Show Day in Phoenix

Today's show is in Phoenix, AZ. I've got some friends who live here, but I doubt I'll see them. Robert Mason's band has a regular Tuesday night gig in Tucson, and Steve Kidd's on the road with Gn'R.

This is one of my fave venues in town – The Dodge Theater. I've probably done 5-6 shows here in the last few years. Behind the stage, there's a graffiti wall that runs about 100 feet or so. Most of the bands and Broadway shows and such that have played here have "tagged" the wall, so it's pretty messy in spots. The building actually encourages folks to do this, so when they asked the AAR if they would do a little something, Tyson immediately sent out for a bunch of cans of spray paint.

I was in the production office at one point during the late afternoon when I heard a bunch of commotion in the hallway. I stepped out and looked down the long graffiti hall to see a huge cloud of red haze in the distance. There was so much paint in the air that people were gagging on it. Yuck. And like something out of a Stephen King story ("The Mist" comes to mind, one of his best short stories), it was drifting eerily toward us. We quickly closed off that hall, and I in turn closed the door to the office. Here's the final piece:



You might notice the area marked "Band & Crew" at the bottom – we all signed it. Look closely on the left half at the bottom and you'll catch my "Zilla":



Kadaver, one of our guitar techs, came into the office today and told me about Kevin, aka Toad, the keyboard player, puking last night around 3am after getting a little too smoked up. He said he had pictures of it, so I asked him to email me a couple of shots. I picked out the best one, cropped it, blew it up, and printed out about 20 copies of it. I had the stage manager tape them all over the stage area before the sound check. They were also in the hallways all over the backstage area and even in the elevator the band was using all day. Poor Toad. Here's the shot:



Oh, yeah, I got a phone call today about a potential gig upcoming. It's a pretty famous band. They're evidently making a change – ditching the current tour accountant and replacing him. I'd love to get the gig, because 2 very good friends of mine are on it - the tour manager and the production manager. I've worked a bunch with these 2 guys over the last 7 years or so, and they both want me out there.

The downside is that the first show is on or around the 10th and I really, really want to be home for all of January. Hell, maybe February, too. But the money this gig pays is just stupid, so I'm taking it if it comes through. I'll keep ya posted…