I could probably count the number of times that I really thought I was going to die on one hand. Actually, I could count those times on three fingers: the first time was when I was much younger and I climbed a tree and could not get down; the second was when I got caught in a storm in my dad's boat; and the third and most recent happened on this tour. We had just left Las Vegas with our pockets a little emptier after a night of gambling. It was my turn to drive the van, and I was not excited, but at least I only had an hour left on my shift. I was also OK with driving because we would be going over the Hoover Dam, which I had never seen. My plan was to drive over the dam and then find a gas station to change drivers. I was really looking forward to this because I had only had two hours of sleep that night and I wanted to sleep the rest of the way to Phoenix. Little did I know that there are no gas stations on the Arizona side of the dam for maybe 65 miles. Once over the dam, I quickly realized this…along with the fact that we did not have enough gas to make it to the gas station. We were totally screwed!

For damage control, we immediately took the standard gas-saving precautions such as turning off the AC and keeping a steady pace. Luckily, there was a sign of hope -- literally. We came across a road that went to a park where, so a sign said, there was gas. I pulled off onto this new road and began going down into some weird gorge kind of place. After the first mile, we realized that we were in The Hills Have Eyes territory. Now we had a bigger problem on our hands. We had no idea where we were or where we were going. We were also about to be in an area where no one could hear us scream for at least three miles. To make matters worse, there was a creepy car following us. My life began to flash before my eyes, and I wondered what I was doing there. I belong on the stage or in a hotel room or at a fun party, not in the middle of the desert about to be stranded with no gas and having to fend for my life against a possible mutant psycho! Luckily, in a very anti-climactic way, we came around a bend and saw a little park with a ranger station and gas pumps. So we made it out alive, but with a bit of a story to tell. Our drummer Jake was, of course, asleep the whole time and woke up wanting Panera.

-- Alex Garcia