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20 Bulls Each USA 2008

Written by Shay

09 August 2008

The USA has changed alot in the year since we were last there. No one is happy with Bush (well thats still the same!), but people arent really going anywhere because of the price of petrol/gas (although it was still dirt cheap for us!).

All that side we still had a blast, meet up with old faces and met a ton of new people. We had a van/bus this time which made life alot easier and more comfortable, and we gave up on the maps because we had a glorious GPS, read the ups and downs of the trip.....

May 29th
Got the aircoach at some time that shouldnt exist, its still dark out! Doze on the journey, then about a km or two from the airport the coach breaks down!! Luckily about 10 minutes later the dude gets the thing going. Get into the airport and meet-up with the lads. We go to check in, I get interrogated by some polish bird, not even security, just a Delta employee, "thats not alot of luggage for 3 weeks", and too many questions, fuck off. Gar gets seperated from the lads so they check in seperately. By the time I get on the plane I've been questioned by 8 seperate people!!! WTF!

We get on the plane, Ciaran, Paul, and Gav are sitting with a ton of kids, hahahaha. By pure chance me and Gar end up sitting together. Journey goes uneventful, Paul and Gar send DS messages of planes crashing, to each other. Then the snack comes, pizza, ummmmmm, but no me and Gar arent eating vegetarian food - pizza - we must be vegans, so we get a square bit of bread with a slice of pepper in it, hot, not toasted, just hot, a fuckin piece of hot bread and horrible pepper. Fuckers! WE WANT PIZZA. But i reckon the earplugs and eye shades will come in handy on the rest of the trip :)

We get to JFK, hang around for a bit, then get the plane, if you could call it that, its pretty fuckin small. It should only take about 45 mins to get to Boston, but it takes twice that, fuckin circling Boston for far too long!! Anyway we get to Boston, pick up the bus/van, the Ford "Colossus" - bloody 12 seats or something, sweet but fuck, me and Gav have never driven anything so big. Gav takes tonights shift driving as I've been up for something stupid like two days. We get to the motel and head out for some food and drinks with Ciarans cousin.

It begins!

May 30th - Boston, MA
Some old dude laying carpets in the motel keeps us talking for bit cause we're Irish and a band!! We throw him some CDs and then go in search of gear. We go back and forth between Guitar Centre and Daddys Junkie Music Store picking up the gear needed. Cant remember what we get upto next! So fast forward to evening, we head to the Midway Bar in Jamaica Plains, nice area. We hook up with Shawn from Refuse/Resist who's putting on the show, and also has our shirts. We get the gear in and set up the merch. Instant Asshole have to pullout as their drummer collapses with a stomach ulcer or something pretty messed up. So its the Bulls, Refuse/Resist, Mouth Shown Shut (ex Toxic Narcotic guys), and Capitol Radio. Decent crowd and some merch shifted.

Me and Gar drop the lads back to the motel then head to Shawns place to offload the back seat of the Colossus so we can actually fit the gear and bags in!! Took a bit of shifting to get it out - its a heavy motherfucker, we dump it in the basement and will worry about it in ten days. Back to the motel. (without the GPS we'd be fucked!!)

May 31st - Trenton, NJ
Today is mostly spent driving, fair old distance to go, with Gar trying to make contact with Bigfoot as we pass through forests. We arrive at Champioships, to find out its actually a metal fest, agh well, least we get to play. The bands we see are, well metal, and the "dancing" is um, dunno really!! The Bulls go on last, a few people stick around to watch and are into it. Turns out Paul has lost some gear, so some dude sorts him out with what he needs, nice one, we throw him some Ts. But, fucking hell, gear is packed away, just about to leave, and in the space of 20 minutes, about 20 people turn up to see the Bulls - they thought it was a late show!! But they all load up on gear - i mean everything both CDs and 2 t-shrits - we actually sell out of white Ts. Thanks to Michelle for the show.

June 1st - Baltimore, MD
I was informed in Boston that its Mariland not Maryland, they get offended or something! haha. So we head of for Baltimore, Maryland, or Mariland rather! Well ever seen The Wire? Well thats Baltimore, but we didnt know this. So we are driving up what looks like the main strip - 90% of the buildings are boarded up, and at the top of the lamp-posts there are police sirens flashing red and blue. We dont know wtf this is all about! So a couple hundred metres off this road, we find the venue - Charm City Art Space. Theres no one here. We wait around and some dude turns up with a drum kit. Turns out he only practises next door. Anyway we get chatting and he tells us those sirens mean its a high crime area, and if the sirens are on, get the fuck outta there!! Paul is still missing gear, so this guy drives Paul and Ciaran (a fair bit away) to his house and hooks him up with more gear. What can we say, two people in two days hooking us up. Gar goes buys a can of coke thru bullet-proof-glass!!

Someone then turns upto the venue, turns out the dude putting the show isnt around and has left this lad to sort it out. Small venue but pretty cool, venue in the basement, zine library upstairs. I cant remember the bands that played - some guys from NY (shouty noisecore) who werent that freindly apart from their merch guy. The local band were spot on tho and nice and friendly. The Bulls go on last as the NY band want to go home early!! It has to be over by 10pm sharp - I dont think this is a noise curfew as there is fuck all around here - must be a get the fuck out of town thing!! We're stoked tho as some of the lads from York from last year make the trip down to see us. Turns out Kill Your Idols played to 12 people not so long ago!! Casualties and No Turning Back are playing over the coming days, hope they get decent turn outs.

June 2nd - Giltsburg (Pittsburg), PA (shouda been Someplace, Virgina)
Gar checks his emails before we are due to head off for VIrginia to find the show is off, weeknight shows have been banned apparently. We were looking forward to this as we heard the venue gets a great crowd especially for anything hardcore, punk and/or Irish. agh well, what can ya do. I get on myspace and see a couple of bands - Die Young and Legion - who we are playing with in Strousberg in a few days are playing Giltsburg out side Pittsburg, so Gar gets in contact with the promoter and gets us on.

So we hop in the van and floor it - i dont think we stopped once, I hit a high speed of 91.9km's, hahaha probably not a good idea in the Colossus. But we get there and meet Die Young (who have a massive EU tour coming up) Legion and the other band that were supposed to be playing - Cant Win 'em All , who are really nice lads and were actually supposed to play Ireland last year but it got cancelled.

Anyway, second disaster strikes, not one single person pays in!! The Bulls play anyway, and the other bands are kind enough to stick around before packing up - without even playing. We hang around for a bit, everyones really nice. We then realise we are a stones throw from West Miflin, a place we stayed last year and vowed never to return!! But we knew there was a decent motel there. We then head to the same bar - Brass Rail, Brittney isnt there this time :( but theres still the sweet blonde behind the bar. Gars happy as Detroit are playing some sports bollix on the TV.

June 3rd - Philadelphia, PA
Disaster number 3. We arrive in Philly to find our "contact" uncontactable and nowhere to be found. We are rightly pissed of that this person - who has a good name in the scene - just leaves us hanging like fuckin dopes. But all is not lost, Philly is actually a really cool city, more of Euro vibe of it. We check out some tattoo shops and me an Gar stock up on tronty secondhand CDs for like a dollar or two, realy good stuff too. We do some more shopping and wandering about, then hit up a really nice Italian restaurant. Later the lads head out on the town, I chill, and Ciarans does girlfriend stuff online! Lads arrive back in late and horrible drunk, haha.

June 4th - Stanton, DE
A return visit to one of our favs from last year - Bankshots. We are getting the 5 lads in a van syndrome so we opt for single rooms tonight, bad idea as we spend so long in Bankshots we dont really get use of them! As expected the show was great, loads of faces from last year, and again like last year a load of merch shifted. We play with The Hated who are great - their bassist looks like Robin Williams! A NY band was supposed to play but the get stuck on the interstate or something. We swop some T's for some great BBQ food of a guy who used to go out with a girl from Malin Head, hahaha, madness. The Hard Response lads come down too and hook us up with loads of their merch :)

Check out the ghost hat!

June 5th - East Stroudsburg, PA
This is a long drive and when we are close, we actually think we are lost as it looks like we are in the Wicklow Mountains, again Gar calls out for Bigfoot. But we find it (the venue, not bigfoot!), its a massive place and sees alot of big bands play, but unfortunately, just down the road a Madball - Wisdom in Chains show has been put together in the last few days, which of course draws the bigger crowd.

We hook up with the Die Young and Legion guys, who havent had a good couple of days since we last saw them, same story as Giltsburg, no turnouts. Walter (turns out he knows an Italian friend of mine, small fuckin world!) who is putting on the show though is sound, feeds and waters us, and even tho not the best turnout, pays us too, so many thanks to him.

Some local metal bands (sorry guys, lost your names) who are decent enough also play. And Chris from Face-Off, who we played with in York (go York!) comes down, turns out he's not in Face-Off anymore as if he continues singing he'll never speak again, bad buzz, but he has started a label and talks to the guys about putting something out.

We head back to the motel - The Shamrock Inn, Irish you would think - owned by Russians, cleaned by Mexicans, run by Chinese, America's a funny place! Anyway, this place is fuckin massive by motel standards, hundreds of rooms. There's a massive spider living above our door, that totally freaks Gar, he thinks its gonna eat his eyes or some sorta pussy thing, hehe. Me and Gar stick on some laundry as we have ages left in the US and dont want to be honking!! Then we all head out to a diner, where we find half the people from the show!!

June 6th - Summit, NY
We arent playing in Lake View (haunted place!), but a pub just down the road. We are playing with The Rubes - the promoter, another Walter!'s sons band. Decent turnout, alot of people from last year. Would have been more but the SATs are on the next day so some people opt to stay in. To those that came out, many thanks and hope you got what you wanted!!

Gar, Skinny and Gav are sharing a room and its so hot none of them can sleep. Well except Gav who took a valium and is knocked out. Ghostly happenings kick off and I'm told Gar nearly shites himself. So does Paul but in the morning he passes it off as the wind to look manly. About 4am Gar comes into me and Ciaran to see if we want to bail out and find a motel with AC. But we are happy, in our sleeping bags, cause we have a fan and its fucking cold, haha, we are called cunts! Up at stupid time, but the showers don't work so we just get in the van and get out before the ghosts get us.

June 7th - Providence, RI
Providence is pretty fuckin nice, you know you are here before you are actually here, because the roads start improving!! Its a all-day show so we head straight to the venue - Club Hell - its usually a fetish club and we are told of some horrendous stories of the goings on in here, HAHA. Its a bit haphazard theres so many bands and people about, and the Bulls are happy enough to go first as we have to sell the gear! They play to some heads form the Thorp board that have turned up. We hang around for Cheech "PINT OF THE BLACK STUFF" then head off to get rid of the gear. We do get rid of some it, me and Gar will have to take care of the rest.

We then go to get a decent feed in Olive Garden, great food and loads of it! Turns out our waiter used to be in straight edge bands back in the 90's, so we hook him up with some merch. In return we get a big ass chocolate cake! We head back to the venue, and hang around for ages chatting. We then head back to the motel as Gav, Ciaran and Paul need to decide what teoump and what comes back to Dublin!! We also need to sort out the Colossus as its a mess!

June 8th - Boston, MA
We head to Shawns and swop the seat (which goes back easier when you have 4 people doing it!!) for the gear we still have to sell. We get the lads to their terminal, get the van back, and me and Gar head for our hostel - YMCA!

June 8th - 13th - Boston, MA
The Y is what I expected - transvestites, ex cons and prostitutes etc. But theres also lots of students, US and foreign too. The toilets and showers are communal - I walk in on a few crack deals, I think Gar walks in on worse. The AC is more of a fan, and doesnt really cut it, but the place is cheap and clean.

Boston is weird, very clean and looks like theres loads of money, the bars are empty, and we cant figure out where Blood for Blood, Slapshot and the like came out of. I'll say one thing tho, Boston woman are fantastic, alto the 100% flip-flop coverage isnt that hot, even if the air is!! After the second day we decide we really need to get a car to get around, so we go to loads of records stores and see some sites, and also a trip to Target to get bigger bags as we have bought way too muc junk, and all the free Ts!! We also sort out the rest of the merch and gear.

Then we decide to go in search of Bigfoot, yes Bigfoot, seriously! Gar had been researching it and he lives in Hogomock swamp, near a place called Bridgewater, which is part of the Bridgewater triangle - the most paranormal place in the US. We find Bridgwater, and an entrance to the swamp but there are some seriously hillbilly, in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre way looking people around so we stay in the car!! and head back to Bridgewater were we find a really good tattoo place, but dont have the time to get anything. Back at the Y the security guard sorts us out with a car space for free for the couple for days we'll have it. So we do some more driving over the next day then bring the car back, an hour late, and get charged for an extra fucking day, Thrifty me arse. Was still cheap tho!

So while we had the car we were looking for a bar called The Corrib, where an old mate of Gar has worked the last 10 years, but theres tronty Corribs in Boston and dont find it while we've the car. We take a cab to the last one left to try and sure enough this was the one! Gar gets really drunk on rum, tries to start a fight with some locals, and then some asshole from Salthill (Galway) who thinks he's American now starts a fight with us. He's about 10 foot tall and 8 foot wide, with arms bigger than our legs so we try to avoid it!! Luckily the barman tells him to fuck off and he does. Prick! We spend most of the night chatting with a nice couple from Kilkenny, who Gar manages to offend many times, but they are beng so entertained by him the dont mind so much!!

June 13th - NY, NY
So we have the Amtrack booked to NY. The walk to the train station is funny, Gar pukes all the way, hahaha. We get on the train and have an uneventful journey to NY. We hope on the subway but are so tired cant figure out where we're going so hop in a taxi up to Spanish Harlem. The room is pretty small, but the people running and the area are great, and its right by the subway.

So we spend the next few days eating like kings! shopping and Gar gets some ink done in New York Hardcore Tattoos - a Cro-Mags tattoo, and while its being done who walks in? Mackie (Cro-Mags drummer, now in Madall) and Freddy Madball, really nice guys. They're here to do a video interview for some Latino TV station, our Irish asses can probably be seen in the background!! Gar has been in contact with John Joseph earlier in the week so he tells us he has a book reading on the 19th (night before we head off), turns out its a book reading, free veggie food, and a Bloodclot/Cro-Mags/FVK show, which is awesome, a NYHC legend playing a basement show in the lower east side of NY, nice one!

June 20th - Journey home...
Gars flight is in the morning and mine afternoon, so I've a longgggggggggggg wait on me own, but I get most of John Joseph's book read, so dont really notice the wait. Uneventful journey home.... miss my bus but by chance a mate is there who drives me home :)