January 9, 2004 - Pittsburgh

It turns out that the only part of the hitch we need is the cheapest part. Our day is off to a good start, and we only have about two hours to go before we get to Pittsburgh. It's a short, uneventful ride. Good for listening to a little music and just haniging out. We roll in to Pittsburgh, with nothing to really do. We have about two hours before load in, so we just head into the first empty parking lot we can find. It's a joint lot between the Steelers and Pirates stadiums, so we just hang out and find out where the venue is.

Pittsburgh is an awesome city, but not built for a large van with a trailer. It was a pain in the ass to get around there, so we didn't get to do much hanging out. The venue was about 20 miles outside the city, so we went up that way hoping to find somewhere to eat. The promoter told us the name of the venue was "The House of Hardcore" and we'd see a sign as we drove up the road. We got all excited to be playing at an actual venue, at a real show and in front of more than 25 people. He told us to look for the sign, and if we hit the strip club we've gone too far. We saw the strip club, turned around and called him. He said to head back, and we were sure to see the sign. Sure enough, we got back down the road, and there was a kid putting a large piece of plywood out in front of a house that read, "The House of Hardcore." So, at this point in Cherem's tour career, we've played more house shows than actual venues. Fuck it. If kids are there, I'll play anywhere.

The show actually turns out really well. Lots of kids show up, they get into it and everything goes well. After the show, the promoter gives all the money to Undying, who turns around and gives us a cut of it. Everyone in that band is awesome and I think they felt bad after they heard our story of trying to make it to this god damn fest. Plus, Bill is kind of friends with them. He almost sang for them, but didn't want to move to North Carolina.

After the show, we decide to head up to Erie. It's only about three hours away, and we don't know what time the Fest starts or where it is or when we play, so we want to be ready early. So as we get going, it starts to get colder than it's been the entire trip. Brook drove and the defrost was barely working.

I stayed awake most of the drive, and as we rolled into Erie, Brook turned on the radio. The high for the next day was 11 degrees. It was 1 in the morning and I'd never been so cold in my life. A few of our friends had driven out from SLC for the Fest and had a hotel, so we were going to stay with them. We got in the room and it was one of the smallest rooms I'd ever seen. There were 11 of us, and we barely had room to lay down. Chris slept under the sink and I had to sleep in the bathroom.

But before that, Brook and I were so hungry that we had to eat. All I'd eaten that day was Subway, and it just didn't cut it. All of our food was in the trailer, and neither of us dared to venture out into the sub-zero temperature for a sandwich. So Brook paid Nick $5 to go get it for us. And it was totally worth it, once we thawed the frozen bread with the complimentary hair dryer.