Surfin’ Sandy Tour – Day 1: Muncie, IN @ Be Here Now – 11/1

Who would’ve thought Muncie, IN would be such a cool place to play?!  We’ve played there a couple of times now and made sure to kick off the Surfin’ Sandy Tour right which Muncie was perfect for.  We got into town a little early, Kevin stopped at the same craft beer store he goes to every time for some choice picks, had some dinner with the owner Whitney, who is a super human being, along with some Strangeloves and headed back to Be Here Now to play.  The energy was right for a Thursday night and the crowd danced and enjoyed our set and stuck around to chat with us after the set.  Some students at Ball State are putting together a documentary on the Muncie music scene and stopped in to interview us and get our opinions on Be Here Now.  Once we were done and all loaded out we wandered over to Whitney’s where he let us hangout, have some late night conversation and crash for the evening.  After getting solid rest we hit the road again to head on over to Columbus, OH for our next gig.  All in all Muncie was a great start to the tour.

Losing Time, Making Friends and Fighting the Wind

We lost time one way this past weekend when we headed over to Indianapolis to play another Lazy Hawk Promotions show. We had the fine opportunity of playing the grand re-opening of Indy’s Jukebox.


Every time we visit Indy I forget that you can still smoke in the bars there. This is kind of like walking into a time warp for me. The bill was very diverse featuring locals Dell Zell, SynAestesia, Chemical Envy and Kansas rockers The Midnight Ghost Train.

This was our second time playing with The Midnight Ghost Train in Indianapolis. These guys bring it and have a hell of a hot sauce on their merch table, which we made sure to tap into on Sunday when we got home. On Saturday we opted for some eats at a local Jimmy Johns while scowering the streets for bars.. more on that another time.




Photo courtesy of Lazy Hawk Promotion


Friday’s show was pretty standard for Indianapolis. The fans of Indianapolis are amazing and therefore the shows are always a fun and rewarding trip for us. Being only our second time through we were happy to see how many of our new fans made the trip back out.

In addition the local bands on the bill were supportive and generous as you could be. There is quite a solid scene cooking up over there and we are glad to be guests of theirs.

photo courtesy of Lazy Hawk Promotions

On Saturday, reeking of cigarettes and sweat, we made our way over to Muncie, IN to perform at Be Here Now. This was our first time through Indy. From the second we walked into the room we could tell we were going to have a hell of a night. The venue was colorful and had a great vibe. Shortly after the show began the room was full.

We had some of Lazy Hawk Promotion’s staff over from Indianapolis to help us get through the night.

This was a rowdy performance for us. The energy was high and we had a blast. We opted out of playing some of our new down tempo numbers and pulled out an impromptu audible to play a cover of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes. There is video of all of this somewhere but the camera was misplaced. When it is returned to our possession we will be sure to post some footage.

The Mouth of A Tiger leading to the stage at Be Here Now

We opted to drive home following the show despite having our video shoot postponed and not really needing to get home. Vincent navigated his way through one of our windiest commutes of our time on the road, at times frightening. Thankfully we are professionals.

Thanks for Reading!
 
Stephen Francis