Tour Diary: Madison, WI & The Start Of The Tour
My massive west coast tour kicked off with a visit to the Harmony Bar in Madison, Wisconsin and included a night out, and morning coffee with a Substack legend.
Butterflies were raging in my gut as I awoke before 5:00 am on Thursday morning. As soon as I my eyes opened, I pulled back the sheets and set my feet to the floor. With a little more than six hours to go there was still much to be done. I packed the last of my personal shit and began to tackle corralling all of my gear, luggage, merch, and more and finding a way to get it packed into the Buick.
I’d worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks to streamline my setup for the tour. On the summer run, I took a few things that I never used and didn't pack in the most efficient way possible. For the Fall edition of the tour, I snagged a couple more road cases from Harbor Freight to carry some of my merch. Even with new cases and a streamlined approach, the Encore is still loaded to the gunnels. I managed to squeeze all of my luggage and gear into the back area with room left on the front seat for a cooler and a spot on the floor up front for a box of some dry goods.
Eating on the road is expensive and not always great for the body. To avoid getting loaded down on fast food and gas station roto-dogs, I packed a selection of fresh fruit, jerky, cheese, crackers, yogurt, granola bars, peanuts, pretzels, Cokes, and two varieties of cookies that Hannah made me especially for the tour. My goal is to live off of the car snacks for all but one meal a day. This will help to keep my food costs down on the road. It’ll also keep me from eating french fries every damned day.
After jostling all of my gear into place, I bid goodbye to my family and settled in the driver’s seat for the six hour commute to Madison. The drive itself was quite smooth, and filled with sunshine. With a couple of stops for rest room breaks and a fill up, I managed to roll up the Harmony Bar with plenty of time to get my shit set up before showtime.
The Harmony is an old corner bar in the hip, Marquette neighborhood of Madison, WI. The bar itself is two main rooms with a large barroom on the eastside of the building, and a an even bigger dining room and stage area in the western half. I introduced myself to the bar staff and got the lay of the land. Amber unlocked a side door for me to ease with load-in and I set to work.
While I had hoped that I could get my load-in and load-out down to just four trips with one person, it toakes more like six. Between guitars, cabling, the PA, merch, stands, a light rig, and all of the accessories I need, it’s a significant amount of gear. And, as much as I would like to be carrying less, this is really the slinkiest version of a tour setup I can swing for a six week run.
At 6:30 local time, I began my two set night with just a few stragglers in the room. As I finished the first tune, I looked up to see my friend, and MusicStack fixture,
out in the very small crowd. Gradually, a few more souls came into check things out as I shared my songs and stories. A table of two couples chatted back and forth with me between songs and really seemed to get a kick out of the tales behind the tunes. After I finished for the night, they came over to buy shirts and CDs.While the crowd was a bit thin, I was pleased with my first performance of the tour. I was able to shake off a few cobwebs after not having played before a crowd in several weeks. More importantly, the first gig is always the litmus test for making sure you haven’t forgotten anything for the trip. Thankfully, I was fully stocked on stage and at the merch booth, which is always a relief that first night on the road.
After a tasty meal of a bar burger and chips, Kevin helped me load my gear out to the car on a gorgeous September night in the midwest. I caught the scent of a campfire in the distance and felt the gentle Autumn breeze which brought a tinge of melancholy that I would be leaving my beloved midwest during one of its most beautiful moments of the year. Still, with that bit of sadness came the anticipation of the new beauty that I would see on my journey ahead.
Once we were back at Kevin’s place I could feel myself fading quickly. As much as I wanted to stay up discussing the merits of the Sisters of Mercy or some there equally ridiculous/ awesome topic, I was simply exhausted. The driving, the early start to my day, and the first show of the run had done me in. Kevin graciously led me to my room for the night, and bade me adieu.
In the morning, Kevin and I were both up fairly early and had plenty of time to chat it up over music, Substack, politics, travel, our kids, life in Madison, and so much more. I’ve gotten to know Kevin here on Substack over the last year and a half, and consider him a friend. As much as we have connected online and on Zoom, there is no substitute to being in the same room with someone. Spending a day with Kevin in his city made that connection all the more tangible.
We must have had a great time, we forgot to get a photo together.
After a bunch of coffee and conversation, I had to make my exit for Minneapolis. I hopped in the Buick and pointed her west. As I ferried my way to the interstate, I ruminated on how I had come to build this tour, book twenty five shows, and eventually spend the night at the home of someone who I met on this platform. It reminded me of the power of connection and community that we all so desperately need.
Without this MusicStack community and my group of dear friends and supporters in the Stand Up With Pete Dominick crew, I would not have been able to make any of my touring this year possible. I am constantly humbled by the folks I have been able to share my life and my art with simply by being a part of those two communities. These groups are a testament to what we can do for ourselves and for each other with a bit of togetherness. I for one, am so very grateful for it.
On to Minneapolis. More to come soon.
Cheers,
Matty C
So sorry I couldn’t make it—had another commitment! Good luck on the tour!
And there I was, to ready make the case for why “Floodland” is the band at their peak!
Seriously, this was awesome, and it was great to connect.
And yeah, we totally forgot to take a pic. lol.
For those scrolling the comments: if Matty’s coming to your town, make plans to get to the show!