Page 47 of Shame Me
I also tried not to be disappointed about the tour itself: it was only during the month of October, but we’d go all over the U.S. during that time—and for our fourth stop we’d be back in Denver, but that time, we’d be at The Ogden Theatre, a place we’d always dreamed about playing.
We were also touring with Last Five Seconds, a hardcore heavy metal band that was promoting their latest album. Eventhough they were at least ten years older, we discovered during our short tour that they were decent guys, and they gave us a lot of tips about all things professional music. Brian, their bassist, gave us the best advice the first night we met him. “They giving you guys a per diem?”
“Yeah,” Zack said.
“You got a fridge on your bus?”
“No, but there’s a cooler.”
“I know it’s tempting to fill it up with beer, but go to the grocery store.” The four of us exchanged glances, because we couldn’t legally buy beer yet…even though Zack and Braden had snuck in plenty of hard liquor and weed in their bags. “Buy another cooler if you can and then get stuff you can microwave or eat out of a box, and if you like fruit, you can buy apples and oranges, and they’ll last a while. It’s not glamorous, but it’ll stretch your money.”
Cy said, “I was wondering about that. Even fast food would burn through the daily cash with nothing to spare.”
“Exactly,” Brian said, nodding. “You could go to a deli and get a sandwich and chips and blow all your money—or you could buy all that stuff at the store and it would cover several meals for the same price.” Although he confessed that his band no longer made supermarket stops, that behavior had saved them a lot of money when they were first starting out.
We loved the idea and demanded we stop at a grocery store the next day. Even though Mick bitched about it, he had the bus driver stop at an Albertson’s before we left San Diego. We’d skipped breakfast that morning, planning to do what Brian suggested. Mick was giving us a weekly per diem and we planned to spend all of it at the store.
Or at least most of it.
Our road crew, a group of five guys, stayed on the bus, uninterested in saving money. I just hoped that didn’t mean they’d eat the food we brought back.
As we left the bus, Mick growled. “Soundcheck’s at four. If you’re not back on the bus in fifteen minutes, we’re leaving your asses here.”
We snickered—but not until we were out of earshot. Braden said, “Good luck doing a soundcheck without the band.”
Zack nodded. “Yeah, but I believe the bastard would do it anyway.”
We all did—and so we shopped quickly, each of us leaving with almost more bags than we could carry. And I warned the guys about the roadies considering helping themselves to our food, but Zack simply said, “I dare them.”
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Thefirstday on the bus was like magic. Our first date was in Los Angeles, the home of our label and, as far as I was concerned, the entertainment capital of the nation. I found it interesting that the tour started in L.A. and ended in New York City—both cities considered entertainment capitals of opposite coasts. Altogether, we had sixteen shows spread out over just shy of four weeks, and we had no idea what to expect.
But Ididknow that I wished it was longer. There would be so many states we wouldn’t be going to, so many fans we wouldn’t get to see.
Still, it was a start.
That first day, we spent the night in Flagstaff, about halfway to L.A. Everyone, even me, had to share rooms, but Mick had asked before booking the hotels weeks earlier who I’d feel most comfortable rooming with. Even though Zack had seen me naked before, I didn’t want to be that close to him, yearning for his touch when he was sleeping in a bed right next to me.
I chose Braden. Braden felt weird about it, but I told him I was most comfortable around him because I trusted him the most.
“Oh, you shouldn’t, Dani.”
His response shocked me. “You have never made me feel nervous or scared or worried, Bray. I know you.”
Although he gave me a small frown, he relented—and Cy and Zack thought nothing of it. That stung as well…that Zack didn’t even ask about my choice.
That first night, we stayed in a Motel 6 and the guys were excited that there was a pool—but we didn’t have any swimming gear. We planned to go out to eat and decided to swing by the Walmart that was about a mile away so the guys could buy swimming trunks.
Me, though…surrounded by several men I didn’t know? I wasn’t interested in baring a lot of skin.
We ate at a McDonald’s not far from the hotel and then it was just me, Zack, Braden, and Cy who went to Walmart—and we walked. After being crammed on that bus and at two fast food restaurants in a day with seven other people we didn’t really know, we needed a little alone time. I was surprised that it was actually cool outside. Wasn’t Arizona supposed to be hot year round?
Needless to say, I wore a jacket for our walk.
What I loved about what I’d been able to see before darkness fell was how much it reminded me of Colorado—mountains off in the distance and cool for early fall.
“So, guys, what do you think?” Zack asked.
