Knocking*... John gets up... "Who is it?"
"Housekeeping". I'm reminded instantly of
the scene in 'Tommy Boy'...
This bed sucks... I roll over and nearly get up into
a chair... the furniture cleverly relocated itself last night...
"We'll be out in a minute..." John says,
and promptly lays back down again... atta' boy... I forgot most everything but
my toothbrush... after a "Shiny Breakfast" at the Bob Evans (Ahmer's
skillet breakfast was eye-shockingly orange & yellow in color, the kind you
need welding goggles to look at) we run up the river to DeKalb, stopping for a
moment to check out the Ill. River... plus we may have found the DSO Touring
Vessel (more on this if and when it happens)... when we get to Otto's, the back
door is already open and we load in... this is a sharp contrast to the previous
night, to say the least... the stage looked too small to fit all the band's
gear... but after puzzling it over we got the gear placed rather well, everybody
fit without elbowing each other or clocking each other with a guitar neck...
even though one of the three speakers hanging over the stage (coincidentally the
one facing the mix position) had a blown driver in it, and Scott's vocal mic was
in a position that by all rights SHOULD have played hell with the house feedback
potential, the monitors were passable (weeeelllll, maybe Mike wasn't TOTALLY
happy but being the pro he is, he dealt with it) and I got a fair sound in the
house for soundcheck... I actually got to eat a warm meal before the show and we
got the first set going Some guy standing next to the board area called the
opener, "Stranger"... and it was a strong one indeed... loooong jam...
followed by a "Deal" that raised the temp in the ice-like room (the
A/C was cranked TOO high) and that set the stage for a hot rest of the set,
including a slammin' "Ramble On"... the second set was no slouch but
the standout for me HAD to be "Corrina"... this was like, the second
one in a show and it sounded great... after D/S was a solid "Other One->Wharf
Rat" and a version of "Around N' Round" that had people dancing
joyfully in the balcony... Rob later told me ...ahem... why... there was no
elective encore that night, and the reasons are sketchy at best... but I'd say
we made a few hundred more friends out there...