Howdy!
So, this past Saturday we played at the launching of Independent Ale Works' new tap room. They are a fairly new brewery based in Krum (Denton), Texas. Scheduled to play were Sand Dollar Rodeo, Eric Wagner and Prostinaut.
The day started out good - there's a Dairy Queen on 380 after you exit 35. Always a good way to start an afternoon, no? Then, of course, it turned into the typical unpredictable show day... I say unpredictable, but I suppose that's not totally true. I can predict (and pretty much guarantee) that something is not going to go as planned throughout the day of a performance. It's just the nature of the beast - a matter of "what" and "when" rather than "if." At this point, I've become fairly numb to the flow of a show day and generally manage to maintain a pleasant appearance. Throwing a fit over things not going the way you thought they were going to go does nothing but make you look like an ass. It doesn't fix the problem and, to me, is a waste of time. Anyway, I know something will eventually happen. So, I just do my best to avoid people and phones on a show day. Now, that being said, I've just got myself off track a little - this was not a bad show and things didn't go horribly wrong - just establishing a little "pre-show day in the life" before I tell the story of the Saturday. Unfortunately, I type about as fast as I think. Sorry. Now, back to the day...
First off, as I'm partying down at the DQ, I see the blinky light on my phone. Crap. Voice mails on show days are never good. It was a message from Eric Wagner. He was going to play an acoustic set after us and was calling to say that he wasn't going to make the show. Family stuff, understandable. But, again, a bump in the road that throws your train of thought. My thoughts shift to, "ok, so is the venue going to ask us to play later now, so there isn't a huge gap between us and the band playing after Eric?" Well, we can't because Brian has to be in Allen at 6. More thoughts start running through the mind. "Are they going to be mad that we can't play later? Is there going to be tension?" Tension between bands and venues can be a show killer. Eventually, you accept that you are booked from x hour to x hour and focus on making sure that happens. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.
So, I arrive at the venue and go inside to see about where we're going to be setting up. Down the way, I can see a drum set. Ok, that must be the stage. Then the band starts playing. I'm confused. I thought we were playing first. They must have added another band. Ok, great, that's fine, no worries. Then, after Heath arrives and talks with them, I find out that the band that was going to play later decided to play first and would be done around 3. We were originally scheduled to play from 3 to 5. If they stop at 3, earliest we'll be on is 3:45. Normally, not a big deal, we can roll with it. But, tonight we're balancing schedules and have to be done at 5. Playing later in the night is just not an option time time around.
In the end, it all worked out fine. It usually does. Which, again, is why I try not to get too crazy over the bumps. The other band stopped around 2:30, we went on a few minutes after 3 and were done by 5. They didn't ask us to play later and cover Eric's spot.
The show itself was a little different. The room we were set up in was a small loading dock area and it captured the sound and held onto it. It was loud in that little room and I don't blame any of the attendees for sitting and watching from outside. I did the same when the other band was playing. I like loud, but it was too loud for that hour of the day - and no, our drums, bass and guitar were not mic'd. It was just loud because it was a small room. Anyway, the point to that is we spent most of the time playing by ourselves in a little room. We'd finish a song, then hear applause coming from outside. Kind of an odd, distant, feeling. Anyway, it went ok. I've played worse, for sure.
Highlights of the day for me were Dairy Queen and the Waffle Wagon. They had a couple of food trucks out back, one of which sold gourmet waffles. We're talking peanut butter, banana, jelly and bacon covered waffles. That kind of stuff. When the wind would change direction, we got the wonderful smell of fresh waffles thrown right at us.That was kind of nice and was definitely satisfactionin' my inner Elvis.
Anyway, that was how it went down. We premiered a new song called Damn Strait, had some mailing list sign-ups and Facebook likes, etc. All in all, not a bad day and I appreciated the brewery having us out to play. We're scheduled to play at Independent Ale Works again on May 17th. Now that we've seen the room, we can tweak the set and PA so it will be a better experience all around. Should be a fun afternoon, so if you're out in the Denton area, go mark your calendar and we'll have us a good ol' "krummy" time in Denton county.
Next week, we're back to the okra circuit for a return visit at Railhead in Willow Park. This will be the first show with our new live keyboard player, Trey Pope. He adds a dynamic that I think you guys will really enjoy. So, come on down for a little fried okra, BBQ and beverages and we'll see you there!
Stay gold,
RH
PS: Be sure to ask Brian to show you his battle wound next time you see him play :)
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