55. Gypsy Ballroom. Dallas, TX May 14, 2005
Sat May 14, 2005 3:09 pm
This is a placemarker. I will come back. We're in the dressingroom with family now. nfg set still on. later ya'll! bd
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The Eyes of Texas are upon me...
We're going to make you sick - saying over and over again - how great it is to be back in Texas. How could the whole state feel like home, though? This state is bigger than most countries. Right now, we're driving to San Antonio. Everyone is asleep. John A. is driving. But I should head back up the trail and cover my tracks. (random cowboy phrase which means: go back and talk about the events of the day)
Starting back in that little New Mexico town the night before - I crashed at 3:00+ am, got up at 6:00am, drove the sleeping inhabitants of the Eisley van 485 miles to Deep Ellum, Dallas - to arrive and park in the Gypsy Tea Room parking lot only seconds before the rest of the DuPree clan wheeled in.
It was just like I said: tight, long, hard hugs with tears... followed immediately by gift giving, followed by a ferocious "Angry Dog" sit down meal before load in. It was a divine reunion. I'm going to curb urges to define and redefine the feeling with goopy, superlatives. It's still with me today.
Best of my knowledge, the sold out show was a big success. How I measure show success: if everyone who contributed left with at least a 7 feeling. "Contributed" means: band, audience, marketers/promoters, stage managers, production crew, TM's, road crew... etc. My grade scale: 6 is average. 7 on up meters the range of "success". I'd give it a solid 7. 82563290. That's pretty high - almost an 8.
I gave it such a high grade because all 3 bands got a tremendous response, with means the "contributors" were getting a good feeling... which spilled over to the bands - which spilled back to the fans. Good times.
I can't say enough good things about the people/staff at the Gypsy Tea Room and Charles Attal Promotion. They're always so kind to us. They go WAY out of their way to make things good for us. (the hook up - even as the underdog openers since we're home town and they love Eisley) Tommy even opened doors at 7:00 for me because I complained that Eisley fans never get into see the band when they've opened at the Ball room. (25 minutes to process 1,200 people?) That's the kind of favor that makes a difference. Remember, in business, good relationships are everything. You treat everyone... from the lowliest, snaggletoothed, cigarette-smoking roadie - to the box office girl - to the house monitor guy to the top dog - promoter with courtesy, respect... you treat them like they're doing you a big favor... like they deserve ultimate kindness - each of them, because they're people. And they get a lot of crap from bands who think they're rock stars.
Eisley's Show
The fans score a 8.948932461832, which probably made up for Eisley's tiredness. The set was tight enough, and I actually liked it quite goodly, but I know they were feeling your love. That makes all the difference in the world. I wonder how many Eisley fans were there? I couldn't tell. I could only tell that how ever many there were, you were amazing... singing the lyrics loudly, celebrating the live music, supporting the dorky siblings in a prolific, resounding, boisterous way. Sheesh, 7 Songs for 20 bucks. Whoever you were, if you were only Eisley fans, you were very giving. I know so many of you guys - and love you so much. Thank You.
Worn Out Hats
I was busy as a one legged horse on a rocky trail (with a 12% grade) last night. Dealing with a limited guest list in our home town is something I utterly dread. Add family to the lis - complete with getting the right clearance with passes, tracking down headlining band for photo passes, dealing with tight security about where they can and can't shoot from (thanks Peter!!) as the opening (low life) band is hard. Fit in meals, coffee, load in/out (remember, one of my hats is one of 2 roadies), settling, meal buy outs, set lists, cameras, stupid details like making sure batteries are charged, videotaping, making sure I'm not out of video tapes, , spending time with my beloved wife after not seeing her face for almost 3 months, doing the production on myspace (resizings/coding/upload, this journal, etc. Add tons of friends, conversations, etc. - it get's crazy. I think my hats are getting worn out. Weirdly, ended up setting in with nfg for that song sherri sings since Chad had been asking me for weeks. I would have loved to have rehearsed it more than once thu during souind check. It was ok i guess. not so hot. An easy song to play to once you learn the stops/starts, breaks, fills, grooves on the vrs's, chorus - switch to ride on bridge and crash ride on chorus/outro. Anyway, it was fun. Right after, I put on my TM hat and went to settle.
We ate Dinner at 2:00 - 3:00am which toasted my brain. I mostly just rested my weary body on Kim during the festivities. It would have been better to be hungry and just crash. Saying goodbye to her and Collin was hard - they had to drive 2+ hours back to Tyler. I called her to make sure she was awake as I was drifting off about 3:30am. Tilt.
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