A Muffler, a Moose, and a goodnight in Pittsburgh
It was definitely an interesting night in Pittsburgh at the Smiling Moose.
Starting with what has become a tour tradition of stopping 10 miles out of town to fix something on the station wagon. Last night the muffler of the old 95 toyota corolla wasn’t doin so hot. We tried to tie it up before we left, but with little luck we decided we could make it to Pittsburgh and back as is. Boy were we wrong.
Cushman, JCK, and I were driving the toyota while Zac followed behind with his wife. I get a call a few miles outside of Akron that my tailpipe is definitely sparking and dragging on the ground. I pull over when the grinding noise becomes too loud to ignore. We tried a coat hanger at first. It only took 5 minutes and we patted ourselves on the back for our genius repair. We made it all of 500 when the familiar sound of 15 year old metal sparking and grinding along the asphalt road pierced through the night.
This time we found an old bungie. I layed down on the wet asphalt, and wedged my hand between the tire and wheel well while Cushman held up the muffler with his foot. 3 good wraps around the tailpipe and tie-rod later we were off again, but wait. . .I left my lights on without the engine running. The battery was dead.
Thankfully we had 2 cars and were able to jump the toyota relatively quickly after unpacking the trunk in search of jumper cables. Off again we go.
About an hour later, just West of the WV, OH border I get a call from Zac again, warning me that the muffler is hanging on like a 6 years olds loose front tooth. Just a few more pulls and the muffler fairy would be paying us a visit. 2 Miles down the road we started to hear it again. That 15 year old muffler skipping across the pavement like a stone on water, and then it happened. It broke loose! Hanging by the coat hanger alone, we dragged that muffler down the highway like a can behind a newly weds limo.
Pulling over one more time, we made the split decision to go ahead and cut the hanger, and well. . .we plead the fifth as to what happened next.
With no muffler and an hour left to drive, it was surprising how little of a difference the noise of the engine was. It turns out that the rusted holes may have actually amplified the sound of the engine rather than muffle anything at all.
We made the rest of the trip without a hitch (well actually, considering the content of this post i may want to clarify that the hitch actually stayed with the car).
The gig was a blast. We met some cool bands, some of whom enjoyed giving us a hard time for our total un-punk rockness. But we had a good time, and would like to thank Atlas for having us out.
I uploaded some photos from the show last night. Just go to http://dolsonmusic.com/photo to view the slideshow
-Andy
We’re looking forward to playing NYC again this Tuesday night for the No Pulp Music night. Come on out if you’re in town. It’s gonna be a great show.