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ON THE ROAD WITH... FREAK SHINEDOWN, TANTRIC & 3 DOORS DOWN
Greenbay, WisconsinJANUARY 10, 2004
It started with my back which, according to my doctor, has a “doozie of a spondee” (spondyllithiasis) at my L5. The intense pain put an end to most of my physical activities; I couldn’t sit, stand, or sleep leaving me with nothing much else to do but go out and drink until the agony became dull enough to go home and pass out. Sorry it caused me to miss Midwest BEAT’s “Region Rumble” this year... I finally went for an MRI and started seeing a chiropractor for the back troubles but even though the pain began to subside, I could still feel the vinegar churning inside me. I sold my condo and tossed everything I owned into storage becoming homeless and proceeded to hop-scotch from friend’s house to friend’s house through the southwestern suburbs before finally buying my farm four weeks later. Next up was the job. I left Q-101 on a Thursday and had a few beers at Shamrock’s. I then went to a secret meeting with The Zone guys at a bar in the Renaissance Hotel. There I continued to drink while we discussed my possible defection. I left there and went to Rossi’s, drank, thought, and then returned to Q-101 and met with the honchos. I then went back to Shamrock’s where I drank, thought, drank, thought some more, and drank some more before calling The Zone and telling them “game on!” I slammed a double-shot of Crown Royal and went back to Q-101 and quit. That was that. No agents, no lawyers, no screaming down the hallways, just one drunken, homeless bastard with a mid-life crisis. Twelve hours later I was being introduced as the newest member of The Zone from the stage at the House of Blues during their live Christmas broadcast. So there I was, new job, new farm, and a new lease on life feeling better both mentally and physically as I headed up I-294 towards Green Bay. The Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena is home to the U. of W. Green Bay teams and since it’s directly across the street from Lambeau, shared an immense parking lot with the stadium. The guy in the booth asked me if I was there to tailgate or see the concert which confused me a bit, but I answered “concert” and pulled in to the left like he asked. I was pretty sure the Eagles/Packers game was the following day and I was also pretty sure it was in Philly but I figured I was wrong because there were several hundred Cheeseheads out there whooping it up in the freezing cold. It was an awesome party but oddly enough it wasn’t for the Packers. These idiots were getting ready for the Rams/Panthers game to come on the TV! I hooked up with some good ol’ boys throwing a football around and grilling some brats and mooched myself some dinner. They were tailgating for a completely different game because they had nothing better to do. They had home-made Panther banners (because they didn’t want to play St. Louis in the next round which they never got to) and people wearing Panther face-paint screaming with more enthusiasm than the Carolina fans they were showing on TV. Seeing this, I’m not sure why I was surprised to hear that the Packer game was in Philadelphia the following day and that they wouldn’t be leaving until the Packers were done kicking some Eagle ass. Christ, I thought, they take this stuff way too seriously. Nowhere had I ever encountered such unbridled stupidity being channeled towards a band or sports team. Even the crazy bitches that chased The Beatles around the world didn’t do it in sub-zero temperatures I noticed the time and ran across the street to meet Victor for an interview. We cruised backstage to the dressing room area where 3 Doors Down was just hanging out. I did a quick sit-down with them on NASCAR and moonshine before raiding their beer cooler and ducking back out into the arena. Tantric was on stage but it didn’t really interest me, all I could think about were those brats cooking on that grill. Sure it was below zero outside. Sure I didn’t give a rats ass about the Panthers or the Rams. But the reason I came to Green Bay was to have a bit of fun away from Chicago, and the fun just so happened to be in the frozen parking lot of Lambeau Field. | ||
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It felt good to have my ass back on the road after enduring several weeks of astronomical stress generated by the mid-life crisis that caused me to completely wig out and start cleaning house.