November 11, 2003
Huck Jam (San Antonio, Dallas, Huston, New Orleans, Nashville)

Four shows in a row are as much as we dare to do on the Huck Jam tour. By the end of the fourth night, we’re all exhausted and feeling like we never want to see another skateboard or bike again–and the stage crew looks haggard. But that’s not to say for a minute that we’re not having fun.

We started our four-day venture in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamo Dome. The city built this huge stadium a few years back hoping to attract an NFL team but one never came. Now they’re stuck with a stadium that’s three times as large as any of the other arenas we play on the tour. It’s far too big for our show. It was even too big for ESPN when they held the Global X Games there last spring. There is a huge set of curtains that they pull across the middle of the stadium to make it seem half as big as it is. Like they say, everything is big in Texas. The Fox show, 54321 came down to film a behind-the-scenes segment, but I think they picked the wrong show. For some reason everyone just wasn’t feeling it in San Antonio. I think a lot of that had to do with the stadium. Even when there are thousands of people screaming as loud as they can, it just doesn’t have as much of an impact because the place is so big. We had a less-than-perfect show and were just hitting the showers when someone came in and announced an emergency. Apparently there was a gas leak in the building and we had to hustle our things together and evacuate. It seemed a fitting end to the night anyway.

I tried to get as much sleep on the bus as I could, but somehow, when you know you have to get to sleep, you can’t. We got to Dallas at about four in the morning and I set my wake up call for nine. I had promised SoBe I’d do a demo at the Eisenburg Skatepark before the show that night. I arrived at the park just before 11am and jumped up on the mini ramp. There were quite a few kids there and I was ready, but my knee wasn’t. It was still hating me for smashing it again on a 720 attempt the night before. It got a little better as I warmed up on the street course and found my way over to the vert ramp. It was a full three feet smaller than the Huck Jam ramp and it felt like I wasn’t going to be able to do anything on it for these kids. I skated for about a half hour and in the end managed a 540 and some flip trick combos. Then I found a transfer line off the side of the vert ramp, over a handrail and into the street course. That seemed to do the trick. Everyone was happy, and none more than I–I would get to rest for a few hours before the show that night.

As it turned out, I only got to grab about a ten-minute power nap back at the hotel before bus call. The Dallas show was great. Sometimes when you’re overtired and you know it, you’re forced to concentrate that much more. I skated well and was happy to be getting back into the groove with everyone else–everyone else who had gotten to sleep all day! We stayed in Dallas that night and I got the chance to visit with some of my cousins who I hadn’t seen in over ten years. They all came to the show and seemed to enjoy it.

The next day, we woke up early and drove to straight to the home of the Houston Rockets. The Toyota Center is brand new arena but you wouldn’t know it from the smell. There must have been some kind of sewer leek because the whole place was reeking of the foulest smell. They did have a good air-port service for my computer though. Tony and I downloaded song titles to all the music we have on our iPods while we ate dinner. The show that night was a demonstration of the fact that you just never know what can happen on the Huck Jam. We started the intro and all was well until it was time for moto to go. They didn’t go. We were all wondering what had happened. Did they miss their cue? It turned out that they had tried to repaint the moto ramps earlier that night and the paint hadn’t set yet. The landings were way too slick to even attempt a jump. During the interviews, all the moto guys apologized for not being able to ride and Tony promised to try to land a 900. Of course by the end of the jam, he pulled the nine. We got right back on the bus and headed for the Big Easy--New Orleans.

I had more friends to visit in New Orleans–a newly-wed couple whose marriage my wife and I had just been in town for this summer. The crowd in New Orleans was the smallest we’d skated for so far. The session was fun, if not a bit goofy, and we were glad to have the moto guys back in the show with the ramps fixed and good to ride. That night, after dinner with my friends, I met Tony over at the Harrah’s Casino. We sat at the black jack table for about an hour and both ended coming up on the night. McCoy was over at the poker table, allegedly until the sun came up, while Tony and I headed over to the French Quarter to find the rest of the crew. We ended up at the House of Blues watching the antics of Deegan and Fiest and taking in a little local culture–there was a sick break dance battle going on down on the dance floor.

There’s nothing like a ten-hour bus drive to help you catch up on your sleep. I took full advantage and slept most of the way to Nashville. We arrived in town in time to catch the new Matrix film that night. It was not at all as good as the first one, but still worth going to just to find out what happens at the end of the whole thing. As for the Huck Jam, I can honestly say that the show in Nashville was, by far, my worst performance yet. My knee was hurting more than usual, but that was no excuse for the bail-fest I put on. During the jam, I bailed before my fifth wall on my first six runs. I just couldn’t stay on my board. After the show I heard that on the head sets of the production crew during the show people were asking what alien had taken Andy and would someone please go find him. I came through on a few runs at the very end of the jam making a double flip indy and a varial 540, but it was a struggle. Onward. Three more shows.

The Columbus show almost didn’t happen. I didn’t hear about it until we showed up that afternoon for the show, but apparently there had been a bomb threat. They had to clear the building and bring in the dogs before they figured out it was a hoax. Just another crazy day on the Huck Jam tour. The show must go on. And so it did. It was our first time in Columbus. Nothing much to report from the show itself–that is, unless you count Tony’s 900. The crown went nuts as usual. It took him a few tries and he took a good slam on the way there, but he made it…again. It’s amazing to me that he can make it as often as he does. We were all in the groove and nobody crashed too hard so mark that one down as a good one.

We drove all night to St. Louis and arrived at the hotel around 5:30 am. I promised myself that I wouldn’t sleep too late and waste my day. I got up again around 10:30 am and walked over to the mall. It was cold! We had enjoyed a bit of an Indian summer back in Philly and DC, but in St. Louis it was back to the bitterness. I got some Christmas shopping done and stopped for some tea before heading back to make bus call.

Bucky was missing from the St. Louis show. He had some commitment he couldn’t get out of back home, so we were all scrambling to fill his shoes. Tony worked double-time the whole night doing some of Bucky’s lines on top of his own in the intro and finale sections. Simon rode his bike like a champ. (You’d never know he has a broken hand.) He stuck a clean 900, as well as a no-hander to late bar spin that scared me to death. I thought there was no way he’d get his hands back on the bars. After a few tries, I pulled one of the most perfect 720’s I’ve ever made. It seriously felt easy. I wish it was like that every time. It was a great show. Solid. Afterward, we joked that we didn’t miss Bucky at all and that we might just give him the rest of the tour off.

I made it home for a day again thanks to the generosity of the Bird Man and the Activision Jet. Played with Nishi at the park, hung out with Rebecca, and ate Japanese food. Then back on the road, er, jet. Three shows in Texas coming up.

It was our first time to Toronto with the Huck Jam and from the reaction of the crowd, it seemed they appreciated us making the trip. It was one of our better shows. I think we were all still riding the high from Boston. Everyone was concentrating on their lines and staying on point. As we get more and more into the tour sometimes you can start to take things for granted–that’s when it gets dangerous again.

We drove to Detroit and had an evening off. I got to hang out with my father and step mom who had made the drive down from Lansing. In the morning some friends from Dodge came to the hotel with a few new cars for us to try out. I drove the new Crossfire and then a Viper. They’re fast and fun to drive, but not my style to ever own.

The Detroit show wasn’t so good last year so we vowed to make up for it this year. I think we did. I had to make my seven because my pop was in the crowd watching. I was stoked to pull it because I had a smashed knee from the Boston show. It’s nice to know I can pull it even when I’m not a hundred percent.

Right after the show we headed home thanks to Tony and the ActiVision private jet. We didn’t get in to San Diego until about three in the morning but I wasn’t complaining. It was awesome to be home.

The next day was Halloween. I spent the morning cleaning up the mounds of ash that had collected in the yard from all the fires just a few miles east. Then I dressed in my best Don Johnson outfit and manned the candy basket by the front door. There were some pretty good costumes from the trick or treaters this year. The best was perhaps a neighborhood kid and his cousin who dressed as skateboarders. Skateboarders who had just been thrashed from the gnarlliest falls ever. They had all kinds of fake blood and makeup on and even fake bones and bolts sticking out of their arms. Nasty. I gave out the best Wonka candy-- Pixie Sticks were a big hit as were Everlasting Gobstoppers. My wife and I went over to a friend’s house later and stayed out pretty late. I slept solid for about two hours before it was time to head out again. I got up at 4:30AM and drove to Tony’s house to wake him up. He had forgotten to set his alarm.

Back on the jet we headed to Oklahoma City to pick up Mat. We landed in Philly in time for the show that night. My knee was bothering me even more for some reason and I was having a rough one. In Philly and in DC I didn’t skate as well as I would have liked. I did make a new 540 line though. It goes: mellon five over the channel, mute five, tail five, indy five, and then back over the channel with a frontside rodeo five. I was stoked because it’s hard to keep getting good landings when you spin that much. My friend Liz came out to each of those shows and Bucky and Sergie both had their whole families in the house.

It’s back out across the Heartland now. We’re heading to Columbus, OH right now. A day off is always nice even if we do spend it riding the bus for the whole day