I played in the Euchre tournament last night with my co-workers. I played 6 games. I started out really good, winning the first two games. Then the cards started to be poor. I lost the next 2 games. All in all, it was a good time and fun to be with the people I only know as co-workers to see what they are like outside of work.
I got a note from the singer of Angel Blake, thanking me for my review of their CD. Their new CD comes out soon but there is no US release date.
I put in a couple of press pass requests to some shows - Rush in Moline, IL, & a Motley Crue Fest tour stop in Milwaukee - so I'm hoping one or both works out. Getting a press pass to a show can be a frustrating thing. I always seem to run into issues and when I do, it's never fun.
The first time I ever had a press pass for a show was in January 1994. I had interviewed VoiVod's drummer on the phone and then was told I could go to their gig opening for Fight in Cedar Rapids. What a great show Fight put on! I still remember Rob Halford looking around 3Rd Street Live, smiling, and remarking, "I like this place. Maybe I should buy it." Wouldn't that have been amazing?!? Of course, I bought into his remarks hook, line, and sinker.
I remember going to see Everclear & Filter at the IMU in Iowa City. I thought I had two press passes but b/c the tickets were so cheap <$10?>, my friend had to buy a ticket. Actually, the ticket person went 2 for 1 on a ticket because there was someone else there who was supposed to be getting in for free as well. Everclear rocked the house. I saw the lead singer but was star struck and didn't approach him.
The worst time was in August 1998. A publicist called me and asked me if I wanted to interview Slaughter's Dana Strum in person prior to their gig in Des Moines, IA, at the Iowa State Fair. I remember jumping through all sorts of personal hoops to make that happen. Megan was 2 so I had to make sure she was 'covered,' find someone to go with. It ended up that I drove our (then) new van to Des Moines. I had promised my wife that since it was our new van, I would not drink and drive - which no one should ever do. There was a group of 6 of us (I think) and the other 4 had tickets to the show. My friend and I were going to go to the ticket office and pick up two press passes. When I got to the will call window, my name wasn't on the list. As show time came and went, I was forgotten. I had driven nearly 2 hours to interview and see a band and the best I could do was to stand outside the grandstand and hear the bands. Sober and upset, my friend and I walked around. It seemed surreal but every one had big glasses of beer. We ended up seeing the country singer that sings "Butterfly Kisses" in a tent and the world's largest reptiles.
Things like this have happened since - not the reptiles - but showing up for a concert and not having a ticket. The Poison show in Des Moines, IA, on Father's Day weekend a couple of years ago was like this. I wasn't on the list but I told the lady I was supposed to be so she gave me a press pass and one for my friend. I was supposed to see Nickelback and that pass fell through. Even at a small venue, my name seems to never be on the list. I was supposed to see my beloved Bigwig play at Gabe's Oasis (now called the Picador) and I wasn't on the list. In that case, $6 was worth the excellent show.
So it seems like every time I have high hopes for seeing a show on a press pass, it falls through. I'm not even at 50/50 of thinking I have a press pass / total times I've thought I've had one. I'm prbably at 15% of the time that the press pass works for me. The most recent time it did was seeing Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, and Hour Cast in Moline, IL I went up to the will call window, showed my driver's license to prove who I was, and wham! an envelope with two tickets were handed to me. Perfect seats too!
As you might expect, there are a lot of good concerts coming around the Midwest. Rock 108 does a decent job of keeping their concert calendar up-to-date but what I don't understand is why Rush isn't on that calendar. And, if you go to the Lazer 103.3 website, they don't list Rush in Moline, IL, either. Lazer 103.3 and Rock 108 serve the same audience in two different markets. KRNA, based in Cedar Rapids, serves the same audience and directly competes with Rock 108, based in Cedar Falls..That's why Tantric in Cedar Falls @ the Reverb in Cedar Falls, isn't on the KRNA concert calendar, even though KRNA plays Tantric - I've heard them on KRNA.
Not only do I wish press passes would materialize when the publicist tells me they will, I wish there was a single site for all concerts in IA, MO, WI, IL, NE, and MN. Maybe I need to use this blog as the perfect concert calendar!
In the meantime, Megan's pitching clinic was cancelled due to the weather but Alex still has practice so I'd better go.
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