Round Trip to Miami only $6
Wednesday, March 4th, was a cold, snowy day in Albany, New York. ‘The First Big Nasty’ CD’s were finally done and
we were ready to brave the world and hit the road on a three and a half week tour of the Southeast. With $300 in the band
fund, we packed our gear, clothes and dreams into the ‘IMI Express’ (our newly converted touring truck!) and set out to
spread IMI’s Urban Roots down South.
The trip south was a long one, filled with lots of music, caffeine, and an awesome dinner at Bonanza (who would have
thought a salad bar could be so good?) We decided to drive through the night and landed in Savannah, GA. around 9am
Thursday.
Our adventure began with an inpromptu gig at the Wind Rose Cafe, on Tybee Island, GA., where festive insanity reigns
supreme. We were introduced to the Three Rules of the South: 1-snow is a four letter word, 2-the only thing people like cold
is their beer, and 3-drinking is a way of life. By the end of the night, after 3 encores, we were playing instruments with one
hand, drinking shots with the other. This was definitely the start of a wild ride.
Next was The Velvet Elvis, in heart of Savannah, an artsy community of coffee shops and college students. The audience
was very responsive to our original music and we had a great gig, despite Justin’s lack of sleep (he’d done all the driving up to
this point).
We also played 2 shows at The Dark Horse, in Atlanta, GA. Of all the venues we played, this one felt most like New York
City, characterized by a sort of lets-see-what-you-can-do edge. The first was just okay, the second was better and we’ll be
back in the fall to see if three’s a charm.
We performed several shows in Florida, our favorites probably being those at Fernandina Beach’s Sliders. A rustic, old
hotel on the beach, this establishment had it all. Great food, an incredible landscape, and a fine sound system. Of course the
audience, a blend of locals and spring breakers, made the night with their dancin’, screamin’, yellin’, and warm response. We
definitely added greatly to the IMI Posse thru those shows.
Sarasota’s Lemon Coast should’ve and would’ve been the best show of the tour with a sandy, tropical courtyard, with
enough room for over three hundred people. An unexpected cold front had other plans. We had to move all of our equipment
into a smaller inside spot, while people outside ‘froze’ in windy, seventy degree weather. This show turned out very well, due
to a few dozen, enthusiastic, new IMI fans, who now claim they will pursue us to the ends of the earth.
The Happy Dayz show in Deland, Florida is famous. A very unassuming space with velvet couches and cluttered walls
made the atmosphere eccentric, but the people made this show the bomb! Southern hospitality, a young, dancing woman of
eighty five years (we wrote a song about her) and live sex on stage (not us silly) altered our view of Florida forever!!!.
We had a little bit of a layover in Miami, which gave us the perfect opportunity to soak up some of the Florida sun. We
also hit the streets, putting IMI CD’s in many South Beach record stores. We also were able to do a live radio interview on
one of the local radio stations. It was pouring out Friday night as we shuffled into Rose’s (Miami’s premier original showcase
venue). The crowd seemed as though they were going to be hard to win over (they heckled the band from ‘NYC’ as we
walked on stage), but within one song they were our’s. They turned out to be a great, responsive audience, screaming and
dancing through two energized sets.
Next it was off to headline at the Squeeze in Fort Lauderdale. This club was a large venue with several rooms, black
lighting, and six bars. To give you a better idea of the decor, Marilyn Manson was the headliner for their New Years show.
We blew out a powerful set, with people dancing to all we gave them. The manager and owner were very impressed, saying
they definitely were looking forward to our return.
Our first tour was an incredible learning experience and at the same time better than any of us expected. The people we
met were inspiring,
gracious and genuine. It was great to see that we could gain the interest of audiences without the help of our many wonderful
friends and fans back home. Thank you to everyone who helped us and invited IMI into their homes, hearts and lives. We will
never forget you!!! (Special thanks to Frank, ‘Aunt’ Genie & Steve, Zane & Tina, the Favour’s, Kat, Paul, and Kelly). Oh
yeah, when we returned to NY, after paying for everything with the money we made on tour, we had $294 in our band fund.
So the entire tour cost us only $6!!!!!!