First off, it's Spring in Texas and you know what that means... storms! Before I left for Azle, I noticed the line I had been watching earlier in the day had tightened and was strengthening. It was also looking like it was going to be on top of me the whole trip. Fun! Or not! I'm not a big fan of driving in a lightning and hail storm, so I really wasn't looking forward to it.
Luckily, it didn't kick in until I was about 5 miles from the venue. But, when it kicked in, it KICKED IN! Lots of lightning, really heavy rain and hail. I'm thankful we were tornado free. These are the types of storms that spin off tornadoes really easy.
The place we were playing was one of those where the GPS can't find the exact address, small town. Anyway, in the midst of the hail, I took an exit too late and went too far. I pulled over at the peak of the hail and my phone rang - it was Heath. He was somewhere around there having the same problem. He had the sense to go in the liquor store and ask if anyone knew where the place was. I just kept driving in the wrong direction. Oh well, I finally found the place and only got there about 20 minutes later than I had planned. The rain let up right as I pulled in and we were able to load in without soaking our gear. That's always a good thing.
Speaking of gear... about 5 minutes before we were to start, Heath's guitar amp died. Not good. But, he had a backup practice amp with him and it worked for the night - didn't sound half bad at all! But, how about some more drama? After Cisco loaded in, he was just kind of a little distracted and kept looking around. Turns out, his wedding ring and another diamond ring had slipped off and were missing. We searched the parking lot, the bar, everywhere and couldn't find it. We could tell he was worrying about that for most of the show. Don't blame him... I would be upset as well. Again, things worked out. I got a text from him about an hour ago that he had found the rings. But, why not one more bit of drama? Ok. I'm eating dinner and I have a crown pop right out! No time for a dentist, just going to have to deal with it. I thank God it wasn't up front - how hillbilly would that have looked, band with the lead singer missing a front tooth! LOL. And again, I lucked out - doesn't hurt, no pain really. It is irritating my tongue back there on the side where it came out a little, but not terrible. Dentist appointment has been made. We're OK! This completes the dramatic portion of the night. Yay!!!
Due to the amp issue, we started a few minutes late and bypassed a sound check to get things rolling. We were using our own PA, so we're pretty familiar with how it needs to be set. Sounded fine. Probably a thousand times better than that last show in Dallas.
The show itself was pretty uneventful. Not bad at all, just uneventful. I take that back, there was the guy who hurt himself on the dance floor BEFORE our show... I'm guessing he was in his 40's, drunk, doing push-ups on the dance floor... switched to one armed push-ups and threw out his shoulder. This was one of those places where there were some really drunk folks. Most of which had been there longer than we had and should have been cut off before we even started. But, hey, that's a different issue and is the bars business, not ours. The drunks did dance quite a bit. Was kind of fun to watch from the stage. Oh, and the drunk lady in red that just got down and boogied all by herself right up front near the stage. We lost track of her later in the night and decided she probably had passed out somewhere in the parking lot. Ahhh... bar life.
It was nice to get the bad taste of the last show out of our mouths. Weather cleared up as we left town and now I sit here with some home brewed Jamaican Yea Mon beer (which is pretty tasty) and a little Margherita pizza. Life is good.
I leave you with a picture of the storm battered sign from out front - I feel honored that our letters didn't get blown off as well... maybe it was a sign... wait, it IS a sign! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Brad.
Stay gold,
RH
All in good fun, eh? Glad Cisco found his rings! And you all.dealt w the challenges so hey...more power to ya! You do deserve an easier gig soon :) Eagerly awaiting the album release in the spring!
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