Hello Friends,

Cropduster has just returned from a month-and-a-half long tour that lasted for an entire extended weekend. Four days, three shows, two sunburned glittermen, one vomitous stomach, and a billion gallons of alcohol. It all started last Friday night as Cropduster loaded INDESTRUCTO and headed south to Washington DC en route to WE Fest in Wilmington, NC...

Friday Night:

It took about 25 minutes from the time INDESTRUCTO pulled away from the Crophouse that we realized maybe Memorial Day weekend isn't the best weekend to plan a tour. Especially a month and a half long tour! The first clue came when we pulled into a long parking lot called the NJ Turnpike. This little fact won't matter to you if you don't live in NJ, but the traffic crawled from exit 18E all the way down to exit 7. Whoa! That's a lot of traffic.

8 Hours later, we pull into DC and find the club, The Metro. We are set to play at 9:00... the all night retro-goth dance party starts at 10:30. Luckily, while setting up, we got to hear a little preview of the dance party. I recall getting my groove on to such classics as; Rock Me Amadeus by Falco and I Ran by Flock of Seagulls... ahhh, it was just like 1982 all over again.

By 9:01 we were rocking in front of six drooling fans. They might have been sleeping, but we would like to think they were knocked out by the force of the rock. At 10:15 the rock was done raining down. I think I saw a drooler wipe his face, waking from the intense rock-n-roll coma. By 10:31 we were on the road speeding towards safety, away from the time-warp, retro-goth thingy.

Saturday:

All bands on a month and a half long tour need a day a rest and tranquility. So, Saturday was our big day off to blow off some steam, max and relax. Since we didn't have to be in Durham, NC until Sunday night, we decided we would head to Virginia Beach, VA for some fun in the sun, and maybe do a little drinking if we were in the mood. By 11:00 AM we were in a restaurant eating and drinking ourselves silly. I like to call this portion of our day Gluttony-Fest. 3 hours of all-you-can-eat seafood washed down by half-gallon, "froofy" drinks. By the time we were done, the ocean was half-empty and we were fully loaded.

Details from this point on get a little hazy, but the next few hours were filled with frequent stops at the local bar while we worked our way through a ferocious miniature golf tournament. The golf was drunken. Personally, I think I shot something like 4,000 over par, which was fine, since Lee ended up 4,001 over par. At least I didn't lose! On the other end of the spectrum, Matt won a free stuffed dinosaur for finishing 1 under par. Looking back, I view the whole tournament as a Drunkometer. Good Score = Sober. Bad Score = Drunk.

During our frequent stops at the bar for beer, tequila and red-headed sluts, we met two wallpaper hanging professionals getting lit on their lunch break. They were just stopping in for a drink at the bar since they were working hard all morning hanging paper at the new tourist trap across the street. The funny thing about these guys was how each time we saw them, they were progressively more wasted, (apparently learning Russian in the process) and getting ready to "go back to work." By 6:00, after the golf tourney had ended, they began to realize that they might not make it back from lunch.
When they decided that working was no longer an option, they invited us back to their place where there was to be a raging party. Drunk as hell, all hopped up on sugar with no hotel, we decided to accept the offer. A few hours later we are at the "party." I think there were 6 people there. They had a pool table. They had beer. The had a bath tub built into the wall. I guess it was a party.
We partied. And in the end, our hosts turned out to be really cool.

Sunday:

We make our way to Durham, NC for our big, Sunday night headlining showcase. Across the street from the club was a funeral home. I think the funeral home had more people hanging out then at the club we were playing, but hell, those dead people had a whole lifetime to build a fan base. Anyway, what started out as a pretty lame situation ended in up being an extremely insane night. Unfortunately for you, the reader, I am going to have to skip over most of what happened to spare the innocent and avoid incrementing the not-so-innocent. What I can tell you is, 4 shots of tequila and several beers, while consumed on stage, can lead to, but not limited to, the following:

• the playing of cover songs that you don't really know how to play
• the migration of all audience members from bar stools to stage
• massive amounts of beer spraying
• Band members tackling each other over the drumkit
• Stage diving
• Passing Out
• Puking
• Five person orgy
• a bar staying open 'till 5 AM in order for the band to sober up.

It was a good night.

Monday:

Somewhere around 5 AM we all loaded ourselves into INDESTRUCTO and made the drive from Durham to Wilmington, where we had already booked a room for Sunday and Monday nights. When we arrived at the hotel at 8:00 AM, Lee and I were notified that our reservations for Sunday night had been canceled since we never showed up until Monday morning. Needless to say, we weren't happy. I hadn't slept at all, Lee had like a 1/2 hour of sleep and the collective stench of warm beer and sweat on our bodies was making birds fall out of the sky. Marc, Tom and Matt were still sleeping in the van when we got the news. Lee and I secured the room for that night, but we wouldn't be able to check in until 1 PM. We had 5 hours to kill. Where else could we go but the beach!

We jump in the van and make our way to the beach. I think it was five minutes after the van started moving that the sleepers began to get suspicious... "I thought we were at the hotel?" Lee and I remained quiet. "Hey, where is the room?" It was the second inquiry that prompted me to let them know that I was going to reward everyone for playing so well the night before by treating them to a day at the beach! That seemed to calm the sleepers. It wasn't until the van was parked and Lee and I were on our way out of the van, towels in hand, that the sleepers realized that we were really going to spend the day at the beach. Luckily, everyone was a bit to tired and hung over to lodge too big of a protest. For some reason, I couldn't convince them that sleeping on the beach was better than the hotel. Stranger yet, I couldn't convince them that sleeping on the beach was better than sleeping in the van.
Lee and I hit the beach. It's like 8:30 AM and there are hardly any people at the beach. Perfect for sleeping. 30 minutes later, the beach is jam-packed, the sun is scorching and sleep has once again eluded us. Lee and I decide to make the best of the situation by trying to enjoy ourselves. We swam, we played in the sand, we walked along the shore... in two words... WE WIN!! That is until the sunburn set in...

Around 1 PM we checked into the hotel. You know how when you get sunburn, you never realize just how badly you got burnt until you take a shower? It was after a shower that I thought I might need to have a skin graft. Lee wasn't looking so good either. In two words... WE LOSE!!
Everyone finally wakes up and we head over to WE Fest. Lee and I realize the only way we are going to make it through the night is if we can get some Aloe Aftersun type stuff. So, we make our way to the only store in town to get the lotion. After "searching" through the vast collection of sunblock and aftersun, we find that they only have one type of aftersun... that's right. You guessed it. Aftersun with Glitter.

Lee and I burst back on the seen, skin glowing like a red-headed slut, covered in glitter. The David Bowie and glam rock jokes were unrelenting. Luckily though, we didn't care. The aloe was doing it's job, even though we looked like two 13 year girls at a rave.
The night progressed on and Cropduster rocked the house. Asses were completely blown away. The rock had been delivered and in the end... you guessed it. WE WON!!

Well, There you have it folks. The Tour Story. I hope you've enjoyed it.
Check back soon for new music, news and tour dates. OR, just sign up for our mailing list on our home page and we will keep you up to date on all things Cropduster.

Love,

Cropduster