On this day Buddy Holly’s plane crashes into a snow covered field that kills the young rock star and will forever be known as the day the music died but on this February 3rd over two thousand rock fans seem to disagree.
Lubbock Texas, the home of Holly, is the last stop for the first leg of The Exies tour with labelmates Buckcherry and canadian chart toppers Three Days Grace, and it’s the first time the temperature has risen above 45 degrees in four weeks of touring. Inside this low ceiling box of a venue the heat is only going up, but only a mere 24 hours before, in Amarillo Texas, the scene of an 8 band, un-orchestrated, sweat drenched, dance of modern rock was in full swing, only it was frozen inside and out but that was all about to change.
As drummer Hoss Wright strides to the top of the ramp leading to the stage the echoes of “Willy Wonka” ring through the frostbitten air. The pulse of the crowd quickens as the din consumes everynote lingering from the P.A.
“Hoss!” says guitarist Chris Skane, “take us to the mountain!” and with that the bombast of the politically motivated “Lay Your Money Down” launches the crowd into a frenzy which never let’s up till the chiming strains of the active rock smash “Ugly” disappear into the once again frostbitten night.
“Did you see the kids flipping out during “Different than You”, says singer Scott Stevens walking backstage, “they had never heard it before” chimes in bassist Freddy Herrera. Different Than You is the first single from the new album A Modern Way Of living With The Truth, so I ask, Is that what you hoped for? Stevens, with a grin like a cat who has a tale to tell, utters not a word and turns back to the pretty texan in need of a signature but seconds later he’s looking back. Stevens replies, “yes, that was what we’re here for, the release for us and the crowd.
This moment is something that may never have happened if you we’re a betting man.
Following two successful major released records and countless tours, the bottom fell out, label consolidation and two band member opting out, the look of the final curtain falling 
seemed to be on it’s way, the end was near but they were no where near Monte Carlo or even Vegas, It was LA the land illusion/delusion and it was not the time to quit. It was the chance for the second act, the comeback, the time for the underdog.
“August 2005”, Stevens states was the turning point, “On tour with Motley Crue, Sum 41 & Silvertide, Nikki Sixx asked some pointed questions and had some even more pointed comments, he didn’t understand how you have top 10 songs but no push from your own camp.” The seed was planted, it was time for changes, big changes.
First came in the form new management and next a new label, Herrera flatly states, “we finally had people in our corner with faith in us and an understanding of where we wanted to go and let us do it”.
Assembling the band was simple sort of Stevens surmises, “let’s call the original guitarist and see if we still have an energy like the the beginning then let’s not lock it down as a band but see if we can create something as a concept, and we need a drummer, a monster!”.
12:17, back on the bus, the Chief maneuvers back through the Texas night and the topic turns to why? what was the catalyst ? Where was the band at mentally, Was it the last shot? dropping in from the lounge, Skane attests, “i asked, is this is it? if so let’s make some statements, let’s open up, let’s talk about what is swirling around us and not just the internal muck and mire” and with that cavaliere approach came a flurry of creative bursts and tiny avalanches.
Another cocktail later and the new record gets loaded into the CD player and here we go for the second time in one night. We launch into “Lay You Money Down” and it’s pointed political take on modern america through to the soul searching angst of “Stray” and the of optimism of “These are the Days”. This album easily locks into the live throttle of a band hungry and candidly aware of their own world,” It sounds like there is a concern but more importantly a contempt layered with optimism? “Well, after the dance we went through” Stevens whispers, “yeah 
contempt would be a word but more, it’s freedom, the idea, the idea.” this resonates.
Travelling through Texas, a wide open country unto itself, reminds you what is the idea of freedom or creative freedom? In an industry that refuses to go two deep, It’s quite a giant leap to let go and dive into the deepend, but it seems the climate is quite nice.
Falling asleep is an interesting game on the road, half-sleep is a constant combination of what you dream, what you sleep and what you hear, your brain consumes it all and it comes out in strange dream states or half-sleeps, I wake to the echoes of the opening track Leaving song” pleading “to come down with me, its time to leave” is it plea? or command? “well”. Stevens says, “plea. no just a statement of where we were and where we wanted to go, just a moving on idea”, yeah moving on, still in Texas but moving on to a hotel.
Afternoon, and heading south into the suddenly warm Texas daylight, it does feel like a separate country, it’s warm, like California, fall weather, except it’s February 3rd and it’s the day the music died.
“They’ve been playing Buddy all day” the cabbie states, “it is the day, you know?” and we are all to aware of the date and the history. What an interesting place for a last show.
This is it, you can sense it, an appropriate place for the final show of a reinvention.
“So, where do we park?” drawls the cabbie “around back” security barks. you can smell beer and BBQ and the kids are already clamoring like they’ve been penned up for a long winter freeze, which is actually the truth.
Everyone needs the heat, the bands, the crowd, the dirt under our feat, we need to defrost and it is about time.
“How the f*ck are you Lubbock”, rallies Stevens and in unadulterated flash, the 2000 plus believers that rock and roll is alive and well throw themselves into every moment of this beautiful destruction. Damn its hot!
“Hey does anyone know who Buddy Holly is?” Stevens prompts the crowd, “this song is for him, this is what it’s all about, this is a song called These Are The Days!” and within a split second Herrera, Skane and Stevens careen into the rollicking 
anthem along with Hoss destroying the beat, and as soon as it comes on the roar levels to a melody that can’t be denied. Give it a second, 1,2,3 and by the chorus they have it, sing along Peggy Sue. Not bad for a track that’s never been heard before, and for a second night in a row it resonates through the hall, something is up.
“So?” “so what?” asks Skane, “Good?” “better than that” retorts the guitarist walking off to the bus.
Apparently this is all good, second acts are always good but these are the days not just on stage but off.
Once again very late in the Texas night, Do you think Buddy Holly regretted the plane flight? Yeah, no one wants to go down in flames but would he change anything? “no, I like to think that the drive of These Are The Days is the same energy as That’ll Be The Day or Not Fade Away, it’s to live in the moment, to live without a net” skane concludes.
Tonight, 15 hours will pass into the California morning and it feels like these just might be the days, for better or worse, that we will all remember.
