AcoustikMike (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} acoustikmike) wrote,@ 2003-01-27 21:15:00 |
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squeaky brake
lack of computer time and brain cell production has resulted in the neglect of the journal updates in the past week. of course, the factors responsible for my mushy brain will prolly make for a great book someday...
for now...
departing denver, there had been an overnight snow/freezing rainstorm, making for a 7 hour, nerve-jilting drive through the remainder of CO and the better part (distance-wise) of NE.. that's nebraska, not new england... just our luck, this particular week was a record setter for freezing temps... i'll forego the details of the shitty gig in grand island to the tear-down/load-up in -15 degree air... by that time, we knew there wasn't much hope for a big pay bonus (in reality, any pay whatsoever) so we drank what we considered to be fair compensation (our weight) in beer and slithered out the back door, on to the afterparty... note: before passing judgement on the "dine-and-dashers," realize that we don't make it a common practice, and felt justified in that the owner of the place, or, as we'll discover later, the TENANT and purveyor of the business, treated us with utmost disrespect upon entering, right up until exiting into the chilly NE air...
the "crowd", five fans who'd checked our website (the only form of promotion), held the afterparty... we were enticed with "$40 worth-o' beer" which was a good reason as any for feeling the way i did the next day, like i'd been hit in the eyeballs with a ball-peen hammer...
it's become commonplace for me to get naked in the company of the guys i share a van with, so it was no shock when i disrobed in the morning to change into some warmer driving gear, that is until twon noticed the red ink artwork on my right asscheek reading "mona" along with a smily face... apparently, we'd done an autograph session and ran out of posters...
on to the next town...
a short hour's drive to columbus, home of the french (a surname, not a nationality) family... we met john at his office building. we told him about the fiasco the night before and how we walked on our tab, and it turned out that he actually owned the building. he, noticing that we looked like shit, took us downstairs for mexican food and a couple of early morning pitchers of beer and then to his beautiful home for a shower and nap... the show was great, and the folks of columbus treated us like celebs... by the end of the night, any kind of structure we had to the show went out the window (figuratively... there were ctually no windows) and we just kinda messed around while shots of tequila flowed through my body, inside and out... the bar shut it's doors and we hung out for a while (more beers, more everything) and we got some killer footage of "russ", twon's alter-ego, on video... if this band never generates a cent in revenue, this video will make us millionaires, if not asylum inmates...
touching: the following day, mandy, a young relative of the french's ducked outta school with a fake doctor's note to come back to the house and get a picture with the band... how sweet is that? i can only imagine how the picture came out, seeing's how we (most of us) looked like last weeks leftovers...
on to the next town...
the show in lincoln was great... loved the club, can't wait to go back... met a cool band as well as some of twon's friends from back when he was a midwesterner... but, of course, this where the party starts... the french's made a special trip out for the show, and got themselves a posh room on the eighth floor at the Embassy Suites, Lincoln... as knickerbockers closed down, the opted for afterhours back at the room with relatives, friends, and us... and our friends... and people we met along the way... it took 'em long enough, but at around 3am or so, security finally dropped in to haul us out... while descending the 8 floors in the glass-walled elevator, we kinda figured we should leave with a salute, so down came the trousers, and pressed up against the glass went the majority of our bare, and incidentally, free of red ink, asses ... we were met at the base floor by the hotel security, some snotty fat chick who thought she was a cop, who informed us that they captured our "encore" on video tape.. i was bummed that they had it and we didn't and asked if they could send us a copy for the website... then i lost the van keys, my gloves, and almost "carl's" license when a cop pulled over as we were trying to recover the stuff i'd misplaced... he just asked us what was up, we slurred some stuff to him, and he just kinda smiled and went away... found the keys and were on our way... no harm, no foul...
on to the next town...
we'd heard great things about the ranch bowl in omaha, and, wouldn't ya know it, they were all true!! this is the best rock venue i've seen on the road, complete with monster p.a., killer stage and lights, and a scene that i feel is ready to blow up at any time... the other bands were all sooooo good... and we exchanged info in hopes of booking further stuff (us in NE, them in AZ) together... i, personally, didn't feel very strongly about my performance, which kinda hindered my good time.... for a while... until the after party... we were invited to a kegger, but opted for low-key at some friends' house we'd met the night before... very cool peeps with a knack for style, making for a comfy atmosphere... drinks, conversation, a little broken glass action, a late night acoustic jam (thank god we didn't have the cam for that), next thing you know, sun's up, 9am, and there's a band sprawled out on the floor with a 7-or-so hour drive looming overhead... we took a few minutes to get our heads straightened out and ventured into the sub-zeros for what would be a very long day behind the wheel...
we're in springfield, mo, with a couple days off to regroup, chill out, and promote the hell out of wednesday night's show...
i spent most of today reading motley crue's "The Dirt" (highly recommended) and trying to get things back in perspective, which is why the other guys are out at a bar, either promoting or partying or both, and i'm sitting home with molly's fam, relaying a week's worth of journal entries and realizing why i'm feeling so burnt out... not quite ready for bed, but things have quieted down around here... lately, phone calls to those i'm fond of make me happy, so maybe i'll try to make one of those...
lack of computer time and brain cell production has resulted in the neglect of the journal updates in the past week. of course, the factors responsible for my mushy brain will prolly make for a great book someday...
for now...
departing denver, there had been an overnight snow/freezing rainstorm, making for a 7 hour, nerve-jilting drive through the remainder of CO and the better part (distance-wise) of NE.. that's nebraska, not new england... just our luck, this particular week was a record setter for freezing temps... i'll forego the details of the shitty gig in grand island to the tear-down/load-up in -15 degree air... by that time, we knew there wasn't much hope for a big pay bonus (in reality, any pay whatsoever) so we drank what we considered to be fair compensation (our weight) in beer and slithered out the back door, on to the afterparty... note: before passing judgement on the "dine-and-dashers," realize that we don't make it a common practice, and felt justified in that the owner of the place, or, as we'll discover later, the TENANT and purveyor of the business, treated us with utmost disrespect upon entering, right up until exiting into the chilly NE air...
the "crowd", five fans who'd checked our website (the only form of promotion), held the afterparty... we were enticed with "$40 worth-o' beer" which was a good reason as any for feeling the way i did the next day, like i'd been hit in the eyeballs with a ball-peen hammer...
it's become commonplace for me to get naked in the company of the guys i share a van with, so it was no shock when i disrobed in the morning to change into some warmer driving gear, that is until twon noticed the red ink artwork on my right asscheek reading "mona" along with a smily face... apparently, we'd done an autograph session and ran out of posters...
on to the next town...
a short hour's drive to columbus, home of the french (a surname, not a nationality) family... we met john at his office building. we told him about the fiasco the night before and how we walked on our tab, and it turned out that he actually owned the building. he, noticing that we looked like shit, took us downstairs for mexican food and a couple of early morning pitchers of beer and then to his beautiful home for a shower and nap... the show was great, and the folks of columbus treated us like celebs... by the end of the night, any kind of structure we had to the show went out the window (figuratively... there were ctually no windows) and we just kinda messed around while shots of tequila flowed through my body, inside and out... the bar shut it's doors and we hung out for a while (more beers, more everything) and we got some killer footage of "russ", twon's alter-ego, on video... if this band never generates a cent in revenue, this video will make us millionaires, if not asylum inmates...
touching: the following day, mandy, a young relative of the french's ducked outta school with a fake doctor's note to come back to the house and get a picture with the band... how sweet is that? i can only imagine how the picture came out, seeing's how we (most of us) looked like last weeks leftovers...
on to the next town...
the show in lincoln was great... loved the club, can't wait to go back... met a cool band as well as some of twon's friends from back when he was a midwesterner... but, of course, this where the party starts... the french's made a special trip out for the show, and got themselves a posh room on the eighth floor at the Embassy Suites, Lincoln... as knickerbockers closed down, the opted for afterhours back at the room with relatives, friends, and us... and our friends... and people we met along the way... it took 'em long enough, but at around 3am or so, security finally dropped in to haul us out... while descending the 8 floors in the glass-walled elevator, we kinda figured we should leave with a salute, so down came the trousers, and pressed up against the glass went the majority of our bare, and incidentally, free of red ink, asses ... we were met at the base floor by the hotel security, some snotty fat chick who thought she was a cop, who informed us that they captured our "encore" on video tape.. i was bummed that they had it and we didn't and asked if they could send us a copy for the website... then i lost the van keys, my gloves, and almost "carl's" license when a cop pulled over as we were trying to recover the stuff i'd misplaced... he just asked us what was up, we slurred some stuff to him, and he just kinda smiled and went away... found the keys and were on our way... no harm, no foul...
on to the next town...
we'd heard great things about the ranch bowl in omaha, and, wouldn't ya know it, they were all true!! this is the best rock venue i've seen on the road, complete with monster p.a., killer stage and lights, and a scene that i feel is ready to blow up at any time... the other bands were all sooooo good... and we exchanged info in hopes of booking further stuff (us in NE, them in AZ) together... i, personally, didn't feel very strongly about my performance, which kinda hindered my good time.... for a while... until the after party... we were invited to a kegger, but opted for low-key at some friends' house we'd met the night before... very cool peeps with a knack for style, making for a comfy atmosphere... drinks, conversation, a little broken glass action, a late night acoustic jam (thank god we didn't have the cam for that), next thing you know, sun's up, 9am, and there's a band sprawled out on the floor with a 7-or-so hour drive looming overhead... we took a few minutes to get our heads straightened out and ventured into the sub-zeros for what would be a very long day behind the wheel...
we're in springfield, mo, with a couple days off to regroup, chill out, and promote the hell out of wednesday night's show...
i spent most of today reading motley crue's "The Dirt" (highly recommended) and trying to get things back in perspective, which is why the other guys are out at a bar, either promoting or partying or both, and i'm sitting home with molly's fam, relaying a week's worth of journal entries and realizing why i'm feeling so burnt out... not quite ready for bed, but things have quieted down around here... lately, phone calls to those i'm fond of make me happy, so maybe i'll try to make one of those...
