On the Road Again

There is an old song entitled, "On the Road Again" by a band called, "Canned Heat" that I pretty much associate with travelling. So, I suppose it is apt that the title of this blog reflects the amount of travelling I would be soon embarking on.

Initially, the plan was to head for Creation NW on July 22, stay the night in Ontario, Oregon - arrive by about 10:30 a.m. to The Gorge in Washington state, spend 4 days and drive home.

Then I read on The Fold's myspace that they were going to be in Boise, so I figured I'd just go to a concert along the way. Then they added Twin Falls to their tour list, and I decided to leave a day early. I hoped and prayed I'd have a chance to furlough from work first so I wouldn't use all of my annual leave. My prayer was answered.

Monday, I headed out for Twin Falls. The drive to Twin Falls is only about 3-1/2 hours so I didn't have to be in a huge hurry to leave. Still, I left a little later than originally planned. I think I've finally come to the conclusion that things happen for a reason and God's timing always works out. I still beat the band to the venue even thought it took me a bit to find the right street. The venue was called The River (it is a church) and there is a radio station on the premises called, "The Effect." I finally stopped at a gas station and asked for clarification on the directions and bought something for lunch. As it turned out, the gal who made my sandwich went to that church sometimes. She also didn't know about the show, so I invited her. I wonder if she came. LOL

Not long after I arrived one of the bands showed up. I think it was Ever Stays Red. Then I just did what I could to kill time. I read a little bit, walked around, took photos of clouds (inspired by Brett and Jacob, of course - now I'm obsessed with taking cloud photos. LOL), got sprinkled on, watched lightening and chatted with some of the grounds crew, etc. I had something to give to Dan, so I asked one of the guys from Ever Stays Red to give it to him, and he invited me in instead. So, I basically hung around, used the restroom (yes!!), talked to a few people and watched soundcheck. It was a long soundcheck. I really like watching soundchecks because they are all so unique. Everyone has their own way. Usually there is some humor involved along the way. I guess there has to be. ;)

After sound check, I talked to Dan a little and the band went to eat.
I just killed time as best I could. I found I could have my camera at some point and went to my car. I didn't think I'd get back in, but I was let back in again.
I can't even remember much about what I did to kill time, but just about the time doors were supposed to open I went and paid to get in. Dan was nice enough to offer to put me on the guest list, but I figured that I should pay to get in since I had it planned anyway.

The show was awesome. :) I got to hear "Hey Rebekah" and "Beside You Now" live for the first time, so that made my night. We won't tell anyone, but Dan started Beside You Now in the wrong key, but he corrected it well and quickly. I doubt most people noticed. I still think it sounded good - I just noticed a key change. In fact, I wasn't positive about the key thing being unintentional until Dan mentioned it. I just wrote it off in my mind. LOL

I was also impressed with Ever Stays Red. I bought their cd and I love it. :) I had seen them twice before and knew they were good, but never really have kept up with their music.

A Classic Affair's set was a lot of fun. I was concerned that I wouldn't like them because the sound check sounded a little screamy, but there was a lot of singing and Jordan has an awesome voice, so I ended up liking them after all. And they were really some of the nicest guys.

The only downside to the show were a couple of teen boys who thought that body slamming was the way to enjoy the concert. The problem with this is that most of the people in the front were smaller than they were, there were stairs and no barricade. No barricade means no way to stay upright, and I was a little annoyed at being thrown almost onto the stage several times. I would chide them (and do the up and down not side to side signs) and they would quit only to start it up again later.
There really was no security up front to speak of. But I survived it.

After the show, I bought two cd's from The Effect (Until June and Edison Glass), a hoodie and tee from The Fold. The hoodie is really nice, btw. It's very comfortable and warm. Then I bought Ever Stays Red's cd, and a photo from A Classic Affair. I had a pic taken with A Classic Affair and chatted with anyone who would listen.

I made no night time plans for Twin Falls, so I basically procrastinated. I thought about sleeping at a rest stop between Twin Falls and Boise, but it was bugging me that I couldn't picture where they were. I didn't want to spend a lot on a hotel (I just spent a bunch. LOL) so I just hung around and procrastinated. I ended up carrying some merch stuff out to the van, etc. Brian from The Effect was going to give the guys a tour of the station and interview so he invited me for the tour, so I waited around for that.

The tour of the station was really interesting. Brian and his wife were really very nice and by the end of the night, a few of the band guys were calling him "Bri guy". So I guess he has that nickhname now if he didn't before. The interviews were really fun to watch. Brian would do a little "pre interview" and then actually record the real thing. The interview was with The Classic Crime and The Fold. I don't know where Ever Stays Red was. They were probably the smart ones out getting some sleep.

Even when things were all wrapped up, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I finally ended up on Blue Lakes Road (even though I went the wrong direction) which is a street I knew. I stopped at the Super 8 Motel and asked the price and they said they'd give me the AAA rate of $65 (which was all inclusive) so I took the deal.
The room was nice, actually. I set my alarm early so I could have breakfast. About the only thing I could have was a cinnamon roll and apples, but it was a freebie, so I'm not complaining. :)

I came back to my room, showered, dressed and checked out. Then I did a little shopping around Twin Falls. I stopped at Barnes and Nobles and when I was leaving I saw Ever Stays Red's van driving out of town. LOL I thought that was a funny coincidence. I debated whether to go down to Centennial Park and the waterfall, but decided it would have been more fun if I wasn't alone and just headed out to Boise.

I was just a tad tired, and was grateful that it was only about an hour and a half or so. And I was on the road once again.