Saturday - January 24, 2015 … it was a late one last night… apparently I didn't miss much after I went to bed/wrote the last post… which is a little surprising since there was lots of fuel and kindling around to make for some good stories to eat up the drive today. Ah well… it's what happens I guess when you're in a band with guys who've got most of what could be considered "trouble" out of their systems. … not to say trouble doesn't have a way of finding you sometimes. I woke up around 8:30am… Dane and I headed down to grab breakfast. I think we still had close to $500 left on our casino/hotel food credit so… yeah… might as well use a bit more of it. The buffet is really good there… still stoked I could get oatmeal along with the typical bacon and eggs. … oh yeah… so before breakfast I stopped by the front desk to double check we had a late checkout… even though we planned to leave at 11am. Calgary isn't too far, but who knows how late Matt and Tim were up til. I was trying to be a good guy… just incase. So as Dane and I are walking away from the front desk, this guy in a beige hoody, jeans, and construction boots comes over and starts talking to Dane… and mentioning the show and band stuff. Ok cool… no big deal. I guess Dane was chatting with him around the casino last night… I guess they're just continuing the conversation… or at least pleasantries. We're heading over to the restaurant and the guy asks where we're going… we say we're going to eat breakfast… he asks if he can join us… Dane and I kinda look at each other and Dane says I think the guys are coming down and we need to hang a bit… regroup for the day. Constructo says ok cool… and disappears to where the elevators are. … no big deal right? So Dane and I (Dane always dresses like a rockstar remember) head in and sit down… then head to the buffet. No sooner do we sit down with our food does Constructo stop by our table to start talking again… then leave… then come back again… then leave… then come back again… and again… and again… then he asked us to sign a piece of paper for him… then comes back again… and again… then starts asking us about quotes from the movie Young Guns quotes… and again he returns… now he's got a newspaper he wants us to have… then comes back a final time to see if we need anything from Tim Horton's… then comes back again… then says something about knowing someone who's shook hands with the Queen… then told us about the time he challenged George St. Pierre to a fight… then.. and then… and then… I've know Dane a while but this is the first time I've seen someone or something test his patience. The restaurant staff came over a few times to see if we wanted them to do anything about him… but it's sorta one of those things where it could just make things a whole lot worse… it's kinda shitty he doesn't understand continuously interrupting someone while they're trying to eat isn't cool… but I had to consider maybe this dude's party hadn't stopped from last night. Eventually he started disrupting other groups in the restaurant and was asked to leave… to which he went to the Starbucks across the hall. I wish I could remember all the stuff this guy said he did or had going on… forgot the Dos Equis guy… this guy was the most interesting man in the world. The drive to Calgary was quick… maybe 3 hours? Which feels like nothing right now… another casino tonight… not as fancy as last night though. I guess there's a bunch of functions going on in the hotel so we couldn't get hooked up with the room… or rider… we still have loads left from last night though so that's fine… as long as they have ice and a couple bins… we're good! Nice venue though… a bit smaller… maybe 600 cap? Sold out apparently… and it looked like it by the time Buckcherry went on. It was sorta weird... they had a bunch of seats out… numbered seats… people were sitting at the beginning of our set and Tim joked with them a little about it… it's awkward when people are sitting… front row of a rock concert. I knew they wouldn't be sitting for Buckcherry but still… makes for an interesting dynamic. … let's just pretend the seats are "assigned standing". … yeah that sounds better. Anyway… the set went well. I think that's the best sounding stage so far. Really clear… vocals were nice and clear. I got a chance to chat a bit with the guy doing monitors… older fellow with a British accent… and an Iron Maiden… crew… sweatshirt. … I was trying to steer the conversation there out of curiosity. Yup… Gonzo (his name is Gonzo) worked with Iron Maiden for 18 years. He said a heart condition/surgery nudged him to leave that kinda lifestyle… I'm sure he misses it though. I have some idea how tough it can be for bands but crew work REALLY hard making sure things run as smoothly as possible. You might think crew/techs are crusty but really they're just focused on doing a good job… all cogs in the machine. They typically joke around quite a bit once you get to know them though… and they know you aren't going to f*k things up! Once we were all packed and loaded I headed out to merch. CD's were selling and people were asking for signed copies… good times! This was the first time I was actually able to go out to merch. I'm usually packing up/loading out... then we have to leave soon after because of a drive. #DearBands - Not many people want to hold your CD/shirt while at a show… they want to grab it on the way out. I ended up chatting with Oli (he's done the last few band photoshoots) in the casino during the later half of Buckcherry's set. He's a super cool dude and very talented photographer. It was nice to catch up and chat outside of Facebook! Back to merch after Buckcherry finished… really busy. Busiest and best sales of the tour so far… have to chalk it up to us being able to stay until the end. … I really need to work on a cooler signature. I think mine sucks… I've practiced a bunch but still haven't found… I guess… the stroke. Anyway… signed bunch of stuff… no boobs though… which was a little surprising since this is Calgary. … signed Dane's shirt though… that's just where things ended up. … speaking of… too bad we didn't have any shirts for the merch table. Even a basic one would've been nice… hard with small runs like this though. We packed up around 11:30pm (yeah, early night again) and went out with Oli to grab some food… McDonald's it is! There were some teens hanging out and up to no good in there. I know I'm getting old because all teenagers look annoying and super young…. one of them did eat a burger that had fallen on the floor to impress a girl though… hopefully that worked out for him. … actually…. no I don't hope it worked out for him…for her sake. It's close to 2am now… back at Tim's. Day off tomorrow or Red Deer… I can't check since there's no internet here… and again, I could tether off my phone but… I'M THAT GUY! … my guess is Ricky's tomorrow for breakfast regardless. - Mike P.S. I broke down... thanks iPhone!
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Mike Langford - Official BlogBeing on both sides of the glass, I get the chance to wear many hats in the music industry. This is a place to share my thoughts, views, predictions, rants, stories and news! Categories
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