My biggest compliment goes out to our stage manager and guitar tech Chappy. As a lot of you know we have been out touring hard every week since September 2012. Now this isn't your normal tour but trust me all the same rules still apply. After a very long cold winter in Nebraska you can say that we are more than ready to get out and stretch our road legs. Back to Chappy, before the show started at the Century Link Center you could say we as a bad were a little down in the dumps. This is nothing to fret about and it happens with all bands. The roller coaster ride of emotional highs and lows consistently wears on you, combine that with stress, hunger, and exhaustion and you get a particularly negative situation in the dressing room. I know everyone was feeling it and I just didn't know how to snap us out of it before we hit the stage. In walks Chappy like a massive flood of light in this dark room. He came in with the biggest smile you have ever seen and started shooting off jokes and putting people in their places. Knocking everyone down a few pegs. The mood immediately changed and we commenced with the pre-show dressing room festivities. If you have ever been in a band or have been around a band an hour before they take the stage you know that this is one of the wildest moments of the entire evening. This is my golden hour. I look forward to this moment all damn day. Each guy tries to tell the dirtiest joke he can think of to get the other guys laughing. Your adrenaline is already sky high in anticipation of the crowd and the music that you inevitably end up going to the bathroom five times in this one hour period. That proved a little harder in The Century Link Center since the bathrooms were a block away. As we walked through the dressing room to the stage we were all floored by the amount of people dressed in 80's gear. From Wayne and Garth to neon leg warmers and sideways pony tails. Every negative thought left my body and I got that all to familiar stage fright rush as we walked out onto our stage.
I know I don't thank Chappy enough for this but I think the real reason we hired him is because his is our rock of positiveness on the side of the stage. I thanked him after the show for helping us when we were down and out. He said some very wise things to me, "I want you to just remember that we are all a family. It's not just about the four guys in the band up there on the stage. It's equally about the four guys off the stage and more importantly about the crowd out there on the floor. All of these things need to come together in harmony for 3D In Your Face to have a successful show." Powerful buddy. That set met me back and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that. We need you the crowd, the fans, the rock n roll fanatics just as much if not more than you need us. 3D In Your Face needed that crowd more than anything in the world that night. I haven't been able to shake those words and I sure as hell haven't taken them lightly. As our tour continues I am certain we are going to have more ups and downs. I think my favorite piece of advice to give when somebody asks me how to survive a tour is "Never be the guy that gets pissed off". This took me a long time to learn and I went through a few tours as the angry guy. I wish I could take those moments back. I will say it over and over again. We have the greatest jobs in the world and I am thankful everyday that I get to play music with my four best friends. I am one lucky SOB.
This Friday May 3rd brings you the end of our winter tour and the beginning of our spring melt down. Granted it still might snow. Welcome to Nebraska. Friday May 3rd, I am more than excited to bring you the funnest sponsored 3D In Your Face event you have ever been a part of. We are trowing a TOGA PARTY at the 21st Saloon brought to you by The Strip Club Choppers. Go out and buy yourself some nice new sheets, pin them around your waist, and grab a few makeshift olive branches because this Friday we are going to do as The Romans did if they had long haired-makeup wearing-rock n roll junkies back then. TOGA PARTY. It is time to riot and burn Rome to the ground. Friday, 3rd at The 21st Saloon 3D In Your Face and The Strip Club Choppers brings you TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!