Amid the Frisbees, footballs and basketballs, the Horseshoe in Southwest was suddenly transformed into a concert venue. A truck pulled in, a band got out, set up and started playing. The band was The People's Party and the reason - because they felt like it.
The People's Party is an eight-piece funk/jazz/rock band out of Venice Beach, California that has been out on a "guerrilla tour" since February. Armed only with instruments, merchandise, camera and a pimped out U-Haul-esque truck, The People's Party has been traveling from festival to festival, college to college, playing free, spontaneous concerts. The tour is in support of their newest album "We Am One," which can be heard on their MySpace page.
The core of the band is guitarist/vocalist Curtis James, keyboardist/vocalist David Garner and drummer Orlando Boyd, who have been together, on and off, for nearly three and a half years. They added bassist Tony Glaser, electric violin/guitarist Will Volume, trombonist Justin Kirk, trumpet player Chris Bautista and saxophonist Robby Marshall months leading up to this tour. "We had a couple of venues booked and had some festivals in mind, then just stopped any place that looks interesting," said Garner. "We're not actually invited to play the festivals, but we set up outside and play. We played South by Southwest for eight days."
The truck itself has an interesting story. It was created by a man for his son's band which was going to be part of an "MTV making the band"-inspired show, the truck serving as a mobile venue. When the band broke up, the father needed to find a place for the truck, so he put it on craigslist. "Dave [Garner] and I were talking about touring and his wife found the truck on craigslist," said Curtis James, a Shrewsbury Mass native. "We got it for around $100,000 with 14,000 miles on it." "The record label put up the cash," added Garner. "We're still paying it off, so it's not ours yet." While one may think there are legal issues with just pulling into a random location and setting up a concert on the spot, they would be right. However it's much easier to get away with than one may think. "We tried to go through the proper channels," said James. "There is just so much bureaucracy it's not worth it. We have encountered very little trouble and when we do, it's after 15 minutes or so, which usually equals three songs, and that is really all we need." So far they have made stops at the Super Bowl, a handful of NCAA Tournament games, outside of some music festivals and in major cities such as New York and Boston. "We were in Washington DC and got stopped by the Secret Service," said James. "The next day we set up in front of the Capital and played uninterrupted for an hour. I just kept looking around waiting to get arrested." In some cases, authority has actually allowed them to set up. "We set up in Faneuil Hall and a cop actually saw us, and just turned around," said James. "If he had come up to us he would have asked for permits and shut us down. He is the coolest cop ever." To finance the tour, the band offers CDs and bumper stickers for donations.
"We sell merchandise at all of our concerts by donation only," said James. "When we get back to L.A. we are going to look for sponsorship, but right now it's going well. We have gotten a great response from everyone…except authority. It's funny how hard people with authority hold on to that authority." This style of touring has helped them gain some national attention. "We have been contacted by a couple major tours," said Garner. "The Warped Tour and MTV's Rock the Vote have gotten in touch with us. The head of the Warped Tour called us after seeing us play on the street." The band has made it a point to seek out the local college radio and newspapers before they start playing.
"We were at a small college in North Carolina and just starting playing, and in between songs, some members of the newspaper showed up and wanted to know why we hadn't called them up first," said Garner. "Since then we just randomly walk into the radio stations and offer to do interviews on air whenever we can." There is a political element to the show. At each stop, the band offers voter registration forms and lends their support to Democratic Candidate Barack Obama. "If you haven't registered to vote, please come up and do so. If you have, vote for Barack Obama. We love you guys," Garner said in between songs to the small South by Southwest crowd. "We started [the political aspect] when we were in California during the primaries and campaigning for Obama," said James.
They plan on continuing the tour until May 15, when they head back to Los Angeles, at which point they plan on regrouping, officially releasing "We Am One" and hitting the road again in August or September. The band plans on stopping in New York, before heading to Los Angeles, for one last show. "We got a whopping $150 fine there for playing some park," Garner joked. "We're probably gonna stop there again."
Ryan McAskill can be reached at rmcaskil@dailycollegian.com.
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