After 6 shows in a row we were really looking forward to kicking back and relaxing on our first day off on the tour, but the Gods of the Road had something else in mind for us… We pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot to catch up on internet and sleep in Blythe, California and discover that what we thought at first was a just a bit of a flat tire turned out to be two tires with shredded side walls. Such is the magic of dual rear tires that we didn’t even feel it. Unfortunately for us is that we only carry one spare, so we could replace one tire but not both and we still would have to pick up a tire for a spare. After fighting with the tires on the one side of the bus for well over an hour we finally got the shredded tire off and the spare on. It’s a good thing Joey has some experience from a tire shop! He knew a couple tricks to get tires off of the vehicle that probably haven’t been changed in years.
By this point it was about 4 in the morning, so we looked up the nearest tire shop and moved camp to their parking lot. Less than an hour of sleep later we were buying two brand new tires, confident that our tire troubles were behind us we hit the road.
Hours later, after getting through Phoenix traffic we stopped to switch drivers and do a routine check. When Joey went to check the pressure in the tires we heard a loud hissing and discovered that a valve stem on one of the tires was cracked and just started leaking. Lucky that it started doing it when we were stopped and not rolling down the highway. The tire was much easier to change this time and we switched to the spare. Now we were back to looking for a tire shop…
We made it the rest of the way to Tucson and finally found a kick ass shop by the name of Phil’s Fleet Tire Inc. Phil and his boys helped us out big and got us all fixed up with multiple new valve stems. A VERY VERY VERY VERY BIG THANK YOU TO PHIL AND ALL OF HIS STAFF!! We really lucked out finding his shop, it turns out Phil is a drummer and plays with a band so he totally knew the plight of a musician. I don’t know what we would have done without him!
Tonight we are playing at the Flycatcher in Tucson, Arizona with the legendary Ashbury and locals Napalm Strike! It is such an honour to be able to share the stage with these guys and let me tell you, they are some of the nicest guys I have ever met! Tonight is going to absolutely ROCK! This is one of the shows that all of us have been looking forward to!
Keep the Faith, Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar)
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