Everett Music - Henry J. on Tour with Fauna Shade
“Do you want to go on tour and play bass for us?”
I can vividly remember Scotty Smith, lead singer of Fauna Shade, saying to me at Anchor Pub with a well whiskey in his hand. I thought he was drunk. Me? Henry J? The soon-to-be-30-year-old-musical-burnout? The only “tour” I’d ever been on is when one of my bands played Bellingham then Seattle the next day. I never thought I’d be touring, let alone touring with f*cking Fauna Shade, Experience Music Projects, "Sound Off!" winners. They played Sasquatch Festival this year. This was big.
“Yeah! Wait no. Yes! I’ll have to think about it.” That was my answer to Scotty. I had school. I told him I’d let him know that Monday. I wound up cold-calling the head of my area of study at WSU Everett and leaving him a voice mail asking if there was any way I could temporarily leave my studies behind.
He called me back immediately. The answer was yes.
Peace out, Everett!
We got to work. I learned both Fauna Shade albums front to back, first on my own, then with Scotty and myself, then with the whole band. Scotty compiled a set list. Three weeks later I snapped this picture as we headed out of Everett and off to the great unknown.
This was our itinerary
9/7 – Baby Bar, Spokane
9/8 – Flying M Coffee, Nampa ID
9/9 – Neurolux, Boise ID
9/10 – Badlander, Missoula MT
9/11 – The Sports Center, Yakima
Scotty, Richie, that 1992 Ford Econoline 150 Mark III and I would form a bond over the next five days and almost 1500 miles. We hit the road.
DAY ONE (Everett to Spokane. 4h 27m)
405 to I-90. Evergreens gave way to rolling brown hills. The speed limit increased. Baby Bar was the first stop on tour, and we would be meeting up with Mary, drummer in Oliver Elf Army, who wanted to see Fauna Shade with yours truly. Scotty drove the four and a half hours while Richie DJ’d. I sat in the back and read (Kerouac’s On The Road, of course) and watched the world go by. The farthest east I had been in Washington was Wenatchee, so this was all new to me. We stopped at a rest stop while the sun was setting. Scotty snapped this photo of us
Somewhere outside of Spokane. Photo by Scotty Smith
We hit the venue, which was more restaurant than venue. We had no stage. People ordered massive burritos while we set up. We were playing with Iska Dhaaf that night as they embarked on their U.S. tour. We’d play with them again in Boise. The set went well…. I only screwed up a couple of times – a mix of nerves and lapses in concentration as I kept being reminded that we had no place to sleep at the end of the night. Mary ended up running merch and getting us a room in her hotel for the night (we’re paying her back. Don’t worry). We ate continental breakfast the next morning together and said our goodbyes.
First day of tour! Baby Bar, Spokane
DAY 2 (Spokane to Nampa, ID to Boise, ID. 6h 35m.)
We woke up, loaded gear and left right before checkout at 11 a.m. We had the second longest drive of the tour ahead of us, and we were extremely thankful that Mary got that hotel room for us. We met up with Iska Dhaaf in the lobby. We walked outside and shot this group photo in the parking lot.
We drove. And drove. And drove. Scotty and Richie traded off driving duties – I wouldn’t get behind the wheel of the Econoline until we drove to Missoula. We crossed through Kennewick, into Oregon (where we stopped for lunch), then to Idaho. The speed limit opened to 80 mph. We floored it to make the setup time at Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa. I ate a caramel cinnamon roll. My stomach felt like hell. I stood at the back of the stage by my amp wracked with fear that I would start projectile vomiting on stage.
Feeling barfy in Nampa
After the set a group of kids came up to Scotty and asked us to play 1973, a song not on our set list. Scotty said that he would play it for them acoustic in the parking lot at the end of the night. I went outside for a smoke. I came back into the venue and the same group of kids asked me to sign copies of Floral Hall and Baton Rouge.
“Are you sure you want me to sign this? I didn’t play on these records. I’m just filling in.”
“Yeah sign it! You guys are awesome!”
I scribbled Henry J with a heart underneath it. My stomach felt better.
Scotty, under a streetlamp with car headlights standing in for spotlights, sang 1973, as promised, in the parking lot. It was a moment I’ll never forget.
We secured a cheap hotel with a pool in Boise, and hit the road. Little did I know that our time in Boise would be the best time I had on tour.
DAY THREE (Boise, ID.)
We slept. Oh lord how we slept. Richie got up early to explore Boise while Scotty and I stumbled out of bed around one in the afternoon. Richie came back to the hotel and we drove to Whole Foods to grab something substantial before our set. I inhaled a veggie sushi roll. It tasted like heaven.
“We should hit up the pool in the hotel later.”
And we did. The place was vacant. We ran and jumped in and swam for over an hour. Scotty had a waterproof Bluetooth speaker with him. We flipped it on. Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen” reverberated though the cavernous poolroom.
I floated on my back. Boise might as well have been Las Vegas. We shot this video. I think I can speak for the band when I said we would have stayed in that pool all night. Screw music. Give me an indoor pool and some Sinatra. Let me float here forever.
But alas, work called. We packed up and headed to the Neurolux, my favorite venue of the tour. We met up with Iska Dhaaf. They played Missoula the night before. We traded travel tips, and then we hit the stage.
Moments before we started playing at the Neurolux
When you’re on stage, and there’s a crowd that actually gives a shit about you, it changes the game for a band. We played hard as hell. People danced and cheered. We left the Neurolux in flames that night, and said goodbye to Iska Dhaaf. As of this writing, they’re still on tour somewhere on the east coast. We headed back to the hotel satisfied.
DAY FOUR (Boise, ID. to Missoula, MT. 7h 46m)
I know it says almost eight hours to drive from Boise to Missoula, but it was more like 10 hours. After we made it out of Boise and had a lil snack, I climbed into the drivers seat of the Econoline, got her up to 85 and cruised.
Our home away from home.
Side note here: let me tell you about the van. It never broke down on us ONCE but the steering in that thing is outrageous. There was so much play in the wheel before you actually felt the steering work it was like driving a sailboat, and when you passed an 18-wheeler on a two-lane road, it was hair-raising.
The hours dragged on. The mood soured. When we finally got to Missoula we were fatigued and on edge. We were at the Badlander to close out the Plus One Festival. We were supposed to be on at 9 p.m. but the night got pushed back. We headed to the hotel to rest for an hour or so.
Once we saw the room fill up three or four songs into our set, we kicked it into overdrive. We got the solemn hipsters of Missoula moving – uncrossing their arms and putting their PBRs to the side to groove with us. We blistered through our 45-minute set and left the stage sweaty.
I went outside for fresh air and to find some food, when KSER’s Wade T and his girlfriend Hilary turned down the alley. They drove from Everett to Missoula straight to try and catch our set on their way to Wyoming and just missed it. I thought they would have given up and kept going. We hugged. We chatted. It was so nice to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar place.
Scotty, myself and Wade in an alley. Photo by Hilary McGowan
We gave them space in our hotel room for the night. I went to Pita Pit and sat alone and ate and read about how a white supremacist group put pro-white posters up all over campus. I was far from home. Wade brought champagne up to the hotel room and we cracked it open and celebrated the night. The tour was coming to a close.
DAY FIVE (Missoula, MT to Yakima to Everett, 8h 22m)
We drove through three states on very little sleep, running on the endorphin rush that came when thinking about sleeping in your own bed that night. We wound through the passes of Idaho and down into Washington through Spokane, Ellensburg and finally Yakima. Everett was close. I couldn’t wait to see water and trees again.
I saw nothing of Yakima. I made it a point to walk around the towns we played in a little bit to get a feel of the places, but I stayed in the venue and ordered a French Dip. It was good for being free.
We played in a venue that is a sports bar first, and a place to see music second. We hit the stage under fluorescent lighting and the glow of 20 flat screen televisions (Dear venues. Turn your TVs off when a band is playing. Its extremely rude). At one point during Delirium I looked up to see footage of the World Trade Center burning. I remembered it was 9/11. I wanted to get out of Yakima.
We packed the van for the final time and left. We had a long conversation about music, Everett, tour… everything. We rolled into town at 1:30 in the morning. The air was cold and thick and smelled of salt and ocean, evergreens and Everett. I missed it. Richie said his goodbyes to us and left for Lake Stevens. Scotty rolled a joint. We shared it in the glow of the van lights and the moon.
We were home.
Just like that it was all over. All the driving, the heavy lifting, playing music every night… it was all over. I passed out in my own bed and slept for 14 hours. The tour was over, we’d survived.
…
Last week I went to Bellingham to see Fauna Shade with Derek, their real bassist. It was an awkward experience for me. I sat in the mezzanine of the Shakedown alone with a can of Rainier and watched with the same feeling and expression on my face that I’d imagine I’d have if I watched an ex girlfriend make out with her new boyfriend in front of me for 45 minutes.
Let me make this extremely clear: I hold no animosity toward Derek or anyone in the band. Derek was amazingly kind and showed me bass parts that aren’t on the record. He was the best when it came to teaching me how to play the songs right.
I wasn’t angry, I was sad. I was sad that I couldn’t be up there again with them. I was sad because I felt that I didn’t cherish my time on stage enough. I was sad I didn’t live in the moment more. I was sad I worried too much….
A lot of memories came rushing back all at once. I finished my beer and congratulated the band on a roaring set.
I made the drive from Bellingham back to Everett in silence.
Fauna Shade will truck on without me, but I’ll always have those five days in early September as my own, and I’m forever grateful.
Henry J.
P.S. If you missed the link above, check out my 7 tips for touring bands, here.
Editor's note:
Henry J. hosts The Stereo Wire on 90.7 KSER FM. It airs on Friday evenings at 8:30 PM. If you like punk, alt. and/or local music, you should check it out.
Also, Henry J. and the Stereo Wire will be hosting a totally killer local show at the Anchor this Saturday Sept. 24th with Fauna Shade, Greet the Sea, Crystal Desert and Midnight Lights. $5.00, 21+. Don't miss it. Details here.
