So, in referencing Thursday, from “Days 1-4” blog, I’d like to remind you all that I, very sweetly, asserted myself into a conversation with a young man at the Hub that night and convinced him to convince his boss that we should play a gig at her restaurant, The Snag, a little floating dock bar in Cedar Springs Marina, UT. She said yes, but it was kind of crowded and a hard load in. “Do you have a lot of stuff?”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Only 3 huge carts worth of stuff. But, in true Champagne Sunday fashion, we happily took the gig and just sucked it up and hauled all 3 carts of gear and merch down the ramp, into the floating bar at the end of the dock! See diagram for painful image.
Actually, bringing it down was easy-peasy compared to pushing it all back up (hello bonus calf workout), but we were riding so high when the show was through, we barely even felt it!
When Jared and I lived in Ventura, CA, our favorite place to play was a Mexican restaurant called the “Margarita Villa”. Sitting atop the whole Ventura Harbor, the Margarita Villa was also an extremely difficult load in and out as there were either 3 flights of stairs, or 1 small elevator meant for either 1 large man, or 3 gossipy teen girls. Certainly NOT 3 carts of gear. So, you can imagine how long it took to get up there and get set up. However, once on the patio out back, overlooking the boats and the sunset of the Southern California sky, singing to a bunch of happy patrons, dizzy with a sticky margarita drunk, and grinning ear to ear, every moment of the load in was worth it.
The Snag in the harbor of Cedar Springs was a close second to the Margarita Villa. Jared and I felt completely comfortable, like on our old stomping grounds, as we launched into our intro of who we were and then hit them with “Dressed Up”. The whole day was one big, joyful party. Since the 4th of July fell on a Monday this year, people were taking every second of the weekend to party. I honestly don’t know how or why this bar didn’t already have a band booked for a holiday weekend slot, but we got lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to seize the opportunity to get this gig, and I’m so glad we did!!!
Beer, dancing, food, kids, laughter, joy, and so much of it! You guys… I was in such a good mood, I even did a full-voice happy birthday for someone’s daughter. If you know, you KNOW! We also did something we haven’t in probably 2 years…we encored with “Minnie The Moocher”! Complete with high-top table dance and all. There wasn’t a human alive that could touch us in that moment. We were legends. We were rock gods. We were… well, when asked “Why are you in this tiny little bar????”” You should be FAMOUS!” I just said what I’ve taken to saying, “We are right where we’re SUPPOSED to be.” and smiled.
The owners, Stacy and John, were overwhelmed and wickedly complimentary. They doubled our pay. The crowd literally threw money at me as I climbed off the table. People bought merch and then more merch. People who missed the show bought merch just on recommendation of the owners. An unbelievable night. Two little cherub darlings slipped $100 each into my hands as I hugged them goodbye. Their parents winked knowingly at me. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. A gig we weren’t supposed to have. An opportunity almost missed. An otherwise empty day on tour, had we not taken time to seek relationships with people. Thank you Raf, from the Snag, who we met at the Hub, for calling Stacy and getting us a gig.
In a part of the country we didn’t feel we were welcome or wanted, we now have fans for life and friends for even longer. That’s how we celebrated our freedom this year.
