I Spoke too Soon-

Sorry for no blog for three days....but the hotel the client put us in in Winnemucca, NV had no wi-fi (as well as a ton of other things like beds made in the last 30 years, enough towels, etc) but they got the rooms from the hotel for nothing since they were sponsors. At least, I am told, the rooms weren't as bad as the ones the other act at the fair had to endure at an even worse hotel. I think I smell a new clause in my contract (hotel specificity). What a three days to miss for the blog.
First the fair we were at has to be the smallest one we have ever performed at. The entire fair can be walked around in less than 5 minutes. You could stand in one spot and see all the exits and entrances and all the rides (all 7 of them) and all 5 or 6 vendors. But I am not saying it was a bad fair....just tiny. The audiences were very nice and we filled the tent with the exception of the 10:30 Sunday morning show....why events insist on doing 10:30 AM Sunday shows in Bible-belt areas is beyond me but they do...everywhere! I should mention that at 10:30 there was also a parade going on downtown that would end at the fair at noon. But all 30-50 people who saw our show had a good time.
We shared the stage with a family fiddle act. They had a lot of stuff and we had a lot of stuff so there was a lot of moving stuff around. We also had to share the stage with the community stuff like TaiKwanDo, Gymnastics, Pie Eating, Watermelon eating, etc. The community folks don;t have a lot of respect for the pros' equipment so it was frustrating from time to time. Like when the newspaper lady who is also on the fair board who was helping with one of the contests allowed her 3 and 6 year old kids run rough shot on our props with total disregard. When i shoo-ed her son off the bed of nails (he was shaking his hand like he hurt himself) she just gave me a dirty glance. When I asked her to keep her kids off the props (which were all set off to the side nowhere near the contests going on on stage, she ignored me. When I repeated myself she said, "I heard, you. and so did they (her kids)." Then she turned coldly away. So I yelled of stage in a voice everyone could hear, "Cynthia, Miles, One of you come up here and keep an eye on the props. the parents up her are irresponsible and can't control their kids." Then I left the stage more than a little frustrated. I reported the whole thing to her boss (my boss too) just to cover my bottom. He said she was in hot water for a number of things already. The things a performer has to do to keep their props safe...and can you imagine how fast she would've gotten a lawyer if her child had seriously hurt itself.
The town of Winnemucca is quite cool. it is still stuck in the 70s in many respects and it would be easy to film a retro 70s TV show thee. But that makes it quaint. The best eats that we experienced is the Flying Pig BBQ place. Their prices were really reasonable and the portion sizes were BIG! Very nice.
One more note. Even though we pulled good crowds and feedback was good I didn't feel we clicked there. There was something that hung over us all weekend that just didn't make me feel like it worked as well as I would've liked. Perhaps it was because our sound man, Nick, and Jim weren't there. But I think it was more than that. Normally Labor Day weekend we are in Fallon. NV but they made a few mistakes in their changing of the Booking-guard" and asked us back after we had booked the Winnemucca gig by one hour. In retrospect, I wish I would've canceled this one and did Fallon...but I am honorable and kept my word....even when it isn't the best choice.
I SPOKE TOO SOON.....
the miracle of the van and the money was a great story and it appeared it was going to be a full fledged miracle...but Sunday morning right before our first show I get a call from Jim. The van's engine light came on again and the van is down again half way between Des Moines and Iowa City on the outskirts of a town called Williamsburg. The mechanic will take a look at it Tuesday morning and if it is something more difficult than a quick fix the boys will be renting a U-haul truck, loading the stuff from the van into it and bee-lining it to Cali. We will leave the van there and decide it's fate later. Since we have a gig in Iowa later this month we will have the opportunity to go back and blow it up, drive it home, or junk it....later. By the way, I haven't lost faith in the creator just because of these troubles. This has become an interesting story in our lives that we will talk about for years. Also if I am the clay and He the Maker what right do I have to complain. Besides, look at Job, his only sin was he complained and demanded to know "why?" Nah, I belong to Him and so do the boys and so does that van so His will be done.