One Road Out of Las Cruces – Wayland Tour Log 2/8/14

After morning radio at 99.5 The Rocket, we checked into the Las Cruces, N.M., hotel at 10 a.m. I called the front desk and explained to the girl that we were a rock band that had nowhere to go until 3 p.m. check-in. She had the housekeeping staff clean our rooms first to get us right in.

The venue got us three rooms at the Holiday Inn Express! They were clean and felt brand new!

This is a big deal because we usually stay in the filthiest places in each town, because they're always the cheapest.

A lot of times, we'll get one $30 room, take turns showering and all sleep on the bus because it's so gross in there.

I shared a room with Mitch, which is always risky because of his night terrors. You never know when he might start screaming for his life and running all directions trying to escape an assassin or defuse a bomb in his sleep.

In these instances, I'm probably the most qualified to talk him back into reality, as I've been practicing since we were 18 years old. Once we checked in, everyone crashed out because we didn't get very long to sleep the night before.

I couldn't sleep, so I hit the gym, took a swim in the pool, got some emails finished, and made some phone calls. I got a chance to check in with Jesse Dupree, who's been a mentor to me for the last 3 years. With how busy that guy is I continue to feel so lucky that he takes the time to be a part of our career.

I started running into the other guys in the hallways around 2 p.m. You have to take any down time or rest you can get when you're on the road, so I was really happy all the guys took that time to recharge.

Load in and sound check were so easy it was almost scary. The sound guy knew the room and the system really well. It was so refreshing to hear our band loud and electric again. We had an awesome crowd and they loved the show.

The whole radio station came out and partied with us. We signed merchandise and took pictures for almost two hours after our set. There were a lot of people that were kind enough to buy us drinks and shots, we really appreciate that.

I don't really remember getting back to the hotel, but 7 a.m. sure came quickly. We left the hotel by 9 a.m. We were about 30 minutes down the road when Mitch broke the news to us that he left his coat in the hotel room.

As I write this, we're on our way back to get it.

We will be a little late getting to Phoenix today. And anyone that's worked with this band knows that we are very rarely late for anything. Mitch gets the lost-and-found award today.

The show in Phoenix tonight is a benefit for homeless veterans, which is something we are very proud to be a part of.

And then on to Los Angeles tomorrow! I'm really excited to be back in L.A. for a few days.

We are announcing some pretty exciting plans on our Facebook on Monday. We were going to wait until Wayland Wednesday, but we're just too excited.

– Phil Vilenski

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