Tour Update: Giants At Large

>> Ever wonder what it's like to be on tour? I recently spoke to Brian Thomann, bassist of Giants At Large, about his experiences on the band's current tour. Giants At Large are about halfway through their tour, and they already have plenty of stories to tell.

What did you expect your first tour to be like?
I expected it to be like every tour DVD I've ever seen. Hanging out with friends, playing music and enjoying everything.

Has this tour met those expectations so far?
I've done everything I'd hoped. So far we played a lot of new states I've never played, made some really awesome friends, and met some really strange people that made all of us laugh.

How do these shows compare to shows back on Long Island?
Right now it's weird because with the exception of Richmond so far no one has known the words, but most kids seem to really enjoy it.

Are people in other states open to hearing your music?
Yeah. We spend most afternoons at malls asking kids to listen and try to make it out to shows, a good deal actually like it and ask if it is us which is cool.

Have you encountered any problems so far?
Um yeah, funny story. In Florida (if you know about Valet Parking's last Florida encounter you'll enjoy this) I was driving and we had a little under 1/4 tank of gas and then cruise control shut off and the pedal fell to the floor. I merged over to the shoulder and we pushed the van and trailer like 500 feet to a rest stop and waited for triple a. Everything turned out fine but it was a tense 2 hours.

How has this affected the band?
Not at all, we haven't let it get under a quarter tank and I checked the air filter and put in fuel injector cleaner to make sure that there's no more problems and we get better millage.

What do you have planned for the rest of the tour?
Well today is January 15th, and we just got to our friend Wheels' house after a Richmond show that was way too much fun. Tomorrow is Newport News, then Roanoke. I'm excited for the Croc Rock show with Score 24.

Do you have any advice for other bands planning to go on tour?
Make sure you know that it's gonna be a lot of work, a lot of promo, a lot of sleeping in a van and if you don't make any money in merch you gotta pay for gas. Also make sure you can spend money on food and not waste it. I've spent under 5 bucks everyday, with the exception of Ci Ci's where i spend 5.24 haha.



>> While broken down in Florida, the guys decided to make the best of a bad situation and recorded an acoustic version of "Atlantic Beach." You can watch their video for it below.

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