I was pretty new to the music industry. It was within the first couple of weeks that I started working at Kilby Court when I met this kid who lived on Kilby Court – the actual street from which Kilby gets it's name. He'd walk over and keep me company as I took money and stamped the hands of the kids who'd come to see a show. His name was Jake. He told me that he was in a band and that they would be playing at Kilby really soon. (Side note - I'd heard of his band, but never actually seen them play.)
That time came. Jake's band set up their gear on stage, did a little sound check, and then mingled around a bit before time for the show. I can't tell you who opened for them; maybe Form of Rocket or somebody like that. Anyway, tons of kids showed up. It was a lot, especially for Kilby and for them being local. Finally, Jake's band came on stage, put on their guitars, checked the mic, and their lead singer, Josh, said, “Thanks for coming out, we're The New Transit Direction.”
The New Transit Direction was totally different from anything I'd ever heard before. (Keep in mind that I was new to the indie music scene and I'd never heard Fugazi or Jawbox or Jawbreaker, not to mention Superchunk and Sunny Day Real Estate.) The New Transit Direction knew how to ROCK in a subtle, humble way. They never thought of themselves as “The Shit” nor did they ever have a pretentious cord in their music. They just brought the stuff that made for a great show. After that show they went on tour so I didn't see them for about a month. Needless to say, I had a MAJOR crush on them.
As time went by Jake and I started dating. I ventured out with TNTD and their girlfriends to their local shows and to the close out-of-state ones, like Colorado and Vegas. Let me tell you, those were some fun times! And those guys have some crazy stories.
One of their last out-of-state shows was opening for The Used in Vegas. They had already driven down earlier in the day and I was waiting on some of their shirts to be screen-printed so I drove down separately. I was by myself and just outside of that canyon you have to go through, somewhere between Salt Lake and Vegas, right before Mesquite. All of a sudden, I hear a loud “POP” and my car starts veering out of control. I was in the left lane, which of course, didn't have a shoulder for me to pull off on. I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a huge semi kiddie-corner to me in the right lane. I put on my signal and completely cut-off the semi as I feared for my life. My car, thankfully, came to a stop on the shoulder. I got out to find that my back driver's-side tire had blown and if that wasn't bad enough I didn't have any phone reception. The next exit wasn't for a couple of miles. I was devastated. I didn't have a carjack, so I couldn't change my tire if I wanted to. The show was going to start in a little over two hours. I was barely going to make it to the show BEFORE my blow-out, how in the Hell was I supposed to make it now?
A friendly older couple stopped and luckily had a carjack. We broke my tire iron, trying to get the lug nuts off. Good news for me, they had a tire iron too. We were able to put my spare on, but there was no way I was going to make it to Vegas on it. The couple followed me as I drove on the shoulder to Mesquite. They helped me find a Big-O Tires. It was a Saturday and I got there 45 minutes before they closed. At first they told me they wouldn't be able to get to my tire until Monday. I told them I was on my way to Vegas and I had to get there tonight. Thankfully they took pity on me and decided to squeeze me in before they left. In the mean time, I had called Jake to tell him my situation. He was ready to send someone in New Transit's van to come get me. When I found out that Big-O would change my tire I called him back and told him I thought I could make it.
I made it to Vegas with about 30 minutes to spare. We got the merch (including the shirts I'd brought down) set up and I watched my home-town heroes open and almost steal the show – it's hard to overshadow the headliner . . . . I felt like a proud parent watching them play in front of The Used's roaring Las Vegas crowd. Afterward, Quinn Allman, the Used's guitarist, let a few of us crash in his room for the night before heading back to Salt Lake in the morning. Thanks again to The Used and even more so to Quinn.
Forwarding to Spring of 2006 at The Depot in Salt Lake. It was The New Transit Direction's unofficial last show, which was really quite special, especially since no one knew it would be their last. I know Dan's now playing drums for The Used, which is a pretty solid gig, don't get me wrong, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the day The New Transit Direction takes the stage once more.
Sara Monroe,
Manager - 24tix.com
Remember to submit your experiences for a chance to win free tickets! Visit 24tix.com/experience for more information.
Comments