Well hello there boys and girls. Finally had a moment to type up an update of the road haps thus far. Tour has been going great! We’re 12 shows in (if you don’t count the in-stores) and it’s come to my attention how awesome 100 Monkeys fans are. When I was on the road with Jonas Brothers & Hannah Montana we got the screamers by the miles. Following Hanson most of my life I got to understand the hardcore dedicated fans who have no limits in what they will do to see & meet their favorite band. With 100 Monkeys, their fans lay somewhere in the middle. They scream every word to every song and come from all stretches of the world for their shows, but are quite respectful, happy and content to just watch the show.
They also love to support their boys by bringing various gifts that are actually useful. Jerad lost his orange bandanna and the next thing you know several girls are bringing orange bandanna’s to the show. One girl in Houston gave them a bag full of drum sticks, guitar picks, shakers and other musical goods. We also get a lot of monkeys, my fave is a puppet gorilla/monkey. He keeps me entertained on long drives when everyone else is asleep… hehe.
But I’m sure all of you already knew this because if you’re reading this blog update, you are probably a fan of 100 Monkeys already. Am I right?
So, lets talk about the adventures on the road. There’s a lot of long drives on this tour – we’re doing at least 500+ miles a day usually. What’s more impressive is that we end up seeing a lot of the same faces each night even with that mileage between shows. SO COOL! We kill a lot of time by watching music DVDs in the van of all sorts of artists (Jimi Hendrix, Festival Express, Kings of Leon, The Who, Michael Jackson, etc.). Let us know if you have a recommendation of a DVD we should watch! We also have gotten a couple mix CDs of new and old artists to discover/rediscover while driving.
In terms of the shows, Houston was probably my favorite. Alright – so I’m from Houston – but this show was extra special because my dad’s band, Guy Schwartz & The New Jack Hippies, got to open for the boys. Then after 100 Monkeys set both bands jammed together for a hour.
We spent New Years Eve at a random truckstop between Phoenix and Las Vegas. We jumped out of the van with 5 minutes to spare, popped open a bottle of champagne and counted down with all the good people there. Afterwards we piled in the van to try to make it to the Nevada border in time to do it again (as Nevada is a hour behind, time zone wise). We missed the mark by a matter of minutes though.
Tulsa had an amazing vibe. The in-store at Ida Red Boutique was the best turnout we’ve had yet. And then at Cain’s Ballroom that night we were surprised by Zac Hanson coming out to our show.
Well, we have to get back on the road to Denver – more to come soon.
Chelsea