Tour life might seem glamorous and fun, but it ain’t for the faint of heart. Between the homesickness and long drives, there’s also the issue of where to rest your head each night. Up-and-coming bands cutting their teeth playing tiny gig after tiny gig don’t get to ride in a lux tour bus much less stay in a hotel room every evening. Instead, they get to crash wherever they can while trying to save up gas money. Reno, Nevada, progressive alt-metal weirdos Four Stroke Baron know all about the rigors of the road and have stayed at some pretty shady spots while on the tour. We caught up with singer-guitarist Kirk Witt to get an inside look at what tour life is really all about, warts and all.
1. WALMART PARKING LOT, FRESNO
We tried to sleep in a Walmart parking lot, and some tweaker was screaming at the top of his lungs for literally four hours straight, right outside of our car. I don’t think we got any sleep until about 5 a.m.
2. TALLINN, ESTONIA
Everything about the city was great, but that particular night was our first night on tour with Shining. The very first night in Tallinn on the bus, I had two night terrors in the middle of the night where I woke up screaming.
3. RIGA, LATVIA
We spent the entire day inside the venue, and floor to ceiling it was completely plastered with the same Kreator poster. The lighting guy was on a bender of some sort, and we spent the entire first song playing in complete darkness.
