Tour Journal 7-02-14 to 7-06-14: Four Days On The Road HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY WAY

Captain's log.  Star date.  HELLO! Everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Man am I happy to be back here.  Summer tour has been going splendid and I can't thank you people enough for all the love and support you have shown me and the boys in 3D In Your Face over these last few months.  This is the part of the year that makes those long boring winter months absolutely worth it.  Summer Tour baby!  Before I get to the good stuff I want to let you know where our next stops are.  This Friday, July 11th we will be returning home for a very special night at The 21st Saloon.  This show is being sponsored by our good friends Party Express Bus Nebraska.  If you are looking for the best party in town and need transportation hit these guys up.  You wont be disappointed.  Saturday, July 12th we are heading to my hometown of Fremont, NE to headline the annual beer garden at The John C. Fremont Days Festival.  This is an amazing event and I can't wait to see all my friends and family having the time of their lives.  Two shows, not to far from each other.  I hope you can be at both.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY WAY

I meant to write this blog as we were traveling over the weekend but due to poor cell phone reception and even worse wi-fi I am going to have to do this all from memory.  Good thing I quite drinking maybe I can remember what happened 4 days ago.  Sorry for the length of this blog.  I had to write it so that this was documented somewhere.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY WAY

This bit of our tour started, for me, on Wednesday July 2nd.  I had been negotiating a TV appearance in St. Joseph and landed a spot on the Live At Five segment on KQ2.  So I asked Crash Davis (my amazing radio boss) if I could record our show early so I could hit the road.  He said sure no problem can you be here by 10 AM.  No problem, there is no such thing as sleeping in Rock N Roll.  So I got a few hours of rest woke up at 8 AM loaded my car and began my adventure.  I hit the station by 10 AM and we cut one hell of a radio show.  Thanks for listening.  Next I headed to the production shop to chat with our sound engineer Troy about the weekends plans.  Nothing crazy going on.  I luckily found a ride to St. Joe with two of my best friends and road parents Joe and Alyshia Bisgard from Party Express Bus.  They were kind enough to drive my long hair to St. Joe and back.  I was dressed and in full makeup by 1:30 and we hit the road.  Let me tell you it is a pleasure sitting shotgun with Joe when he drives.  A true professional and all around funny man.  We hit St. Joe by 3:30 grabbed a power up and made our way to the station.  As soon as we walked in we were pleasantly greeted and everyone stopped to snap a picture with me.  I had the gloves on the whole time.  My segment was scheduled for 5 PM.  Usually I am very nervous on TV.  I never know where to look but luckily the anchor Bridget made me feel very comfortable and we just chatted about the show and 3D In Your Face.  By far my best TV showing to date.  Promptly following we stopped at a Waffle House which we don't have in Nebraska.  The best breakfast I have ever had.  Back in the truck headed toward Nebraska.  There was one minor stop at the firework stand for some illegals and we were back on the road.  We hit Omaha by 9 PM and I was exhausted but not to exhausted to watch Joe and his sons light up the night sky with some of those Missouri special orders.  COUNT IT.  I was in bed and sawing logs by 1:30 AM.  Good day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY WAY

I got up early to shower and shave for the weekend.  Did a little chatting with a couple local musicians.  I always love hearing the stories of the guys that played back in the 80's.  Our bus call was at 1:00 and I got to the gas station around 12:30 and so did Hot Rod.  We got the bus and got everybody packed in.  Only delayed by The Playboy by 45 minutes or so.  We hit the road to begin our journey.  About an hour into our trip we were BS'ing in the back of the bus when BOOOOM.  The tire blew.  I was freaking out.  There was rubber shooting all over the road and the bus continued.  I thought this is it we are going to crash.  Luckily Hot Rod a seasoned professional brought us to a stop.  We got directions to the shop and made it to Adare, IA in one piece.  Luckily they had a spare.  About an hour later and two hours behind schedule we were back on the road.  As we arrived in Massena, IA everyone was there to welcome us and help set up our show for the evening.  We rushed and sweated and got the show up and running in record time.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to eat before we played which is always dangerous.  The show was great and the crowd was unbelievably responsive.  There were some familiar faces and lots of new ones.  We met some really great people.  We took our bow at 1AM and tare down commenced.  I changed my sopping wet clothes and helped load the trailer, pack the bus, and direct the fork lift.  A special thank you to our amazing road crew that always does an amazing job every show.  We closed the trailer doors at 2:30 and left this really cool town.  Until next year.  Next stop Rock Port, MO.  I road with the bus for half the trip and then decided to ride with our guitar tech Matt to keep him alert on the trip.  As we pulled up to the Rock Port Country Club we found the stage and navigated the bus in that direction.  Now there was a huge hill to get up to our stage.  Our first attempt at the hill with the bus and trailer was a miserable failure.  To steep.  We reversed her all the way down the hill and back into the lane to get a running start.  Vrrroooommmm.  Up the hill she went.  Second attempt success.  We shut everything down about 6 AM.  Good day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY WAY

I rolled out of my pink sheets about 1:30 PM the trailer was already halfway unpacked.  Damn it.  I always hate sleeping while the rest of the boys are out busting their asses.  So I sunscreened up and hit the ground running.  Let me tell you we sweated bullets for three good hours setting up the stage, lights, and pyro for the show.  The mood of the crew was great considering the heat and the sun.  We were happy to be out and happy to be playing again.  Luckily Matt let a few of us use his room to shower and eat dinner.  We got dressed and hit the stage about 8:30 PM.  Big big thank you's to the 3D In Your Face Army for being there and leading the charge.  You guys saved our asses that night in Rock Port.  Around 9:30 the fireworks started bursting above our heads as we were playing "Still of the Night" by Whitesnake.  It was pure goosebumps.  What a way to celebrate the nation's birthday.  Plus I knew we still had another night left on the books.  We carried on with the rest of the show and tore up Rock Port for another few hours.  I could tell that everyone was a little tired so I took charged and started packing things up to get us on the road again.  We closed the trailer doors around 1AM and headed back towards Omaha.  In his confusion of the Rock Port streets Hot Rod accidentally took the bus down a dead end street.  We were trapped and we couldn't back the bus up because of a hill.  Thankfully there was a two car driveway at the end of the road.  Due to his amazing driving skills and the kindness of a little old lady we were able to 52-point-turn the bus around.  We only smashed a little bit of the ladies grass. Back on the road.  We pulled into our gas station about 4 AM and shut things down for the evening.  I think I finally fell asleep around 5 AM in the back of the bus to the sound of rain hitting the roof.  Wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I got up around 1:30 PM and brushed my teeth in the gas station.  We grabbed some breakfast and headed towards Ames/Fremont, NE.  A short drive and pretty decent ride.  Luckily tonight's show was indoors.  I'm not sure I could have handled another scorcher.  Load in was pretty easy and the spirits were still pretty good with everyone in the crew.  Some good sleep was just what the doctor ordered.  We got set up and I took Sniper to a local sandwich shop in Fremont that has the best Hero Subs you've ever had.  We ate at my parents house.  Got dressed and hit the stage right around 9:15.  The 3D In Your Face Army was there to welcome us with open arms.  I know they were as tired as we were not to mention Party Express Bus showed up and matched us bus for bus in the parking lot.  The show was great and amazingly hot.  I pushed it despite the heat.  This is what we train for.  This is when the Rock N Roll is the absolute best.  When it's so hot and your so tired that you are riding on the music and the music alone.  The crowd was great and we even got one of the local kids up on stage to finish the last song on the bass and take a bow.  After three days for some reason I wasn't tired and I wasn't ready for it to end.  We loaded out and left the parking lot about 2:30 AM.  It was just Hot Rod and I on the bus headed back to Omaha which was pretty cool.  Great conversation about the weekend and the rest of the tour.  We pulled up to the gas station.  I loaded my car and headed back to Lincoln.  I got home and immediately fell in bed.  Lights out at 6AM or maybe lights up.  Not sure.

Always Loud
Forever Proud

KEEP THE FAITH
SPADE