Last night and this morning were very interesting to say the least. And it may not make a GREAT story, but it makes one nonetheless. So I thought I would chronicle things for you. Most of our gigs go without much trouble at all. Meet one that did not.
6:22 PM – Rob, my brother calls to tell me the band’s van has broken down. We play at 10:00 PM 30 minutes away. I need to get over there to load my minivan and the bass player is bringing his truck. Later on I will tell you how this seeming mini-disaster was a blessing in disguise.
6:30 PM – Luckily they broke down close to me so I am already there. We start moving things to my van.
6:40 PM – My van is full and Chris, our bass player has just arrived. We load the rest into his truck.
6:50 PM – We are on the road, headed for Bristol VA.
7:15 PM – We arrive at our destination and actually still end up beating our drummer there.
7:30 PM – We begin unloading and setting up.
9:00 PM – We are pretty much set up, but my Dad’s pedal board is not working. This is kind of important since he is our lead guitarist. It’s shaping up to be quite a night already.
9:15 PM – We give up on it and he runs it through one pedal and still gets a great tone from his Vox AC30 amp. Go figure. :) I order a BLT.
9:30 PM – Sound check. This actually goes pretty smooth for once.
9:45 PM – I eat that BLT. Mmm Mmmm good. Would have enjoyed it more if I knew it was the last thing I’d eat for a while.
10:00 PM – Show starts. Great crowd. Heads grooving, smiling faces and dancing. Awesome. It makes playing so much easier. Bout a hundred people in the place counting the bar. Nice.
12:00 AM – Last break. The gig has gone great so far. We step out side and see that it is snowing and sleeting. But people are still coming, so the roads must not be too bad.
1:00 AM – Show is over, we had a great time and I think the crowd did too. Step outside. OK, this isn’t looking so great and there is no way put anything in the open truck bed. We decide to take what we can in my van and leave the big stuff to pick up in the morning.
1:05 AM – The police have called to say people need to get moving. Roads worsening. We start a hasty breakdown and get the van loaded. Jeff, our drummer, my Dad, and Rob all nearly wipe out in the ice.
2:00 AM – We set out for home. So far roads seem OK.
2:05 AM – We are on the interstate now. It seems decent, but our worry is growing. We see a rest stop full of truckers and none are on the road. We decide we will get of the interstate and head up 11W.
2:13 AM – Bad idea. Ice like crazy. Cars stopped everywhere. We back up and try to turn around. I have lost control of the van and we are sliding towards a guardrail. The hand of God must have reached out and stopped us. We miss the guardrail. We are now on the other side of the highway, facing back towards Bristol. Oh yeah, we have an 1/8 tank of gas. My bad.
2:30 AM – We are dangerously close to the road and if someone tries the same maneuver we did, we’re gonna get hit. I back us up into a businesses drive with another guy.
2:35 AM – A guy tries what I did, slides right to where we were, nearly hits the guardrail. Thank you one more time God.
3:15 AM – Salt truck arrives and we are close to getting to leave.
3:25 AM – Our new buddy who pulled in beside us decides to try it. He seems to be doing ok. I try to get a vote from my Dad and Rob, but no one says anything. I go.
3:27 AM – So far so good. Uh oh. There is our new buddy, off the side of the road. Now I see why. The salt truck turned around to go the other way. We are now on black ice again. I have no control over the van at all. “Boys, I don’t know what we are going to do” is what I think I said.
3:29 AM – Somehow we get through it and get to the roadside. Rob steps out, thinks the road is ok where we are now. We’re off again.
3:30 AM – We are going over a bridge looking down at the interstate. Big rigs are back out and moving quickly. We hit the interstate.
4:10 AM – We reach Colonial Heights. Almost home. Stop for gas. I am pumping the gas and Rob and Dad head in for something to drink and a snack. They walk in front of the van. Dad disappears. Now Rob has disappeared. I walk around and they are on the ground laughing. They have busted their arses. Inside there are lots of stranded people. We get the latest on Kingsport and find out all the side roads are really bad. I live on some of the worst of those side roads.
4:25 AM – Drop off Rob.
4:45 AM – Arrive at Dad’s and I am staying here. We still have to go back to Bristol before Noon to get our stuff.
5:00 AM – We both fall asleep.
9:00 AM – We are up. I stink. No shower. Same clothes. I smell like a bar and a guy who is 24 hours past his last shower. I feel ok though in spite of the short sleep.
10:15 AM – Arrive at Rob’s and unload my van.
10:50 AM – Arrive in Bristol at Fast Lane and start loading the rest of the stuff.
11:15 AM – Perkins for breakfast and the best Diet Coke I’ve had in a while.
12:30 PM – Drop off the rest of the stuff at Rob’s. We have loaded and unloaded this stuff more the past 16 hours than 2 and 1/2 normal gigs. My back hurts and my arms are fatigued.
12:45 PM – Drop off Dad.
1:00 PM – Quick trip to Wal Mart for a few things.
1:45 PM – Home at last!!! I missed everyone. Glad to be here.
2:00 PM – Shower, FINALLY!
So, it was quite a night. I talked to our drummer and found out he did end up off the road in a ditch and had to walk to his son’s house. He got his car out and got back home earlier today. Our bass player was stuck a little further down the same stretch we were. But I think he got home fine later on.
All in all, we were very blessed. No one got hurt and I suffered no damage to my van. Had the band van not broken down, we’d have had it AND my minivan in Bristol. Getting 2 vehicles home would have increased our chances of damage. The big band van would really have been a hand full and I would have been by myself in my car. Don’t tell them, but having my Dad and Brother there made it much easier to handle.
I’m gonna go rest now. Had to go ahead and do this so I wouldn’t forget anything… Rob, Dad, add anything you think I forgot.
And technically the gig isn’t over. We still have to get the band van towed, fixed and everything moved back into it.