Salacious Tour Diary, Mouth Of Madness Tour 2014

CAST (with last names omitted due to possible legal issues)

Euan – vocals
Pete – keyboards/guitar/vocals
Dan – guitar
Phil – bass
Darren – drums

CREW

Kris – manager
SupaJoe – tour director
Yule – tour mascot/security

DAY 1 November 28 – 4.45 a.m

The tour looks to be in early trouble when we get to the check in counter at the airport and it appears luggage hasn’t been booked properly. It comes up that a further $580 will be needed to get instruments to Brisbane…

Luckily, and after much tape and consternation, the situation is resolved minus costs but remains a valuable lesson for the future and to other touring bands to make sure you have ALL aspects of the flights covered….

Arriving in Brisbane at 7.30, the band splits into two vehicles. A tour van for the band and the gear and a luxury four wheel drive sedan type thing for management and crew (there was nothing in the contract that we all had to travel in the same shitty van).

The band headed to the Sunshine Coast and the venue of the first gig at the Sunshine Coast Brewery while management and crew had to travel to the Gold Coast to procure last minute supplies.

Being Phil’s home town, the afternoon was spent reliving old war stories and sightseeing and seeing where he lost his virginity before things got serious in the evening when it was time to load in.

The Brewery was an interesting place, situated in an industrial area (no noise restrictions) with a smallish downstairs bar and an even smaller stage area upstairs.

The night kicked off with Pith Helmet who were a great start to the tour, followed by The Seal Club (excellent) and Daylight Army before Salacious hit the stage second last.

To say the room was small is an understatement but there was about thirty bodies crammed in together when the boys launched into their first show, with Phil seeming to step up a gear in the company of old friends. Because of the size of the room, the atmosphere was electric, and the punters got into it with gusto, interested to see what all the fuss was about for the boys from the North.

Toxic Jungle closed the night with their punk tinged rock and saw the first real mosh pit of the tour with people being throwing themselves around in a sweaty, drunken mess.

I shall close the diary from this point, but needless to say drinks and frivolity were had back at the room….

Day 2, November 29 – 8.45 a.m

Waking up to bodies on the floor and Supajoe’s feet in my face (meaning mine were in his.. anyone who has traveled with me before knows this is an ancient medievil form of torture), the memories came flooding back from the previous night’s show. It was a solid first outing with a few new supporters on board, but the coming night at the famous Shark Bar at the Miami Tavern on the Gold Coast was on everyone’s minds as we went through the morning ritual of Subway and coffee before heading into the vehicles for the drive South.

We went straight to the Mullet Ranch at its secret undisclosed destination for the day, relaxing by the pool or drinking by the bar.

Everyone was in good spirits and looking forward to the night until about two hours before the gig when we were informed that the night’s opening band and supplier of some of the backline were pulling out due to drummer issues. Why is it that most times there is an issue with a band it has something to do with the drummer (sorry Darren, you are one of the good ones).

After a little stressing and numerous phone calls, the bands singer Max managed to scrape together another band to fill the void and the night was saved.

We got to the venue about six and were impressed by its size and atmosphere. It has an upstairs bar with low ceilings and a stage at one end, with a sound engineer and (female – AWESOME) sound person.

We were supposed to have the first band on by eight but Darren, Supajoe and I were still running around looking for a drum kit at seven o’clock but once again that worked out well.

Night Bat, who had a stint in Cairns some years ago, opened proceedings with a solid set before The Sea Shall Not Have Them came up with the first real surprise of the tour. They had two (yes, TWO) drummers and a guitarist set up on stage. I for one have never heard of this being done so was somewhat trepidous with what was going to transpire but the trio were excellent, with the drummers working beautifully with each other to provide an interestingly unique sound. Well done!

Our saviours Toxic Jungle ramped things up next and repeated their stage theatrics from the night before (only this time a little less drunk) but their set was again inspiring, with punters flocking to the dance floor in numbers and banging the stuffing out of their necks.
It has to be mentioned that security were a little over – zealous in throwing out a few patrons, but luckily our personal security bohemith Yule was on hand and sorted out the in house security before we had no-one to play to. It’s kinda funny how people with attitude can be knocked down a peg by someone who is willing to stand up to them…

The Salacious boys were up next and proved themselves to be human with a few nerves in the camp, but they soon dissipated when they hit the stage running with a full, loud sound that almost dared people not to listen.

They pumped out nearly an hours worth of their own material and judging by the looks on the crowds faces they garnered many new fans. There would have been about 80 people at the venue which is excellent for an unknown band and every person had something positive to say about the performance.

The boys had their own piece of rock royalty when Skenie, singer from Australian rock group The Poor, joined them onstage for a cover of ‘Killing in the Name Of’ and after slaying the Coast dead with an awesome set, we went back to the Mullet Ranch to reflect on the nights proceedings. Again, the diary closes here, mainly to protect the guilty and pacify the natives….

DAY 3 November 30

After having to sleep on the couch because the band had taken all the beds, I was woken at 8.30 a.m (after getting to bed at 7) by the boys who were eager to get into Brisbane City and prepare for the final gig.

Explaining to them we had no hotel booked (who is supposed to be managing this show??) and venue check in wasn’t for some hours, I persuaded the boys to chill a little while I had a few beers and prepared for the drive. (note to legal advisers, they were light beers and I only had a six pack before driving).

The New Globe Theatre was the venue for the final afternoon show and again Toxic Jungle came to the party after another pull out. Big thanks to these guys, (who were friends of Phil’s) for sticking with us through the tour and helping out. It is fair to say we would have had all sorts of trouble without them.

The venue itself was awesome, but the seeming disregard for promotion and general apathy towards entertainment combined to see the smallest show of the tour turn out to be probably the best show.

Magnertron played second and for me were the best support band of the tour. They were brutally ferocious, and the drummer…….. You better hope he doesn’t move to Cairns Dazza haha. (note : not that we would EVER trade Darren in, but if hurt his drum finger, Krist would be right up there).

Rogyapas, who had to use a brand new drummer after their regular left earlier in the week (more drummer issues….), played four songs up next which were brutal in their execution, and these boys deserve mention too because they could have easily pulled the pin without a proper man on the sticks but didn’t.

Salacious finished the night and came out swinging, refusing to let the smallish crowd dampen their spirits. Euan pranced the stage and dance floor like a man possessed, Pete looked nearly six feet tall (that’s almost two feet taller than normal), Phil ripped his shirt off by the second song (no surprises there), Dan played like his life depended on it, and Darren proved he WAS the best drummer in the house with a hard hitting effort that left my ears ringing well after the boys finished. They nailed it from the start with each member stepping up a gear and making sure the few who were there remembered just who Salacious was.

I wish I could say i was leaving things there for legal reasons but the truth is we were all totally spent by then and were all in bed like all good children should be by around midnight.

In all, it was a hugely successful tour, and one which will definitely build on the future for the band.

We learnt things about music, about touring, but most importantly, things about each other that only comes with living out of each other pockets for a three day tour.

From a managers point of view (but after this, more a mate as well), I couldn’t have been prouder or happier with the way each one of the guys performed and handled themselves. It’s not an easy thing being on the road and more than a few bands have found the rigours and demands fatal to their existence, but I am positive that this is just the first of many tours for this band.

I’m sure the name Salacious will be bandied around with respect from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast and everywhere between after the tour, and deservedly so.

Kris Peters

P.S. Special thanks to the crew who were on hand to help out in all manner of ways in situations that still cannot be disclosed for legal reasons but may one day be recounted in further tour diaries

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