I've done life on the road, but never like this. It's about 1pm on Sunday, and I'm sitting in my hotel room in Seoul, waiting for a phone call that will decide the outcome of this tour.

Yesterday, we were booked into a Seoul club called FunkyFunky at 9, but had an invitation to come back to the club we played at on Thursday, for an encore performance earlier. So we hustled down to this club (Freebird), and sat...and waited...while other bands sound checked, rehearsed, etc. It became so late that we had to bail and head over to FF. < P>

Then, we get to FF, and find we were misbooked into a PUNK club, had no guitar tech, as promised, and asked to play 2^nd, not headline. But the show must go on,

So, 2 seconds after the last note of the last song, feeling lucky we weren't stoned to death by the testosterone-laiden ex-pat/english teacher punk crowd, we made our way out the door. The club owner follows us out, and says 'where's my money?" (in Korean - we had our awesome guide - Jinney with us to interpret). I laughed, and laid out what our agreement was, how they didn't come through with any of the promised items on our agreement, and said 'we're leaving.' So, the 4 of us hightail it out of the club, with all our gear in hand, and pick up speed as we make our way down the street. Tanner breaks into a rousing version of McCartney's "Band on the Run," and soon, all of us were singing along as we sped away from the scene of the crime…

Well, he calls the so-called booking agent, who calls Jinney, and threatens to have us detained at the airport. Being a Korean-only speaker, I had to argue with him through Jinney (which was so unfair to her). I finally instructed her to take the money back to the club owner and wash our hands of this whole deal.

But that leaves tonight's show hanging in the balance. After a sleepless night, walking around the streets of Seoul, I decided to put it back in their lap - we'll play if they agree to the terms of the original agreement,

And so, here I sit, waiting for word on whether or not we'll play, and how we will resolve this mess.

Happily, I got on famously with the owner of the first club - Freebird, and we've got our finger on the pulse of what's really going down in this town for future tours for us, and I hope for more western bands. And I hope my experience can guide those to come after me, and avoid making the same mistakes as I've made.

DAY 6

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

I think Asian people have an admirable way of sweeping the past under the rug, and focusing on the now, and preserving the 'relationship.' To many, the "relationship" is the most important thing – whether it's business, friendship, family, whatever. In this spirit, I received a call from the agent, who turns out not to be an "agent" at all. He is a volunteer for a non-profit organization called CCA, or Club Cuture Association..

All the booking, the endless phone calls and questions from us in the weeks/months before the tour, he fielded for free. So, he calls and asks me to read the email he just sent, explaining all this, explaining the problems we'd had, and genuinely, deeply apologetic, and hopeful for working together in the future. So, I agree to meet with him at the club du jour – "Club TA" that evening. Jinney came by the hotel early and came up to my room with her friend "Hyon Li."

 I made them tea and had a nice visit before heading out into the late afternoon. Jinney said she'd never been served tea before by an American.

I love it when she talks that way.

Walking into Club Ta, we felt like we were walking into a land of make-believe. Thoughtfully decorated in warm, Moroccan/Indian décor, we were greeted with a friendly and appreciative English-speaking club owner named "Kiu." He greeted us with presents, introduced us to his staff, brought ice water and we got set up and did sound check with the smoothest sounding PA system in recent history! This was amazing!

I was in the "band lounge" off the side of the stage, when the "agent" showed up and popped his smiling face through the gauzy curtain separating the room from the stage. We had a truly gratifying meeting. He, too, is interested in, and works to bring about cultural exchange, and brought gifts of CDs, DVDs, etc. and spoke at length about how things worked, and why things happened the way they did to us. And of course, again, profusely apologized. I reciprocated with gifts for him and the club owner, and shared a warm, genuine conversation with him. When he left I realized we had not only salvaged our relationship, but established a rapport that will enable us to continue to work together on this idea of cultural exchange in the future.

After a memorable meal with Jinney at a chicken soup (samgyetang) restaurant that Christina was focused on going to, we made it back to the club, and enjoyed the sets of two acoustic, Korean "boy-bands" before us.

 Our set went well, and I continue to be gratified at the response from audiences at what I'm saying (In Korean) between the songs. It's a simple message – I hope that Korea and America can be friends – but they always cheer and shout when I say that. I'm very happy.

From there, we quickly made it to Seoul Tower just before the last elevator of the night ascended into the heavens above the amazing Seoul skyline at night. 

After saying goodnight to Jinney back at our hotel, the 3 of us found the perfect, late-night  dive restaurant called the "Matching Mole." – a comfortable place for us to make fools of ourselves in relative obscurity one last time together. Oh, and the food was pretty good, too.

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DAY 7

After one last morning, engaged in our respective Korean diversions (me, at Jogyesa doing temple bows, the girls out for one last mini-shopping spree), we check out of the hotel (to the sounds of our music playing over the hotel sound system. Actually, it sounds OK to me this morning), we say our goodbyes, and make our way to Incheon airport. One last meal of bibimbap, and we're on the plane heading east at 30,000 feet.

This time, I'm wide awake.

Not the half-sleep state that I came here in.