all, we have each other’s back.
I gotta run…Gary made chicken!
Love ya’ll!
Jaret