I had only recently moved out of THE ORANGE ROOM, my bed room in my parents home in Bartonville Il. I was now working at Bergner’s Downtown full time in the Electronics Department and playing in a rock band on weekends. The two professions were beginning to collide more and more often as the Bergner's GM was getting tired of me missing work on Saturdays. I had to make a decision, Bergner's or The Band. I chose the band and with that decision, I became an unemployed, “professional" musician. Money would continue to be tight.
I remember telling our older guitar player as we pulled out of our drive way that I had lost my job and he immediately cheered me up saying that I'd make more money playing in the band! I chose to believe him and set out for our weekend musical journey. I had noticed a scratchy throat all week and was worried that I may have been coming down with a cold. This is a singer's worst nightmare but I would have to persevere. After we arrived in Wilmington Il, we found our club and set up our gear. The cold was getting worse so I figured the beer would help medicate me. We found out that another Peoria band, The Jets were playing close by that weekend and were staying in the same motel as us. Perhaps we would get together afterwards and have a beer?
Somehow we got through the gig but my throat was shot. It was going to be tough tomorrow night but......that was TOMORROW. It was time to party tonight. It must have been 1:30 by the time we got back to the motel. We had packed our guitar cases and made sure we had another case at our disposal....a CASE OF BUDWEISER CANS. Since we all had been drinking throughout the gig we were pretty far along when the first clues of hotel wrecking became apparent! At first it was harmless wrestling. Band guys blowing off steam. Soon, the mattresses were torn off the beds and ended up a skew on the floor. Next, heads were drenched in golden bubbly Budweiser and any lamp or lamp shade in the general vicinity was immediately trashed. Pictures were knocked off the walls while Tumbling Dice from Exile On Main Street played loudly out of the clock radio.
If Keith Moon can do it...why can't we? We all agreed and turned up the heat a bit. Our sound guy appeared out of the bathroom and he had soaked several toilet paper rolls and began tossing them at the ceiling where they would stick with a humorous "suction cup" sound!!!!!! We all took turns. Not to be outdone, our guitar player raised his beer and proceeded to pour its contents into the back of the TV set!!!! Now, we were on the first floor so there was no way we could have thrown the television out the window but if we could, I'm sure we would have. We were in the zone!!! The Color ZENITH TV SET sputtered and crackled until it went black and died an unnecessary death. It was about this time that the Jet's arrived back at the motel and stuck their heads in our slightly ajar doorway and realized it was probably best to head on down to their room and not get associated with us at all. I can't imagine what they were thinking but the look on their face said it all. After about an hour, we decided that the Jets had perhaps left the party a little prematurely! We went on a nocturnal mission and took every drained Budweiser can and built a pyramid outside their motel door. We giggled the whole time and finally decided we'd done enough damage. To this day, I never knew If the Jets ever caught any flack for the beer cans. We Did!
The next morning, all I remember is I'm SICK AS A DOG and HUNGOVER LIKE A SON OF A BITCH. AND....we had no place to spend the day or get ready for the nights gig!!! We'd been tossed out of our room. It was early Fall and remember driving our DUMB RED DOG converted fire truck / band truck to a nearby park where we could at least sleep off the hang over and then get dressed later on. I remember lying on the roof of the truck soaked in beer and baking in the sun. I guess the beer can pyramid called attention to our escapades. I never knew for sure. One thing was for sure, we were a mess. Maybe we showered before we went to bed. I can't remember...but if we didn't, We just have been pretty gross. I just remember feeling homeless and so sick. We eventually got a few winks of sleep and must have found a McDonalds or something then got dressed and went to the club early. I remember laying down on the stage behind my Marshall amplifier and it felt like a king size bed compared to where I'd been laying earlier in the day. Soon it was time to rock!!! 9:00 came and we started our set with all the fire and passion we could muster. My voice was shot but all considered, we got through the night and lived to tell about it.
Our days of hotel trashing had come to an end but there would be other tales of mayhem and other evacuations to come. Just another TALE FROM THE ORANGE ROOM.
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