On the Road is a feature on Punks in Vegas where Vegas musicians give us an inside look into touring life. Today’s entry comes from Vegas emo band Alaska, who is currently in the midst of a fall tour. Here’s Alaska frontman Joel Kirschenbaum:
10/14 Boise, ID
Day 21: After a 12 hour drive we finally made it to the most beautiful Walmart in all of Nampa, ID. I slept from like 7 to 12 on half a bench. We met up with our bud Joel from the band Telescopes as Time Machines. He’s like an older, cooler, cuter version of me. He showed us around town and took us to the skatepark. I played basketball in the most cutthroat game of the aktcsuicideboiz tour. Macario sank a 2 pointer for the win, fucking whatever dude. After that Joel got us pizza at piehole, what a dude. We went to the venue and I moped around, which is a lot less cool than mo-pedding around. I finally felt tired. Probably the lack of booze. We played to like 20 people which didn’t suck. This super rad doomy stoner metal band called Black Cloud played and that was tight. When it came down to the door split we got 10 dollars and the venue got 70. Cooooool. Either way, who cares right? We stayed at Ryan from Black Cloud’s house. Him and his girlfriend got us beer and pizza from Piehole again. It’s nice having our lord in heaven remind us that there are real angels even in the darkest metal bands.
10/15 Salt Lake City, UT
Day 22: We drove all day to the Shred Shed and hung out. We ended up having to play first which wasn’t a big deal since the line up was mad stacked. Macario did a pretty sick acoustic set, then we played one of our best sets to a full room, Nora Dates played some sick jams. Free Throw jammed out way hard, I like that song where he says “fuckkkkkkkk everything.” Empire Empire played last and was truly inspiring, they reminded me of Arcade Fire but cuter. Probably one of the best line ups we’ve been a part of so far, truly powerful stuff. We got 40 bucks from the door while the two other touring bands got 200 each and pizza. Happy for whatever, and not mad. Buy merch from bands so they can continue to ruin their lives. Show was banging, made tons of friends, impossible to not be stoked.
10/16 Laramie, WY
Day 23: Went to some walmart, got caught shoplifting some allen wrenches. Made friends with asset protection people. Left to Laramie. Longest drive ever. Got to town and partied with some cool boys. Shot-gunned a bunch of apple-ahhhhh-ritas.
10/17 Laramie, WY
Day 24: Woke up early and went to eat. Walked around campus. Went to a greenhouse and a geology museum with Macario. Students were dissecting a huge pig and serving the innards to their fellow colleagues. What the actual fuck? We want back to the house and ate some oranges. The rest of the day is a crazy spiraling haze. I ate a burrito with too many jalapenos. We listened to the moon landing on vinyl. Hung out with Old Sport. I fell in love with a bird and a girl with a fiance probably, but that’s ok. We loaded into the basement and watched Medicine Bow play. It was like watching Algernon play or something it was nearly tear worthy. Twin Cities played and Dustin fell down. We played a super nasty power set. It was cool. Old Sport played and was mad rad too. Ya boiz partied on into the night.
10/18 Denver, CO
Day 25: We showed up in Denver kind of early and went to eat at Illegal Pete’s on 16th street Mall and there were helluv dudes smoking pot and everyone was dressed like a freak. Juggalos and outcasted faux-alt normies acted like dumbasses and obnoxious attention seeking lameos. I’m all for self expression, but dressing up as a contrived and tired trend as lame as the zombie fad is just weak. Get a life that isn’t playing call of duty and inhaling whip-its with your 7 year old. Other than that the show was an 8 band metal fest, which was a welcomed switch-up to some degree. We played well and someone said Twin Cities sounded like Sleeping with Sirens. We got 160 bucks from the door at this show… Maybe emo hasn’t been “revived,” maybe metal heads are onto something. I hate money, but I hate diy more. Having seriously the time of my life though. Holy shit, I could diy doing this stuff.
10/19 Colorado Springs, CO
Day 26: Slept at a fucking walmart. Played at Autumn Creatures. Cody got sick and puked from McDonalds. This great band called Tigerwine played. We got spaghetti. It was pretty.
10/20 Kansas City, MO
Day 27: Drove 12 hours through desolate shadow ridden kansas hell land. Upon arrival to kc we went to our dude Greg’s crib and crashed out. Our bud Phil hooked us up with freeee Chipotle. Every band’s dream, thanks boi. We went to the art closet studio and got ready for the gig. This super rad band, Riala, played first. They were kind of like Golden Python from CAN, which is ill. I wished that I was in Canada, but then I remembered that Missouri is still cool. We played to some boys. Nick broke his kick drum and threw a little fit. Via Luna played a bunch of Enemies rip off songs like damnnnn they were so good though. Rabbleee rabbllee. We went to our(Greg’s) house to sleep.
10/21 Kansas City, MO
Day 28: We woke up and drank all day. Gaaaaammmeeeee dddaaaaayyyyy. We went to some church. I landed a kickflip. We played first. Bears and Company and Signals played really good rocknroll sets. I love those boys. We left the show and went to the river. It was like that Killers single from Sam’s Town. We set off fireworks (like that band on triple crown that rips off FYS) legally because shit’s weird in the middle (like that Jimmy Eat World single from Bleed American) of the country. We went home and drank an obscene amount more and ate (veggie) burgers. Talked about all the people we hate. The Royals lost, but Alaska and Twin Cities won. Gaaammeee dayyy.
10/22 Kansas City, MO
Day 29: Hungover. Lasagna. Jammed at a practice spot. Veggie burgers. Gaaaaammmmmeeeee dddaaayyyyy.
Constantly overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people we meet/have met/have grown to love on tour. Everyone is a homie and God has blessed us with a van and beer. I have never felt more at home than in a tin can on the road and we ain’t even halfway through this bitch.
Check back soon for more of Joel’s tales from the road.
Alaska photo by Hunter Wallace. Tour photos by Joel Kirschenbaum.
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