What The Hell Happened Out There?

Hello everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of The Midnight Devils and 3D In Your Face.  So the big elephant in the room is what exactly happened out there?  I would like to apologize for my silence on here as of late.  I love this blog and for the last few weeks I wasn't really sure I could write down my feelings.  We went through so much in the last two weeks.  Soaring highs and bottomless lows.  Things are starting to straighten out and my heads finally coming back into the game.  I would like to thank all of our family and friends for being there, for answering the phone at 3 am, and for getting us headed back in the right direction.  Before I get into what happened on our "Road to Rocklahoma" Tour, I need to let you know that The Midnight Devils will be kicking off our new tour "The Other Side of Night" this Friday night in Sioux City, NE at The Huddle Lounge.  This is a 9 PM show and there will be no cover charge.  Then Saturday we make a big homecoming at The Chrome Lounge for the SOB Rally.  We will be headlining the event and will be playing inside from 11-1AM.  Filling in on the drums will be Wes Graffius from Omaha bands Murderhouse and Through The Stone and trust me this guy will rip your face off.  Tonight 3D In Your Face will be performing at Throttle Thursday at Dillon Bros. in Omaha, NE.  This will be a 6 PM show, all ages, and free admission.  Cars, bikes, babes, liquor, and so much glitter.  We are going to be shakin' it hard for the next three days and I've realize one thing, I miss you crazy people.  Don't forget to tune into my radio show also called HAIR IN THE AIR, Saturday night at 11 PM on 101.9 The Keg.  I will also be DJ'ing Friday morning 12-3 AM and Saturday morning 12-3 AM.  Tune in and crank up.

Photo by Belinda Glass Reedy

Photo by Jessica Link and Ultimate Festival Guide

This blog has always been a place for me to air my feelings and anything else happening week by week in a operational rock n roll band but I will never turn this into something negative or a place to talk bad about someone.  That being said our "Road to Rocklahoma" Tour started out amazingly.  Sylvester's in Broken Bow, NE is a wild time and the family that runs the bar treats us just like one of their own.  That's something I'm very proud of.  "Knocking on Heaven's Door" will become a staple in that town.  Nick's on the Brick's in Kearney, NE is always wild as hell.  From start to finish people were there to have a good time.  They danced, they sang, and they drank a hell of a lot.  We will be back again Oct. 28th for Halloween.  The Legendary Boobie Trap bar in Topeka is another one of those diamonds in the rough.  One of the coolest rock n roll bars in the Midwest.  We invited Brian the owner up to sing a few songs and he ended up not only singing all night but he nailed it.  Huge thanks to John for letting us crash at The Twisted Diamond.  I was nervous about The Riot Room in KC.  This was a legit national venue and I didn't want us to mess up our chances of ever going back.  Opening band Vibralux walked out onto the stage in a pure glam/trash/sleaze/cross dressing/drag/theatrical fashion.  We were floored by their show and quickly became friends during one of those "I know you're putting on your lipstick but can I use the mirror to adjust my eye shadow" dressing room moments.  At the end of that show in KC that's when things started to go down hill.  There are a lot of stories that are floating around but pure and simple our drummer left the tour that night.  We were devastated and had no idea how to save the rest of the shows let alone make it to the biggest show of all Rocklahoma.  After a few calls late at night we tracked down Jimmy Mess formerly of The Prophets of Addiction now playing for from The Tattooed Millionaires.  He was available but unfortunately he was in Chicago.  I made a wild dash to Chicago picked him up in the early hours of the morning drove all the way back and we jumped in the van and pointed it towards Oklahoma City.

Photo by Belinda Glass Reedy

Photo by Belinda Glass Reedy

At this point we had some traction and we thought we might be able to pull this off.  Unfortunately we weren't able to save our show in Dewey, OK.  I've never cancelled a show before and that was one of the hardest calls I've ever had to make in my life.  Giz the owner at The Heritage Theatre busted her ass and took a chance on us and we couldn't fulfill our obligations.  Brian, the promoter and I had worked on this show for months and it felt like a ton of bricks hitting me in the chest to make that call that we had to cancel.  We promise to make it up to the great people of Dewey, OK later this year.  Back on track with a bad ass drummer in-tow, we landed in OKC with about an hour to spare.  We stopped at Omaha natives Justin and Sara King's house just long enough to grab an amazing steak dinner and a shower and head to Oklahoma City Limits for the show.  Jimmy feverishly listened to all of our songs and we walked him through the set list.  Opening band Follow The Wolves killed it and we stepped up onto the stage with nothing to lose.  The show went much better then I think Sniper or I anticipated.  Jimmy is a pro and was fearless through the whole night.  For our first dance we didn't do to bad and the great people at OKC Limits soon became like family to us.  Looks like we will be coming back again in Oct. and we can't wait to see you.  Next up was the big show Rocklahoma.  We showed up Thursday afternoon and it was immediately like one big class reunion.  I forgot how many friends we had made last year and seeing everyone again just really put us in a great mood.  Alan met us there at Pryor and we ended up supplying backline for the pre-party.  We hit the stage around 7 PM and Jimmy took it up another notch.  The crowd was ready for some glam slam rock n roll and we delivered it to them nonstop for 40 minutes.  Turn 'em and burn 'em.  We hung out until the early morning chatting with bands and catching up with our Rocklahoma crew.  Friday was an early one and we made it to the festival around 4 PM.  We walked around handing out flyers and taking pictures for most of the day.  Around midnight we got all dolled up and joined The Retrospect All star Band on stage for a cover of Panama by Van Halen.  That's when I decided to break out the pink tutu that Carrie Reeves hand made me.  You could see peoples jaws dropping as the three of us walked out on stage.  An amazing day and we by 2 AM we had stayed so long that they almost locked us inside the gates.  Saturday we had to be back to catch Moxy and The Influence's set.  Around 6 Jimmy and I took off to go catch Zakk Sabbath and about 4 songs in they shut the whole show down due to weather but promised it would be back up in an hour.  Not to be the case.  A huge storm rolled through the entire area and they pulled the plug on the rest of Saturday night.  We ended up hanging out with The Tip in the camp grounds for a bit before heading back into Pryor for some food and air conditioning at a bar called Hookers.  Sunday was early early.  We met Joe Magle and the crew from WCR 247 Radio for breakfast a local dinner and the place came alive as soon as we walked in the door.  It was a scene.  Back at the festival we rushing off to the media tent for what we thought would be a few interviews.  While sitting there Belinda kept calling me.  Not to be rude to the interviewer I didn't pick up.  Finally I answer and she says "I'm about to make your year.  Get your asses to the 2nd stage you guys are opening the entire festival today.  Make us proud and don't fuck it up."  Next thing you know we have all access laminates and these stage hands are loading our gear onto the big boy stage.  Belinda comes rolling around in the golf cart and says to me "After all you guys have been through you deserve this get out there and bring it."  We hardly had a chance to breathe before we hit the stage in front of 1,000+ people and with a brand new drummer, we delivered the goods.  It was like some sort of dream and I couldn't stop smiling.  The lowest of the low that night in KC and now we are playing the 2nd stage at Rocklahoma.  That's the magic of Rock n Roll.  The rest of the day was a blur of pictures, autographs, and laughter.  We packed it up a t 2 AM and pointed the van back towards Nebraska.  We drove all night and made it Monday morning around 9 AM.  We put Jimmy on the Grey Hound back to Chicago and everyone got some much needed shut eye.  The fucking "Road to Rocklahoma", what a ride it was.

Photo by Belinda Glass Reedy

I wrote this for all of you at home to let you know how things went out there.  There will be some member changes in the next few weeks for The Midnight Devils but someone very close to me told me "No one is bigger then the band itself."  We will continue, we will have a new record out, and we couldn't do any of this without you.  Thank you to Jimmy Mess, and everyone that made this tour possible.  Without you we are nothing.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

Sam Spade