These pictures were taken during a tour that ended with a weekend in Dacatur IL. The photos were taken by Larry G. Harris -our occasional sound guy, and noted racconteur.
On the first day we were there, a hurricane blew through the city. And when I say hurricane, I mean an honest-to-God hurricane. As in "Run for your lives! It's a hurricane!!"
We were taking a break when it happened. Larry walked up to me and said "We're on in 15 minutes." I turned away to look out the window, to see a flag on a flag-pole getting practically torn to pieces from the wind and rain. I turned back to Larry and said "I don't think we're going to be playing in 15 minutes". Just then, our fiddle player came running in with his effects pedal board. He turned the board upside down, and about a cup of water poured out of it. All of our equipment was left on stage, and was now in getting soaked with rain, because the roof of the stage had blown clean off. So I ran out to try to rescue my bass from being ruined by the downpour.
As soon as I ran outside, I began to regret my decision when I quickly realized how dangerous the situation was. The streets were completely empty, and there was destruction and chaos everywhere I looked. There was a lightning storm going on, and I quickly realized that I was running right through the middle of it. The air was so electrically charged, that it practically hummed in your ears. It felt like something was about to explode at any minute, and it was a good chance that that something might be me.
The bass was okay, but the case was destroyed. All of the glue came loose from the water, and left it in pieces. Most of the equipment we were using was actually on loan from a local Decatur music store. Most, if not all of it, was destroyed. The soundboard was full of water. The drum-kit had done a summersault off the back of the stage. The sound guys tried to hold the roof down during the storm, but instead ended up getting lifted right off the stage, and tossed to the ground. Everything that was on the stage, had become reduced to piles of mangled debris.
So now we're in this convention center in Decatur (which was where the dressing rooms were) and there's hundreds of people in the lobby who ran in there to escape the rain. They're soaked, their kids are soaked, and everyone's pretty much freaked out. So we set up some instruments and played in front of them. Later on, some of the volunteers pulled us aside and thanked us for playing. They said that we were like the band who played on the Titanic as it was sinking. I tell you, there's nothing quite like playing to an audience of weeping children. Usually it's the adults that weep openly at our shows.
For some perspective, here are some before and after photos.
This is the stage before the storm. Note the drum-kit, monitors, mircophones, and all of the equipment one finds on a typical stage.
And now here's an after picture. Notice how all of those things mentioned before are now missing (The stool was put there later). That mess behind the stage is the roof that blew off.
Other Highlights:
The deep-fried twinkees, AND Snickers bars. The Road-Dog: The World's biggest motorcycle.
Here's a photo of Maury and I rubbing elbows with celebrities.
Then, on our way home, there was a truck accident that sent the thruway into a complete stop for three hours. This is a photo of the view that we looked at during that entire time. This photo was taken at about 5 am.
All in all, though, we had a blast in Decatur. I think that we're, seriously, booked to play there again in the summer of 2008.
For more photos, check out Larry's on-line photo galleries HERE
Oh, and by the way, NEVER order Alligator on a stick. Trust me on this.
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