Bye-Bye Hoagie-Hole, Hello Flu-Trans.
Saying goodbye can be difficult. That is why I could not fault our friendly neighborhood singer-man for wanting to spend a little quality time with the van. We played our final show of 2007 last Thursday at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA, and this just happened to be the same day we abandoned the good old Influence Dodge Ram conversion van. While the rest of the band was @ Bottoms Up pizza grabbing some deliciously oversized slices of pizza, Archer was in the van saying his goodbyes.
And why not pay respect to our noble steed? After a wayward deer took out Influence Auto #1 (which may or may not have seen its share of soccer games), The Influence Van made it possible to play hundreds of shows last year. It came complete with valence lights, wooden paneling, and a compartment for a Nintendo Entertainment System–a compartment that quickly housed a dvd player rigged to a donated drop screen we screwed to the ceiling. Will may even be nominated for the Nobel Prize for discovering a peculiar phenomenon inside what may have once been a cup holder. Archer documented this so called “Hoagie-Hole” in a critically acclaimed short film (”Hogiementary” can be viewed exclusively on Flu-Toob).
We do not know exactly when the Van contracted tour-van leprosy, but things have been falling off of that thing for the past few months. The muffler was both the latest casualty and the last straw; At last report, it remains on the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike. The van would not be joining us in 2008–that was clear.
Our fearless crooner rejoined the group as we ambled past what is now “the old van and trailer,” and I passed him a box tha
t smelled of chicken and 24-hour-roasted tomatoes (that pizza really was good). He asked me to carry it until we reached our new ride parked a dozen feet in front of us. The door opened by the flick of some switch inside (apparently John had already worked his way in the driver side), and the light, previously hidden behind the tinted windows, exposed the bundle of cables wrapped around a flat-screen display under Matt’s arms. The time we had spent eating he had spent disassembling our mobile entertainment system. Maybe it is not as hard as I thought, saying goodbye to the van. It sure makes it a lot easier knowing that we will be able to watch DVDs in the Brand New (for us) Influence Tour (shuttle) Bus!
That’s right Flu-Fans. The Influence has a new ride for 2008–one that will bring us to new places, help us meet new friends, and enable us to bring more of our crew with us on the road. With the help of recent additions to the Influence family (Matthew Mayes and friends @ MBM Entertainment), and a new show to share with you all starting in Mid-January, I know this year will be one hell of a good time.
4 comments January 11th, 2008
