19th of October 2014: Singapore band The Caulfield Cult embarked on a journey of epic proportions in North America. This is a personal tour diary written by Nick of The Caulfield Cult.
Written by Nick of The Caulfield Cult for Luvthelife. Week One. 19th October, left home at midnight and 30 hours later, I'm in New York. The uncertainty of customs giving us a hard time, or worse, getting sent back (as warned by the delta security personnel) made the long flight a waiting room hell. nevertheless, we arrived safe. 22nd October was the date of our first show in America, in Long Island, New York. I hired a driver and reserved a van from a company at the airport. However, after multiple trips and over 150 USD worth of taxi rides trying to sort things out, we were told we definitely couldn't rent anything bigger than a standard sized car, due to no one being 25 or above. We decided to save the money and tour in our driver, Jeff's tiny sedan car. We have with us 2 guitars, a huge bass, 2 pedal cases, a huge box of merch, 2 backpacks, 2 sets of luggage, a massive bag of cymbals and a snare drum. Skinny and Syahadi abandoned their luggage and brought a smaller bag while I abandoned my backpack and brought with me 2 tshirts, a towel and a toothbrush. Brian abandoned his bass case.we barely managed to stuff everything in the car with bags and pedal cases and with the bass guitar in between our legs and on our laps, we were all ready for the 3 week long tour. 25th October, 4th show on tour. We played a basement in Philadelphia. Two songs in, cops showed up because neighbours were complaining about the noise so we played the rest of our set to a very kind and receptive crowd in a tiny basement with the roof just four inches or so above our heads. I like America already. Week Two 27th October, three days to Gainesville, Florida and four days to The Fest. All 8 shows that led down to The Fest were great, nothing crazy, but enough people came. We got paid a little more then we expected we would. None of us have been to America. None of us expected this amazing hospitality. 30th October was our longest drive yet. 7 and a half hours in the car. Can't feel most of my legs after but we're here. Three of our best friends from Singapore came to hang out with us and watch us play at fest. We booked two rooms in a hotel. As much as i love my band, after spending sharing personal spaces for the last 280 something hours, i was excited to see other familiar faces. As much as i appreciate strangers letting us crash on their living room or kitchen floors every time we're on tour, I was excited to sleep on a bed for the next four days. 31st October, day one of The Fest. The streets of Gainesville were filled and packed with punks and kids from all over the world. We printed hundreds of flyers detailing where and when we were playing. Throughout the weekend, I've been handing these out to people in Gainesville and talking to each and every one of them. The hands-on work ethic of pre internet age punk and hardcore has a huge appeal to me. A conversation, a piece of paper and a smile mean so much more than a Facebook invite to an event. 2nd November, 3rd and last day of fest. We're on at 6.20pm. We're on the same time as 7 Seconds, United Nations and Gnarwolves. All of which are much bigger bands, playing much bigger stages. My fears of playing to no one and the embarrassment that'll follow amplified an hour before we played. People back home are proud of us for this. I DO NOT want to disappoint. We're on stage. There are about 20 people in front me. I chug the remainder of my drink, made a few jokes, and started playing. Two songs in, I look up and the place is filled with people. Cheers got louder and longer. We ended the set with smiles on our faces. People from all over the world came to the stage immediately after we're done to shake our hands and pass their compliments. I look over to our merch table and a comforting size of crowd gathers. Fifteen minutes later, Jeff (who also handles our merch) told me our records have sold out. We also watched Strike Anywhere, A Wilhelm Scream, Hot Water Music, Self Defense Family, Lifetime and Less than Jake among other dozens of great bands we grew up listening to. It has been a great weekend. Nick Vocals Guitar Skinny Guitars Brian Bass / Backing Vocals Syahadi – Drums
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