"Go fast," Carlson says. "Pretend this is the encore!" Hill hits the drums harder than he has all night.
Waiting outside Vacation Vinyl in Los Feliz as the bus pulls up is Keith Morris, first-wave L.A. punk singer for Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, and another co-founder of the F Yeah Fest. He's received reports from the road. "I'm surprised it's gone as good as it has," he says, dreadlocks reaching to his knees. He glances at the fans overflowing onto the sidewalk. "I'm not going to see them here in that crowd."
'One more, man'
After a party in Silver Lake, McLoughlin paces outside the bus, decompressing for the ninth time. "That was good," he says to Lantzman with a gentle nod. "One more, man."
The final gig awaits on a beer-soaked stage at the Nomad Gallery near Dodger Stadium. For a moment, as Greased Lightning rumbles slowly up a hill, it seems the bus might not make it. Lenker leans into the steering wheel, virtually willing the tour into Sunset Boulevard traffic. The bus erupts to another round of cheers for the man who carried them all the way: "Dono! Dono! Dono!"
At Nomad is the biggest audience of the night, and the band's longest set at 45 minutes. It's hard to tell whether the four musicians are exhausted -- once it's over, each of them scatters, finding escape away from the bus. But not before unleashing the urgent rock and twang of "Answer to Yourself" and Lamkin's wail of absolute commitment: "You're more talented than you know / If you give it a shot, and give it the time, you'll be surprised by how far it goes / But I think I'm going to die before I see my time, but I'll try it anyway."
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