Southbridge was a quant little town, drive there from Sturbridge took about 5 minutes. Took a pic of this cool old brick mill building in an old red brick industrial part of town. Oh, that's the venue. heh! Quick moving little river right next to it, that was nice. Seth the owner and Craig (stage mgr?) both really cool guys. Had helpers for load in, always appreciated. But shit, forgot to eat. Luckily Seth had sandwiches brought in for crew and hands, we were ahead of schedule so took a break for lunch. Had a separate FOH system for King's X, very cool. Weird shaped stage, lopsided rectangle (should have paid attention in Geometry) narrow on Dug's side (stage R) and wider on Ty's side. Low ceiling, had to use 6" house drum riser. Fine by me.
ADC Performance Center
Good to know there's at least one OZZY fan in the area
After soundcheck Seth took band and crew to a nearby nice restaurant, can't recall the name. While at the table a fan came up and spoke briefly to the band, mentioned being a player. After he left Seth said the guy used to play with and was very good friends with Brad Delp (Boston). Wow, you can never underestimate anyone. Had the swordfish, don't think I've ever had that before. Was good.
3 opening bands including Last Perfect Thing. 2nd band was Cobra Kai, an 80's metal cover band. I think they all play in bigger bands. Wasn't into them. King's X set was a trainwreck, but not on their end. I don't think the AC was on during their set, turning the stage into a big Easy Bale Oven. Sweating my ass of and I wasn't even moving. Then a processor for the PA cut out, had to wait for signal from Jan (FOH) before the band could continue playing. Then the subs cut out. 3 times. Then Ty's monitor cut out (took 3 monitor swaps to find one that worked during soundcheck). House guy swapped it out and that one cut out, in addition to the crackle that Ty was hearing all night (may have been low end rattling the big metal AC duct running the length of the venue). And of course, there was a camera crew there. The crowd was amazing tho. Couldn't tell how many (900 person venue so yeah it looked empty) but God damn they were into it. One of the most vocal crowds of the tour.
But anyway. So yeah, they weren't in a good mood after that one. But they still did their meet and greet at the merch booth, meeting every fan and signing everything handed to them. You have to give them that, they always look after the fans. And they do that every night regardless. Respect.
But the night then turned even more sour. Some guys from an opening band were very drunk at the bar most of the night. After the show some of them drunkenly tried to walk onto the bus. WTF?!? Luckily Jan (FOH) was there to stop them and threaten to kick their asses. They threatened to kick his ass (and would have, he's 60) but it didn't come to blows although it rightfully could have. The bus is a private residence, and if you trespass into a private residence you could get shot. J Rab and I went around to the bus (interrupting load out) to see if they were still there but they were gone. Fucking idiots
After the show Seth hung out and started feeding J Rab and myself drinks and shots (Jim Beam on the rocks for me, shots of some tasty higher-end Scotch). Hung out with him and Craig for quite some time. J Rab mention I play with The Mother Truckers and they've both heard of us. I always do the disclaimer "not to be confused with Drive By Truckers", heh! Exchanged contact info with Craig, very cool guy.
Last thing I remember is helping J Rab refill the bus cooler with Heineken and ice. That's about it.
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