The Tao of Wu
Shifting the Weight Around
by Jason Fladager - phlaash@aol.com - The Big Wu
Well another column, another tour... Seems like The Big Wu has been
going non-stop around the country. This Sept. 15th we will begin our FOURTH
tour of the summer; this time, taking us to the beautiful Southwest,
California, and up the Coast through Oregon and Washington. I am
anticipating this Wednesday....
People wonder if we are beginning to burn out on the road. We are on a
pace to break 200+ shows this year and still hanging in there. The biggest
joy for me on the road is getting to meet so many people who think and breath
like I do. Its good to know you have friends out there. We are all
enjoying ourselves thoroughly. About the fourth show into a tour, we are
caught in a rhythm of loading and unloading, playing and breaking, and so
forth. Once that happens its like eating candy all the time. Yum Yum. I
have to say this one show in Attleboro was pretty scary though.
We played this club called Jarrod's. Upon loading our stuff in the door
we were greeted by Jarrod himself. Not even a hello, how's it going. He
said, "This night is going to suck." Not too encouraging words for a band
that just drove 6 hours to get to his club to play. He went on to say that
"the clientele at Jarrod's expects a Heavy Metal Cover band on the weekends".
WHAT? I looked around the venue and noticed all the posters on the wall and
they were: "STRUTTER: A Tribute to Kiss" and "CRAZY TRAIN: A Tribute to
Ozzy" and "BALLS 2 THE WALL: A Tribute to Judas Priest". A Judas Priest
Tribute band...you've got to be joking. Needless to say the night was fairly
slim. The owner didn't even charge a cover and there were maybe ten people
there. We walked out of that bar with $4 for the five of us to split up.
Damn. At least we got outta there with our lives. Its hard to get used to
five people at the bar booing you all night but hey it happens once in a
while.
The best part of the last tour was headlining a show at the WETLANDS in
NYC. This was another step up the ladder in my opinion. To all of us out in
Minneapolis, the WETLANDS is a legendary place and to be able to just get in
there is a thrill. We have played there twice in the past, both in the
basement, but this time we played on a Thursday night and a nice sized crowd
came out to support us. That was too cool... Thank you to those who were
there. Apparently they were happy for the night and we'll be returning in
November to headline a Weekend. YAHOO! I love it when that happens. I love
the Wetlands. There is a vibe in that room, that is missing from a ton of
venues. Lucky you.. NYC folks..
Hopefully the ensuing tour will bring some more folks down. There are
some great venues on this tour that I am looking forward to playing: The
Bluebird Theatre, The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, STAFFORD LAKE! Hopefully
some of you folks will can make it out for a show. Would be great meeting
some new faces. It is the best part of this job for sure. If anyone is
interested in helping us promote this upcoming tour our West in exchange for
comps and merch and stuff...please email me! Your help would be greatly
appreciated considering its our first time in many of these markets. Thanks
again! See you soon...
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