Watershed By The Numbers

6 - People in van: Biggie, Herb, Dave, Rick, Joe and I. (Ricki C. had to sit this one out.)

10.5 - Hours spent playing music

181.5 - Hours spent hanging around waiting to play music

0 - Dressing rooms provided

1 - Times keys locked in van

31 - Hours in van

31 - Hours spent laughing in van

1,900 - Miles driven in van 

37 - Different songs performed  (click here for setlistfm.com )

3 - Free hotel breakfast buffets destroyed

3 - Dinners completely skipped

4 - Pounds Joe lost in one week

5 - Mr. Show episodes watched

7 - Cities played: Columbus, Rockford, Minneapolis, Madison, Appleton, Cleveland, Indian Lake, Detroit

3 - My favorite personal walks: Mississippi River, State Street, Madison, Lakefront Milwaukee

1- Least favorite was circling the hotel parking lot in Cleveland trying to get some steps in after sitting all day

2 - sports bets lost

1,000,000 - Countless friends helped us put these shows together and we are forever in your debt. I will reach out personally to thank you. We had so much fun catching up with everyone. 

Randomness

“How was your vacation?” Is a pretty common question I got once I returned to my post at Colin’s Coffee after a week of shows with Watershed. Other questions are things like “Does your wife go with you?” and “Did you make all your flights?”

I suppose I should be flattered that folks think we roll like that, but minor-league touring is kind of the opposite of vacation. Six guys and gear jammed into one van, driving from city to city, setting up and breaking down each night, usually wearing some version of the same sweaty clothes. Eating sporadically. Making money less than sporadically. It is a physical and mental grind. It takes serious discipline to tour on this lowest rung of rock n roll and put on a top notch show every single night.  People come to the show to party. The band is there to supply the soundtrack to the party. But we aren’t part of the party. 

It’s hard to believe I did this about 150 times a year for about 18 years but as a wise man once said, “Youth is Confusion.” 

Some kind of tour log. Warning: Touring is actually quite boring. So it makes for boring reading.

Saturday September 28  Rumba Cafe

The story actually starts Thursday, September 26th, since that is when Joe arrived from South Carolina and we began rehearsing. Having both Herb and Dave on drums makes things much more manageable since they can each play on the tracks they recorded. Rick Kinsinger adds the frosting to my sonic cake and Biggie is our tour manager. It can not be overstated how important Biggie is to keeping this show on the road. He is the boss once the rubber meets the road.

Anyway, the Rumba show was the first local Watershed show in a long time that wasn’t some kind of big deal or special event. We had just played two sold-out local shows a few months earlier so really nobody needed more of us. The lack of buzz was palpable.  But if we are going to hit the road, we might as well start at home and raise a little gas. 

Turns out, the crowd was amazing and it was my favorite hometown show in a long while. And climbing into the back of the van after the show for the ride to Rockford was even more exciting than the show itself. These guys are my best friends and the post-gig rides were one of my favorite parts of touring. The gig was over. We could relax. Until tomorrow.

Sunday September 29th - Mary’s Place - Rockford Ill

As Biggie drove I nodded off with my face against the side window only to wake up to be staring at the beautiful skyline of Chicago lit up in the night sky. It occurred to me that instead of playing an open stage in Rockford, we could have just had the day off in one of my favorite cities on the planet. I fell back asleep dreaming of walks in Lincoln Park.

Once checked into our hotel in Rockford around 8 am, everyone crashed and woke up that afternoon. Obviously we hit the new Cheap Trick-themed casino to eat lunch and watch football. Mary’s Place is known for being where Bun E. Carlos calls home when he plays locally so we knew it was our duty to grace this stage out of respect to him and all the Tricksters whom we love so much. 

Live stage master of ceremonies Henry was understandably a little confused when a band that had driven 500 miles asked to sign up for an open stage slot but he put us on first and gave us a little extra time since some folks had shown up to see us. One couple hadn’t seen us since we opened for The Smithereens at the Belly Up Saloon in San Diego in 1995. They had remained fans all these years later.

The show and people were a blast and Herb even sat in on drums with some blues cats before we split to get gyros-to-go and bedtime.

Monday September 30th - Underground Music Venue - Minneapolis, Minn

This gig was THE reason we fired up the van in the first place. Watershed had played the Twin Cities 19 times before but this would be our first gig back in 20 years. It was great fun to reconnect with so many old friends and play some old and new tunes for them. I should note, the weather was off the charts amazing so I killed the three hours between sound check and showtime walking along the mighty Mississippi listening to music from Tommy Stinson, Slim Dunlap and Paul Westerberg. 

Pizza to go after the gig. ZZZZzzzz

Tuesday October 1st - Gamma Ray - Madison, WI

Biggie steered the van five hours back from where we just came and we got into Madtown with just enough time to walk down State Street and check out that one lake at the University of Wisconsin Student Union. Once again, lots of memories here and it was nice to see a college town retain some of its local charm instead of being bulldozed into a string of Conado’s Tacos and Starbucks.

Our good friends in Shazy Hade set up the gig and Gamma Ray club had a sound that rivaled CBGB. What a great room and bar!!! I think Rick recorded this show and I am curious to hear if it sounds half as good as I remember on tape. Shazy Hade were crushing as well and we made a  blood pact after the show that they will have to join us for a show in Columbus in 2025.

Taco Bell after the show for the ride to the hotel in Milwaukee.

Wednesday October 2nd - Appleton Beer Factory - Appleton, WI

Milwaukee was about the same distance from both Wisconsin venues so we decided to split the distance and just stay in one place for both nights. An extra couple hour drive vs moving all your shit again? Once again, we enjoy our time in the van together. And Joe is a huge Brewers fan so we had MLB playoff baseball to keep us company on the radio. 

I got up early to do a phone interview with our old pals at WAPL in Appleton to hype the night’s show and since we were up, we decided to hit the Milwaukee Art Museum to kill some time before we had to hit the road at 2 pm.  You might notice, killing time is a major theme in touring rock n roll. It is an art in itself. Once again, the weather was beautiful so I split off from the other guys for a two-hour walk along Lake Michigan listening to Norah Jones and other soothing sunny day tunes. It was glorious.

It had been a long time since we had played the former Watershed hotspot of Appleton but thanks to WAPL, The Rockin’ Apple, an enthusiastic crowd turned out and we gave it our all to live up to their expectations. Former CD102.5 Program Director Laura Lee now does mornings for WAPL so it was great to catch up with her as well. Folks brought all kinds of interesting Watershed memorabilia to be signed too which is always very fun to look at and discuss. Bar food from the Beer Factory for the two hour ride back to Milwaukee.

Thursday October 3rd - The 5 O’Clock Lounge - Cleveland, OH.

Herb had to split back to his real job in California so Dave would be handling the drumming duty solo from here on out. This was the longest drive of the trip but the weather was once again flawless, making for smooth sailing. Joe once wrote about the 5’ O’Clock Lounge as one of the greatest bars in the USA for Esquire magazine but this was my first visit. Organized by our pal Patrick Baracus and his band B.A. Baracus, the 5’O is a no-bullshit, no-excuses rock n roll bar perfectly suited for the west side of Cleveland. I cannot wait to return. No food after this show. Even the gas stations were closed. So hungry..

Friday October 4th - Moose Lodge - Indian Lake Ohio

Ok , we didn’t play at the Moose Lodge. But I did take a picture of it from the water as we spent a day with friends chilling at Indian Lake. I just could not find a show that night within 500 miles of Detroit and I tried everything. Shit, maybe I should have tried the Moose Lodge. Still the day was a blessing. Catman definitely needed a night off from behind the skins and riding in a  van. 

Saturday October 5th - Ghostlight Bar - Detroit, MI

This gig was organized by our pal (and P-storm editor) Jeremy Porter, whose band The Tuco’s opened this one and also the gig in Columbus a week earlier. Once again, Watershed has an insanely long history in the Motor City. The song “How Do You Feel” was first released on A Fist Full Of Chaos compilation out of Detroit and we have recorded three records with Tim Patalan not far down the road in Saline. To illustrate insanely long history,  Sue S. from Chaos brought some pictures of us performing at St. Andrews’s Hall in…wait for it…..1992!

Anyway, like I said, writing about touring is a pretty boring read. You know why? Touring is pretty boring. But being together in the van and onstage - especially playing the new tunes - I have never had more fun in my life. From 1990-2006, touring in a van with Watershed was the most important thing in my life. I missed weddings and funerals to play shows in front of 15 people. I wouldn’t want to do it all over again, but it was nice to do it again for one week.