Spent the weekend on the road as quasi-tour manager, part roadie and mostly just hanger-on with my friend's Prog-Math-Metal instrumental four-piece Zebulon Pike. And although I won't ('cause there ain't really much: Editor) divulge dirty road stories since a few of them are married with children (oh, so metal!) and I don't want to get them in hot water. Uh-hem...

And yes, we did hit the road the first time having forgotten the bass player but not for too long. But for me having seen so many bands, put band members up in my house, been put up by bands when I was the one on the road and even set up some gigs for visiting bands and put them up as well, this was the first time I had actually been in the van with the band and that was fun; wish I had brought the video camera to capture some of it.

First night was in a small and stinky joint not far from the Capitol Building in Madison, WI called The Frequency. This was the warm-up for the bigger show the following night. Good hoppy beer on tap and the Brewers clinching the NL Central on the TV and a really, really bad (see: guys in matching headbands and a fan blowing their hair when removed) by-the-book heavy metal  was the main highlights of the evening,

Chicago's North Side the following night was a horse of a richer hue. The Abbey, which I'd heard had been featured on some reality TV show about saving bars, was a legit sized stage and a real room with a great sound system-- if you like heavy metal. Zeb Pike aren't really, but the bands that they played with are and I was happy for earplugs and for the pole that was situated from my spot behind the merch' booth and the center of the stage where I was blocked from the primping and pompous lead singers. I can deal with the guitars and the loud but the "singing" is where they lose me. Even the band with the 2 screaming (not kidding) singers - one who looked something like a college prof' and the other, maybe 4 months pregnant (it's hard to ask exactly when mom's chain-smoking) - were not my thing although I was able to stand about 3 songs before hearing, seeing enough.

But all in all it was a great experience of a weekend through a few states and some bars and a lot of time back in the same green van that I had just returned from Burning Man in - so there.

Baseball playoffs start this week so I will be picking up that mantle again and telling you about all the things you either missed or that I feel you need to know more about. Yeah, something like that; mostly I'm just trying to wake up after a weekend of rather limited sleep, road food, booze and the last 10 innings of the Yanks sox series which were, it seems, the only 10 innings worth missing.... Damn you heavy metal!

Cheers,
Brian