My addiction

After a long drive...ok, FOREVER!!!... we arive. This takes you from sitting in the van on the road half asleep and bloated from gas station junk food to GO! GO! GO! I'm the drummer so it's going to take me the longest to set up. At times I envy those other guys that bring a 3 peice drumset with all of 2 symbols on stage. My kits quite a bit larger. It takes me around a half hour to set up. Firt we must go argue with the guy that thinks I should play on the drums that are already set up. I find him arguing with the owner of the drums that are already set up. That takes care of itself. Next comes the chaos of the unload. Where you just throw everything out of the van wherever you're parked. I find all my stuff and begin setting up offstage. Yes, this is one of the shows that we're not headlining so we have to set up and tear down between sets. So I'm setting up on this particular day in the hot sun. As usual there are around 10 kids all grade school standing behind me just waiting to strike. I have learned how to multi task. I answer questions about being a "Rock Star" while I set up and at the same time I comunicate with the other members of the band along with the stage crew. Then it's on to... "We're on,..no. Wait a minute.... Ok! we're on....oh wait....Ok! GO!" Then I'm running back and forth much like a ping pong ball.....that carries.....stuff. Ok, not the best analogy. So now my hunormous drum set is spread all over a good fourth of this massive stage and I'm getting dirty looks from the stage crew. I throw down my carpet and have everything together in under 3 minutes. Good thing I set up off stage. SOUND CHECK!!! This is enough to make me feel like I need a shower. Now I'm informed that there are a couple other bands playing before us. I tell them that there's no way I'm moving my stuff again! So the other two bands get to use the rest of the stage. So we take off to the motel for awhile as it's going to be a couple hours before we go on for sure.... or say they tell us. I pretend to take a nap, change into my camo shorts and my flaming skull shirt. For a moment I stand looking in the mirror trying to decide whether to wear go with the bandana or to let my locks fly around while I play. I go with the bandana. keeps the sweat out of my eyes. We get somethin' to munch on, which is never a good idea before a show, and then it's band meeting time. Discussing goals and other things.... Now we're back on the road and...we're lost. Just blocks away from the stage and we can't find it. A couple phone calls and we're there. Now we wait. The last band before us wants to spend some more time on stage and is ignoring the coordinaters one minute warning. Hate to be there when that conversation happens. Now we're up. A quick second sound check and..... I can't hear the guitar and the vocals are too loud and can you please take my kick drum out of my monitor mix?! Finally we're on. It's right into the first song and I'm looking at 10,000 people. I feel like someone just punched me right in the guts. A couple of good screams from the croud and I'm full into it. No more gut punchy and out comes this furious rock star! Some of the croud goes nuts and some of them just sit there looking at you like...."They don't sound anything like the band I came here to see." Half way through the set it's like war! Sweat flying off of me as I let my sticks fly! I'm throwin' in all this extra stuff that we didn't rehurse and thank God I get a grin from the singer. You want double kicks you got it baby!!! Wow, the rythm guitar sounds terrible! My monitor just went nuclear and is blasting a hole in my head but I just play louder! My bass player, who's clear on the other end of the stage, is jumpin' and spinnin' and the croud is just feeding it. This is where I live! It's where I breath! Up in front of all of you who love me and all of you who don't like me so much! In this hour I'm completely free!.... End of the set! Now comes the chaos of the tear down. I only hope the stage crew appriciates how quickly I'm out of their way. Bam! I'm off stage and tearin' down and fending off all the kids that want to bang on my drums. I let them each have a turn and then it's back to work. Everything loaded up.... we hang out and watch the last show....to see what they got.... Then I stink all the way through the signing of the cd's and T's and whatever else they want signed....all the way back to the motel where I take the best shower I've ever had and try as hard as I can to sleep in my little room away from home.