Follow as I take Metalcore Night on the road from Pittsburgh, PA to Salt Like City, UT for our debut show. I’m taking a train from Pittsburgh to Utah and I’ll be taking a Greyhound bus home. This is going to be one of the most grueling trips I’ve ever taken. Latest updates will be at the bottom.
Tuesday, July 8th – 5:00PM – Pittsburgh, PA (Home)
Current mood: Anxious.
The absolute fuck am I doing?
I’ve had a few bad shows. Emo Night fell on the Fourth of July this month… and I only made about half of what I normally do. This put me in a really bad situation for this run out to Salt Lake City and back. Long story short: I’m operating over the next few days with exactly $52 to my name… $52 and a plan that hinges on surviving.
The silver lining right now is that my transportation and hotel are booked. I’m going to make it out there. I’m going to make it home. My suitcase is packed with instant noodles and junk food. I’m going to survive. This is just going to be really uncomfortable.
Tickets aren’t selling too well for the Salt Lake show… though I expect the week-of sales to pop off and we’ll end up having an incredible show.
It’s just after 5:00pm and I’ve got my bags packed. My plan is to finish this blog post, double check my carry-on bag, and spend some time with my girlfriend and puppy. Then I’m going to take my last real shower until Friday before taking a PRT bus to the Pittsburgh Amtrak Station for my 11:59PM train (which the Amtrak app is currently showing as delayed to 12:55am).
Tuesday, July 8th – 9:12PM – Pittsburgh, PA (Home)
Current mood: Still anxious.
I’m currently running around, making sure I have everything I need. I always forget something. I’m going to leave in about an hour to head down to the Amtrak station. My train is delayed until 1:49AM – about two hours late. Combined with my neurodivergent need to be two hours early for everything, I’m going to be spending some time at the Amtrak station. I’ll take some photos for you guys.
I’m hopeful my train doesn’t get too much further behind, though I do have about 4-5 hours of layover time scheduled in Chicago, so I should be safe to make my connection to Salt Lake City.
We’re going to run a 2-for-1 special for the rest of the week. That should help move things in the right direction – and I’m running ads on social media.
I’m really going to miss my girlfriend and my puppy on this run, so I’m going to go hang out with them for a little bit before I leave.
Tuesday, July 8th – 11:42PM – Pittsburgh, PA (Amtrak Station)
Current mood: stoned and anxious.
Made it to the Amtrak Station. Almost instantly I met a crust punk named Aaron who got me stoned. So far this trip is off to a good start… except. that my train is delayed until 2:04AM. The train station is relatively empty, and I’m hoping that means I get two seats to myself on the Pittsburgh to Chicago leg.
My hope is to sleep on the train to Chicago, clean up and eat breakfast/lunch during the layover, then board my connecting trip to Salt Lake City at 2:00pm. I’ve been awake since about 7:00AM and I don’t anticipate much quality rest on this trip.
My goal is to avoid spending ANY of my $50 budget until I get to Salt Lake City – and I’d like to spend $15-$20 of that on a decent Mexican meal. That’s likely the best I’ll eat until I get home from this trip on Monday night.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my playlist for this show… and I’m hoping some SLC natives hit the requests up soon.
Wednesday, July 9th – 2:23AM – Pittsburgh, PA (On The Amtrak Floridian 40)
Current mood: exhausted and optimistic.
I’m finally on board my train waiting to pull out of Union Station here in Pittsburgh. I already miss my girlfriend and my puppy. It looks like I’ve got two seats to myself, which is something I was really hoping for on this leg of the trip since my plan is to sleep. Aaron, my crust punk friend is across the aisle from me and it looks like we’ll be on the same trains until Thursday.
The car looks empty enough that I should be able to ride solo all the way through to Chicago.
While we were standing in line waiting to board, I got a nice update that the tickets for our show on Friday jumped a bit… so another day or two of good sales will turn into an incredible show.
Current spend: $0/$50. I’ll check back in with you guys after I get some sleep.
Wednesday, July 9th – 7:53AM – Toledo, OH (On The Amtrak Floridian 40)
Current mood: Tired and annoyed.
I managed to sleep for a few hours… unfortunately I was rattled from my sleep by someone loudly listening to TikTok videos without headphones. I really don’t understand why people do this. Sometimes it truly feels like they’re TRYING to provoke a reaction out of others. Just sociopath behavior.
We just pulled out of the Toledo, OH Amtrak station about two hours behind schedule. Right now the Amtrak app shows us arriving around 10:40AM – leaving me about a 3-3.5 hours layover in Chicago. Normally, I’d walk about a half mile and grab breakfast/lunch at Portillo’s, but this is a BUDGET trip. My plan is to break into my food stash after I make my connecting train to Salt Lake City.
As you can imagine, sleeping in coach on a train isn’t the most restful… but this is VALHALLA compared to the Greyhound trip home that I’ll be enduring. I’ve got the entire row to myself. I’m hoping for a similar setup out of Chicago, but that’s less likely. Absolutely grateful for the blanket my girlfriend gave me for this trip.
Next update should be from Chicago Union Station.
