GIG REPORT: Hung Jury at Shooter's, Ashland KY, Jan. 13th 2018 - First Gig Back

Well, this was an interesting evening...

My first real gig back since my surgery at the end of September. We were scheduled for two nights at a place about a half hour from home, Friday and Saturday night. The weather was scheduled to be crap on Friday night, so we got cancelled Friday night, with the news that we would play on Saturday night. Dang! I was wanting to play. As I said, I hadnt played a real gig with the band since Labor Day weekend. I had played a Halloween show but really shouldnt have. I wasnt ready physically yet. The band had played some however while I was out with a sub.

Friday night, the sow and ice comes. Good thing we got cancelled cuz the crowd would have been horrible. But we figure the Saturday crowd will be a little better than usual since the Friday folks will probably come out then.

Saturday, I wake up, with a horrible headache, nose running, and a horrible cough. Just allergies I figure. The longer the day goes, the worse it gets. I sleep all day, and then take a shower to leave for the gig. I tell my wife to go out and start the truck while I'm in the shower so it will be all nice and toasty and the windows will start to thaw a bit so I dont have to scrape so much. When I get out, I find out from her that my battery is dead. I have a drive way designed for one car with two cars parked in it. Even better, the battery on my truck is on the driver side and the one in the car is on the passenger side. Truck is parked on the left and the car is on the right. I cant pull the car into the yard to jump it because the yard is too soggy and has too much snow in it. It will get buried. Oh, and my cabinet is in the back of the truck. OK, I'll just get my cab out and put it in the car. The back door wont open because the lock is electric, and the battery is dead, and the cab wont fit out of the door if I put the seat down and try to take it out that way. Great.

So...the sound guy Chad says he will just put my bass through the monitor. That actually worked pretty well, until the cable from my XLR out of my head went bad and for most of the first few songs as it cut in and out (more out than in). I did find out that I would probably like a single fifteen cabinet better than my 4x10. Probably the only plus to the night.

We got there early to set up, about three hours, which was plenty of time. There were football games on and a pretty good crowd there to watch. We go on at 9:30, and the last game ended about 8:30. At that point I counted 15 people there. So much for a big crowd.

Oh, and while the drummer, his fiance, and the singer and I are sitting there killing time before we start, the singer announces that he is pretty much done playing bars. He's fine playing outdoor gigs, maybe parties, things like that, but he doesnt want to play bars anymore. Did I mention we have been together for thirteen years? My head is thumping and I'm sick as a dog at this point. I just get up and walk away and go sit at the next table by myself until we start. We actually had a full house by the time we kick off so everything there is ok.

As mentioned, this was my first real gig in four months. I was really ready to go, despite being sick, but the singer's news was pretty upsetting. We had known the drummer was going to be pretty much done in the spring when he gets married, but we have someone ready to take his place if he does stop or slow down. But the singer was an original and he really helps drive what our band is known for. Plus, of all times to bring it up...a half hour before a gig? Seriously??

I had gotten together with the guitar player at least once a week since my surgery and we had stayed up on the material, but I had only practiced with the drummer twice, and hadnt with the singer at all in the time I had been laid off, and it showed. We were sloppy. No cohesion. No energy. The crowd seemed into it and didnt seem to notice. but I did, and so did the guitar player. Kind of embarrassing.

Not the way I wanted to return.

Would have liked what might be the last gig I play with this band to have been one for the history books, not a cold night with a terrible chest cold and no energy, onstage or in my body.

BnB

 

Unfortunately, yes. it was real.

And I forgot to mention...the inside door handle in my wife's car doesnt work. To get out, you have to roll down the window and use the outside one. It was about 5 degrees when I got home at 2 am Sunday morning. The windows were frozen shut. I had to climb over the center console to get to the passenger door. I'm six foot one. My wife drives a Ford Fusion. It probably looked pretty funny from the outside.

BnB

 

Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

whoooOOOOOOaaaa!

BnB