White Label Analog Share Stories From The Road: “Expect The Unexpected”

All Access previously featured the Austin based band, White Label Analog and the inspiration for their February released single, “Curves” [SEE HERE]. The four piece band returns with more stories – this time from the road where they almost didn’t make it into OR out of Canada.

[CHRIS DIEDAER]: “While we are just now getting back out there due to the pandemic, we have a couple of road stories we can share from the past…

In April 2017, White Label Analog flew into Chicago Midway and rented a van to drive to Toronto, to play a couple of shows for Canadian Music Week.  Everything was going well; we spent the first day sightseeing in Chicago, stopped by Music Exchange, and even grabbed some delicious Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.  

The next day, we set off for Canada, driving through Michigan past Lake Huron to get through the border.  Unbeknownst to all, there were a couple of, let’s just say, blemishes on a couple of members’ arrest record that the Canada Border Services Agency identified. This resulted in us being detained for a couple of hours to run background checks with Interpol, and ensure that we weren’t going to be a menace. Luckily, the statute of limitations ran out as said blemishes were beyond the 5-year mark, and therefore, we were allowed to proceed across the border.

So, a few rules of thumb when traveling internationally are (1) don’t forget your passport, make sure it’s current, AND (2) check to see if anyone in your band is an outlaw before leaving.  While it may not seem that your past can haunt you while on tour in the states, it certainly can when traveling to other countries.  Fortunately for WLA, we were given entry and had 2 fantastic CMW shows at Gracie O’Malleys and The Hideout. 

Now the previous story leads right into this one…

WLA had a good time playing The Hideout on Saturday night in Toronto for CMW, but it turned into a very late night. We made some new friends, most of which were Toronto Maple Leaf hockey fans who were playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs during that time. They were also serious music fans, and reminded us a lot of the people in our hometown of Austin. 

We began loading out sometime after 3AM when we suddenly noticed our rental van, which was parked very near the venue, was nowhere to be found. Yes, missing.  Apparently, we didn’t notice the no parking sign in the space where we left it! So, we called the local police station and found out that it had sure enough been towed. Fortunately, we were able to get a cab that was big enough (just barely!) to carry all of us and our gear to the police station to pay the fine and get our rental back.   

This is where we relay a couple more tips… (3) Make sure you are aware of your surroundings when parking for gigs, especially when out of town or out of the country.  Also, (4) it’s a good idea to bring a credit card just for emergencies. It was over $200 to get our rental van out of impound. We also had to pay a hefty $450 parking ticket fine, or risk being arrested the next time we’re in Toronto (see border entry advice above). That said, it was an adventure to say the least, and one we’ll never forget!”

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