Nottingham, England
Rock City
Remember junior high science. You put a scraping of your tongue on that jelly like stuff called ‘agar’ in a round plastic Petri dish, cover it up a wait. And a few days later, it looked like something growing on the piece of wonder bread that fell under the refrigerator. Well, a tour bus is like a Petri dish with giant wheels. And the five rock and rollers, four crew members and two merch guys are like the tongue scrapings. And the dirty rock clubs are like the agar. The combination means colds and flu viruses spread like wildfire while on tour. It first started 10 or so days ago, with Robbie (who believes his stomach ache was due to the hospitality meal at a certain club that will remain unnamed.) But all of us had that same food, and he was the only one who got sick, so the rest of us reckon it was the start of the “Tesla black plague”. Then it started making it’s rounds to each member of the group. Luckily, one week prior to the start of the tour I went to the local Walgreens and had my first ever flu shot. I’ve had none of the flu symptoms, but think I’m catching the cold that has also been going around.
Nonetheless, I find some time in the morning to take a tour of Nottingham Castle, the house of many nobles including the famous Sheriff of Nottingham.
The whole Robin Hood theme abounds in this city, so I figure this is a perfect place to get some gifts for the nephews back home. Luckily, the Castle now houses a gift shop.
Speaking getting sick, Jeff has been sounded pretty sick lately. I don’t know how he gets through a show, much less sing so well. So, now I’ve been feeling a little achey, got a bit of a sore throat. The only one who hasn’t gotten sick other than me, is Static. But, I think he has built up immunity the rock and roll funk and gunk. But the show must go on, even though I’m feeling miserable and Jeff is congested and coughing. Tonight, the band throws me for a loop. Evidently, they made last minute changes to the set list, but forget to tell me. So, I’m holding up the wrong guitars at the wrong time, and Brian is looking at me like I’m on crack. As I try to explain myself, he just laughs and says, “Dude, don’t worry, it’s all good. Just get me the pink bass.” After the show, I give him crap for the set changes and for calling ‘audibles’ during the show to further change the set list. I jokingly insinuate that the “Rock Stars” don’t think of us peon crew members and purposely keep us in the dark. He laughs and apologizes for the confusion.
And one of the funniest things happened at the beginning of the set. Dave pops around to “guitar world” behind the amp line and hands me a banana. Now, I’m look at him like he’s on crack. He’s laughing so hard, he can’t say a word. And he is still trying to play the song the band is on. I’m trying to figure out where the hell this thing came from, . . . maybe a fan threw it on stage? He finally tells me that he forgot it in his jacket pocket and didn’t realize it until he took the stage. That dude is in a world all his own. But, he’s hilarious and I dig touring with him.
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