Does This Ever Get Old

Hello everybody.  Welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Well we are right in the thick of it.  Can you say summer tour.  The smell of baby powder wafts through the air.  The empty sunscreen cans are pilling up in the bus.  We are right at the cliff of one of our busiest months ever and I couldn't be more happy.  Before we get into the good stuff this week.  I want to let you know what is going on this week in our world.  First of all the weekend is almost upon us.  This weekend I am staying with our Omaha Hotel sponsor The Carlisle Hotel.  If you are in Omaha and need a discount place to stay, just mention "3D In Your Face" when you place your reservation at The Carlisle front desk.  Thursday I will be going on a tour of The Youth Emergency Services facility with my good buddy Chris Marsh and the Milwaukee band The Black Saints.  I always love going to the outreach center and chatting with the kids.  The cool thing is most of the kids are going through the same problems I went through as a young man.  Friday, June 27th I will be live in the studio on The Big O 101.9 FM at 8 AM talking about the upcoming show.  Friday night 3D In Your Face will be performing in Auburn, NE for their street dance.  This will be our first time in Auburn and we are very excited to keep the Rock N Roll wheels turning.  Saturday I have the amazing pleasure to be the special guest MC at the Rock For The Youth Show to benefit the Youth Emergency Services.  This show is going to be held at Chrome Lounge in Omaha.  To be honest with you I am a little nervous this will be my first MC gig ever.  Do you prepare jokes?  Do you write note cards?  Do you swear?  Ahhhhhhhh, this is going to be fun.  Get your cameras out. 

"Does this ever get old?"  This is the question that people keep asking me. Some guy asked me this right as I stepped off of stage on Saturday.   "Do you ever get tired of playing in a band?"  The answer is the same every time.  I love this job this is the best job in the entire world.  Tired?  Not a chance.  When it comes to interviews, load-ins, long drives, early mornings, or sleepless nights, I welcome each and everyone of the challenges.  Now I am definitely not Super Man.  Each one of the these things presents a new and difficult obstacle to over come.  Driven, I think would be a great word for the name of this tour.  Every time the shit starts to hit the fan I look at the guys busting their asses paving streets or dry walling houses and I realize that it could always be worse. I love what we do.  We are very fortunate to have an a amazing fan base, The 3D In Your Face Army and I know that if I ever need anything they would be more than willing to deliver.  The same goes for us.  If there is something we can do for you people out there by all means let us know.  On one hand I tell people this is the best job ever but on the other hand I feel dirty calling what I do a job.  Sure we put an immense amount of work and dedication into this, but it doesn't really feel like work to me.  I feel passionately about the music.  I am emotional about their delivery.  I am also professional about our practices and stage presence. I wan to be the best and nothing and nobody is going to stop me.

Two weeks before every show we begin to look for publicity that we can do to help promote the band and the performance in the town we are traveling too.  So things start for me two weeks before the actual date of the show.  Emails and phone calls to radio programs, newspaper editors, bloggers, reviewers, clubs, publicists.  Last week for some reason we kept getting resounding "No"'s.  For some reason no one was biting.  I was a little depressed and pretty angry with theses media gate keepers.  Who where they to tell me that my music wasn't worth putting into print or over the air waves.  They don't know me, they have no idea what we have gone through.  They don't listen to the singles, they don't even open the albums.  I was pretty mad and it takes me a lot to get mad.  In the end I realized that it wasn't even worth my time to worry about these people.  In the end the editors and the critics aren't the people the make bands.  Sniper always tells me that KISS and Van Halen were always hated by the critics.  His favorite bands never won Grammy's.  Sniper always has the best advice.  Thanks buddy.  It's one of those things that I know will eventually happen.  Eventually those same editors and program directors will come knocking on our doors asking for interviews and you know what I will say.  "Absolutely".  In the end it's the passion, drive, and emotion that always wins.  It's the performance that touches the people.  It's the lyrics and the music that sets your mind free.  God Bless those editors and program directors that never return my emails. In the end we always find somebody that is worth and who's heart is in the right place.  There are still people that believe in Rock N Roll out there and I am proud to call those people my friend.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH
SPADE

I'm Bringing The Sunscreen and The Poncho.

All hail you Rock N Roll wrecking crew.  HELLO and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  First thing I want to do before we get this thing going is send our collective prayers as a band and a fan base to the residents of Pilger, NE and the people with families in Pilger, NE.  Yesterday a deadly tornado ripped through their town and destroy the small community.  Last year we had the amazing opportunity to play in Pilger as part of Pilger Days.  It's hard to comprehend the devastation and loss these Nebraskan's have experienced.  May God be with you and your loved ones.  Here are a few pictures that we got from our show in this great city last summer. If you want to send some help T

This week we keep on trucking.  Our 2014 Summer Tour keeps on rolling and this week are gearing up for two huge shows in Sioux City, IA.  We are heading back to The Awesome Biker Nights Festival in downtown, Sioux City, IA.  If you haven't been or haven't yet heard of this legendary two-day party then saddle up partner.  Imagine if you will, 6 blocks of downtown Sioux City blocked off and only motorcycles and pedestrians are allowed to enter the party arena.  3 stages and dozens of bars liter the festival grounds.  That electricity is in the air and everyone is there for one reason, FUN.  Tons of great food and drinks, lots of bands from country to heavy metal, and more ass-less chaps than an old-fashioned cattle drive.  We have the great opportunity to be playing at a bar that we have had great history with over the last few years.  4th Street Bar and Grille will be the HOME OF HAIR for the weekend.  We will laugh, we will cry, and we will make memories that will last a life time.  Sioux City, I hear you calling off in the distance.  I can almost feel the awkward fishnet sun burns and taste the street cart gyros, the smell of cigarettes and gasoline filling the air.  Also this week, on Wednesday, June 18th Focus On Metal Podcast will be premiering Forbidden City.  Please show this Podcast some Army love and share this with your friends.  

Oh Sioux City it has been a while since I have graced your sultry shores.  We have  a history together.  When my first band OFFICIALLY TERMINATED started out we had trouble finding shows in our hometown and in Omaha so we looked north for the answer to our Rock N Roll urges.  I think we played in Sioux City once a month for a year straight.  Every show was wilder than the last.  We picked up hitchhikers, we drank illegally, we fogged out old VFW halls, we played crappy bowling alleys, we fought with the locals, and tried to steal their girls.  Sioux City I have more stories with you than almost any other city in my life.  One time we decided to do a small tour and stay up in Sioux City for a few days.  Luckily we were offered a place to crash by some kids at the show.  Their parents were gone and they had booze and the house to themselves.  This was a bad combination or good depending on what angle you are looking at this from.  We drank into the morning hours.  My memory is a little foggy but I remember our drummer running through our hosts yards and breaking each and every baby sapling off at the ground.  Our bass player took it upon himself to destroy each and every plastic lawn chair.  You are just sitting there one minute talking and the Mike Jones would launch himself onto you leaning way back and snapping the legs of the chairs.  You would land in a heap of plastic, booze, and cigarette.  For some reason I don't remember doing anything stupid but that surely doesn't mean that nothing happened.  The next day we arrived at the venue.  We parked right in front where everyone was standing and smoking.  The sliding mini-van doors roll open and each and every guy in the van piles out and starts puking all over the fresh Sioux City grass.  We were a punk rock band.  It seemed very fitting at the time.  I love you Sioux City and I can't wait to feel your warm, smelly embrace.  I'm bringing the sun screen and the poncho.  

ALWAYS LOUD

FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH

SPADE

Keep Me Coming

Hello my Hell raising Big Foot's of Rock N Roll.  Welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Summer tour is off to a wonderful start.  We have been hitting the road for the last three weeks, stopping in small towns and big towns across the mid-west spread the good word of IN YOUR FACE Rock N Roll.  3D In Your Face is running on all cylinders and I am so very proud to step out on that stage every night and represent you good people in front of the non-believers.  We shall convert them one by one.  Our new album Midnight Devils has been receiving rave reviews and radio air play world wide.  Pick up your signed copy of our new album right here.  Things have been going great.  Right now I can't complain but I am driven now even more than before.  There is no time to rest.  This week we are making a special trip back home.  Friday, June 13th we will be throwing a tour homecoming show at The 21st Saloon.  This is your party and everyone is invited.  To be honest with I can't wait to see the Omaha family.  Saturday, June 14th we will be taking our party on the road to the state's capital city and my hometown of Lincoln, NE for a one night only performance at Cappy's Hot Spot.  Two summer homecoming shows.  I truly can't wait.

So what's on my mind this week.  Well for the last two years about this time I have written a blog about the OEA Awards.  This is an Omaha Award show that gathers the cities best artists, musicians, poets, and brightest stars together for one night of fun.  We have been honored to be nominated two years in a row.  The nominations are fan based.  The winners of each award are determined by a council of Omaha's elite.  Unfortunately 3D In Your Face has never taken the big award home but that isn't really what these award shows are about to me.  I get bummed when we loose like anybody else but this award show is more about representing Omaha and showing the world that Omaha is a big and vibrant artistic family.  This year we are celebrating 15 years as a touring Rock N Roll band from the this great city.  I told the boys, after last years award ceremony that I would attend this Award show every year if the fans nominated us to go.  Win or loose I don't care.  None of that matters at the end of the day.  We are backed by the some of the most amazing fans and sponsors in the world and for that reason I will represent them to the world.  I wrote a blog the first year we were nominated with the title "Rock N Roll Representatives"  In that blog I talked about standing up and being proud of who we are.  I talked about representing the the metal heads, punk rockers, outcasts, and weirdos.  My philosophy is still there but I am thinking even bigger this year.  I want to represent the entire 3D In Your Face Army.  I want to represent the city of Omaha and all our friends and family to the world.

This year on top of celebrating our 15 year birthday my goal is to be nominated for three awards "Best Heavy Metal Band", "Best Cover Band", and "Album of the Year".  I'm not sure what Hot Rod was envisioning for the band when he stepped on stage for the first time back in 1999.  I hope that after this many years he is proud of how far his idea has come.  From the first time I saw 3D In Your Face I was hooked by the passion and dedication to the pure Rock N Roll ideals.  After 9 years I look back on how far we have come and it still amazes me.  You better believe me though, I have even bigger goals set for us in the days to come.  We have made things happen and everything we do is a struggle but that's what makes this so rewarding.  This is our band.  This is your band.  This isn't just about us four guys anymore, this is about each and everyone of you people that have supported us along the way.  It's not about winning awards or schmoozing with the top dogs, it's about gut level-raw uncensored Rock N Roll.  It's about the relationships we have made over the years.  It's about the people we have touched and the people that have touched us.  So go and nominate us here but know that in our minds we have already won the best award of all.

To Alan 'Hot Rod' King:  It has truly been a pleasure being in a band with you for all these years.  We have been through some bad times but mostly there have been lots of really good times.  I hope if you ever decided to write a book about your life that you look back on these times as some of the best in your life.  After 15 years this is still just the beginning.  KEEP THE FAITH my friend.  We still have a lot of work to do.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

ROCK N ROLL FOREVER

SPADE

Turn The Page

HELLO!! and welcome back to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official blog of 3D In Your Face.  Sorry I missed you last week.  I decided I needed a little break, but I heard from The Playboy that everyone was a little disappointed that there was no blog written.   What can I say I don't want to disappoint you.  So from this point on I promise that I will never miss another blog.  I love HAIR IN THE AIR and you people have been with me since I started writing this blog over two years ago.  So no more slacking on my end, this I can promise you.  So fill me in.  What is happening people?  What did I miss in your world?  Around here things are beginning to move and shake to the sound of the summer tour.  This week is our third week out for the summer and the adventures have been bigger and better than any year prior.  We have gotten more radio play, more interviews, more newspaper coverage, and more publicity in every town we have gone to.  Not to mention that we have made some pretty amazing friends along the way.  Rest easy Omaha family we will be doing a one night only homecoming show coming up on Friday, June 13th at The 21st Saloon.

Our new video for our second single "In Your Face" has been averaging 1,000 hits per week since it's release.  And that is all because of you.  Keep sharing and spreading the word.  We priming our self for the next step.  Also if you promise to keep this on the down low I feel I need to let you know that we have begun writing for our next album.  There is even a working title.  None of which I can share with you at this point but I wanted to let you know that the wheels are in motion.

This Friday, June 6th we will be making our first festival appearance at Midwest Bikefest in Norfolk, NE at The Off Road Ranch.  We will be headlining Friday night from 11 PM to 1 AM but don't worry we will be hanging around all day so come up and say hello.  Saturday we are making a road trip to Kearney, NE our second home for a private party.  That being said while we are there we want to see our family.  If you are in the Kearney area on Saturday get a hold of us and stop by the bus and say hello.

For this weeks blog I was doing a lot of thinking when I sat down to write this.  I wanted to write a blog from the heart that kind of told our side of the story while we are out there on the road.  Bob Seger's song "Turn The Page" kept rattling around in my mind.  "Out there in the distance your a million miles away.  Every ounce of energy you try to give away."  I was sitting on the tour bus real late the other  night, the growl of the engine and the bumps in the road kind of put you in a good mood for thinking.  We had just played a great show and busted our asses humping gear back aboard the SS In Your Face.  My mind started wandering around thinking about all the people we met and the people we left at home.  As any guy in a traveling band can tell you these late night drives can be psychologically brutal.  You feel a wealth of emotions that come and go with every bump in the road.  Lonely, happy, sad, nervous, stressed, anxious, and excited to name just a few.  I just realized that I had made been making these same late night post-gig road trips for ten years now and everyone feels the same.  At this point The Playboy had long since crashed.  He is usually the first one to fall asleep.  Second on the list is the Sniper, and for good reason.  He pushes it very hard.  He is a veteran so I can bust his balls to much.  Next up will either be Mike or Diane.  Lately Troy has been staying up with me and we both have been staying up to keep Alan awake.  When the conversation starts to die you begin to think.  "Smoke the day's last cigarette remembering what you said".  I think about the people in Omaha and Lincoln, my friends that I rarely ever get to hang out with. I think of my family back in Fremont that have been so supportive but could never understand why we put ourselves through this.  I think of my grandparents that are looking down on us from heaven.  I think of our fans and I stress about what is going to come next.  Where are we headed?

As I see the rise I remiss to myself that today I say the sun set and the sun rise especially during the summer tours.  I am thankful for these drives.  I am thankful for my friends and especially my band mates.  I am thankful for my fans all around the world.  Back in the day I would have numbed all these feelings with drugs and alcohol but today I am thankful that I get to experience them even though they are sometimes hard to deal with.  I know that sooner than later the ride will be over and the machine will reset and we will start all over again.  I know that even though the sun is coming up the day fully hasn't ended until my head hits the pillow.  Tomorrow is a new day and we have hundreds of miles to cover and lots of laughs to be had.  "Oh on that long and lonesome highway East of Omaha.  You can listen to the engine moanin' out it's one lone song".  The beautiful thing about music is that everyone interprets it differently.  Now this song may not actually mean anything like this to Mr. Seger but to it strikes a chord and send shivers down my spine.  Just know that we love you people and you are the reason we get up every morning.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH

SPADE

Here's To You! Here's To The 21st Saloon! This Isn't The End, No Way!

HELLO! everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Another whirl wind week in big hair Rock N Roll land.  As most of you know this Friday, May 23rd will be our final show of our 2013-14 residency at The 21st Saloon.  So I am asking everyone of you for a favor.  I want to hear your favorite memories of our 21st Saloon residency.  Go ahead and post in the comments.  You don't have to put your name on it but I want to know about this bar and the time you spent getting your face rocked off.  Go ahead now and skip down to the bottom and write a comment.  This is your blog as much as it is my blog.

We are leaving The 21st Saloon after Friday night and beginning our summer tour.  First and most importantly we will be traveling to Beloit, KS after the show for Saturday's festivities.  The Beloit, KS class of '94 has asked us to come and deliver a night of high energy in your face Rock N Roll as they celebrate their reunion.  The show will be held at The Solomon Valley Eagles Club and is open to the public with a $5 cover.  3D In Your Face will be participating in the annual parade so look for the float with the long haired guys and guard your face because the candy will be flying.  We are so very excited to be playing in this great city.  I just hope Beloit is ready for 3D In Your Face and the 3D In Your Face Army.  Things are going to get a little wild.  Hold on for the ride.

Our last night at The 21st Saloon is going to be a very bittersweet evening.  We have made so many friends along the way.  We have had some great sponsors and some amazing theme nights.  All of which are building to Friday's climax.  Personally we want to thank Scott, Matt, Kelsey, Hope, Tyree, Tiffany, Jourdan, and Ashley (sorry if I missed anyone).  Thank you to all of the amazing sponsors and promoters that helped us put on some amazing shows.  Thanks to Susan Borchers (who we miss dearly).  Thanks to Donnie at Fuse Weekly.  Thank you to our amazing road crew Troy, Mike, Diane, Dave, Sean, Matt, and Jason.  Thank you to our security guard Joe.  Thank you to our fill in road crew Aaron, Cody, Jason, and Heather, Thank you to Party Express Bus Nebraska for always being there with anything we need.  Thanks to DJ House for always being there with a great comment on a Friday night.  Thanks to all of the fans that brought us food or invited us to their houses for dinner or Village Inn breakfast.  Thanks to for all the amazing cakes from each birthday we celebrated (except The Playboy).  Thank you to The Omaha World Herald and The Reader for posting our show listings in their event sections every week.  Thank you to all the interviewers and photographers (Nikki, Chappy, Susan, and Corey).  Thank you to Becky at The Carlise Hotel for giving a place to call home for a night or two.  And thank you to all the people I forgot to mention but had a hand in making this residency one-of-a-kind and spectacular.  No other band has done anything like this and been successful.  Without you people we wouldn't be here today.

Most importantly the biggest thank you of goes out to each and everyone of you people that came to The 21st Saloon and paid your hard earned money to watch us perform.  To those people that drive hundreds of miles every week, to those people that miss work, to those people that bought VIP tables, to those people that sat in the same seat each and every Friday.  To our families and relatives.  To the dancers, to the people that got laid because they met somebody at a 3D In Your Face concert.  To the old fans that go way back and to the newest members of the 3D In Your Face Army.  To the people that wish they could have been there but live to far away.  To the people in Omaha that never believed in us.  To the haters and drunks that always made each show so interesting.  To the life long friendships that we made.  To all the people that bought a CD, t-shirt, or koozie.  To all the people that caught guitar picks or drum sticks.  To the people that help sing backup vocals.  To the smokers out back and the bikers out front.  To our old friends that came and where blown away.  To the punk rockers, the metal heads, and the glam kids.  Thank you most of all for being the most amazing fans a band could ever ask for.  Thank you for being our friends and for becoming our family.  Without you on a Friday night things would never have become this bright.

I wrote a song for the Midnight Devils album that kind of summed up my feelings when I left Bandit Sound and joined 3D In Your Face.  This song for some reason never really gets the credit it deserves.  I would like to dedicate this song to Scott and everyone at The 21st Saloon as my official thank you for everything this bar has stood for and for taking a chance on us.  Please have a listen and let me know what you think.  This is "Time We Had Our Fun".  It's Friday night baby!
ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH

ROCK N ROLL FOREVER
SPADE

How Far Can We Push It.

Hello everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  I don't even have to tell you how amazing this week in 3D In Your Face history has been.  If you don't know we released our brand new video for our second single "In Your Face" from our Midnight Devils album.  After only a few days the response has been overwhelming and we truly can't thank you enough.  This was our gift to you the loyal 3D In Your Face Army.  We are so very proud and honored to be surround by an amazing group of people.  We wanted a way to give back and I think this is it.  If you have watched the video already let me know what you think.  Leave a comment.  Give a 'Like'.  If you haven't yet watched the video.  CMON!  Here it is as Aerosmith would say "Just push play".

Thank you to all the radio stations, DJs, web sites and zines, bloggers, friends, family, and all of your heavy metal monsters all over the world for sharing this video and making this a huge success.  Keep up the good work and push this thing as far as you can.  It's up to you now.  

We will be playing two shows this week.  The first is a FREE, all ages show Thursday, May 15th at Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson in Omaha.  This is a bike show/car show (and not the other way around).  Gather the family we will be playing 5:30 -8:30 PM.  Great food and prizes as well as tickets will be given away for the sold out Rockfest show happening at Westfair.  Friday, May 16th we are returning to The 21st Saloon for the first night of the end of our winter/spring residency.  That's right kiddies, after roughly 8 months of playing every Friday night we only have two more shows left before we leave for our summer tour.  This week Spotlight Formal Wear will be sponsoring the show.  I want to write something very sentimental about The 21st Saloon but I will save that for next week.

When I set out to write this weeks blog, much like most weeks I was completely stumped and had no idea what to write about.  This is the way things work.  But luckily I started thinking and the thinking got me to wondering.  I was wondering "Am I doing this right?" "Are we as a band headed in the right direction?"  "What is supposed to happen next?"  "I know that we need to take another step but what is that step and how do we get there?".  These are the questions that plaque my sleepless nights.  The bad thing is that there is no blue print or go to answer for any of these questions.  For a long time now we have been running on raw gut emotion.  Every decision we have been making has been made because we feel strongly one way or the other.  The stress is always there and is always pilling up.  Heading into the end of our residency and the beginning of our summer tour, I keep wondering if I have done everything right for us to make this a success.  But to be honest with you almost everyday I have to force myself to take a step back and look and the progress we have made thus far as an independent band swimming against the current.  Every move we make is a fight and trust me I am always ready for that fight.  Sometimes I forget to just relax and enjoy the moment.  I forget to appreciate not being out on the road or at a gig.  I forget to appreciate my friends and loving family around me.  I had a great friend o mine tell me last week to "Be careful and take it slow".  These words have been lost on me since I was 16 but they are truer now then ever. If you let it this stress will get to you and this stress will eat you up inside.  The always wondering of "what if?".  There is nothing wrong with working hard but at some point you must enjoy life and enjoy the fruits of all your hard work.  3D In Your Face has been my driving force in sobriety, in creativity, in life and I am thankful for all the people that have become apart of this amazing family.  You people are my inspiration.  You people drive my creativity.  And you people keep me sober.  So just for today "Be careful and take it slow".  Take a step back and let it all go.  It will be there waiting for you when you return.  

ALWAYS LOUD

FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH

ROCK N ROLL FOREVER

SPADE

BAM That Was The Moment I Was Waiting For.

Hello everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Another week in the books and another huge weekend coming up on the horizon.  It's hard to believe I have been writing this blog now for almost a year and a half.  Thank you to my readers all over the world.  So what is happening this week?  As most of you know we played one of the biggest shows in 3D In Your Face history last Friday.  I will get to that later.  Almost more importantly than that this Friday night, May 9th we will be debuting our brand new video for the song "In Your Face" off of our Midnight Devils album.  After about two months of planning and writing, two weeks ago we set out to record our first music video.  We enlisted the help of Partridge Pictures to capture our vision and refine it into one of the most amazing music videos you will ever seen.  I am beyond excited to present this to you.  You people, our fans, family, and friends have shown us nothing but support through this new album, tour, and residency.  It is time that we give back to you.  Friday night May 9th at midnight we will be releasing the video to the world.  If you can't make the show it will be available at our YouTube Channel HERE.  If I may ask you one favor, watch this video, share this video, show this video to everyone you know.  This is our gift to you the 3D In Your Face Army.

We are also very honored and excited to announce that we have officially picked up a new sponsor.  U N I Unlimited and 3D In Your Face has joined forces.  Please go to their page and send some love.  Visit them for any of your Vap, e-cig, or smoking necessities.  A proud sponsor located at N. 84th St. in Omaha.  Tell them that Spade from 3D In Your Face sent ya.

Now on to the good stuff.  I want to divulge a little bit and tell you about one of the most magical evenings I have ever had playing in a band.  Last Friday we were given the opportunity to open for Hairball at The Ralston Arena.  My radio station The Big O 101.9 was responsible for putting this show together and we were extremely honored to be apart of this awesome event.  3,000 people descended upon Ralston for a night of big hair, loud guitars, and more neon than I have ever seen in my life.  The crowd was electric from the very first note.  But, for this blog I want to explain to you what things were like from our point of view.

We arrived at the arena a little bit early hoping to shave a few minutes off or load in time.  The Hairball road crew was setting up.  We wandered around backstage for what seemed like an eternity.  We met their tour manager, pyro guy, guitar tech, and merch girl who were all very nice and very professional.  We got our dressing room "Visitor Locker Room 4 13579#"  As we unloaded our trailer we were met with our first obstacle.  Because of Hairballs live pyro already down in place we were not allowed to set up our pyro rig.  Which in turned bummed everyone out but like always we must forge ahead.  After their sound check which was relatively on time we got the chance to take the stage and set up.  I had been reading some horror stories about headlining bands purposefully harming the opening bands chances for a good show.  Luckily none of this happened to us.  We set up and sound check in record time.  Let me tell you if you ever get the chance to play with a band in to an empty arena before a show, take it, that was the first moment that gave me goosebumps.  We headed back to the locker room and ate dinner and started getting dressed.  Nothing new there, weirdly being in this band I have seen my fair share of hockey locker rooms.  We are dressed and ready by 7:45 our stage time is 8:00.  At 7:50 we all get our hands in and everybody gets their asses on the same page.  Our security guard Joe escorts us out and down that long hallway.  BAM this was the first moment I was waiting for.  The hallway to backstage walk.  Oh it was incredible.  If you could have only felt the energy.  He brings us around to the back of the stage and we have a few minutes to hang before the lights go out.  Headlining bands never get this feeling and I truly thing they are missing out.  At 7:55 the house lights go out and the crowd erupts.  Our intro begins and we walk out onto a dark stage.  BAM the second moment I was waiting for.  I always remember this part of the show standing in the front row waiting for the concert to begin and the band finally walks out on stage.  That right there was the most magical moment I have ever had playing in a band.  It was a great feeling.  We began our set and the rest of the hour was a blur.  I just kept telling myself to keep running this is what you trained for.  Life in the fast lane...........

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

KEEP THE FAITH

SPADE