Had 2 outdoor gigs with Laura, scheduled this weekend. We were playing for a Relay for Life event Saturday. Supposed to play at 8:30pm, so planned on getting there to setup around 6/6:30. Around 5:30 an angry thunderstorm moved through. The place we were supposed to play was only a couple miles from me, so I did a drive by. The remaining people were huddled in a shelter house. The field where the events were happening was very muddy. The DJ was in the process of fleeing. The "stage" looked like 6 folding tables jammed together-- more like a drum riser. Absolutely no cover. And likely more storms. Went back home, and had a few rounds of messages. Hadn't received a cancel msg yet. Just getting walking to my van to leave, and got the cancel msg.
Yay! This was a pretty poorly organized thing from the start. We had to spoon feed them everything about what we needed. And they still kept getting stuff wrong at every turn. And when I saw that the stage wasn't even adequate to keep us out of the mud, I was ready for them to cancel. Else I may have to refuse put myself and my gear in the mud.
Sunday, we played on The Plaza. Topped out around 97 degrees, with lots of humidity. We started out in the sun, but they got a portable shade/tent thing over us in the first set. Nice gig. Paid well. And we weren't supposed to solicit or accept tips. But we had a small merch display with CDs, and people kept coming up and putting money in the box.
This coming Friday, we are playing a deal in Dighton, KS (far western KS). It is an all-year high school reunion, town party, kind of thing. Laura is orignally from Ness City, KS, a neighboring town. There are two sisters in Dighton with a big trust fund. Apparently, their parents were killed in a Las Vegas helicopter accident many years ago, hence the trust fund. They are paying us extremely well, and taking care of all food, lodging, etc. Should be fun!
