Rooftop Vigilantes' tour truths are stranger than fiction.
By RICHARD GINTOWT
Wherever the Rooftop Vigilantes go, hilarity seems to follow.
The Lawrence garage-pop outfit hit the road this month for a cross-country tour. We checked in with guitarist and singer Zach Campbell en route to Cleveland, and he relayed the following highlights from what's turned out to be a zany tour.
Missoula, Montana - "There was this coked-out dude who invited us to stay at his house, and when we showed up there were five guys with machine guns listening to mariachi music.
For some reason, it didn't faze us. They seemed nice enough - they just happened to have machine guns. I don't think the guns were loaded, but the people handling them definitely were."
Boise, Idaho - "We found out through the drummer of the Doobie Brothers that George Thorogood is a total asshole. Then he asked us for a place to stay." (Editor's note: The man was crazy and toothless and may not have actually been in the Doobie Brothers).
Portland, Oregon - "Oscar got kicked out of the club for peeing on it, so him and Hannah [Hyde, keyboardist] switched clothes and he snuck back in. There was a long line to the bathroom and he was wasted. ... He wanted to get back in to see the rest of the show. Plus, there was free pizza."
Phoenix, Arizona - "The cops got called because the last band got their set cut short by last call and one of the guys threw a bass drum at the bartender. We were waiting around to get paid and they were like, 'You better get out of Phoenix before you get arrested too.'"
Denver, Colorado - "I thought it was OK for me to smoke weed again, but I was wrong. I had a huge freakout and a panic attack in a giant Oriental Theater. I talked about cheese to get me through it."
Despite such calamities, Campbell reports that the tour has largely been a smashing success.
"We've met some of the craziest people in the entire universe," he says. "We made money, we sold CDs, and we drank every bit of booze we could possibly fit in our stomachs every night."
The Vigilantes will perform a homecoming show this Sunday at the Replay Lounge with Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk. Barring further incidents, they'll have copies of their new album, Carrot Atlas, on hand.
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