MASS SHIVERS

Across the street from the Payless of Wayne’s World fame (Bohemian Rhapsody scene).

A couple months ago, we went out for a quick tour eastward (as usual). First night was Columbus– always a welcoming experience, Carabar was bumpin’. Excellent hang with all our friends there, from all those that came to the show to those that played with us, the brash lads of Mount Carmel. Vibes appeared to be optimal.

En route to New York for our second show, however, we had a nasty accident. In the middle of  a monsoon-ish rainstorm on I-80, somewhere near State College, the van hydroplaned and spun out, slamming ass-first into a rock wall at the base of a mountain. The van bounced after impact, splitting the front axle, and landed facing the wrong way in the middle of the highway. I can’t remember for sure, but I think we did a 540 degree spin all together– hitting the wall at the 270 degree point. Thankfully, we didn’t roll.

The three of us jumped out of the van and assessed our bodies for damage– Sean was the only one that appeared to be injured, with a big cut in his lip (which required stitches) and some chipped/loosened teeth; other than that the three of us were mostly bruised, with some muscle strains.

The amps, guitars, drums, and our belongings were a complete mess in the back of the van, and water poured in through the smashed windows upon them. It was pouring, freezing, and there was no room to reorganize things in the van or assess any damage– besides that, the van was not a safe place to be with semi-trucks barreling towards it at 70 mph (amazingly, it seemed like the trucks on the road went faster during the storm than they would have during calm weather, go figure).

We had to chase down gear and records that were strewn about the highway immediately after the crash, and were soaked to the bone within a couple minutes. Some people stopped to help and provide shelter in their cars, which was incredibly nice. Ambulance and firetruck soon arrived, as well as a cop who took a report. The firemen threw a tarp over our gear (still in total disarray– the status of it a mystery), they ran physicals on us in the ambulance, and we were taken to the hospital to get checked out. The van was towed to a shop in a neighboring town, with all our gear and some valuables still inside…

Everyone checked out at the hospital, Sean’s lip got sewn up, and we took a cab to a motel. Couldn’t find a single place to rent a van– so we decided to give it up til morning. Called the garage and made sure our totaled van was secure for the night. The next day our van rental search proved equally difficult, and we ended up having to rent a u-haul. Walked a few miles to the u-haul joint and drove to the other town to recover our totaled van and gear.

When we arrived at the garage, we found our van sitting outside, on the bed of a tow-truck. All our gear was still inside. The digging began. Pulled out the guitars… and miraculasly, they survived! Those cases held up. Drums seemed pretty ok, too, and then so did the amps, except that the bass cab appeared to be severely water-logged. All in all, we came out a lot better on the gear front than we had anticipated. A few bent rims on the drums, a couple dented pedals, and one bass amp with some loose electronics equals quite a survival rate. I even saved most of 7″s we brought for tour merch by discarding the wet print, drying out the bags, and wiping down the vinyls before putting them back in the bags.

Anyway, the whole thing was traumatic and exhausting, and we were feeling it hard, so we drove home and canceled the rest of our shows (left our totaled van at the garage). Apologies to anyone who reads this and who also came out to see us and couldn’t– we are extremely bummed to have missed you, as well.

The accident was simply a terrifying experience, one that’s difficult to articulate.