Note: this blog contains excessive amounts of profanity.
So, this weekend was quite a paradox of good and bad. Let's start with the good. I knew it was gonna be fun considering I was gonna see two nights of Gov't Mule and Dumpstaphunk, as well as Mike Gordon and Perpetual Groove on Saturday.
8/7:
I didn't want to drive all day on Friday to the Mule/Dphunk show at Myrtle Beach HOB show I left early Thursday night and got some good practice time in at the hotel. I also enjoyed some quality Steak 'n Shake, including my first cheeseburger since I quit eating cheese a year ago. Don't know what brought that on.
8/8:
Anyway, got some good sleep and woke up and headed over to the venue. Slipped in the back and said what's up to some friends in the Mule crew and said hey to Warren. Basically loitered around backstage till Dumpstaphunk got there, which was two hours late due to tire trouble. In the meantime, I got some good tips from Warren's tech Brian Farmer about preventing string breakage, a problem that has been plaguing me of late. Gonna swap in a Tone Pro's bridge (
http://www.tonepros.com) and try some Big Bends Nut Sauce (
http://www.bigbends.com), which according to Farmer should help prevent breakage. I will report on their effectiveness.
House of Blues, Myrtle Beach looks exactly like the one in Orlando and it was a pleasant experience overall, from the staff to the sound of the PA to the food. Looking forward to playing these with Inca Maya someday soon.
Dumpstaphunk finally showed up right around the time they started feeding the alligators across the way at the gator farm. There was a great view of these gators jumping several feet out of the water for food (wish I'd snapped a picture of it). Dphunk didn't even have time for a soundcheck, yet still managed to put on a killer show that was incredibly tight. Their sound guy Josh had it dialed in out front with a quickness and HOB's PA was slammin'. I think they won over some new fans that might not necessarily be hip to this type of music.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention. At some point before Dumpstaphunk went on, Warren flagged me down to ask me something backstage. Between VIP fans that were back there and his own crew coming up to talk to him, it literally took him five minutes to get over to me, and he asked me to do what I hoped he would, which was sit-in! I had just gone to spectate so this was a total surprise. Very cool. I'd played with him in the Wanee Family Jam, but never played with Gov't Mule. I was slated to sit-in on the encore, Spanish Moon, with Ivan and Ian Neville.
Mule then put on a great show as always while I paced backstage overthinking what I was gonna play with them, which I always do. Having to wait two entire sets to jam is nerve wracking, especially with a band that you've never jammed with before and who you've listened to for a long time. I think my sit-in went pretty well and it was a lot of fun. It's very cool to be musically acquainted and on a first name basis with Matt, Andy, and Danny now as I'd only really known them in passing before.
After the show, I got to meet some really cool fans, many of whom surprisingly knew who Inca Maya was through Wanee, Mag Fest, etc. It was very flattering for people to take such an interest in me and what our band is doing. Rather than staying in Myrtle Beach that night, I decided to go ahead and drive six hours to our family's lake house about an hour outside of Atlanta. After getting more Steak 'n Shake (thankfully this time it was a turkey club), I didn't get out of Myrtle Beach until 2:30 AM. I went strong for a while, but around daylight I started regretting my decision. I made it to the house around 8:30 and crashed hard.
8/9:
I got to the Masquerade the next day around 5:00 PM, just in time to catch some of Perpetual Groove's set and hang with our booking agent Chad. P. Groove is a good group of guys and do what they do extremely well, but I tend to gravitate away from electronica-laden music. People seem to really dig them and they are doing well and only getting bigger as a result of their hard work, so I have much respect for that.
Got to finally meet Scott Murawski of Max Creek and the KBM Trio with Bill Kreutzmann and Oteil Burbridge. We had only spoken online before about Mag Fest and I was surprised to see him there, but came to find out that he was playing with Mike Gordon's band. Scott was way cool enough to let me play his Languedoc guitar (
http://www.languedocguitars.com) backstage and it was super nice. I was obsessed with these and Trey in general when I was a kid, so it was awesome to finally try one of these out (wish I'd taken a picture of this too!) Mike's set was really good as well, and it was cool hanging with him backstage at the late-night Dphunk show.
Gov't Mule proceeded to do their thing and it rocked. Warren apologized for not having me up again as there were too many guests. Haha, I'm just grateful for whatever opportunities I'm given and one Gov't Mule sit-in per weekend is a-ok with me. Some of the Dphunk guys and I jetted on over to my favorite sushi restaurant, period, Zuma Sushi (
http://www.zumasushibar.com) in the Virginia-Highland area. Ivan and Ian asked me to jam with Dumpsta at the late-night show inside the Masquerade though, and I was stoked when they let me play "Livin' In A World Gone Mad", one of their killer originals and one of the first songs of theirs I ever heard.
I think Ivan was a little surprised that I already knew all the chord changes to it and it was wicked. They gave me the solo that Skerik takes on the recording, and he and Tony were also very cool to give me shout-outs, props, etc. about my playing, Inca Maya, and the Freebird when they brought me up. Thanks fellas! As a result of being part of the same ticket as the outdoor festivities, they already had a guaranteed sell-out before doors opened, which makes me really glad because they rock and deserve to be in front of big crowds everywhere they go. Got some breakfast at R. Thomas Deluxe Grill (
http://www.rthomasdeluxegrill.com) before driving an hour back to the house to crash out.
8/10:
Spent the whole next day out on Lake Lanier on the boat getting some much needed sun and just generally took it easy.
8/11:
Went into Atlanta on Monday, ate at my favorite Mexican restuarant, period (can you tell I like Atlanta-area restaurants?), Nuevo Laredo (
http://www.nuevolaredocantina.com/) and checked out some guitars and amps at Boutique Guitar Exchange (
http://www.boutiqueguitarexchange.com), also in the Virginia-Highland area. This is where I bought my Les Paul!
Alas, this is where the good times end and things take a turn for the worse. I decided to make what would prove to be a disastrous stop at Atlanta's Lenox Square Mall (these fuckers don't get a link... ok, in their defense it may have been my fault). Spent about an hour just walking around killing time before my 6 hour drive back to Jacksonville. When I came out to the parking lot, I noticed a car with it's engine running that drove off suspiciously in sync with my arrival. Didn't think much of it at the time. So I drove the whole way home listening to XM because I couldn't find my iPod. Didn't think much of it at the time, assuming it was under the seat or something.
I get home and go to take my computer bag out of the car, and guess what, no computer bag. Ok, this is bad. I had taken it inside the Mexican restaurant, it had to be there, I'll just call them the next day, right? Uh, nope. I distinctly remember pulling my computer out and looking something up in the parking lot AFTER leaving the Mexican restaurant. So that means, somewhere between Lenox Square and Jacksonville, my computer disappeared. And then it hit me, no computer bag, no iPod, no over-priced designer sunglasses (yes, I'm lame like that)... oh fuck, somebody ripped my shit off!!! Now, I either forgot to lock my car (which I never do) or they somehow got into my car without forced entry (I'd really like to believe the latter so I don't feel like a complete fuckhead).
Here's the kicker, my custom shop '59 Les Paul VOS is in the car as well. I start freaking. Go to the car, the case is there... I rip it out and it's heavy. Thank God (yes, I know I'm atheist, no need to point it out)! I open it, and yes, I'm still the proud owner of the best guitar I've ever played.
8/13 (the present):
A lesson for all you kiddies: don't leave things in your car that are valuable, even if you are in a well-lit public parking lot at one of America's more upscale malls. I also refuse to believe that I forgot to lock my car, and I'm now realizing that it is easier than you would imagine to get into a car without forced entry. Always password protect your computer and backup your data, of which I did neither. Well, I did backup my data but like a complete dipshit I had the backup drive in my computer bag. We live in a fucked up world and I've officially received my wakeup call.
That said, things could always be worse and material items, while they make our life easier and more enjoyable, are just that, material, and one should not lose sleep over these things. I've already replaced my computer because I need it for band business, but I sincerely feel for those who are in similar situations, who lose their personal items to dickless pieces of shit who can't make an honest living, yet are not as fortunate as I am and cannot afford to replace them. Stealing a $2000 computer from me is fucked up, granted, but when you start affecting someones livelihood by stealing their car, musical equipment, wallet/purse, etc. and cause them to miss out on income as well as having to replace the shit you stole, well then you sir or madam, are officially "The World's Biggest Douche".
A fellow local musician, Charlie Walker (
http://www.myspace.com/charlieawalker) had his car and all his band gear stolen while I was away and just seems fucked up that we are both dealing with similar shit at the same time. My heart goes out to him and know that he is missing out on income with each passing day lacking gear with which to gig with (his car was thankfully recovered). If you are ever at one of his gigs, please tip him WELL!!!
In closing:
Getting back to "things could always be worse", and leading me to my closing statement (I know you're like, come on already!), our bass player Shane lost his mother just recently. This is a personal matter for him so I will not go into any details, but I will say that it was not sudden or tragic in the usual sense (although I'm sure very, very difficult for him and his family nonetheless), but it proves my point that we put so much emphasis on superficial and material things and none of it really matters in the long run other than our close friends and family.
This is not a lecture by any means. I'm just as guilty, if not more guilty, than the average person of collecting material possessions. Many of them I use to make music with and they actually serve a practical and wonderful purpose, but it's all the same. An obsession with consumerism. Try to cherish what you have, and don't lament over what you don't have because it can all be taken away in an instant. If anyone wants to leave Shane some well-wishes, feel free to drop a comment on our page or send him an email to the Shaney P account in our top friends. I'm sure he'd really appreciate it, and thanks for reading my first "real" blog. Take care.
-Matt
