"All That is Gold Does Not Glitter. Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost." Pt. 2

Hello everyone and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  I know what you are thinking.  Spade where were the live-blogging updates you promised us from last week.  Well to be honest with you, and I feel since we are all friends I can be honest, I figured out that the last thing I wanted to do on the road was write on a computer or my phone.  There is way to much living to be done on that tour bus for me to just simply sit there.  The dick jokes are flying through the air at mach 3 velocity and the guys are usually in rare form.  Not to mention I forgot to download the app, but I am right now as we speak and I will try this venture again someday soon.   As for the state of the tour, it's great.  We keep on movin' on from town to town.  Two great shows coming up this week.  First of all, Friday July 31st we will be heading the Across The Border Raid in Bedford, IA.  This is our first time playing this bike rally but trust me they say things get pretty crazy out there.  Saturday we are very excited to be making a return visit to the town that brought some polka into our Rock N Roll lives last summer.  August, 1st we will be playing the annual Elk Creek, NE Street Dance.  Last year was an amazing night of Rock N Roll and European history.  We can't wait to see all of you again on the road.  If you can't make Saturday's show don't miss my radio show Hair In The Air, Saturday night at 10 PM CST on 101.9 The Keg.

Since I promised you a little taste of life on the road I will indulge you with an experience that happened to us Saturday.  I'm not really sure where to begin it's a long story.  We finished up Friday's show in Sergeant Bluff and had the trailer packed up by 12:30  AM.  This put us in North Platte around 6:30 AM.  Quite a drive and major props to Alan and Mike for pushing the limits.  I woke up around noon Saturday and walked out of the bus.  It was pretty hot but not as bad as I expected.  The rest of the boys were already up and cracking jokes.  Sweet D and I brushed our teeth and I cracked open the trailer.  This set up would be a bit of a struggle as the stage was located in the middle of a dirt rodeo arena.  We set out some boards and started the push towards the stage.  It was hot and we all kept and eye on our water and sunscreen intake.  By about 4 PM we finished and did a quick sound check.  The Lincoln County Fair was gracious enough to supply us with showers but this meant weird band time in the locker room.  Not as bad as you'd think.  They had separate shower stalls but still pretty funny.  Walking back to the bus after the shower I made the boys stop at an inflatable water slide I had spied earlier.  When in Rome you always go down the water slide.  As I climbed the stairs I heard the attendant telling Sniper that the water was pretty dirty since most of the kids were coming over from the horse barn.  Great.  Whatever, I was already halfway up and the kids were giving me bad looks.  Bombs away.  Welcome to splash town.  Totally worth it.

by 5:30 we grabbed some chow and relaxed before our 8:30 start time.  We hit the stage to an overwhelmingly warm response.  The people in North Platte were amazing.  Then came the fire, the smoke, and the fireworks.  It was all smiles as far as I could see.  Then a reoccurring plaque struck my bass rig.  For the last few nights I thought my guitars were messing up but came to realize it was my wireless system.  I had to switch to a chord and limp the rest of the show tied down.  Lesson learned.  We had the trailer packed and ready to roll by 2:00 which put us back in Lincoln by 5:30 AM.  Not to shabby.  I opted to ride behind with Mike in the follow-along car to keep him awake.  The trip was going great until about 8 miles west of York, NE.  We were chatting away when I spotted sparks shooting out of the trailer.  Panicked I phoned Alan and he pulled over the bus.  The bearings on the trailer had gone out and started the center of the wheel on fire.  We doused out the flames and limped it to the next exit.  Our best bet was to drop the trailer and send some boys from Omaha to pick up the gear.  About 45 minutes later we were back on the road without our trailer and gear.  Very scary.  Huge thanks to Dave Shipley, Kenny Beager, Troy Way, and Mike Cloyd for saving our asses.  We made it to Lincoln by about 6:30 AM which wasn't bad all things considered.  This is where I left the rest of the convoy and made my way to an in studio radio interview with Dave Landis on 92.9 The Eagle.  By now it's Sunday and I was a little burnt.  I finally passed out around 1 PM Sunday afternoon.

Sorry this was the long and short of it.  The shows were great but the story is half the fun.  I promise I will get better at this for you and take more pictures.  You are my friends and I know all of you can't be there to experience the magic.  Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed our journey.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

Sam Spade