This is a blow by blow account of what happened on the last Hickoids
tour. It won't be a pretty read because it wasn't pretty to live.
According to Smitty it all started after I told him my flight out of Austin was running 15 minutes late. The rest of the Hickoids stayed in Houston after THIS, the night before while I drove home to work Saturday morning. They were planning on picking me up in the Freak Van from the New Orleans airport a little after I landed.
I get on the plane and just as I was shutting off my phone I got a text from Lance "Serious van problems between Lake Charles and Lafayette." Shit. I finish shutting down and we fly to Houston. I turn it back on and get a couple of messages saying things were looking up. They were in Welsh LA and there was a guy helping with the Freak and they should make it to NO before showtime. It was right about then the SWA attendants told us we were switching planes because the one we were on wasn't big enough for all the passengers... So I jump to the other plane and get some updates and head to NO.
We land and I'm told the Freak won't be making the trip. Manny (the mechanic in Welsh) couldn't get the parts to fix it in time, but he was kind enough to drive Smitty to Lafayette to rent a mini van. They piled all the gear that would fit and headed east. The plan was to meet them at the club.
I took a cab to the hotel. Well, I tried... We get on the interstate and every lane of traffic is backed up. 45 minutes later we are approaching downtown and there is another problem. This weekended is the "Soul Bowl" and all of downtown New Orleans is packed. He gives me directions to the club (for later) and drops me as close as he can to Canal St and I walk the rest. No big deal.
Get to the room, play a bit at the casino and head to the show. The cab driver told me the club was in the French Quarter, it isn't. But it's not too far away according to the map on the phone. I'm getting closer and I walk by this building that's a Po Boy shop. I remember it from the last time we played here because someone had gotten shot outside... And now I'm walking by it...
Nothing happens and in a couple of blocks I find the club and then THIS. Siberia closes and Smitty and I hit the hotel/casino and the other fellas stay with Jimmy Bradshaw. We meet up the next morning and drive the mini van to Lafayette. It took us a little over four hours to make the trip. Under normal conditions this should take an hour and a half. Not today.
After a boat load of deliberation we decided to pick up a Uhaul and use it to follow the the Freak back to SA. The mini van would have been another $600 to get us there and if the Freak dies the rest of our gear will be stuck on the side of a Louisiana highway. Bad move. We get the Uhaul and take the mini van to the Lafayette airport and drop it off.
There are only three seats in the front of the Uhaul and five Hickoids. Jones and I take the back. It was about an hour to Welsh and fortunately there was a light on in the back of the box. Jones and I talked, smoked and slept most of the way. Not horrible. I was thankful for "my superpower". It really comes in handy at times like this.
We stop and they open the back and I meet Manny. He says it's the head gasket and he couldn't fix it, but he did what he could. To make the Freak lighter we loaded all the rest of the gear into the Uhaul. Tom and Lance drive it. Smitty, Davy and I in the Freak. It starts up and sounds like all hell IS breaking loose. Like a thousand paint cans stuck in an earthquake. I knew then it wasn't gonna make it.
We hit the road and the check engine light is on. We pull on the ramp to I-10 and the oil light comes on. Then this incredible cacophony comes from the engine. After a hundred yards it comes to a simmer and then rages up to a boil until the engine seized.
The Freak is dead.
We get the remaining stuff (mostly crap and tools) out of the van and say goodbye to the Freak forever, leaving it on the side of I-10.
Davy and I head back to our places in the box and because the third seat is tiny Tom joins us in the back. There is barely any room with all of the gear so Tom takes the "Mom's attic" portion right over the cab. He said it's been a childhood dream to ride up there.
From here on it was pretty uneventful. We stopped a couple of times and made lots of jokes about being smuggled across state lines. Eventually we made it back to SA and unloaded what we could in to Davy and Lance's cars (the rest went in Smitty's house) and we made it home to Austin after fourteen hours of driving.
It was stupid and exhausting and we missed the show were were supposed to play in Lafayette, but we all made it home. A little sore and tired, but we made it home safe.
According to Smitty it all started after I told him my flight out of Austin was running 15 minutes late. The rest of the Hickoids stayed in Houston after THIS, the night before while I drove home to work Saturday morning. They were planning on picking me up in the Freak Van from the New Orleans airport a little after I landed.
I get on the plane and just as I was shutting off my phone I got a text from Lance "Serious van problems between Lake Charles and Lafayette." Shit. I finish shutting down and we fly to Houston. I turn it back on and get a couple of messages saying things were looking up. They were in Welsh LA and there was a guy helping with the Freak and they should make it to NO before showtime. It was right about then the SWA attendants told us we were switching planes because the one we were on wasn't big enough for all the passengers... So I jump to the other plane and get some updates and head to NO.
We land and I'm told the Freak won't be making the trip. Manny (the mechanic in Welsh) couldn't get the parts to fix it in time, but he was kind enough to drive Smitty to Lafayette to rent a mini van. They piled all the gear that would fit and headed east. The plan was to meet them at the club.
I took a cab to the hotel. Well, I tried... We get on the interstate and every lane of traffic is backed up. 45 minutes later we are approaching downtown and there is another problem. This weekended is the "Soul Bowl" and all of downtown New Orleans is packed. He gives me directions to the club (for later) and drops me as close as he can to Canal St and I walk the rest. No big deal.
Get to the room, play a bit at the casino and head to the show. The cab driver told me the club was in the French Quarter, it isn't. But it's not too far away according to the map on the phone. I'm getting closer and I walk by this building that's a Po Boy shop. I remember it from the last time we played here because someone had gotten shot outside... And now I'm walking by it...
Nothing happens and in a couple of blocks I find the club and then THIS. Siberia closes and Smitty and I hit the hotel/casino and the other fellas stay with Jimmy Bradshaw. We meet up the next morning and drive the mini van to Lafayette. It took us a little over four hours to make the trip. Under normal conditions this should take an hour and a half. Not today.
After a boat load of deliberation we decided to pick up a Uhaul and use it to follow the the Freak back to SA. The mini van would have been another $600 to get us there and if the Freak dies the rest of our gear will be stuck on the side of a Louisiana highway. Bad move. We get the Uhaul and take the mini van to the Lafayette airport and drop it off.
There are only three seats in the front of the Uhaul and five Hickoids. Jones and I take the back. It was about an hour to Welsh and fortunately there was a light on in the back of the box. Jones and I talked, smoked and slept most of the way. Not horrible. I was thankful for "my superpower". It really comes in handy at times like this.
We stop and they open the back and I meet Manny. He says it's the head gasket and he couldn't fix it, but he did what he could. To make the Freak lighter we loaded all the rest of the gear into the Uhaul. Tom and Lance drive it. Smitty, Davy and I in the Freak. It starts up and sounds like all hell IS breaking loose. Like a thousand paint cans stuck in an earthquake. I knew then it wasn't gonna make it.
We hit the road and the check engine light is on. We pull on the ramp to I-10 and the oil light comes on. Then this incredible cacophony comes from the engine. After a hundred yards it comes to a simmer and then rages up to a boil until the engine seized.
The Freak is dead.
We get the remaining stuff (mostly crap and tools) out of the van and say goodbye to the Freak forever, leaving it on the side of I-10.
Davy and I head back to our places in the box and because the third seat is tiny Tom joins us in the back. There is barely any room with all of the gear so Tom takes the "Mom's attic" portion right over the cab. He said it's been a childhood dream to ride up there.
From here on it was pretty uneventful. We stopped a couple of times and made lots of jokes about being smuggled across state lines. Eventually we made it back to SA and unloaded what we could in to Davy and Lance's cars (the rest went in Smitty's house) and we made it home to Austin after fourteen hours of driving.
It was stupid and exhausting and we missed the show were were supposed to play in Lafayette, but we all made it home. A little sore and tired, but we made it home safe.
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