I woke up yesterday morning feeling GREAT after our previous night's performance at the El Dorado Casino. While a casino performance provides a slightly different audience for us, the El Dorado is always a fun time and they've turned the stage into quite a production!
Dave (our front-of-house audio engineer) is super cool and it's always fun to catch up with him. He's yet another brother I wish I lived closer to and had the opportunity to hang out with more often. We played a quick 90 minute set and once we were torn down and packed up, we enjoyed a mellow night backstage with a few drinks and some fun conversation and eventually made our way to find hotel rooms where Rhoades and Dennis and I proceeded to stay up even later hanging out. The cool weather was so nice that we left the door wide open to let the outside in and I felt like I was in college again. Late night laughter is always the best and there's never a shortage of that when I'm hanging around those two.
Nocona Nights, Nocona, TX.
It's been at least a year since we played Nocona Nights (and probably longer) and looking back this morning I can't even accurately describe the fun we had last night with the good people of that community! We arrived in Nocona a little bit early and checked into our rooms before loading in. From there we headed into town where we were welcomed like kings! As has happened with lots of places we've played, playing in Nocona almost feels more like a homecoming for a family reunion than it does a job booked by our band-for-hire. Everybody there took great care of us and we threw down a fantastic show that left everybody grinning from ear to ear and ready for a party! From the venue we were invited down to the local VFW to hang with all our Nocona pals and listen to the local band playing there. It wasn't but just a few minutes of my settling into a cold Shiner when I was asked to dance by a gal several years my senior and everybody there looked on to see what my reaction was going to be. It only took me a second to remember that "when in Rome..." and I led her out onto the small dance floor where we two-stepped and rock-stepped 'til I thought she might give out but she was like a little girl out there and it was just a short while before she found me again and told me to "put down your drink and quit talking and let's go DANCE!" to which everybody had a laugh!
We had a fantastic time with all the locals and as much as I love my Shiner Bock, my favorite beer is a free beer and everybody made sure that none of us were empty-handed for very long (which was really nice because we've been paid by check for the last 3 nights and in true Chris Dodds fashion, I left town only after leaving my cash and cards at the house which left me destitute for this trip - save for the beer and sodas picked up along the way and the bags of flaming hot Cheetos I grabbed from the El Dorado.)
We ended our night at the VFW shortly after I joined the drummer for a sort of impromptu tagteam version of "Wipeout". I can't help it. Jumping up with a band and going guerrilla on them has become like sport to me now. Sabotaging a song when nobody's expecting it is always a thrill for me and I like to do it every chance I get. From the VFW we headed back to our rooms and Rhoades and D and myself found a Jeep parked right near the back door of the hotel and loaded onto the trailer-hitch rack was a cooler that was host to a treasure of another 9 Modelos and a lone bottle of water.
Yes. We took their beer. It wasn't a complete loss for them though. We took it in exchange for a shirt, a CD, and two koozies. And a piece of firewood that Dennis was NOT quick to part with.
(BBQ is like religion in Texas and Dennis is a high priest.) He picks up wood for smoking everywhere we go and it's not uncommon to open the doors to our van and have chopped wood fall out onto our feet. So that was Dennis's offering - though I'm sure they'll be confused as to why there's a chunk of a tree in their ice chest. We even autographed the CD for 'em. Hopefully we'll meet them someday and hopefully they'll think it's as funny as we thought it was at 3:00am. And yes. It's still just as funny this morning.
We're now slowly meandering our way southbound towards Austin/San Antonio. This week we'll be at Sam's Burger Joint in San Antonio on Friday and at the Broken Spoke in Austin on Saturday. Come join us and be sure you say hello. We always enjoy visiting with everybody. Here's hoping everybody has a fantastic week and remember to make time to get out and enjoy this gorgeous Texas Spring weather. 'Til next time...
- Dodds
Location:Jackson St,Bowie,United States
