Slept rather poorly because I was looking forward to this weekend trip to two
of my absolute favorite places we play...
...that and the fact that I went to White Castle (sorry mom) and got a large
onion rings when we got home from DeKalb at 2:30a... hey, at least I talked
myself outa the SLIDERS, y'all... I respect my fellow band mates and Ahmer's
car upholstery more than THAT...
Anyway, the usual routine: hurried packing while Nej and Beau played a few
races then Scott, Ahmer, Beau, and I left in Ahmer's car (this different
vehicle choice... man... should I comment? Hmmmm... guess all I'll say is that
Scott's touring vessel is better suited so I don't get any shit... sorry
mom)... Nej was swingin' another ride later in the day with some of the other
Rogue's Gallery I like to call our "Repeat Offenders"...
No sooner had we hit the onramp then Scott spots a suspicious character in one
of the cars next to us... he's about early to mid-thirties, dressed in a suit
and has his hair in a short ponytail, or "Steven Segal" as I like to call
them... glasses... kind of a "Huppie" (half hippie half yuppie)... Scott
figures him for a stoner...
"How do you figure that?" I ask, genuinely interested in Scott-lock Holmes'
deductive reasoning...
"He's checking his eyes, adjusting the seat, AND changing lanes all at the
SAME TIME but signaling the opposite lane from the one he's movin' to... awwww
THIS guy is just an accident waiting to happen..."
So we watch our intrepid huppie nearly cause a multi-car collision several
times with hilarity until he passes us... and we notice a "Women For Poshard"
sticker on his bumper... not the most inspiring endorsement for governor, this
guy... but needless to say, the name "Poshard" struck up a good laugh between
Beau and I for the rest of the weekend ...and we saw the name all OVER the
place... voting time draws near...
We get to Champaign and get some rooms for the night, Scott wants to get some
beers iced down but I think that we ought to get to the Canopy because it's
after 5p already... mind you I'm thinking about the SCHEDULE (there's that
word again)... and so we meet in the middle and hit a DRIVE-THRU LIQUOR
STORE...
... I'm gonna take a moment here, see if.... hmmmmm.... well, maybe if ya
figger... but see, really... uh... the thing is... um...
... shoot...
...not even I can understand that... a DRIVE-THRU LIQUOR STORE...
...sorry, I tried... my mom might be able to explain it...
...nah... she couldn't talk to me about sex, how the hell is she gonna explain
BOOZE...
...where was I? Oh yeah...
We didn't actually go through the DRIVE-THRU (Note To Self: I wonder if they
offer catheter installation for those drinkerz'n'driverz who are TRULY
hardcore), but we did get some tasty imports for the after-gig and rocketed to
the Canopy despite Ahmer's navigation... all the while Scott is telling me
"we'll be the first ones there, I don't know WHAT you're so uptight about"...
This should be nothing new to me, "DSO Time" as I like to say... rather like
the sight of Corso in his briefs...
...but just like seeing Corso in his briefs... every time, I'm disgusted with
some part of it and it's never quite the same part...
We were indeed the first there... John (as usual) showed up next with D3 (Dave
D. Dwyer, hence the nickname) ... Hazdra and Corso show up next... and then...
um... nothing... someone isn't here...
Temper-wise, I begin perking...
Dave and I get all of our various gear interfaced with the house stuff as best
we can without Jimmie the house tech and D3 gets his recording rig set up...
that done I grabbed a piece of cardboard and list out the stage inputs (such
as "kick drum" or "guitar", followed by an arrow denoting which side of the
stage it's on - trust me, a joke will key on this later) so that when Jimmie
arrives he can start pinning the stage (tech-talk fer "layin' ropes"... you
know... "cables & capsules"... NO I'M NOT MAKING EUPHAMISMS FOR
DEFECATING... jeez... I'm talkin' about placing mics and running cords)...
and in timely fashion Jimmie arrives...
...by the way? "Perking" has gone to "Brewing" at this point, and I can feel a
gasket going before the night is through... there's still something MISSING...
A little side note on Jimmie... you folks at the Canopy don't know how blessed
you are to have a house tech like him... but I sure appreciate him... I've put
this guy through it in three shows and he STILL manages to make me look like I
know what I'm doing...
So the stage is almost finished, but where's the missing piece?
Dave and I duck out to the deli next door and grab a quick dog as we see no
break for a proper meal in our future... another side note: this deli-place
had some scary-bad rendition of 'A Christmas Carol' or something playing in
OCTOBER folks and everything seemed to cost the same no matter what you were
buying... $1.59 seemed to be the going rate for a no fat blueberry muffin or a
contract killing... and the guy just seemed so... happy... TOO weird... ugh...
and then back to the Canopy where Jimmie gets to work making sense of my and
the band's various odd requests...
...at one point in particular, I remember thinkin' "Aaayuh... gonna have'ta
buy the boy a beer later"... this is how we engineers say 'Thanks For Doin' My
Grunt Work"... we're cheap bastards to a one, we engineers, but that beer
MEANS something when given from one cheap bastard to another and I've EARNED
more than a few in my time... and so did Jimmie...
Then it hits me... DINGDINGDING! Maraat and Sprout are not here... that last
piece fell... finally...
...Perkin' to Brewin' and now I'm fit to blow (Insert Warner Bros. Steam
whistle sound effect HERE)...
"AAAAARRRRrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhHHHHH!!!!!!" I waste on no one in particular...
...by the time Maraat rolled in I had exhausted the various different
combinations of his ancestral backround and domesticated livestock possible
and as usual became his stooge, which I do of my own free will... stop trying
to get me 'de-programmed' mom... at least they haven't tried to get me to pan-
handle for 'em at airports... well, ok... the odd Greyhound Bus Station, but
John assured me it was only for meter change... funny, the parking was free
come to think of it... Note To Self: Why did I shave my head anyhow?
Nevermind, have a DSO Prayer Book... I use'ta be all F'd up on drugs... NOW...
I'm all F'd up on the DSO... have you spoken with Hazdra lately sir? He's
waiting to hear from you... Corso bless you...
...man I hate it when my brain makes a left and I'm still turnin' right...
sorry about that... but I left it in just to show what this sort of life does
to a man... or ME for that matter...
Monitors are up to D3's standards, Jimmie and I get the house boxes imaged
better for the floor and the band does a quite creamy "Lazy River Road" to my
absolute satisfaction sound-wise...
...oh piss off! It CAN happen that I'm happy with the mix every now-and-
again...
Anyway, we knock off and wait for showtime in the band room corraling roaches
under plastic cups for a planned "Raid 400 Race " (we run out of cups around
entry 218 and declare the novelty "Worn Off")... still, better than Otto's...
The show was astoundingly good... call me jaded but I DO know when the boys
are producing up to snuff an' when they ain't... and this most definitely
WAS...
The standouts in the first set for me were "So Many Roads", "Maggie's Farm"
complete with M. Hazdra doing his verse sans monitor... and "Birdsong" which
frothed even more than I did upon realizing Maraat wasn't present for sound
check...
One side note here: Jimmie caught a kid looking over the stage input list with
a heavily furrowed brow and he asked this guy what he was reading... the guy
told him he was trying to figure out what songs were coming up... but then
again I can see the confusion - "#17 Bass Direct" is OBVIOUSLY "Box Of Rain"
in code... (If yer out there man, you know who you are and subsequently
probably don't remember or care, but bro, we got a gas outa YOU...).
Second set was a dream with a tasty "Eyes" opener, "Lazy River", an incendiary
"Truckin" and in the latter-half, a "Standing On The Moon" that hit me hard...
"I-I-I-I-I'd Rather Be With You... Be With You...", a punchy "Sat. Nite" and
an encore of "Liberty" which in the past made me wanna beat the crowds to the
door when the Dead played it, but this time I relished every last note...
Special thanks to the band for playing one of my requests as the elective...
I'm positive I asked for it about a month ago but beggers can't be
soundguys... "Corrina" sent everyone home with a grin...
We packed up in less-than-record time and ambled through the streets to our
hotel rooms and a truely "Missing Man Formation" breakfast but I think that
all ties into the next day and therefore will be recounted in the next 'Rash,
which would be...