Long one

Hello,
On Tuesday I played the longest gig of my life. Steel band again. We started off at the MGM Grand in Detroit, playing from 5-9. It was an easy start for me, they had an in house drumset. It sounded nice, I think it was an Evans set. The drum throne was hard as a rock though. The band was sounding good. The sound guy didn't show up until the second set, so we started the night off playing acoustic, which is so great when you are in a steel band. When it comes down to it, it is a band full of drummers, so it can really be powerful in an acoustic setting. Anyway, we got sound eventually, and added some vocals to the mix, which really gets the party started. At nine it was time to pack up and head 2000 feet down the road to the Greektown Casino where we set up in the VIP entrance lobby where we were to play for all the high rollers as they came to gamble. That gig was from 10-2 a.m. The lobby was all tile and marble, so we had to play very softly. It was challenging, but we were able to pull it together and find a nice groove. We got a lot of compliments too. When one oclock rolled around, one of the casino managers came by to tell us that they want all bands to stop at 1. It was nice to have a bit of an early end to such a long night. I packed up, and headed back to Linden to get as much sleep as possible before my 8 a.m. class the next morning. I made it, but it sure made for a long week.

thanks for reading,

-John