Friday March 6 2020

 

Waking up around 11 a.m. Had a pretty good night’s sleep. Jimmy Wiseman snored a little but I had plenty of ambient brown noise to ward off any sleep interruptions.

 

Breakfast Bar and Green Tea.

 

Hanging out in the hotel room catching up on business and various things on the computer.

 

Meeting up with the rest of the crew at the venue. A New World Record is playing the Circle Square Cultural Center tonight in Ocala, Florida. Grabbing a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Cream Cheese to tide me over till dinner.

 

Setting up the stage. This place is fairly new and has a clean look. The room sound is boomy so we have to adjust a lot to make up for it.

 

They serve us a southern style catering tonight: Smoked Chicken, Green Beans, Salad, and Garlic Bread. Desert is the most delicious Peach Cobbler I’ve ever had!

 

7 p.m. hits and we get on the stage. And what an unexpected night we’re about to have. Right off the bat the computer that powers the sequences tracks and everything starts glitching. We barely make it through the first verse without confusion. I signal to Carson to kill the tracks so we can keep playing without having to try to sync with the track. It’s no use at that point. But we manage to finish out the song pretty well. Into the second song everything’s back on track!

...

Intermission.

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Then, on to our second set. The venue is packed out with mostly seniors. I joke with some of the crew how white it looks out there. They dig us though. At one moment people shout out song requests – of course we have a particular arrangement. During “Do Ya” Kevin came in a bit early on the first chorus and we got off on the tracks. Once again, I signal to Carson to kill the track and we make it out alive.

 

Packing up everything. Jimmy and I head back to the hotel. I shower up and catch up on things. It’s gonna be another night without much sleep cause I gotta drive to the Tampa airport and catch a few flights early in the morning. Grabbing a quick bite and read at the Waffle House across the street.

 

After an hour and a half drive I arrive to drop off the rental car and it seems I’m the only one. In the rental car center while walking to the tram I spot a lost red heart-shaped balloon stuck on the ceiling. I’m very early, so early that the security checkpoint is closed until 4 a.m. so I have to wait it out along with others reclined on chairs taking naps or charging their phones.

 

Not sure when my day is ending and the next is beginning but I continue on to my gate to catch a flight to Charlotte. No sleep expected.

 

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