Ike in the Ozarks
We knew the day would be eventful, we just didn't know to what extent. A nearby hurricane bearing down, the storied rivalry of Notre Dame vs. Michigan, and our first appearance at the Harvest Music Festival guaranteed an interesting Saturday.
The remnants of Hurricane Ike were slowing moving their way northeast from the Texas coastline as an early morning load in commenced at Mulberry Mountain. It was business as usual for an outdoor festival, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Lighting, soundboards, and backline gear were all set up, thoroughly tarped and covered. Then we settled in to see what Mother Nature had in store for us.
Meanwhile a handful of us ventured off to a nearby trailhead to try and find a local swimming hole and 60 ft. waterfall. No luck with the latter but the former proved successful for Joel, Jake, Brendan and I. A refreshing dip in the cool spring-fed waters managed to temporarily relieve the sweltering humidity.
Jake throwing water at you near the swimming hole
Upon returning from our hike we were greeted with the glorious smells of Andy's Smokey Joe grill. The grill master was cooking up spicy Italian sausages accompanied by crystal hot sauce infused grilled onions. On a serious note, if you ever have the opportunity to eat Andy Farag's BBQ, do not miss out. The sausages were a perfect prelude to the victory that lurked around the corner.
The Grill Master and Wade prep the tailgate. Andy begins seasoning the onions while Wade inspects the spatula for any imperfections that could prove detrimental to grilling.
Despite a less than stellar showing by the Irish last weekend, we all had high hopes for the Michigan showdown. It was an auspicious beginning for the Irish as they went up 14-0 a mere 4:00 minutes in. Coach Weis didn't fair quite as well as he suffered a torn MCL and ACL after being plowed over on the sidelines. We all concurred that he would have gladly accepted the injury for the 35-17 pouncing the Irish delivered the Wolverines. The mood was jovial but as the skies grew darker, the reality of what was to come began to set in.
The inevitability of a crushing storm was all too apparent as we contemplated our options. After deducing that there was no chance we'd be able to pull of our show on the main stage, it was decided our best option would to try a scaled down gig in the late night tent. There was no logistical way to get our gear from one stage to the other so we loaded the practice gear into a pickup and sped over to the tent. With the exception of a few in-store performances, we had never attempted a "real" show using the pint sized amps and mini drum kits available to us. This was going to be humorous.
Our typical setup includes 40+ channels of instruments and microphones coming from the stage. Last night we rocked 14. The guys managed to pull off what I thought was a pretty stellar performance despite the fact that they really couldn't hear much of what was going on. We had a total of 3 functioning stage monitors (remember there are 6 guys up there) and limited tonal capacities. It was quite reminiscent of late 90's Umphrey's.
The view of from the sounboard via the high resolution camera that is the iphone
In the meanwhile, as the band began playing in the tent, our tireless crew was hard at work tearing down our full setup in the driving rain over on the main stage. Sheets of rain tore across the open fields and pummeled the stage. Bob, Robbie & Wade literally had to work underneath the tarps to ensure nothing got destroyed as they waited for periodic breaks (read 20 mph winds instead of 40 mph) in the weather. In the history of UM load outs, this probably takes the cake as the proverbial "worst ever".
Back in tentville, set highlights included the Front Porch opener with Jake on drums. The band thought it would be funny if they started without telling Kris, as he was still making his way back from the restroom. And it was. Kris proceeded to walk directly to Jake's vocal mic and entertain the wet patrons with some vocal improv of his own. Bill McKay from Leftover Salmon sat in on keys for an impromptu rendition of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". Rain Song to finish seemed appropriate as the heavens remained parted and the tent continued to flood.
We learned this morning that at 4:30 am the tent we played under was ripped from the ground by 75 mph winds and blown away. In fact, every tent on site couldn't stand up to Ike's wrath and destruction ruled the early morning. All in all we felt fortunate that we are able to at get our show in regardless of the absurdities of the day. Thanks to all of you who braved the rained with us. Never a dull moment I tell you...
(Hopefully there will be some better pictures floating around out there for your viewing pleasure. The hectic nature of our evening didn't lend itself to much quality photography on our end.)