Antillectual

This is a report to keep you updated on all the fun we're having on our third American tour. Because Yvo is sitting at home to take care of his newborn during this tour I (Pitter) am filling in on bass for him. On this tour we're being joined by One Win Choice from Tom's River, New Jersey to safely lead us through the greatest country ever.. I hope you are having as much fun reading this as us doing it.

Line up for this tour:
Antillectual:
Willem – Guitar/Vocals
Riekus – Drums/Vocals
Pitter – Bass/Vocals

One Win Choice:
Dan – Vocals
Justin – Guitar
Ellis – Guitar
Tierny – Bass
Solid – Drums
Rob – Roadie / Ladykiller

It's oct 15, 6 a.m. Time to get up and get this adventure started. We're flying from dusseldorf to newark airport. Rody is willing enough to drive us to the airport and after a smooth drive we check in at dusseldorf airport. 10 a.m. we're taking off, an 8,5 hour flight ahead of us. Watch a movie, eat some shitty food and watch another documentary and we're already there.. No biggy! After waiting for an hour at customs and telling the story we memorized by heart about the purpose of our stay we meet Dan and Justin who pick us up at the airport accompanied by a sign saying "Rots band" (the literal translation of rock band in Dutch, but no-one would ever use that word)
We pick up our tour shirts and we're off to Tom's River where most of One Win Choice lives. When we arrive we meet up with the rest of the band and we're all set to begin this thing. Too bad the tour only starts 2 days from now, so we wait. While One Win Choice is doing their last practice session at the house, we're doing one of the things we like to do most.. Spending time on the internet. After a nice dinner cooked by Dan himself we get beers and watch the last debate between Obama and McCain while drinking every time words as "Tax Reductions", "Joe the plumber" and Crisis are being mentioned, which is pretty often i can guarantee you. We've been up for a while and it's time to go to bed, after all, it's already 4.30 for us.

Oct 16: After we slept for a long time i finally can't take the smell riekus and willem are producing any more, so it's time to get out of bed. Today we're going to practice one last time on the One Win Choice backline to get used to the guitars and drums a little. Before we do that we have to get some essential stuff from the music store we didn't bring like strings and sticks, you know the deal.. In the meantime the other guys are repairing the van and mowing the lawn (hey, it all needs to happen!)
After dinner we go to justin's house and zip 40's in the Hot tub.. Yes, i can get used to this kind of touring.

Oct 17: The Shed – Tom's River, NJ

Day 3 in the USA, about time for a show. The van is repaired, we're all stoked, we're ready for this. No traveling today though, 'cause the first venue we're playing is called the shed, and is in Dan's backyard. The first show is a blast, nice people, quite some people show up. We meet up with Static Radio again, who show up fashionably late.. As well as Jeremy Jumpstart who brings our LP's for the tour and 3 cases of beer.. Nice one!
We end the night with a fire in the yard and make sure the beer's all gone.
Day one of tour is over, and the shed is Antillectual approved. Time to go to bed.

Oct 18: Fire House – Hopatcong, NJ

Time for the first day of traveling. We're trying to stall it though because the package we sent out with our other merchandise still hasn't arrived. Around 3 p.m. the UPS arrives and guess what, no package. So we leave for Hopatcong without the biggest part of our merch.. bummer!
After a short drive we arrive at the Fire House which is in the middle of the forrest. The show is All Ages so there are a lot of younger kids. I feel old. 7 bands on the bill, so the show's kicking off early. In the meanwhile I cook some food in the kitchen over there. The show is cool and afterwards we drive up to Mike and Stephs apartment, which is very nice by the way, to party a little and sleep over. We get introduced to a little part of american culture called "Beerpong" and play till late and the beer runs out. Solid chugs a half a pint of vodka en it's time to call it a night.

Oct 19: Cousin Larry's – Danbury, CT

We leave around noon to drive up to Danbury. We figured to go a little early to walk around town.. Too bad we hadn't though of the fact that we were gonna be there on a sunday. The place was dead, nobody was in the streets and everything was closed. Show was supposed to start at 9, so we had 6 hours to kill in the freezing cold.. After sitting in the van for a while we decided to bring out the stove we brought and bought the little things we could find to make some 'parking-lot burritos' After being too cold we decided to check out the bar. At 9 the promoter walked in and we set up our stuff. After a while we figured that no people would show up and started playing. We played a nice alternative set and when finished we headed out to Albany, where we could crash. Danbury, certainly not Antillectual approved.

Oct 20: The Basement – Kingston, NY

So yeah, after last night we could use a good adventure again. We figured we could take a look around in Albany. The night before, when we drove in, it looked like a Sci-Fi set up, so i was curious. No aliens whatsoever, so kind of a bummer. We checked out the NY State museum, walked around town and figured it would be wise to head off to Kingston after some dinner. We parked the van and cooked a meal on the sidewalk.
The Basement was a nice bar with friendly people, who directly saw what we needed.. Love, and all the free drinks we could think of. After the Fall was also playing, who hooked us up with a sleeping place the night before.
Not many people showed up, but the show was still fun to play. Some of us stayed in the bar after the show to party hard, i however was too tired and went to sleep.

Oct 21: Day off

After waking up and seeing Riekus sleep on the pool table i figured it was time to get up. We had a day off, so no real hurry. We tried to figure out what to do and arrange a sleeping place for the night. In the meantime we watched Roadtrip. Mike from After the Fall helped us out again and arranged a sleeping place at his friend Matt's place in Burlington, VT. So, time to drive. It was quite a drive, but we had time. After a couple of hours GPS us told us to take the ferry, this certainly didn't fit our financial plan and even if it did, the last ferry was long gone. We had no other option then to backtrack to the bridge which was located somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This also meant 2 hours extra driving.
We arrived at Matt's apartment around 11, cooked some food, talked a little and went to bed.

Oct 22: Day off

We found out that the show we would be playing in Burlington wasn't really well promoted and decided to go with the nice old D.I.Y. approach and print flyers to hand out in the city center of Burlington. But first we had to do some groceries and we decided to make a stop at the Magic Hat beer brewery. We could walk around at the brewery because there were no tours going on this day. After that we of course had to try some of all the goodies as well. All though it was pretty cold out, we went into town and hand out flyers to everybody who looked like they might be interested in punkrock the slightest bit. Ellis and Solid went out to beg to rich looking people..
Yes, i felt like a true punk. No idea where we were staying that night, begging and some good old flyering, fuck yeah!
Matt hooked us up with a sleeping place for the night at his friends Derek, Josh and Mike their place.. We cooked some food and chilled a little over
there. The OWC boys bought some cheap vodka and went off for an adventure and found a party. We chilled at the house and went to bed.

Oct 23: 242 Main – Burlington, VT

Jan´s Room – Allentown, PA

Today is the day i'm gonna meet Chris from Square of Opposition records, who did the waves 7" for the last Antillectual US Tour and a whole bunch of other friendly people, so i'm stoked. When we arrive in Allentown we head over to Jordan's house, which we know from our first US Tour so things get cozy from the moment we enter Allentown! We decide it's a good day for a change in our diet and shop a little. Curry it's gonna be and Dan is not too excited, because he doesn't like spicy food. Too bad for him. After dinner we head to Jan's Room, which is actually a rehearsal room. Also on the bill today are Jonesin' and Iron Chic from New York, two other bands touring towards Fest and back. The room is crowded when OWC kicks off, we play a cool set as well. After that Jonesin' is up who play raw punkrock with vocals which remind me a lot of Chuck Ragan in his No Division days. The drummer is a goofy player and after they finish he stays to play for Iron Chic as well. I expected a lot from this band, because i heard they had some Latterman members and I love Latterman!
Iron Chic was amazing and Allentown was one of the better shows so far.. After the show all 4 bands stayed at Jordan's house, so that's 18 visitors at once.. Respect!
We got some brews and after a while Jordan's roommate 'Snack-man' (bad ass Bad Brains tattoo) claims he has the phone number of Rick Ta Life and decides to prank call him. Too bad we get a voicemail, but still it's hilarious.. You should have been there. The night is still young, a wannabe gangster called Camacho get's it and so are some 24hour restaurants and a liquor store where Justin and Ryan work. We end the night trying to get in a deserted building but halfway everybody chickens out, ah well.. Time to go to sleep.

The Fire – Philadelphia, PA

It's sunday! Today is gonna be the day we're gonna see our friends in Jena Berlin again and I know I am excited to see them. The show is gonna be early because the local baseball team 'The Phillies' have a good chance to win the World Series and nobody seems to wanna miss that. A Wilhelm Scream is going to be headlining this show so high expectations.
After parking the van in an alley behind the venue we load in and chill a little with Jeff. The neighbourhood is supposed to be a pretty rough one and Willem couldn´t agree less when he tells me he just had a gun pointed at him by some drunk. A raid is the result of that and finally the guy gets caught carrying a fake weapon and gets arrested for having some outstanding warrants and stuff. The show is cool, although you can notice that some people stayed at home for that game.
After the show it´s party time! We´re being taken to a bar near Jon and Chad´s house, get drunk and yell a lot. Phillies win! It´s awesome!

Day off – Philadelphia, PA

Today is another day off and we are staying at the same place as yesterday again. We get some delicious pancakes for breakfast and chill a lot. In the afternoon everybody heads in to town except for me. I stay in the house with Jon and Meg to do some work on the computer and after that eat some of the best vegan burgers in town. That probably wasn’t a lie, because it was delicious! Back home i hear stories of store owners boarding up their windows because tonight could be the last game if the Phillies win. With that in mind we head over to the same bar, hoping they’re gonna win tonight.. Riots in town, hell yeah!
Too bad the game gets postponed half way and tonight isn’t gonna be the party it could/should have been. Bedtime it is.

?? – State College, PA

After a short drive we arrive in the college town called State College (oh really!?). We arrive a little late but it isn’t too bad we hear. The weather’s freezing cold and loading sure isn’t a pleasure today. We park we the car and when we walk back to the venue we see some ad. About cheap shots, so we figure a little warm up before we play isn’t a really bad idea and so it happens.
The venue today is some sort of christian hang out so we get asked not to curse. We agree, because the promoter is cool and the venue agreed to have us. But while we’re playing I get a little confused with the lyrics and how not to curse too much, so after 2 songs I just give up and do the normal thing. The show is cool, a little tame, people seem to be a little shy, but hey, that happens. After the show we go home with Bill, Ellis’ friend from home and he smokes a lot of weed, we watch some movies, drink some beer and watch Riekus sleepwalk. When it’s 5 o clock in the morning I decide to get some sleep as well. However Rob and Solid aren’t really felling it yet.

Artist Underground Café – Richmond, VA

When we wake up the next morning Solid is still awake and hasn’t slept a bit. We take a nice shower and step outside where it is snowing at the moment. We’re leaving for Richmond.
After a pretty smooth drive we arrive pretty early and have nothing to do so we decide to go to our favorite American restaurant, Taco bell! After we got some food we drive back to the venue and the promoters calls us to say the first band has to start in a couple of minutes, so we get back as fast as we can and play the show. There aren’t many people and the main reason for that is all the bands touring down towards the Fest, so tonight there are 2 or 3 shows going on, which off course is way too many for a Wednesday night. Tomorrow’s a day off so the next show is gonna be in Gainesville.. The Fest! We decide to drive after the show is done and pull an all-nighter. Some people try to sleep and Riekus, Willem, the Hazel twins and me have a vodka and beer party in the van and teach some proper Dutch to these Americans. The night gets blurry….

Day off – ……, FL

After driving all night we arrive in Florida, where the weather is super! Today we got invited at Ryan’s aunt who lives near Gainesville. When we arrive Ryan’s aunt is still at work, so we’re hanging around for a while, doing shop groceries and some more hanging around. We get an awesome dinner and play scrabble all night. Just another day, but a nice one.

FEST

Unfortunately this is where the report ends. For tour videos (including the fest!) check out our www.youtube.com/Antillectual