Category: Gigs

Last night’s gig was interesting to say the least.

First our poor singer’s mother is in critical condition in the hospital following a head on collision with a semi on the freeway. We were very close to canceling the gig so our singer could be with his mother in the hospital.

2nd, our poor singer’s car was broken into, so half his guitar/pa gear was stolen. We had to put together a makeshift PA for the gig.

The gig was up at the top of the canyon at a ski resort. The weather was terrible. It was snowing heavily and we knew that 2 of the 3 cars we had in the band would not make it up in the snow. So we all packed all our gear in our bass player’s rental truck. Our bass player was rear ended by a drunk driver so his regular truck was damn near destroyed. I hope my car isn’t next.

The club was your regular resort bar you’d find in any ski resort. The only problem is that with all the heavy snow, the only people there were the ski bums that live at the resort and a few tourists. Fortunately out of sheer random luck our friend Mike was there. Mike is the best live sound guy in town and he helped us get our sound up and running.

One of the reasons I took this gig was I was told there were going to be strippers dancing on the stage. I’m always good with that. But the strippers apparently didn’t have four wheel drive so they couldn’t get there. Dammit. The club had this “Austin Powers Tent” setup where the chicks were supposed to dance behind a back lit white sheet for the audience. Fortunately there was a hottie that did that. My new girlfriend Michelle (pictured) danced behind the sheet. The nice thing was that I could see the back side so I got the real show. Michelle had about the tightest body I’ve ever seen. She and I had a nice “chat” on the break. She’s a professional dancer and dance instructor which explains the body. Now what does it mean when a chick asks you to go out and smoke (not ciggies) with her? Anyway…

Strange thing about this new years gig was the timing. With the heavy snows, the cops informed everyone that the canyon will be closing due to avalanche danger at 12:15am. So rather than being forced to buy the band extremely expensive resort hotel rooms, they told us to do the countdown to 2006 at 11:45pm. We played the last song and an encore. Then we left our gear there and rushed out to the truck and got through the gates 2 minutes before they closed them for the night.

The drive down the canyon was brutal (see pic 2). Major snow.

Usually a new years gig involves playing for 4 hours and partying until 1-2am. This time we were out of the club before midnight and I was in the comfort of my flannel jammies by about 2am.

We’re playing a new year’s eve gig tonight at a ski resort. Seeing how the canyon is getting a major dump of snow the evening will be interesting before we even get to the gig. A report will follow.

Sadly, my bass player of 20 years has informed me that he’s moving. I just played my first gig with him since this bummer news. This guy is one of the most genuine, nicest, most sincere people I’ve ever known.

The gig itself last night was nothing to write home about. There were the usual drunk ass holes whole spill their beer in your shoe and burn you with their cigarette. I hadn’t played in a club for a while and I realized how much I HATE cigarette smoke.

The only moderately interesting happening at the gig was a chick who jumped up on stage to sing a song and blew the audience and the band away.

While sitting back there on the drum kit playing rock & roll I often go into my own little mental world. I check the chicks out. I look at the strange people.. I see the tattoos and the piercings, the drunks. I think about my business, my world.

Last night I didn’t think about any of those things (the chicks were all dykes). I came to the conclusion that playing gigs without my bass player, and breathing in all the cigarette smoke is not worth it. It just won’t be the same without my buddy…. When he leaves I’m going to call it quits with this band.