This is
it, folks- the last one!
We only
spent a day in Abilene. But a great
audience and our first taste of summer made it a pretty welcoming stop on our
tour. The weather was 80ish degrees and
sunny, which was quite a change from our previous 50’s-60’s temperatures and
the rain (and a bit of snow in Colorado) in the previous week. And our audience was outstanding, giving the
actors a much-needed boost on a one-nighter.
Abilene Civic Center, Abilene, Texas
More
awesome audiences in Amarillo. And much
more sun and heat. I spent a lot of time
outside, and even ran outside for the first time in eight months; some of my
joints are aching pretty badly. Still,
it was a nice change of pace.
Amarillo Civic Center, Amarillo, Texas
Okay,
what’s the deal with all these fantastic audiences in Texas? We were in three different cities in TX
before Christmas, and I don’t remember them being this great. And Lubbock is no exception. We performed on campus at Texas Tech, and our
theater, in all honesty, had some things to be desired (renovations,
e.g.). But what thrilled me is that
there was a Wal-Mart Supercenter right across the street from our hotel. Now, some people would look down on me for
saying that, and part of me does, too.
But when you’re on tour and obtaining provisions to live daily life
proves generally difficult, Wal-Mart is like an Oasis in the middle of the
desert.
City Bank Auditorium, Lubbock, Texas
Our
last show in Lubbock, a Sunday matinee, was cancelled. Therefore, we gained a Golden Day! I spent mine with a friend with whom I went
to grad school at Florida International University, who is also a native of
Lubbock. He showed me around Lubbock and
we had a very, well, “spirited” day.
Because I wasn’t used to doing so much in a day, I was completely
exhausted by the time I came back to the hotel.
Our
only flight between cities on this half of the tour occurred between Lubbock
and Peoria. The awesome thing was that
we flew into Moline with buses ready to drive us to Peoria. So what I did was stay at home and come to
Peoria the next day. It was a nice
little preview of home before coming back a week later.
Peoria-
the venue that all of the Quad-Citians have been waiting for. The first night in Peoria, there were about
ten people that came from the QC. Joe
Maubach came and sat in the pit and we had a nerd-man-date the next day- lunch,
comic book shop, “Cabin In The Woods”….’nuff said.
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
The
second night in Peoria, there were 20-25 people that came to see me- so over 30
people in all. I had been waiting nearly
eight months for our stay in Peoria in hopes of seeing a few people I know at
my show. However, the outcome was way
more than I could have hoped for. I was
thrilled and humbled to see so many people there. Definitely my favorite stop on the tour.
Champaign
was our last one-nighter of the tour. It
was also our third and final arena show.
The band likes arena shows because we feel licensed to goof off a little
more than usual, given that nobody can peer over the edge and see us because we’re
behind the stage. We performed on campus
at the University of Illinois. I’d tell
you how our audience was, but we don’t get much feedback behind the stage.
Assembly Hall, Champaign, Illinois
I don’t
think I need to say how energized and excited our cast was in our final city of
Springfield, Missouri. The end was near,
and people were counting down by the scene.
After that last curtain on Sunday, April 29th, the stresses
just flew out of peoples’ bodies and we became high with an overall sense of
relief.
Hammons Performing Arts Center, Springfield, Missouri
The
next day, we took three separate busses to St. Louis and flew home.
So here’s our brief number recap:
For This Half:
Many comic books read
5 books read
11 seasons of South Park, 1 season of Archer, complete
series’ of Baccano! and Gurren Lagann (Anime), and all of the current seasons
of The Office, The Big Bang Theory, South Park, and Glee watched
33 movies watched
3 videogames played (Portal, Half-Life 2, Lego Star Wars:
The Complete Saga)
3 times doing laundry
For The Entire Tour
51 cities/theaters
57 hotels/beds
2 countries
26 states and 2 Canadian Provinces
245 shows
24,500 (est.) miles traveled
Now, you might be hearing this for
the first time, or you may have heard it through some tiny grape vine somewhere,
but this tour IS NOT OVER. We’ve been
extended into the summer and are going to Malaysia (one week), China (four
weeks), and as of yesterday, possibly Singapore (five weeks). I’ll get to see parts of the world I’ve not
yet seen, and I’ll be getting paid to do it.
However, I also get to spend some of my summer in the Quad-Cities,
making this summer pretty awesome.
Danny’s Final Thoughts:
- -Actors are great in small doses
- -Even as an introvert, I’m not a huge fan of the
limited social life that touring enforces
-I have become accustomed to this lifestyle and
would be willing to do it for a couple more years at the most
- -The overall level of talent at home easily
rivals that of this tour; it’s amazing the difference having an
agent makes
- -I am more determined than ever to move to New
York City and find work there
- -This country has become a much smaller place, and
so, soon, will the world
