BHW Van Gets Fractures to Maine
Words by Freddie Ohanga Losambe. Photos by Fractures.
Monday July 25th, 2011
We pick up the van at Jim's and hopped on in. The first thing we notice is the sheer scale of this gigantic vehicle and we all became a bit overwhelmed. I turn this transformer sized machine on and eventually adjusted to it. Driving it through Burlington people really didn’t seem to think any thing of this gigantic graffiti van running through the streets. However, by the time we hit South Burlington this vehicle was turning heads all over the place. I got the van home and parked it in my parents suburban driveway and I have to say it looked real good. I was so excited to get it on the open road and drive it to Maine.
Tuesday July 26th, 2011
I woke up as early as possible and peered out the window to make sure yesterday was not a dream and I had actually parked this van outside my home. It was indeed true, the van was still sitting there sticking out like sore thumb among a neighborhood which was mostly comprised of Subarus and minivans. After a freshly brewed cup of coffee I hopped in the van, picked up my partners in crime, and proceeded to hit I89 with a full tank and belly full of McDonald's. The van handled amazing, granted there were a couple strange sounds coming from it but nothing too alarming. The van almost appeared to be made for the highway it was so much easier to drive there than in a cluttered-up town or city. Once again outside of Burlington it appeared that the van had a magical effect on people. The van would compel drivers to turn their heads from concentrating on the road and look at its brilliant exterior art. Not to mention the dudes driving it, who would be smiling and waving like idiots. The best reaction we got was from toll road workers (we had to go through six toll gates - SIX!! can you believe it) these people seemed quite enthused to not only take our money, but also to see this van roll through their toll gate. They would brandish a huge smile and chuckle as they let us through. We eventually after five hours of black metal, hip hop, electro trance, oh and of course driving reached Portland, Maine. We unfortunately were quite early and had to wait around for a while before the show started, but we explored the city for a while on foot. When 7pm hit we got on stage and Fractures did our thing. We had a more scaled-down lineup this time around so we didn’t bring our most A of A games but we still wrecked the place as well as we could. The rest of the bands that played (Manners, Code Orange Kids, Kills and Thrills, Coastlines) were real high energy and amazing musicians. It was overall a very needed and very positive show for us. After the show we went in on some Dominoes pizza and discussion about what we did right and wrong during the show. Which has been a tradition for us since the creation of the band two years ago. After filling our stomachs the mission was to get to Chelmsford, MA where we would be bedding down for the night. After a couple detours due to road work and the frustration of getting lost and going in circles we eventually reached our lovely destination. Once again we parked the van in a neighborhood that had never seen the likes of it before. We entered the home of one of our bandmates to sleep for the night and after drinking strange soft water, discovering that I despise rice milk with a passion, eating some fine chocolate, and almost breaking a screen door we all slept like babies.
Wednesday July 27th, 2011
We woke up around nine in the morning and hung out for a little while at the suburban homestead we were staying at. Around eleven we embarked on an adventure back to the green mountain state. I cant lie, we were all excited to get back home, I mean Maine is nice and their hardcore is top notch but there is nothing quite like the Vermont scene. After countless hours of driving, more black metal, a little less hip hop, and a mini one-man funk dance party in the front passenger seat we reached Burlington. The only headache we had left to deal with was finding a parking spot for this gigantic machine. We eventually were able to find one and parked the mobile home in a safe place. In conclusion I must say, Having this van for three days was one of the best experiences of my life. I'd like to say thanks to Jim and Big Heavy for lending Fractures the van. Without it this show would not have been able to happen for us. We all look forward to driving this majestic vehicle again one day and blasting black metal out of its speakers to unsuspecting citizens once again.
Make sure to look Fractures up on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fractures-VT/384142202355 or on BandCamp at http://fracturesvt.bandcamp.com/ for any booking questions hit us up at : fractures1@hotmail.com