|
|
We all somehow make it to Big Mama in the
morning, get loaded, and get on the road by 6 am. Everyone
looks a little dazed but no one is complaining too much.
At least not out loud. I take the first driving shift, followed
by Lisa, Susan, Tommy, and Laurie. It's a beautiful
drive and we see the names of many civil war sights and
historical places like Gettysburg, Antietam, and Cumberland
Gap. We come to the Bay Bridge in Maryland and wow, what
a sight. This bridge is long and spans the upper part of
the Chesapeake Bay. This puts us on what looks like a finger
island one half of which is part of Maryland and the other
Delaware. Our hotel this night is a Super 8 hotel in Milford,
Delaware which is about 20 miles from Rehoboth Beach where
we will be performing. We had to do this because Rehoboth
Beach is a vacation destination so the hotel rates are high
in the area. The further we get away from Rehoboth Beach
the lower the prices are for accommodations.
We get to the hotel and our rooms are not ready, there is
a confusion about our reservations, we have to change our
rooms because they gave us rooms that were not clean (Susan
and I had to change rooms twice!), and a storm is blowing
in that looks like it could bring on a tornado. Not what
we want to deal with after our long 11 hour drive from Columbus,
Ohio. The management at this Super 8 motel is pretty dysfunctional.
Whenever anyone in the band asks for helps or complains
about the conditions of the room the managers go into long
diatribes about their problems and how hard it is to run
a motel. Not a good way to keep customers happy. On top
of this there is a road sign painting company staying at
the hotel. These guys are making lewd comments and hitting
on the ladies in the band. They also are cooking BBQ outside
the door of their rooms. Somehow it seems as though we stepped
into a very backwoods kind of locale. You should whistle
the song to 'Deliverance' here.
We finally all get in our rooms and change for the show
but the storm is coming in with a lot of thunder and lightning.
This is an outdoor show at the Rehoboth Concert Band Shell
and there is a rider in the contract that if there is inclement
weather the concert would be cancelled. We have not heard
from the promoters about this so we make our way to the
venue about 5:30 for our 8 o'clock show. We get to
the band shell and it is still raining. The sound man, Garr,
is there and it sounds like he thinks the evening is going
to be cancelled but we need to wait for Corey for the final
answer. I think Garr would like to have the night off. By
the time Corey gets there the rain has stopped and the skies
are clearing. We are given the go ahead so we set up while
we get some food as we have not eaten since lunch. Garr
gets us set up real fast, we do a sound check, and wait
ten minutes to start the show. We play a 73 minute show
and get a real good reception from the audience. A lot of
families with little children stop by to watch us. I really
get a kick out of seeing toddlers grooving to our music
with pure joy and for the fun of it. We finish our set and
we have won over quite a few fans many who have purchased
some of our CD's.
We get headed back to the hotel but stop at a CVS pharmacy
as Donto says his back is hurting and he could use something
for it. We all go inside and wander around the store and
everyone decides they need something also. Back in the van
we all get back to the hotel and everyone is feeling pretty
good as we have the next two nights off. This is a relief
after having played 12 gigs in a row with travel on every
day. Looking forward to a good night's rest and being
able to wake up when we feel like it. Aw.
|
