Rock and Roll Road Trip

Guidelines for the American Rock and Roll Road Trip

“The charging restless mute unvoiced road keening in a seizure of tarpaulin power.” - Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Traveling is essential to America, from covered wagons west to Hondas over asphalt to three-hour flights that lead to three hour drives into nowhere, we are always on the move. Musicians bemoan the road, saying it will kill ya, but the occasional road trip to partake in is a quintessential coming of age adventure, and with the weather turning towards summer the urge to drop everything and go on the road is a strong one even with record gas prices crushing the grill. Here are five tips to abide by when planning your summer road trip to catch live music under the stars or in a smoky club. And as you know, rules are meant to be broken, so we will call them "guidelines" for your next rock and roll road trip.

Make it Worth the Cost

I will get the most fatherly rule out of the way first. Sure, everyone wants to tell their job, “Shove it Boss, I am joining the KISS Army this summer!” Being this isn’t 1976, this isn’t always the most practical maneuver, as a bit of planning on your job can go along way.

Do you have vacation days stored up? A sick Aunt Betty in Des Moines? Skitching out on some days and stretching weekends can work wonders for the inevitable transition back to the real world when the journey ends. Your boss should be more forgiving when you return with a green Mohawk to your cashier job at Target, if you worked some OT before you left. There can also be an emotional cost attached to the travel, maybe you were suppose to visit grandma for real, or your boyfriend isn’t keen on you hauling ass across state lines to see The Roots mini tour.

Make plans to spend time with loved ones before or after the trip, or better yet see if grandma has any good shows cruising through her home town so you can kill two birds with one rock and roll. Cost also means the obvious money drain, and with the previously mentioned gas prices, trimming some dollars off the overall bill is the essential frugal play this summer. Budgets vary from traveler to traveler, some trust fund babies can hit Vegas for a two night Chili Pepper stand and stay in the penthouse at Mandalay Bay. Meanwhile others are content at the Budget Motel 23 miles from the Strip. So to each their own, but it never hurts to cash in frequent flier miles, scour Orbitz primo hotel deals, and split costs with a like minded companion or crew. You always want to have funds at your disposal, as the road can throw more curveballs then Barry Zito, so have Advil, Band-Aids and be prepared.

Now that the Boy Scout tip is out of the way, let’s bear down on some things particular to traveling this great land for live music.

Know the Artist and Their Tendencies

Traveling to see concerts should not be an off the cuff decision. Avoid this phone call: “Hey Jimmy we are going to check out this band called, Mr. Andersons Left Over Chicken Roll, I think they may be a Chumbawumba cover band, but we never heard them play…Anyway I always wanted to check out East Texas in the middle of August…you in?”

Pick a tour of a band, or better yet multiple bands that you have heard before and enjoy. Experiment on some random Tuesday night in your hometown, save the excursions for the known barnburners. While set list overhauls on a nightly basis automatically make shows unique, not all bands partake and yet they still vary up things to create a special show night-in and night-out.

Perhaps you are waiting for a Joshua Redmond sax solo unlike any other, or you just really want to hear Bob Dylan talk onstage, extraordinary moments are needed to keep things fresh for artists and fans alike. If you are going to see a band that walks out, plays the same show with the same comments at the same point between songs, and has been for the last 15 years, maybe one night a year is all that you need. Artists that are willing to alter things from show to show take a risk, but it is a risk that turns a paying customer, into a participant in a mythical musical moment. Most music fans have them, the Who crescendoing to the sunrise at Woodstock, “This is Red Rocks, This is the Edge!,” Phish encoring Terrapin Station on the third anniversary of Jerry’s passing. It is in these moments that bands are immortalized, and fans can later utter the greatest phrase…”I was there”.

Get in more than one show

You are printing out Mapquest directions, drawing up signs that read “Play LAZARUS for my birthday” and you got your favorite pair of ripped jeans and silly hat all picked out so why not make the trip really worth it? Double up or hit the trifecta…just don’t blow it all on one night of magic. It is always great to see a few shows in a row. You feel a part of the road crew, packing up and traveling to the next city or on multiple nights in one city partying like the band, and who knows maybe with the band. You can then compare Chris Robinson’s enunciation, show energy levels, pre and post set hook ups, while trying to piece together some of the fuzzy spots, elongating the time spent on the road makes for better stories. Sometimes a surgical strike of a quick one while he is away is needed, but the extended trip is where it’s at.

If you can catch a festival all the better, but make sure you enjoy one of the headlining bands as well as a couple on the under card. Festivals are a great place to be surprised by new bands and rocked by old favorites…and they are everywhere, so bust a good one out this summer.

Live the Road

Half the fun of traveling to a show is just that, the travel. You get to see and experience different parts of the country, or the world. On a sunny road trip from Atlanta to Charlotte for the next stop on the Vans Warped Tour make it a point to get off I-85 to take a break in the country rather than stretching in rest stop slop. Culture is all around when you are on the move you just need to seek it out sometimes. Whether it is the crab cakes you eat in Baltimore on the way to Merriweather Post for Widespread Panic or the Gino’s Philly Cheese steak before Dillinger Escape Plan’s set at the Electric Factory, food on the road shouldn’t be limited to 3 day-old veggie burritos in the parking lot of the venue. Sure lot scenes are cool and should be explored before the show and afterwards, but unless you are vending don’t spend the whole day on some hot asphalt, take in the neighborhood. Traveling to see an artist or group lends you a unique opportunity to see places you might not ever think of traveling to in your life, yet it is all out there, so live life a little in Chula Vista, CA or Camden, NJ…well maybe not Camden.

Enjoy, Don’t Obsess

These experiences should be a party for you, enjoy them open heartedly and dance like no one is watching but remember there is a fine Jack Daniels blurred line between fan and full fledged groupie. Stalking an artist is not the intent of these trips, you don’t need to never wash again if you manage to hug Josh Grier from Tapes ‘n Tapes, just use your camera phone or something to capture the moment. A major irk seems to invade the brain of a fan who travels for a period of time with a band, they start to become possessive of the artists they are watching. They can feel they are part of the show when in reality it is just another city, another arena another night of entertainment for the act on stage. You as a fan can’t become jaded, the minute you do, stop touring with the group.

If you are upset that Built to Spill doesn’t mix up their set list enough from night to night, then only go to one show per tour, this is not Doug Martsch's fault. The trip to catch live tunes should be an adventure. Focus on the excitement of being free and living the dream, if only for four days, because who knows when you can be young and wild again. As a face in the crowd, bask in the music being presented each moment, the sound of life. It doesn’t get better than soaring in those spontaneous notes and loving the sound for all it is.

You are armed with a few guidelines, feel free to go out and catch a mini run from a band you dig. I will put these to the test this weekend by hitting a couple of Pearl Jam shows with My Morning Jacket opening in the Northeast, so tune back in next week to see how the weekend went.

“Americans should know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.” -Walt Whitman

(Send any comments and locations with good Guinness to Shawndonohue@yahoo.com)