Usually, gas stops aren't the most exciting events for traveling musicians. However, that's not always the case, as Haste the Day bassist Michael Murphy can attest. Here, her explains what went down during a recent stop to fill up the van during the Solid State Tour.
I've been to two gas stations a day over seven years of touring. So, basically I've seen a lot of gas stations and even more crazy people. But this one gas station in Arizona was my favorite experience yet.
As usual, we all walked into the store looking like zombies, searching for energy drinks, hot dogs, and burritos. Gas station clerks always look at us funny, praying we didn't come to rob their store. I guess I would feel the same if eight crazy lookin' dudes in black hoodies bombarded my store. But we weren't the culprits.
As we were shopping around, we heard this extremely loud crinkling noise. We looked back and saw this drunk dude shoving bags of chips, cookies, and candy into his hoodie pockets.
Being drunk, he didn't care how loud and obvious he was being. Eventually, he stuffed his pockets to capacity and got in line to prepay $5 in gas. Stephen, our singer, was in front of him in line and whispered to the gas clerk that the guy behind him was stealing merchandise. At that moment, a police officer walked in the door. You should have seen the look on the thief's face! He started touching his bulging hoodie, making sure everything was secure. It was really funny because from the side view, you could see everything he stole.
After Stephen was done with his purchase, the guy threw down a $5 bill and started to walk away to pump gas. The clerk called out to the unknowing cop, "Officer, this man has been putting stuff in his pockets and is planning to steal." The dude started taking stuff out of his pockets, but it was too late. The cop began to place him under arrest, but he was resisting, saying he was planning to pay. The policeman couldn't get the man down and it started to get really intense. We were so excited!
After about five seconds of struggle, our tour manager put down his burrito and slammed this guy down and proceeded to help the officer cuff him. We were all screaming and laughing like little boys watching an action movie. That was the moment that he earned my respect as our new tour manager. Within a minute there were nine other patrol cars in the parking lot. I guess you don't mess with the police, but we will definitely never mess with our tour manager. I will never miss loading the trailer again.
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