In Stereo Update 8-10-07

Sorry it's been a while since we updated the Blog. You know how it gets in the summer and all you want to do is get outside and enjoy the sun. We've all had a great summer and have played some excellent shows.

The one exception to that was in Kemerer, Wyoming. We had a crazy night out there. It was messed up from the start. There was road construction on the way out there and that delayed our arrival by about an hour. That came back to haunt us at the end of the night. Ted was the first to arrive at the club and went to the owner to confirm that we had 3 rooms for the night. The owner gave himself a hillbilly whack on the head and said, "I plum fergot!" which of course he didn't, he just didn't see why a 3 piece band needed more than 3 bed slots. So he got us 2 rooms. One with a double bed and one with a single bed. By hillbilly logic that means each person in a 3 piece band had a bed space to sleep in. Needless to say that we, not being hillbillies ourselves, were not amused. I mean, I refuse to share a bed with Tom or Ted. We get enough of each other just playing onstage together a couple weekends a month. It's one of the reasons In Stereo has lasted so long is that we're not sick of each other.

So Ted called Tom and I to tell us what he had found out. By that time we were far enough away from Salt Lake that I decided to stop in Evanston and get my own room. That was going to add an extra 90 miles worth of gas for me driving back and forth from Kemerer to stay in Evanston.

Once we got to Kemerer we found out that the stage was less than half the size of the Canyon Inn. So basically all that would fit on the stage was the drumset and the mixer. So Tom and I set up on the edge of the dance floor which would later prove disastrous. As we were setting up, the friendly customers were swearing at us and threatening to kick our asses if we didn't play "real good music" for them. So we just ignored them and finished setting up. We ended up starting 1\2 hour later than we had originally planned because of the road construction delay and the crappy stage setup. But we went on amid pissed off looking bar patrons and proceeded to kick major ass.

We played with fire and attitude, and within about 5 songs we had the crowd won over. They loved us! They danced all night and it got crazier and crazier. To make up for starting late we played an extra 45 minutes and everybody stayed and bought another round of drinks. The club was rolling in the money from the drink sales.

I have to admit I'm a little at fault for what happened next. We were really getting the crowd worked up and we kicked into Metallica followed by The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop". During that song girls finally tripped on the monitors we had to set up on the dance floor and sent my microphone tumbling to the floor. We kept playing while I set things right and I finished playing the song out in the middle of the dance floor playing the guitar and yelling out the lyrics in the middle of the crowd. So we should have called it a night. But the people were worked up and they wanted more! So I called out "Let's play The Who" and we launched into Won't Get Fooled Again. Well this time when some fat lady fell on the monitor it got completely flipped upside down and Tom's mic stand and mine both collapsed. Then some guy, trying to be help out picked the monitor up and set it down on the wrong side smashing the audio jack. So that put an end to the show. But the people lined up to tell us how great we were and to let us know they'd be back to see us the next night.

We figured out a plan for the following night to avoid some of the problems we had on the first when the hillbilly owner walks up and says to me "You gonna have a problem playin' a all-nighter t'morrow?!?" He didn't mention anything about how well we did, how much money he made, how satisfied his customers were or anything. So, I politely informed him that we normally contract for 4 hours a night and that we were planning on playing from 9:30-1:30 but that we may be able to work something out. At that point he turned beet red and said "Well you all started late t'night!" I politely told him we played an extra 45 minutes to make up for the 30 minutes we lost at the beginning of the night. I also explained that the crowd was bigger at the end of the night than the beginning and that they didn't leave until we had finished playing. He then stammered and said "But that weren't long enough!" to which I asked "How many hours did you want us to play because we played 4.25 hours total." At which point he turned an even deeper crimson red and stormed off.

At this point we realised we were fighting a losing battle with the owner and that we would be in for major trouble if we came back the following night. So we approached the owner and told him that the accommodations were wrong in that we got stiffed out of a room, the stage was too small and the hours he wanted us to play were not the hours that we normally contracted. So in everyones best interest we decided we would cut our losses and pack up our stuff and call off the following night. So the hillbilly owner said that would have to do and promptly cancelled our 2 rooms for the night and stiffed us $100 on the night for "Startin' late!"

Man what a crazy, bad, messed up night. Tom and Ted decided to drive all the way back to SLC at 3:00 in the morning and I went back to Evanston. Needless to say we all lost a bunch of money and learned some valuable lessons about gig details and hillbillys. I'm just glad it's behind us and we're back home in SLC!!

Matt