Washington DC! 9:30 Club! Every touring musician knows this is a big deal, especially just over halfway through a marathon tour. A spread of pizzas, lentil soup, salad, and famous 9:30 Club cupcakes waiting upon arrival, a ninja staff of touring pros and infinitely capable mad scientists, a state-of-the-art PA you can hear from outer freaking space, and green rooms with bunkbeds for a weary road crew - there’s a reason why it’s consistently voted the number one club in America, and we’ve sold it out. Feels good.

Stopping through places like the 9:30 Club, you realize the importance of mindfulness. The food cost of lentil soup is, what, like ten cents per serving? But it’s nourishing, ready and waiting first thing, and a hot meal goes a long way towards soothing the savage guitar tech.

Bunk beds are easy to build and, again, inexpensive, and this venue understands how coveted a power nap is for someone working a sixteen hour day, and that the last place you want to be is on the tour bus, aka the mobile petri dish.

The 9:30 Club staff are smart, and thoughtful, and it’s a breath of fresh air in an industry where so many people are the opposite.