The day mostly ended seeing two Goodyear blimps cruising over the skies of Akron. The other passengers in my car joked that they must be racing each other. I thought it reminded me of watching the submarine races from the TV show “Happy Days”. There, I’ve dated myself. We immediately started looking for couples making out!!
Was up at 5 am and on the road by 6:42am with three car, music gear, merchandise, a band, two road managers, a photographer, and a merchandise person for a festival in Pennsylvania.
We made our way with no problems to the festival, were actually 15 minutes ahead of schedule and only forgot a couple of things. They were important but the show could go on without them.
The stage was pretty sweet and so was the sound system. It was one of those pop up SL100’s that they tow in with trailer. The sound was on a different level, it sounded great.
Here it is:
Drum riser and everything as requested. That’s nice. The sound guys had the stage plot and input list – just a couple of questions and off to the races.
We had a rider and had some of the drinks waiting for us. I inquired about the green room food and was told maybe. I had 9 hungry people after a 3 hour drive. Let’s just say the rider wasn’t really met the rest of the day and the hot meals was a single pizza . . for the same 9 people. Ah, the music business.
Everything else was as expected. The band did a good job in hot weather. We stayed and watch some of the other talent and acts that performed and got to know some really cool people.
Home and unpacked by 7:30 . . Wrapping up and bed by 9:30 pm. It’s doable!
Looking back, I think a huge part of any of these shows is meeting people. Like you have to stop what you are doing and actually talk to another human being and make a connection or see if you can make a connection. Doing so enables all kinds of interesting interactions to take place.
You might know the same people. You might have the same interests. You might like the same music.
Doing so today was able to sell more merchandise, get a venue name in Boston, meet another artist and get 3 venue leads in Pittsburgh, learn more about how difficult it is to produce music, or sometimes expensive. Understand how many people other artists are using (and then wonder how I get by with so few), and a bunch of other tidbits. 
NOW, if I went to the venue and said . . I need to get a venue in Boston, 3 in Pittsburgh and pump someone for information about their business and tried to do that directly, I guarantee I would have failed.
Life just gives you things that you need sometimes, not always what you want.
You just may not know you need it at the time it’s given to you.
Peace out, girl scout!
-Just a Dude
Just a Dude 