Two Weeks on the Road with Janus

In mid-September 2009 our first label release, Red Right Return, was slated to drop and we were all psyched to head out for a month-long tour with Framing Hanley. How kick ass is that? Unfortunately, touring isn’t as fun as it sounds. By the second day, I became ill with a stuffy head and cough. Yeah, I had caught a summer cold. Perfect. There isn’t anything more uncomfortable than having a cold while trapped in a van for eight hours every day! The cold lasted for a couple of days and I quickly realized I wasn’t getting any better.

There’s not a way to get any sleep with some of the long routes and late nights we had to play. One night, after an amazing show in Johnson City, TN I finally started to feel quite a bit better. The celebration ended with a fist fight inside the moving van at 3am while trying to drive through a foggy road in a national forest on our way to Wilmington, NC. Things died down, but the rainy conditions coupled with steep downhill grades made for a treacherous drive to our destination. We finally pulled over around 6am to catch some sleep and we were back at it again at 9am to finish the drive.

After the previous night’s events, combined with only three hours of sleep and my illness, I wasn’t feeling ready to play a show. As we pulled into Wilmington, we started to get a taste of the weather in the South. It was hot and humid… very hot and very humid.

It was our first night opening for Framing Hanley. The show was great! We received a good response from the crowd and a great time was had by all. We headed over to the merch both to talk to all the kids and do some signings. David (Scotney / vocals) managed to find some of the best NY style pizza I have ever tasted. Better than in NY! Strange.

I recall one young lady in particular attempting to pierce her lower lip with one of our free buttons right before my eyes. She got halfway through before I had to look away. I found out later she finished the job when she got home. Awesome.

After a very long night, we loaded everything out and grabbed some sleep before heading out to Hilton Head, SC the next day. The heat continued in South Carolina. We pulled up to the show to find out that the venue doesn’t have us slated to be on the bill. Yikes.

After a few minutes of talking to the venue and the tour manager for Framing Hanley, we managed to straighten it all out. We walked into one of the biggest venues we’ve ever played to find there had been 400+ pre-sales for the night! We kicked out one of the best shows we’ve played on probably the biggest stage we would play on this tour. The crowd response was amazing. My illness, while still there, was forgotten. We went on to have our best night yet in signings and sales at the merch table. We didn’t have to be in Tallahassee, FL for two more days, so we decided to make camp in town for a day. Al (Quitman / bass) and I headed out to the only diner in town, along with Tony from Pop Evil, to grab some late night eats and crash.

It was a Sunday and football was on all day. While the others planted themselves in front of a TV for the afternoon, I was able to sneak away to the ocean for an hour. Floating there on my back 20 yards from the beach, all I could think about was… nothing. Nothing at all. I was by myself for the first time in a week and a half and it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life.

There are three things I learned are essential while on tour:

1.) Don’t get ill. Being sick on tour is the worst.
2.) Sleep when you can. You don’t know when you’ll have an opportunity again.
3.) Find some time to be alone. It’s priceless.

Mike Tyranski (Guitar)
Janus
November 2009

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Photo by Roger Jansen