Hello, friends! Rob here.
First things first: Happy birthday, America! Thanks for being such a great place. Sure, you’ve got your problems, but I wouldn’t trade you for the world. Case in point, I haven’t.
Shreveport. Shreveport. What are you doing to me, Shreveport? You, with your casinos, and your food carts, and your late-night scene (we got started at about 12:45 on Saturday and decided at the end of the evening that we should have gone on later), and your wonderful denizens. You are a bad influence.
I think I’m going to go backwards with this one. For science.
Sunday, 12:20 PM – We arrive in New Orleans. Everyone goes home and sleeps.
Sunday, 7:20 AM – We drop Maggie off at her house and start the drive home. Because my internal clock is entirely inverted by now, I take the first shift.
Sunday, 6:00 AM – Breakfast at Southfield Grill. Everything is very good.
Sunday, 5:30 AM – We’re packing up the trailer so we can leave. The sun is coming out. We meet a very interesting gentleman on the street and get a video of him singing and dancing to “This Is How We Do It.” After some debate, we decide it would be slightly more horrible to try to go to bed for five hours and then wake up and drive. The plan is breakfast now, then driving. With only five of us in our giant land behemoth of a vehicle, every passenger can sleep, so it’s not as bad as it sounds.
Sunday, 4:00 AM – We have run out of songs to play but the crowd is as vivacious as ever. Dave reaches into his back catalogue and pulls out a few random tunes. We ad lib. It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly good enough for four in the morning. At the end of the show, Zack takes up a tambourine and he, Stefan and I second-line (actually, as the band, I believe we were technically main-lining) into the bar. Once inside, we trade licks for a minute or two, and then stand awkwardly for a few moments before ordering drinks.
Sunday, 3:00 AM – Our second set is in full swing, with guest appearances from Stefan and our friend Josh Gutierrez. The outside patio is pretty close to full.
Sunday, 2:20 AM – Set break. After a few minutes’ internal debate, I get another hot dog.
Sunday, sometime between 12:45 and 1:00 AM – Is when we actually start playing. There are about fifteen people outside.
Sunday, 12:30 AM – Is when we say we are going to start playing.
Saturday, 11:00 PM – Is when people begin to ask us when we are going to start playing. There are about ten people outside.
Saturday, 10:45 PM – I purchase a hot dog from a hot dog cart. For some reason, this hot dog cart requires three whole people to operate. Maybe one to make the hot dog, one to take my money, and, I don’t know, one to push the cart?
Saturday, 10:40 PM – We’re ready to go. Now all we need to do is wait until it gets a little later.
Saturday, 9:45 PM – We arrive at Fatty’s and start setting up.
Saturday, 6:30 PM – George and I arrive at Maggie’s house, take the tour, and then spend an hour sitting on her couch, sharing a blanket and reading PostSecret books. I reheat my leftover breakfast. It isn’t very good.
Saturday, 4:45 PM – I wake up. George and I mill about at Chase’s for a little bit.
Saturday, 4:00 PM – George reheats his leftover breakfast. It isn’t very good.
Saturday, 2:00 PM – George wakes up.
Saturday, 8:00 AM – George and I arrive at the home of Chase “Boytime” Boytim, entrepreneur, club owner, and generally awesome guy. He owns Fatty Arbuckle’s (as well as a few other places around Shreveport), so we have developed a pretty good relationship. Case in point, he’s letting us sleep in his house.
Saturday, 7:40 AM – George and I leave the casino. Jason goes back to the craps table.
Saturday, 7:30 AM – Our food arrives. It is delicious, and the portions are huge. I am excited about leftovers.
Saturday, 7:15 AM – While waiting for our breakfast, George and I call Ed. We leave a very long voicemail.
Saturday, 7:00 AM – We quit gambling and get some breakfast from the restaurant strategically designed to make visitors think twice about ever having to leave the casino. George and I order for Jason, who is still at the table.
Saturday, 5:10 AM – Zack, Dave and Andrew ride with our favorite Shreveportian, Maggie Koerner, to sleep at her house. Nice lady, Maggie is.
Saturday, 3:45 AM – Okay, fine, I’ll go to the damn casino with you George. We ask my friend Jason if he wants to go. He will, but only for an hour or so.
Saturday, 2:30 AM – Near the end of our second set we are joined by our dear friend Stefan Poole of Shreveport’s own Stiff-Necked Fools. Stefan is awesome. He sits in for the remainder of the set, and then when we are out of songs, we attempt a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Stefan Sings, but he does not know all of the words to the song, so Zack has to stand next to him and tell him what the next line is. I play cheesy saxophone fills. Zack and I conclude that the proper way to use the phrase “it goes a little something like this” is when playing a song one doesn’t entirely know how to play, as in, “the real version of the song we are trying to play for you sounds a little bit like this. Come on. You get the idea.”
Saturday, 12:00 AM – I’m not exactly sure, so I’m just going to say this is when we started our Friday night show.
Friday, 11:30 PM – We’re ready to go. I buy a burrito from a burrito cart. At the time, I don’t fully appreciate how amazing it is that it only takes one person to make cart food.
Friday, 10:00 PM – We arrive at Fatty Arbuckle’s in Shreveport and start setting up.
Friday, 4:00 PM – We pack the van and leave New Orleans. Ed has a wedding or something to go to this weekend, so he is not with us. I hope you haven’t been picturing Ed doing stuff all weekend, because if you have then you’ve been reading it wrong and you have to start over from the beginning/end.
The End/Beginning! I hope you found this enjoyable, and not at all confusing or unnecessary!
Florida this weekend, then we’re gearing up for a real live actual tour! This July run will be mostly Midwest and Colorado, which is awesome. There probably won’t be Blog Wednesday next week due to driving lots, but, as always, there’ll be tour updates as time and internet allow.
Conclusive statement, everyone! Compliment.
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In Gulf Breeze,Blue Angels are flying over our heads here at the office. Sitting here counting the minutes till 5:00. This Yat Old Woman can’t wait to listen to your music from home. I am a transplant,but all of you back home will always have my heart and soul. Bring it on! When you see my second line rag waving,ya’ll know it’s me. Dawlins