Sunday, October 7, 2012

Two vans. Two breakdowns.

Wow. Where to even start with this.

After the debacle in Sweden with the burned-out clutch, I might be forgiven for thinking the worst was behind us (at least in terms of vehicular balderdash).

Whoops.

Yesterday's endeavors started out normal enough. We had an entire day-and-a-half devoted to travel for our 14-hour trek from Malmö to Paris. The only aside that needed to be dealt with was a stopover in Hamburg to drop off the two rental vehicles we were tooling around in since the death of Van Number One and to pick up Van Number Two. Easy peezy.

Things began to get a little funky once we arrived in Hamburg. The changeover happened well enough, but in a completely unnecessary & frustrating way involving a Sprinter van, a rental truck, a trailer, and the world's most tightly packed & absurd parking lot.

But, good news, we got it all squared away. As the band reconvened and refueled with the uniquely German culinary offerings of a nearby McDonald's, the decision was made to push on through all the way to Paris instead of stopping at Köln for the night, as originally planned. Now, given the circumstances of the aforementioned change of rental vehicles, we were now officially behind schedule. Where we were once planning on being in Köln by midnight or so, we had now agreed to split up the late night driving in order to get to Paris by about 5:00 AM. No easy day, by any means, but certainly doable given the amount of willing drivers we have in this crew and their amount of energy.

So we were off.

Fast forward to a 3:00 AM gas and bathroom break. Everyone's doing well. Things are clicking. Most of the band watched Warrior on the van's DVD system and, of course, loved it. It's looking like we're going to make this trip and spend two entire days and nights in the City of Lights. And then... the van won't start. After only six hours of drive time, Van Number Two will not start.

Crap.

Turns out the Diesel engine got loaded with regular petrol. For those of you non-mechanic types out there (like me), that's not good. 'Not good' to the tune of 'disaster', actually.



Let's skip all the boring, gory details and get to the point at hand: it's now 7:30 in the AM and we are all attempting to get some rest/sleep/whatever we can in the lobby of a hotel in Verviers, Belgium (paying a full rate for three hours didn't make a whole lot of sense to us), waiting on the local Mercedes Benz dealership to both procure a couple more rental vehicles so we can make it to our performance in Paris tonight (load-in time at 3:00 sharp... yeah, right) and fix the fuel line in Van Number Two. As it stands, the powers-that-be are telling us that the repair will take at least two days (no idea why), so we're probably stuck with the rental cars until we're back in Belgium for our show in Brussels and can swap out for a van again.

It's hard to describe what we're all feeling right now. The shows on this tour have been amazing for us so far, but everything else seems off-kilter. You're just not supposed to be this wiped out after only a week on the road. But, as I said before, the show must go on. And go on, it will. It just might be a little... I dunno... fatigued. But the shows are the juice and the fans are the reason we all get to do this, so something tells me that it's going to take more than a handful of transportive calamities to keep us from doing our jobs.

By the grace of God, that is. And, right now, I do NOT say that lightly.


But, make no mistake. I'm getting to the Louvre this time. Just try and stop me. Actually, on second thought, don't. If the events of the last 48 hours are any indicator, you'd probably be wildly successful.

 

7 comments:

  1. Yanno, a year from now you'll all look back and laugh at this. I'm rooting for you, kids. Those evil vans from hell can't stop ya!

    Much love from Romania,
    Lexa~

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  2. Oh Tyler, I am praying y'all get to do the shows on time and that everything with the vans gets fixed. I can only imagine the frustration...I say that because I am struggling with my Philosophy of Logic class but that's beside the point. In Jesus' name I declare that y'all are gonna be great! I have faith in that and I have faith in you. Play your heart out because that determination is what keeps people like me going! :)

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  3. I hope that everything works out! & I know that everything will work you! You are amazing! You have made it so far! Just remember to never give up!!! You do not even know me but I do want you to know that I am very proud of you, I have watched your videos on youtube from the beginning & now you are playing shows all over! I actually will be seeing you perform at the end of November in Lawrence, which is 5 days before my birthday! This will be the best birthday present ever! Anyways, I hope that everything is amazing for you! You deserve everything that you have accomplished!!! I hope to meet you!
    - Hayley

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  4. Are you guys on your way to Paris ? Do you need anything ?

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  5. you guys are amazing! the fact that u havent given up says it all about how diturmined and how comitted you are to your fans. See you in paris guys.
    Much love!
    Jessica

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  6. It will be okay! My grandma is buying candy for you guys' throats ill give them on Wednesday, dont worry my grandma's food works miracles. See you soon

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  7. I guess, I´d better not ask, who filled up the van? ^^
    My, you´re some really poor old chaps! So much bad luck in those few days... like: "Well, shit happens!" - "Yes, I know, but why does shit always happen to me...?"
    Please, take care on the further way. We don´t want to get in trouble wih your families, cause you got lost in Europe! :o)
    Cheer up and hang in there!

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