Santa Barbara has a plethora of bands playing our clubs and bars to keep music lovers aurally satisfied year-round. But in between hometown shows, many bands head out to cities, states, and countries to dazzle others with their playing chops. Prepping for a tour requires a lot of planning, but even so there are myriad things that can go awry. Spencer the Gardener, Soul Majestic, and S.F.-by-way-of-I.V. band Poor Man’s Whiskey have all experienced the foul-ups and miscalculations that can turn a far-flung gig into a story of mishap. Read on for accounts of a Canadian border-crossing snafu, a purple bus stuck in the redwoods, and a Mexican concert with no bass-drum pedal.
Spencer the Gardener
In the mid-1990s, before cell phones and the efficiency of finding anything and everything at a moment’s notice, we were slated to play the finale of a two-day bike race/fundraiser in Ensenada, Mexico. We were put up in a hotel for Saturday/Sunday with the show being held in a big soccer field just outside of town. We were the only band playing, and we were hosted by two radio stations — one from San Diego and one from Mexicali. So it was just Spencer the Gardener and the radio stations’ deejays. We arrived in Ensenada late Saturday afternoon, checked into the hotel, and then marched out into a crazy Mexican night.