I bet you didn’t know that a glamorous life on the road as a drummer includes eating breakfast at a local cafe, a trip to the Goodwill store and having to worry about getting electrocuted on stage (and “no,” it wasn’t part of the act). Those things and more were a part of a recent road trip I took to Port Angeles, WA where I played drums in The Chris Ward Band for the Clallam County Fair.
This is the 2nd in a 3 part series about a weekend on the road as a drummer. As mentioned in the first part of my adventure (2 days in the Life of a County Fair Drummer – Friday), musicians get paid for the 22 hours of the day when we’re NOT on stage. And that’s what this series is about: The other 22 hours.
On Friday night we played 2 one-hour shows as “Chris Ward’s Tribute to The Eagles.” And on Saturday we were scheduled to play 2 one-hour shows of country-rock music as “The Chris Ward Band.”
We had a lot of fun Friday night and made a lot of new friends. But there was a storm brewing when we left and we weren’t sure if we would be playing in the rain Saturday night.
And we had some time to worry about what would happen Saturday night. Here’s a description of what happened Saturday morning and afternoon:
6:30 AM – 8:30 AM: Since I got to bed early Friday night, I’m up at my weekday work time. No matter what time I get to bed on Friday night (even of it’s 3 AM after a casino gig), I always wake up before 8 on Saturday. I take my time getting up in the hotel room, take a shower and do a little computer work.
When we left the fair last night (Friday) there was a threat of rain. John the sound guy had covered up the PA speakers and the sound board with plastic tarps. Fortunately it didn’t rain overnight and the sun is shining. The weather looks good for now but it could change quickly.
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Chris calls to let me know that he and the bass player are at The Cornerhouse Restaurant within walking distance from the hotel. The restaurant belongs to the family of a new friend who saw us at the fair Friday night.
I join my two band mates for some Seafood Eggs Benedict. It may not sound good but it was delicious! A mixture of crab, shrimp and cod in a hollandaise sauce over scrambled eggs, it was very filling. The guitar player joins us shortly after we start eating. He’s moving slowly until he gets his third cup of coffee.
We have a nice breakfast together and review Friday night’s music sets. A pretty good review overall!
When we go to pay our bill, our new friend says it’s “on the house.” That was so nice of her and her family! I love playing in small towns where you get to know your fans on a personal level.
10:00-11:30 AM: We are on a mission to find two things: a triple breve espresso for the guitar player and a good-looking, good-value blazer for Chris. It was a little cold on stage last night so Chris decides he needs another layer of clothing.
First stop: Goodwill. For those of you not familiar with Goodwill, it’s a series of stores throughout the United States that sell donated second-hand items. The money they earn goes to support local community programs for people in need – a great cause.
Goodwill sells everything from appliances to clothing. There’s a fine line between stage clothes that are cool-funky vs. wierd-scary and Goodwill has both. But both Chris and the guitar player find nice blazers for under $10. If you want cool stage clothes for not much money, check out Goodwill!
Next stop: a local coffee shop for the guitar player’s favorite daytime drink: a triple breve. That’s 3 shots of espresso and a large cup filled with ice and half-and-half milk. While the bass player and I are waiting in the coffee shop parking lot, we hear a honk and look up to see a young lady we had met at the fair the night before driving by. We’re stars in a small town! I love this place!
Okay, now we’ve got to kill about 4 hours before gig time.
11:30 AM-12:30 PM: Still full from breakfast so no one’s interested in eating. The guitar player is a closet architect so we go on a hunt for some refurbished homes from the turn of the last century (1900). The closest we come is a Carnegie library building (look it up) and several slightly remodeled older homes. We decide to head back to the hotel.
12:30-3:30 PM: We split up and head back to our rooms. I spend time writing a blog post and reading Drum Magazine. Cool article about Butch Vig, Nirvana’s producer.
3:45-4:05 PM: Head to the fairgrounds. The prior band plays an extra song and our guys are getting antsy because it takes a full hour to get set up and check the sound.
4:05-4:50 PM: The other band finishes and I help their drummer move his drums off stage. I pull my drums from the back of the stage where I stored them last night. Everything’s there, thank goodness. I quickly throw down the drum rug and set up my drums. I ask John the sound guy if he wants to do a sound check for the drums. He says there’s no need because he stored the settings in the digital sound board last night. Technology is cool!
After our band is set up, we do a sound check together by playing a couple songs but realize there something wrong with the direct box for Chris’ guitar. That’s a box that allows the guitar to be connected directly into the PA so that the sound guy can control the front-of-the-house volume and sound. Several things are tried until the guitar direct box mysteriously starts working.
We attempt another song but a couple vocal mics are not working properly. John finally figures out that the humidity is so high that moisture is affecting the PA snake which is a bundle of wires that runs from the stage to the sound board in the back of the seating area.
We’re finally able to finish playing a test song. The gathering audience applauds loudly. We explain that it’s just a sound check and we’ll be back shortly to play the real show.
In our hurry to set up we hadn’t noticed the clouds that rolled in and were threatening to dump rain. The air is thick with water. My drumsticks are sticky from the salt sea air. Very weird feeling!
And the moisture is affecting everyone. The guitar necks are sticky. The percussionist must constantly tune his congas. We can hear thunder in the distance. The storm is brewing!
4:50-5:00 PM: The band heads to the back stage tent to quickly change into our stage clothes. We agree to leave the stage at the first sign of lightning. We don’t want to be electrocuted!
Earplugs go in, drum sticks get wiped off and we’re ready to go. Ooo, it’s threatening to rain!