A word of advice to rock bands touring through fracking country: you might want to line up accommodations ahead of time.

An interesting, energy-related footnote emerged Wednesday in an already strange story out of Ohio.

Indie rock band Here We Go Magic was pulling onto a highway in eastern Ohio when they passed a hitchhiker who was standing alongside the on-ramp.

They turned around and went back after their sound man recognized the hitchhiker as filmmaker John Waters.


What was the band doing in Ohio anyway? Guitarist Michael Bloch explained to the DCist blog:

“There’s a hydro-fracking boom in western Pennsylvania. You can’t get a motel room. We had to drive til 4AM, and finally found a Days Inn in eastern Ohio. Getting back on the highway this morning, there was a man at the side of the on-ramp with a sign that read ‘to the end of Rte 70.’ Jen wanted to pick him up, but we drove past him. As we passed by, our sound guy said ‘John Waters’ Luke said, ‘Yep, definitely John Waters.’ We got off at the next exit and circled back. He was still there. We pulled up, opened the door and asked where he was coming from. ‘Baltimore,’ he said. And we said ‘Get in, sir.’ “

The lesson: before you bring the rock to an oil-and-gas party, make sure you have a place to stay, or you might spend an uncomfortable night in the van.

That, and keep an eye out for hitchhikers.