Saint Diablo – 2nd ROAD BLOG from the “South for the Win-Tour” with Seasons After

The latin metal band, Saint Diablo, is currently on the “South for the Win-Tour” with Seasons After and Everybody Panic. While they’re on the tour, they will be doing an exclusive blog for us. You can check out the first…

Saint Diablo – 2nd ROAD BLOG from the “South for the Win-Tour” with Seasons After

The latin metal band, Saint Diablo, is currently on the “South for the Win-Tour” with Seasons After and Everybody Panic. While they’re on the tour, they will be doing an exclusive blog for us. You can check out the first entry, with photos, after the break.

After being able to be at home for Thanksgiving, we pick up the tour in Wilmington, NC., at Ziggy’s by the Sea. Very awesome live venue with a great staff! North Carolina is like our backyard. We have really great friends and fans that drive all over the state to come party with us. It’s always great to see them.

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Many years ago we ran into a couple at a show in Fayetteville. We had talked with them over the Internet and emails. They have always been into rock and metal and they really like our music. So, we got to finally meet them. They would talk about how they would take touring bands into their home, feed them and give them a place to sleep and shower. At the time, we had never heard of that before. So, over many tours and years, we have become great friends with them. So much so, as to call them family. They are the Mundorfs. For years, they had opened their home to many bands, Straight Line Stitch, Davy Suicide, Good Charlotte, Silent Civilian… And many, many more. They have helped many bands, in many ways!

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As we were getting ready to start our set at Ziggy’s with sound check, the Mundorfs walk in the club and come running up on stage to greet us with hugs! It had been many years since we had seen them due to them having to move from NC. to IN. (still helping bands). It was such a surprise to see them. They had planned a vacation to Myrtle Beach and wanted to surprise us knowing we were going to be playing in the area… Always a great time seeing them, it was a great night and show!

The next day we land in Charlotte, NC. at Amos’ Southend for the Harvest Festival. The tour package meets up with 10 other touring and local bands. Lots of them are good friends and great bands. We actually got to meet up with our hometown bros, Elisium, who are on a tour of their own in support of Blind Joe. Always good to see them and chill to catch up on times and drink some brews! The show had lots of really good bands and it’s awesome to see bands and musicians come together and rage out!

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Got to meet a lot of cool new fans who had never seen us before. So exciting to see someone really get into your music and sound right in front of you as its all happening! Very humbling…

The night ended by having beers and talking shit with various band members from all the bands that played in the parking lot. And, also having to help the guys in Everybody Panic! jump start their van, haha! (Guess someone left the dome lights on all night) but with a quick cable connection, they were up and running without any problems.

Welcome to Walmart!! The phrase you hear just about every day if not every other day when being in a touring band. Most days start and end in a Walmart parking lot. 24 hours, everything is cheap, and bathrooms! Not always the greatest… But you make do. The one place where you can go and, in some cases, be the cleanest person in there for not having taken a shower in days, haha!!

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On our way to Slidell, LA., right outside of NOLA, we have two days off. Days off are a double edged sword. It’s great to try and get rest, but it’s also a day you are not making money. In most cases, they are the most expensive. We decide to get a hotel room and rest up. Only a few miles from the venue we get there the day before the show. I was starting to feel the effects of the climate changes. Going from middle America with snow to warmer southern states in the matter of only a day or two. I knew I was fighting off sickness for a few days, but I guess it finally caught up to me. So having a day to take a hot shower, and get some sleep in a real bed was welcomed.

I guess everyone thinks that we are supposed to have some crazy awesome hotel throw-down with alcohol, hookers and drugs (not saying we have not been witness to such debauchery) but, for the most part, hotel rooms come few and far between these days so you try and take advantage of those amenities. …the night did end with some causal pulls of whiskey…

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The Corner Pub in Slidell, La. Is where we meet back up with the tour package. Small venue, but awesome atmosphere! The staff and locals were all very cool and friendly! Right across the street is a place called Tacos & Beer! Two of my favorite things! It was also $1 taco night. …I ate 10 tacos… I know, shameful haha! But they were good!

It was good to see some great fans and friend at the club! Some peoples we had grown up with back home. They were all excited to get a copy of the new album and get to hear the new jams live! The crowd was in our face the whole set, and everyone going nuts! The band FLAW just happens to be recording down the street and heard the tour was coming through. It was awesome to have them roll in and check out the show also to sit and shoot the shit with them and talk tales of past shows and tours! It was a great night!

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Late night drive to Tyler, Tx. Seemed fitting that Tyler our bass player is up next to drive. Like always, we all try and stay up as long as we can, but with the day’s being very long and not much sleep that does happen often. Some time after I feel asleep, I had a sudden urge to sit up and check on Tyler. This is my visual… It’s dark, he has the iPad playing a show on the console (Squidbillies) I see a half eaten sub sandwich rolling back and forth on the dash, he is diving into a bag of pork rinds in the corner of the dash and windshield, just to then dig out a few Twix candies from another bag on the seat next to him (fighting with the wrappers) looking at his phone, downing a red bull with two cans already crushed in the cup holder, all while doing 75 down the highway! Trust me it was a sight to see Hahaha! I just laid back down and tried to pretend I didn’t see any of it. The next day I asked him if he was ok the night before, he said “yeah” but had gotten sick early that morning… “Must have been something I ate” …haha!

Texas!! We love playing in Texas! If we could relocate the band we would relocate to Texas! The cities are awesome! Our friends and fans are the best and the venues are killer! Every time we come to Texas it’s a great time!

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We get a hotel room the night before our San Antonio show. We use Hotwire to try and find the best places and prices that fit our budget. We had been lucky the last few times with getting great rooms pretty cheap. This time was not one of those times. We find out quick that it’s a very seedy place. A place where you have to unplug the tv to use the microwave that somehow had lasted so long from being made in the early 80’s, the bathroom door doesn’t close, most of the outlets don’t work, 2 lamps didn’t have light bulbs, and the heat wasn’t working. You get what you pay for I guess. It was getting late, I was fine with watching tv and just chillin’, Brian and Tyler, on the other hand, wanted to toss back some Red Bull and vodka. As the night went on Brian had noticed some shady shit going on outside with some truck drivers and a “cop”. Didn’t look like a cop, didn’t talk like one either. After watching them for several minutes, you could tell something wasn’t right. We might have stumbled across some sort of trafficking scheme. A lot to do with large suitcases and big rig trucks. It was very strange. …back to the vodka!

San Leon outside of Houston, Tx. Is our not spot. Sitting right on the water of the Gulf of Mexico. 18th St. Pier, Pretty cool venue wit a great view! The local bands on this show were fucking killer! So awesome to see the local bands rippin’ it! Seasons After love playing this venue and it’s easy to see why! Load in was quick and easy. The show ran smooth and everyone was on their “A” game! The fans were getting down and the merch tables were full most of the night. Again, it’s the new fans for me that get me going. The excitement they exude is the meaning of all this!

…off to Dallas, Florida you are next!!

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