First and foremost, this is grand! We are having one hell of a time on the road and loving every minute of it. There is a slight misconception though to a posting I made online earlier that said, "Drive...Play...Drink...Sleep..." I received several responses, some of the likes of "you boys live a tough life...lol." So to clarify that post...Drive, 3 to 7 hours while the other individuals in the van do work for the band online...Play, anywhere from 1 to 4 hours depending on the time and atmosphere...Drink, depending on if we have a rider worked out or the locals are game to buy us drinks...Sleep, unless someone is kind enough to give us a couch/floor to crash on we have a van crammed with equipment, bags, and other various items to try and squeeze 4 gentlemen in, comfortable or not...and it's certainly not. Ahhhhh the life.
Recap: Champaign,IL, Indianapolis, IN, & Lexington, KY - the last 3 days.
Champaign was one long day. We played 2 sets, one at the Phoenix and one at Joe's. Both were lengthy and fun sets. Cliff, the manager at The Phoenix was kind enough to lend us a speaker to use at Joe's for our P.A. And Dan, the GM at Joe's and an old high school friend, fed us a great meal and took care of our drinks. We really have run into a ton of great people along the way!
Indianapolis was awesome. Doug of the band Henderson, who we met previously while playing at The Cafe in Macomb, IL, invited us over to their band house for some chill time before the show. Luke, a resident of the home whom I quickly developed beard envy for, went out and got some Coors for everyone and told us about the Miller High Life guy (that you've all seen in the Livin' the High Life commercials) that was at the store and told him to, "Enjoy the Kers." No, that is a not a typo. And that we did, prior to and post the show until the wee hours of the a.m. Met some really cool people at Birdy's and the afterups. Then I awoke to the smell of homemade biscuits and gravy with some bacon and coffee cooked up by Luke, got supplied clean towels for a shower from Tennison, and jetted out. Mmmmmm...what a way to be sent out of Indy.
Next was Lexington. Oooooohhhhh Lexington. I'm very sure we'll be back there sooner than later. Nick, who quickly introduced himself, was a rad local that we met right when we walked into Cocktails and he gave us a tour of his sweet pad right behind the club and generously offered up some Woodford Reserve. The night only got better and better from there. Instead of giving you a lengthy description on one of my most favorite nights so far I'll phrase it up like this...locals drunk 3 hours pre-show time, $1.50 Amber Bock, whiskey for Brad, Girls blatantly, uhhh..."enjoying each other" during a Reverie set, Metallica requests, more whiskey for Brad, great staff, Sam Adams, Red Stag in beer, industry locals rockin', even more whiskey for Brad, impromptu covers, Brad puking and speaking gibberish, after party after after party, hitting the bar that's closed (with the manager and keys of course) to get more beer, and ending with drawing on Brad who passed out in the back of the van on the floor with his boots on (see Brad's rules of the road #4).
The only thing I did not like from the above was the Red Stag in beer.
Kevin James
No comments:
Post a Comment