I didn't pay $300 and come this far to see you guys perform 80%
Japan Blog Post 1
"I didn't pay $300 and come this far to see you guys perform 80%"
3am my alarm goes off but I’m already awake. I haven’t slept as I am too excited – we’ve been waiting for this tour to release our new CD for many months. I get out of bed quietly, as to not awake a fellow dreamers, and I hit the shower.
My eyes are burning with a desire for rest but my soul is burning with a desire to perform & release the new album in Japan! Our ride is getting to our studio at 4am to drive us to the airport. I race as fast as I can to get ready and have one last cup of good English tea before I kiss my loved ones foreheads, whisper in their ears, and leave.
We get to the airport and our patience is tested with a brilliant game the airlines wanted to play called “running to stand still”. So we played with 4am smiles, said goodbye to our gear, and sat down for a cup of coffee and so began our CD Release Tour to Japan!
Our sights were set on the first leg of the tour, Rocktoberfest in Okinawa – the island that welcomed us with open arms in June - we were pumped to return. Just days before leaving we were told that the festival we were performing at had been cancelled due to the US Government shutdown. There was nothing we could do about it as millions of US Government employees were off work. Amazing isn’t it – the ripple effects of Politicians decisions on not just their own country but the world. When we were told this news our hearts hurt as we were so pumped to perform this festival but in true YUCA fashion, we lifted our chins and pressed on.
At 8am we left Vancouver and after 45 minutes in the air the plane sat down for a rest in Seattle and so began another game I like to call “drink another beer every time the airline makes an excuse why it is delayed”. What was supposed to be a 4 hour layover turned into a 7 hour layover and we already had too many drinks for patience to stick around - but what can you do?
Once we finally boarded the plane and left Seattle we had a (and I’m saying this with much sarcasm) “brilliant flight” with 4 crap movies, 2 terrible vegetarian meals, and lots of alcohol. We landed in Tokyo, missed our connector flight to Okinawa and were set up in a hotel for the night. This may sound like a fun adventure but with the flight from Seattle being delayed it ended up making an 18 hour travel day into 48 hours of travel.
The next morning we finally arrived in Okinawa to the smiling, familiar faces of our hosts and we were treated like kings – thanks again to our incredibly gracious and hospitable friends. They drove us to the cabin on the beach that they had reserved for us and it made all the travel worth it. I was truly speechless with the gorgeous, tropical surroundings where we would be staying.
We dropped off our gear and luggage at the cabin, grabbed a cold beer from the insanely stocked fridge and took a walk to the beach with the band – WE DID IT! That beer was one of the best beers of my life – it was a symbol, at that moment, of a dream coming true. We “Cheersed” each other, our team back home (our label, family & friends) and with those burning red, sleepless eyes we looked at each other and said “We have tons of work ahead of us!” Off to sound-check.
That night, before we hit the stage, we had a fan (that I remembered from our last Japan tour) come up to us and share about how much our music means to him. He told us, in broken English, that our music touched his soul and gave him life – it was truly incredible to hear. Then he continued to share he was from the mainland of Japan and had paid over $300 dollars to fly over to Okinawa to see us perform. He had booked the flight to see us at Rocktoberfest and when that was cancelled was about to cancel his flight until he heard we were still coming. We were speechless to hear this and so thankful he came. As we were about to hit the stage he pulls aside Andy and Dave and says “I didn’t pay $300 and come this far to see you guys perform 80%, I want a 100% show!” WOW, what a way to light a fire in us to leave everything on the stage that night.
The show ended and I could taste my sweat in my mouth, my amp was still humming, the fans were going crazy and pushing through the crowd here comes our “super fan” and he yells at us “That was UNREAL, a 100% show! That was worth every penny!”
That was how day 2 of our tour to Japan ended. You’d think I’d fall asleep with a smile on my face that night but nope, sleep decided to stay up and party. I’ll tell you more about that and many more stories in my next Japan blog. Click here to view some photos from Day 1 & 2 of the tour!
Cheers,
M@ YUCA
Now go out and buy the new album “Rebuilding the fallen empire” on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/rebuilding-the-fallen-empire/id717956553
