Chapter 10 - THE CHAIR
Since
it was only about a 60-mile drive to our next gig in Philadelphia,
we wisely stayed in Atlantic City for the night and hit the
road the next day. That's when I discovered The Chair.
It was a big black leather beauty of a reclining captain's
chair at the front of the bus. This became my station, my
post, if you will. Yes, indeed! There I was, riding shotgun
next to Jeff the Invincible, cruising through the highways
of America in my own private land yacht while relaxing in
a chair that could be the envy of any Monday Night Football
Couch Potato. For me, it was the best seat in the house .......
err, I mean the bus! This was my armchair window on the world.
Very cool!
You
know, you can watch TV or listen to some music almost any
time but how often do you get an opportunity to see America
on a private bus with a panoramic view, and all while relaxing
in a great big comfy chair? According to my "Road Bible,"
that's what I call the itinerary; we were going to be doing
gigs from coast to coast and from the Great Lakes to the gulf
coast. This was a great way to utilize those long slow hours
on the road, enjoying the sights and relaxing in The
Chair. And no matter how many years you've traveled,
there's always a new place or a new city that you've never
seen before.
It
was only a short time after we arrived at our hotel and got
settled that it was time to leave for the Keswick Theatre
and do our sound check. The Keswick is a beautiful old theatre
but, again, it was a totally different hall than the previous
day's venue. You know what that means, the lights and sound
had to be adapted to the current venue. Amazingly, by the
time we rolled up to the stage entrance, the crew had about
90% of everything dialed in and within an hour we were all
finished and it was time to break for dinner.
It's
the time between dinner and the start of the show that's weird.
You have more time than you need to prepare for the concert
but not enough time to really do anything, except sit on the
bus in The Chair, sit in the dressing room or
just hang out back stage.
Finally,
8:00 p.m. came around and I could hear the opening act starting
their set. I made it back stage to take a peek from behind
the curtain and the place was packed. This would be our third
show and it was starting to feel like we were getting into
the rhythm of the tour. Each night the band was improving
and the shows pacing was getting smoother.
Dan
is such a consistently strong performer that there's never
a lack of intensity on stage. As usual, Dan started the fire
and we helped fan the flames. It was a great show! It all
went by so fast and the next thing I knew I was back on the
bus, sitting in The Chair, heading back to our
hotel for a possible nightcap before retiring. After all,
tomorrow was going to be a big day. Tomorrow was a day off!