One Road Out of West Michigan – Phil’s Wayland Tour Log 2/1/14

Guitarist Phil Vilenski from Wayland agreed to become a touring contributor to WGRD.com. So, keep an eye out for more tour stories from the band!

Last night, we played Orlando. Once again we showed up to a stage and PA system that were too small for our live show. We had to make the decision to play acoustic. Nights like that make me feel lucky to be with a group of guys that roll with the punches in any given circumstances.

The opening band refused to play at all, due to the size of the sound system. That shows me they don't understand what it really means to be a band with the passion to share your music. That's okay. I'm not judging them, but I feel bad for them that they missed out on what turned into a really special night.  There were Wayland Warriors that traveled from a all over the state, and a few "first timers" who saw us on the "Full Throttle Saloon" TV show.

It was the first time we ever did an acoustic version of the song, "Bloody Sunrise." I was really nervous about it, but it ended up being my favorite song of the set! There's always really cool excitement about playing a new song, or an old song with a different arrangement. I swear even if we don't tell the audience that it's new, they seem to embrace those moments.

All the band members are in a great mood today. Everyone has been up, working out, doing laundry, and taking care of their individual duties for the band (merch orders, website, Facebook, booking, planning travel, etc). We are all excited to Rock this rainy day in Daytona Beach. I'll let ya know how it went tomorrow. We've been invited to a late night penthouse after-party in Daytona, so it may be a hungover Super Bowl Sunday for Wayland.

(For the "Breaking Bad" viewers out there: the Jesse Pinkman award goes to Tyler this week for leaving the keys in the ignition of the bus and running the battery down, making us 30 minutes late for load in yesterday. Ha ha!)

-Phil Vilenski