Greetings. I am one of the dark overlords of the universe that is slowly taking over Tina’s body and mind, which in turn means her blog. Actually, I just really wanted to write something about the dark overlords of the universe because I just watched Howard the Duck last night. Yup, I’m that cool. My name is Michelle and I am a new quest to Audio Taco. Actually I meant guest, but quest is pretty rad considering the reason why I am here is my new quest. My quest to sell merch for a band on my first tour. I am heading out on the Show and Tell tour with my friends The Birthday Massacre (the tour also features I Am Ghost and Dommin). I’m hoping that some of you have heard of them, but a brief description could possibly be ‘a semi gothic synth powerpop’? I am terrible at classifying music according to standard definition. They spawned from the greater Toronto-land area and are currently based there. They formed around 1999 , their first demos are admittedly quite rough but have since evolved and harnessed their sound. Their first full length release was Nothing and Nowhere, folewed by Violet and Walking with Strangers.  This tour is promoting their first full length live album, called Show and Tell. Since I feel I am not doing them the justice they deserve, take a look at their myspace (www.myspace.com/thebirthdaymassacre) . You can find legions of fans all over the world and the web, including myself.
Who am I? Well I am a Chicago native, recently relocated to the northern Los Angeles area. My passion level for music is pretty high, I spend a lot of time investigating new music, talking to people about music, going to shows (many with the lovely Tina herself). Other than that I am trying to find my niche in the film/tv industry out here in LA after 18 months of production work in Chicago. My life has led me to this journey through a lot of little nuances and connections, and I am delighted that it has. I can’t wait to share this experience with such a great band!
And my tour story begins…
I am anxiously waiting in a (fairly) quiet are of LAX to get on a red eye flight to Chicago’s O’Hare Int’l Airport. From there I will wait about 2 hours before catching a short flight to Buffalo, NY to meet up with the band. The tour kicks off tomorrow night at Mohawks Place . As much as layovers suck, I am glad it will be in my hometown airport that I am familiar with. LAX is always an interesting mix of people; My TSA security agent was hopped up on some Prozac, spouting off all sorts of “thank you for pulling out your electronics,” and “we do appreciate you keeping us on our toes.” I mention the Prozac because in response to a comment of mine about being on the ball tonight he brought it up as the source. I’m not surprised, it is LA right?
As I am sitting in my chair, I’m mulling over my packing arrangements in my head. Since I am new to the whole tour itinerary, I am not sure if I should have packed lighter. My only time on the road was a brief outing with theSTART last July. At the time I was in town visiting friends so I packed for a normal vacation and simply brought what I had with me. I realized afterwards that I was slightly unprepared, most strikingly in the pillow department. This time I was assured there would be a pillow waiting for me in my bunk when I arrive in New York. Overall, I am confident I have what I need, plenty of clothes to cycle through, tons of clean socks and underwear (I was told this is VERY important, as expected) as well as plenty of entertainment (books, movies, ipod, PSP freshly modded with some Nintendo games). I have my tour itinerary somewhere around here but at the moment its not important. I plan on focusing on where I am that day and where I’m going the next day. And tonight I’m flying to Chicago and Buffalo. As the days blend together I will continue to update Audio Taco readers about my experiences on my first ‘real’ tour!