In the life of a musician, there are three stages that take place on the day of a concert, gig or performance:
1. The Set Up
If a gig begins at 9:00 PM, the band usually meets around 2:00 at the bar, club or venue and slowly reconnect from a week of separation. There's alway that same stale beer smell that I remember as a kid while investigating the rubble in my parents basement after one of their weekend parties. Jokes fly and the stage begins to fill with each others equipment. By about 4:00, It's time for a quick sound check and the night really begins. Wanna beer? OK. After about two beers, ( it's never A BEER) the band make their way out of the dark confines of the bar as the sunlight blinds you like a vampire leaving his coffin
After a quick bite and shower, it's time find something to wear. The ensembles have changed over the years. In my younger days, when I lived in THE ORANGE ROOM, Mom would buy us nice matching uniforms. We hated them, so we began ask for different clothes. Soon, we got rid of the matching uniforms but still looked like nice young boys. A few years later, when I began playing in Maiden Cane, I'd raid my Mother's closet for things to wear. I knew Keith Richards used to wear Anita's blouses, so I'd find loose fitting blouses and other garment to wear with Jeans. Once, I asked my grandma to sew a silk jacket and pants, which she did. Those became my gig garments for sometime. When you're young and slim, you can look a bit androgynous and get away with it.
Next, is the hour or so I used to call, " Getting into the music mode". This would consist of drinking a few beers and listening to a record or watching a DVD of a favorite band. This, along with the alcohol, would make me want to get out and actually PLAY music for real instead of just being a bystander!!!! Many of my ad libs later in the night would come form what was inspiring me in my music mode hour.
2. THE GIG
The gig itself was usually wonderful once everything was set up, sound checked and sounding good. A couple of drinks before the first song then, ROCK N ROLL, FOLK AND ROLL or what ever we were playing in those years.
3. THE COMEDOWN
Now, the after-gig euphoria was always my favorite part of playing live music. There's the satisfaction of a job well done, the relief that your voice held out, the backslapping of all your friends and supporters who told you how much they enjoyed the night. A few drinks are shared and celebratory shots consumed. There is a community feeling with many hugs until you realize that everyone is suddenly gone..... and chairs are being put back on the tops of the table. The clubs lights come on and the owner is asking "how much our we supposed to pay you"? The loot never divides correctly.
The next thing you realize, you have several miles of cables and cords to untangle and get put away!!! Hundreds of pounds of equipment to lift, haul and load. I would usually, buy two beers at the end of the night for load out. This would usually get me though til the last guitar was packed away. After checking twice that everything was accounted for, the band would huddle for a last cig and chuckle. It was then....you realize...I'm feeling great and still jacked with adrenaline, what to do next? Can't waste a good buzz right?
In the old days, the after-gig comedowns were spent doing one of many things, The after gig party, an invitation home with a young lady, hitting the Kollosium, mostly, more drinking and partying. These days, I'm happy just to get home and unload my van and sit out side and hear the silence....remembering the highlights of the past several hours, looking at FACEBOOK pictures and slowly letting the adrenaline and euphoria leave my body.
After many gigs in the 80's, we used to visit this greasy spoon in Bartonville called EMMA's TRUCK STOP. The end of the night would usually sound like this:
'Great gig"!!! "Yeah I had fun"!!! Are you going home? "No, let's go get some coffee"!!!!
Emma's truck stop was the last stop for every late night musician, party person, bar crawler and the like. It looked like the scene in STAR WARS where all the aliens are drinking and smoking in the club!!! That was Emma's. EVERYONE in there was drunk!!!!! The cigarette smoke was so thick that you could hardly see the person at the next table. Now we all should have been home in bed, but I guess we collectively decided we needed to drink a few pots of coffee, eat greasy high calorie food and smoke a half pack of cigarettes before we called it a night. I still smile when a think of the time that we actually, STOPPED THE CONVERSATION DEAD at Emma's
Like I said, Emma's was the last stop for all night owls and everyone was loaded. They'd seen it all. After a gig with a couple of my childhood friends, we continued drinking until the sun peeked above the tree tops. We had just decided that we needed to have a major WATER FIGHT with my parents garden hose and even shot water into their house. They were gone thank goodness. After drinking another beer, I produced three white towels to dry our hair and clothes. "You going home"???? "no, let's get some coffee". That meant a trip down the
hill to EMMAS!!!!
The three of us piled into my buddy's jeep and down the hill we went!!!!! I happened to still be wearing a red bandana from the previous nights gig so I put the white towel on my head and then, the bandana ..... suddenly my towel was flapping in the breeze like an Arab in the desert!!!! Not to be outdone, my other buddy, used a belt and now we had two Arabic head pieces flying in the wind. Once down the hill and safely parked, my other friend wrapped his towel around his head and we entered the smoke filled restaurant looking like three TERRORISTS about to go on some murderous killing spree!!!! At least thats how we were perceived!!!! We just thought it looked funny...like a trio of SHIEKS!!!!!
As soon as we entered the establishment, every head turned and for the first time in years, EVERYONE fell silent!!!! We seated ourselves at an empty table and laughed. Soon, we began to feel the eyes upon us and the waitress seemed to never arrive. After about five minutes, which seemed like an hour, a waitress quietly, explained that we would have to pay for our meal BEFORE we ordered it!!! We just laughed but then, noticed the eyes on us and realized this was serious and not to taken lightly!!!
I kept thinking to myself that every person in this place was some kind of vagabond but we must have looked like BLOOD THIRSTY TERRORISTS!!!!!! We took our towels off and said we would pay for our breakfast and honestly, we we just having fun. Sorry. And with that, the jukebox fired back up, and the other drunks began chatting and laughing again!!! We got our grease and coffee and were home before noon. Just in time for me to pull down the shades in my ORANGE ROOM and sleep forever!!!!
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