Someone Out There Loves Us

And thank God for that. We just found out that Louis XIV has a bunch of dates on the East Coast. YEAH! It has literally been *years* since we have seen the guys live. Can you believe it? And let me tell you... a lot happens in a few years. Anyway, since the guys have thrilled us with a fabulous EP (buy it, you know you want it) and have a record and a tour that extends outside of Cali, I thought it only appropriate that I remind people of what started the rock chicks fan frenzy in the first place. It was back when they were in a little band called Convoy...

CONVOY LIKED MY BOX…

OF DONUT HOLES.

So, everyone knows that Convoy is an (albeit teeny tiny) obsession of the Rock Chicks. The following little tale is a big part of the reason why. We saw them a few months ago (3 years ago!!!) at the 8X10 club in Baltimore. We were pretty big fans by then from seeing them earlier with Better Than Ezra at the NorVa.

I wanted to do something to make us stand out and make us memorable in the minds of the guys in the band. So, I thought about it, and what did I come up with? DONUT HOLES! All of the Convoy fans out there will understand why. So, I went to the donut shop and bought a big box of 50 donut holes. I decorated the outside of the box (“ROCK CHICKS!” and “CONVOY ROCKS THE CASBAH!” etc, etc.) and stuck it in a plastic bag.

When we got to the 8X10 we found out from this really cool booking guy that the guys were out getting sushi. We went into the club after getting past the incredibly scary, Jabba-the-hut-with-tattoos bouncer. We encountered Danny The Merchandise guy first. DANNY WAS COOL!! We gave him the password and he gave us lessons on how NOT to drive an RV. We let him get back to hanging Convoy posters, and were in the middle of plotting how to swipe one, (we never actually accomplished that feat) when in walks Jason Hill. Helllllllo Jason Hill. I caught site of him, and meandered (okay, okay, I sort of leaped) over to him to deliver the donut holes. He looked at us like we were crazy at first, but I think he realized we were just (and are just) VERY devoted fans. I gave him the donut holes and was very amused when this light bulb went off in his head and he looked up at me “OH! YOU were the one that sent that email!” YES! YES I WAS! (I had asked them what donut hole flavors they preferred. They didn’t write back. I don’t blame them. They had NO IDEA how cool we were then. They probably thought I was some nut job with a pastry fetish.) Then, he wanted to bum twenty bucks off us. LISTEN UP PEOPLE! BUY THEIR ALBUMS SO THE GUYS IN CONVOY DO NOT HAVE TO BUM MONEY OFF THEIR FANS! NOT THAT I MINDED! He gave it back like five minutes later.

We talked to Jason, and then he left the club, headed for the tour RV with the donut holes in tow. Jokes ensued about Jason holding my box, etc. We won’t get into it. One by one, the rest of the guys either a) talked to us or b) walked by looking frightened. Brian was EXTREMELY cool. Mike, their lighting guy, caught site of us and said “OH! You’re the ones that gave us the donut holes!” WE WERE SO IN!

The show started and it was like the guys were playing just for us. They would occasionally look down from the stage and smile at us. They watched us get into the show and we got the feeling that they were slightly glad we were there. We were happy to be there, they really know how to rock and they played a GREAT set in spite of a few technical difficulties and some idiot drunk guys yelling at them to play “Wet Cement.”

AFTER the show, we hung out with them some more, I showed them my tattoo, I scared Jason by offering to get a Convoy tattoo, Robbie looked afraid of us, Shaun did too, Brian was STILL cool, and Mark was…well, Mark was there and he looked really happy. We took pictures with the aid of a homeless photographer, bought stickers, which promptly went on my car, and watched the guys load their stuff into the beat-up Winnebago. ONCE AGAIN…. GO OUT AND BUY THE CD SO WE CAN GET THESE GUYS THE BIG SEXY TOUR BUS THEY DESERVE!!!! There were offers to be roadies, compliments on their new material, and general merriment all around.

I gotta say, that was the best rock and roll moment I have had since the very first time I saw Nine Inch Nails live. In fact, it was even better, because the guys were so damn cool. They should never wonder why we are such HUGE fans of theirs. The music itself would have done it, but the fact that they are SUCH nice guys puts them in a league of their very own. Plus, they ate out of my box. That was pretty cool too. Heh heh.