Tour to Live!

We've been now reminded twice in the last few months that van touring can be dangerous, especially in Oregon.  Back in August, this world lost Makh Daniels, the lead singer of San Francisco's EARLY GRAVES, when the driver accidentally fell asleep near Medford.  Earlier this week, Portland's RED FANG flipped their van 40 miles from home when the driver tried to avoid a deer (there are times you just have to hit the son of a bitch - driving a fully loaded 15 seater may be one of them) and somehow escaped injury to their persons and their equipment.  As told by their Road Chief, Chris Coyle (with pictures):

The next thing you know a deer jumps out in front of the van and stops dead in it’s tracks. Aaron veered right to avoid hitting it and the van starting listing like a race yacht in a gale force wind. He tried to correct to the left but there was no stopping a van loaded down with close to 2,000 pounds of gear and six full-grown men. By this time we were at a ninety-degree angle to the road and when the front passenger tire connected with the soft mud in the median the van rolled. Twice. The next three seconds took about an hour.

There was the sound of glass shattering and metal twisting outside of my body while the hollow thud sound your body makes when you land on your back echoed through the inside of me. The seat was under me for a split second before it started again. When the van stopped I was in the back seat with John. He was repeating “I’m okay. I’m Alive” over and over and when I turned to look at him there was a stream of blood running down his face. The next thought was David. He had been about ten inches from the roof and on the exact level of the back windows, which were no longer there. We looked over to see him hanging half out the window and my heart stopped. It took a second to realize he was crawling out and completely okay. Neither John nor I were wearing shoes and had to wade through a sea of broken glass to get away from the van in case it decided to explode. It already appeared to be on fire.

But what's crazier than walking away basically unscathed is these crazy motherfuckers decided to carry on.  Indeed, the blog post about the accident was written from a friend's van they borrowed to finish up their tour with North Carolina's VALIENT THORR.  A tour that stops in Los Angeles on Saturday for a show we're proudly presenting at The Echo and finishes up in Boise at the end of the month.  So yes, we are the direct beneficiaries of RED FANG's unbreakable desire to share their music (that evokes QOTSA, both Cobain- and BIG BUSINESS-era MELVINS, and the best hard rock of the 90s) with the masses.  And hopefully the masses will show their appreciation this weekend in the City of Devils.  

Before this shit all went down, RED FANG was riding a nice wave.  In September, they announced that they had signed with Relapse to put out their already recorded second full-length in early 2011.  Then the band went into the studio a week later to lay down three intriguing covers and one original for an EP that will be exclusively available on this current tour.

The catch with Saturday is that it's an early show.  Scheduling conflicts forced the show to be moved from Spaceland to The Echo, with doors at 6 PM, local doomsters GREEN & WOOD are up first, followed by RED FANG and then the always entertaining VALIENT THORR.  The upshot is that it's all ages, it's the first metal show at The Echo since the Power of the Riff Fest, and you elders can put all those drinks you consume to good use for an extended period of time.  If you want to be considered for a pair of free tix, hit us up by noon Friday with your full name by contacting us here or emailing thecityofdevils@gmail.com.  All you losers can buy tix here for a more than reasonable $8.         

They tell me this is a viral classic: