Wormrot - US tour diary, pt. 2

. . .

Several Singaporeans visit the US for the first time, not to work but to play… face-peeling grindcore. This is the second installment of Wormrot’s US tour diary as they support their album Abuse. It discusses the joys of Wal-Mart, Denny’s, and meeting luminaries from Devourment and Insect Warfare. The diary’s first installment is here.  The remaining tour dates are at the bottom.

We are teaming up with Earache to give away a Wormrot t-shirt and the import 2-CD version of Abuse, which contains a 34-track bonus disc with demos and previously unreleased material. For a chance to win, simply tell us your favorite place to eat in the US while on the road. Leave your answer in the comments. I will choose the winner randomly. Only US residents can enter, though foreigners can of course weigh in if so compelled. This contest closes at midnight EST, Friday, October 1. – C.L.

. . .

WORMROT – US TOUR 2010 DIARY
PART 2

. . .

Things have been a bit rough lately. The drive from Denver to Albuquerque, New Mexico was around 8 – 9 hours. Upon reaching there, we had some burritos for a late lunch. It was a nice change of appetite coz we’ve been having pizzas almost everyday. Don’t get me wrong, pizzas are good, but everyday you kind of feel quite sick of it. Hehe… Anyway, the gig wasn’t as massive as the one in Denver. Turnout wasn’t as big as the place, but it was OK, I guess. The good thing is, some of the band members from Noisear came down for the gig. Was great to meet them. One of them played in a side band called The Laughing Dog. Man, they really kill!! Brutal band!!! It was an honor to meet some of the boys from Noisear and share the stage with The Laughing Dog. And guess what we had for dinner… Pizzas.

The next morning, we left the place at around 8:30am. Had our usual snappy Starbucks coffee with breakfast from Arby’s and head off to Oklahoma City for a gig at The Conservatory. Another long ass drive! What was supposed to be a 10 hours drive became 12 hours due to some complications on the highway in Amarillo, Texas. For the 1st time in our lives, we experienced real flood!!! The flood was so bad that some cars were covered in water. That totally sucks big time, man! We were damn lucky not to get stuck in the flood coz all the Wormrot boys can’t swim, for goodness sake!! Traffic was slow coz they had to block some parts of the road. And so we arrived late while the 1st band was playing. No bullshit, just load in and fucking play! Another small turnout for us considering the size of the place. LOL… But it was a fun gig. Sound system was good and the crowd was crazy, too. There was no place for us to sleep that night. so Mike had to drive to a hotel so that we can all have our beauty sleep. Oh yeah, the promoter did get us some food though. Pizzas.

“Double-Feeding”
[audio: WORMROT_DOUBLEFEEDING.mp3]

This morning, we had another early start at 8:30am, coz it is another 8 hours drive. Breakfasts at Denny’s were big portions. We had 1 free meal coz of birthday special. Saved $6, y’all!! And now, we’re on the way to San Antonio, Texas to share the stage with Phobia and PLF!! Stoked as fuck, let’s fucking go!

Let’s start with the gig at San Antonio, Texas on 17 Sep. It was another long drive from Oklahoma City. Around 9 hours plus, coz we do need some breaks to eat and shit, ya know. When we reached there, the place was kinda hard to find. It’s not a club, just a small, old-looking place with a bar, a small stage, and some space for people going for the show. It was raining, and we were excited to see Phobia and PLF so we quickly got off the van, locked it, and guess what happen…? Mike accidentally locked the door with the key still in the van!! LOL… It was really funny, coz he was always very careful, but we don’t blame him at all. He’s very tired from lack of sleep and many hours of long drives. Lucky for us, he had insurance for the car, so he called up the company, and the key was retrieved in 40 mins free of charge. Anyway, the gig was massive with grinders going crazy and moshing. Considering the fact that the place was so small, they managed to do just that and support every single band that played that night. It was a great and tiring night for us. Phobia and PLF… Hats off to them!!!!!

The next day, we were all recharged and ready to go to Dallas, Texas. It was only 4 hours drive so we had time to go shopping at Wal-Mart. Did I tell you that it’s the 6th or 7th time we’ve been to there??? Man, we LOVE WAL-MART! Hopefully Wal-Mart sees this and endorses us. Hehe… You can never get that kind of place in Singapore. Everything was cheap, cheap, and cheap! We spend hours just trying to tour the whole place, and Mike usually had to find us to tell us that we need to get ready to roll on the road again. You US people are so lucky you have Wal-Mart!

. . .

. . .

The gig at Dallas was very unique. It’s an independent place… reminds us of the squats we used to play in Europe. The atmosphere was humid and hot as hell!! We were bitten by mosquitoes lots of times. The gig was held outdoor, coz it’s too humid and hot to play inside. We get to meet Mike Majewski from Devourment who has been friends with Arif for 7 years but never met. Again, yet another good gig for us. Crowd making circle pit, moshing, and dancing. They totally kick major asses!! Phobia, PLF, and Wormrot came back to Stefan the organizer’s house. Another 1st class treatment for us. Stefan’s parents are the most hippie, coolest parents we’ve met. They cooked for us a Southern breakfast. Home cooked food is the best!

In Houston, Texas, Frank, PLF drummer, organized the gig. It was a warehouse gig. And that’s the 1st time we’ve played a show in a real warehouse. The place was big, and there’s about 7 bands playing that night. Everyone was having a good time making circle pit, dancing, and moshing with beer cans thrown everywhere. We also met Rahi, who was Insect Warfare‘s vocalist, and we went back to Neil’s (Insect Warfare first lineup guitarist) house. Hanged out with Rahi and the rest eating Whataburger, playing Nintendo Street Fighter, and went to bed. Good times.

A lot of people told us that the gig at New Orleans won’t be so good coz the scene is small there and probably not many people will attend the show. But, boy, were they wrong. We reached there around 8pm, but the gig started at 11pm coz of the football game. So Phobia gave us a tour around the city, and we chilled at the beach. Heard lots of good tour stories from the Phobia boys. When we got back to the venue, the gig just got started. There were quite a number of people, and although the club was small, people were moshing and dancing. It felt really good seeing people being supportive and enjoying themselves. When they enjoy themselves, we enjoy ourselves, too!

. . .

Wormrot goofing around

. . .

It was a 4 1/2 hours drive to Tallahassee. Me, Arif, and Fit were so bored in the van. We decided to do a short video in the van. Rasyid was in the front seat, so he’s not in this video. Check it out, yo! Wormrot goofing around!!! Anyway, the gig was actually cancelled by the promoter or the club; I’m not sure what happened. The day before in New Orleans, we received an email from one of our Facebook friends. He said that the gig is not happening coz no one can get in touch with the promoter. Can you imagine that??? We were so worried what’s gonna happen. Mike had a friend in Tallahassee, so he called up his friend and asked if he can make a last minute gig for Phobia and Wormrot. And then he found out that, there is a gig for us but at a different venue by a different promoter. Apparently, the new promoter organized a last minute show (literally last minute coz it was planned on that very day) for us. We really appreciate what they did for us. Even though they planned the gig last minute, a lot of people turned up, and again with the circle pits, moshing, and dancing yet again! What a lovely ending for us. Seeing all those people being very supportive makes us motivated to write more songs and make more noise!!

So people, here I am again in the van typing away Wormrot’s blog while the Wormrot boys are sleeping. We just ate at Denny’s and it’s THE motherfucking shit!!! We’ve been to Denny’s like almost 2 – 3 times a week. The food is so good and so appetizing. Blame Mike for introducing Denny’s to us! He made us addicted to Denny’s.

Well, now it’s time for Phobia and Wormrot to grind Tampa, Florida and make sure you grinders destroy the venue!!

. . .

WORMROT – US TOUR 2010, REMAINING DATES

Sep 27 – Lexington, Kentucky – Cosmic Charlie’s
Sep 28 – Raleigh, North Carolina – Volume 11 (w/ Priapus)
Sep 29 – Richmond, Virginia – The Triple
Sep 30 – Silver Spring, Maryland – Corpse Fortress
Oct 01 – Wilmington, Delaware – Mojo 13
Oct 02 – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – The Hardbean Cafe
Oct 03 – Brooklyn, NY – Acheron
Oct 04 – Hartford, Connecticut – The Whitney House

. . .