After locating a decent coffee and a gourmet sandwich as big as my head for breakfast, we once again mounted our trusty steed and rode towards the horizon. This time in the direction of Kansas City, Missouri. The venue for last nights show was the “Uptown”, an old theatre with an Italian Renaissance styled interior. It reminded me of a slightly smaller and more colourful Brixton Academy (U.S. readers – the Brixton Academy is a famous venue in South London.)
After load-in, I went off in search of postcards. There was a time, before the rule of the evil internet, when most newsagents, chemists (pharmacies), petrol stations and any shop peddling tourist tat would have a twisty wire rack proudly displaying scores of brightly coloured postcards with pictures of local landmarks. Not any more it seems. I decided before I came on this tour, I would send a postcard home from each city to my little girl who is approaching an age where postmen are heroes and a delivery addressed to them is like winning the national lottery. Anyway, searching for these antiquated relics of yesteryear is no easy task. Entering Walmart and asking where the postcards were was met with a bemused expression and the reply “Oh no, we haven’t sold those in while.” I did finally locate some in a dusty corner of a CVS pharmacy so the quaint old tradition of non-digital communication is not totally dead yet.
After my quest, I strolled over to a music shop called Big Dudes where I found Luke and Paul. Paul needed to get a power supply fixed. The guys in Big Dudes were amazingly hospitable and helpful. Not only did they fix Paul’s power supply for free but gave us a magic show whilst they did so. I kid you not. It was unbelievable. One of the staff had been into magic since a boy and had now reached an impressive level of card wizardry. At one point he burnt the card he was holding with a lighter. He then took the card Paul was holding to show us identical scorch marks….WTF! Our minds blown, and Paul’s power supply fixed, we went back for soundcheck.
“Anyone need an adjustment?” Asked a large gentleman with a beer in his hand. A local chiropractor had bought in his adjusting table and was offering to crack bones for free. Apparently, It was his way of getting into the show for free. A steady queue of willing participants, including Phil Campbell, began to form and the room was soon filled with the sound of loud grunts and popping vertebrae. I just watched and winced.
The gig was fantastic last night. The crowd were up for a good night and we were primed and ready for it. Phil threw shapes never before seen, probably due to his freshly adjusted bones and the venue ticked all the right boxes for sound and vibe. We loved it!
After the show it was time to pack-up, eat ribs, hop in the wagon and drive two and a half hours to a roadside motel to catch some sleep before the remaining 7 hour drive to a snowy Denver.