
Since my last blog I am officially moved in my new/old place. I haven't had any internet there so I haven't blogged (obviously). Let me try to recap:
After many trips to Wal-Mart & Home Depot everything seems to be in place. I now have AC. I now have a fridge. I now have cable. I ordered my new iPhone (which is in Atlanta waiting for me now). I built my new guitar rig for the road (well, it's 90% built - the rest will have to happen out here). I packed for this run. I also did a juice cleanse/detox on Wednesday & Thursday. This is not my first time on this detox. I did it a couple of years ago. It's this special concoction of fruit juices (mainly grapefruit) that you drink. 8 oz. of juice every hour & all the water you want to drink. It's not as bad as it sounds. The hard part is convincing your body that you don't HAVE to eat every 6 hours... the funny part is, if you really observe yourself, you're not actually hungry. The only thing I did wrong during that time was overexert myself physically (i.e., lifting, working around the house, cleaning, etc.).
We left Atlanta yesterday (Friday) around 1pm hoping to dodge some of the traffic craziness this upcoming holiday can harbor. It was NOT the case. It took forever just to leave Atlanta. Not only that, but every city we came near was bumper to bumper traffic. It's not like it was surprising, just inconvenient. Chattanooga, Nashville, Louisville, even Indianapolis around 11pm was a nightmare.
We stayed the night in Indy... & left around 9am for Wisconsin. We should've left much early & just been early. However, the venue that we played at tonight just wasn't equipped for the entourages of both bands. Dave carries 11 buses & maybe as many trucks for his production. Even our 4 buses & 2 trucks was way more than they could handle. So, that being said, they wanted us here at the last minute so we wouldn't be in the way. Ahhh... the life of an opening act: stay out of the way, try not to kick TOO much ass & get your ass of stage ASAP.
Everything went pretty well though. The only real hitch is our guitar tech, Mikey, was not with us because of a family emergency. So we flew in Kevin Coughlin, a high school friend of mine & a former Marshall Tucker guitar tech. He was to join us on the road anyway in a couple of weeks & he was available to work on short notice. He did a good job tonight.
Dave introduced us on stage. I'd say 50% of the crowd was there for the beginning & 80% was there by the end. The show was 60 minutes. For the short set up time & missing key components of the crew, we did great.
I was so beat after that week I had, the trip up here, & the stress setting up before the show - that I am resigning to my bunk. I'll see Dave & the guys tomorrow night. We're playing here again. See you then.