The Devil is in the Details

While actually having some shows booked before you leave for a tour should be the most important aspect of pre-journey planning, clean underwear pulls a close second. I've been thinking about that a lot as I've been getting ready for our upcoming trip.

If you've ever been camping, you probably understand. Tour is a lot like camping with possibly even more ways of getting filthy and smelly rolled into the bag. Take your post-camp aroma, play three games of a highly active, sweaty sport of your choice and then box it up in an equally sweaty tin box, filled with slightly decaying food products, empty beer cans, guys who take pride in how long they can go without changing anything and whatever that crap someone spilled (?) on the backseat is and then place it in the sun to allow it to ferment. You have now achieved tour stench and try as you might to avoid it, it will happen.

Unless you suddenly stumble upon the glorious beacon of a free shower, that holiest of holies, your only hope at continuing to feel like some semblance of a human being is a clean pair of underwear. It can get you through playing for six people who talked through your entire set about how great it is to see live music. It can get you through three people getting paid less than the sound guy made for playing pool instead of manning the soundboard while you were playing. It can get you through having your tour van's window smashed and the interior smeared with random junkie blood and being told by the staff at the fancy hotel you just splurged on, "Yeah, that happens here sometimes". Well almost. At least we were clean for that one. If we hadn't had showers that day, we may have ended up going on a killing spree, which then could have been reported via unsaid city's automated police system. "Please press 1 for 'Violent crimes'. Please press 2 for 'Theft'. Your call is important to us."

I guess what I'm getting at, is when you live out of a bag for weeks at a time, the little things really start to count. The small details enable you to feel okay when your entire day feels like a ride on the Gravitron. For me, that detail just happens to be clean underwear.

I might pass on the aluminum ones though.