Wildness In Wyoming

Wednesday November 21st, 2007 - Rock Springs, WY

No amount of money could make it worth the amount of stress I had today and it lasted for twelve hours straight. I originally planned this trip to Utah to relieve stress and relax so I could get ready for the new year but this was a whole day of exactly the opposite. It was just one of those days when nothing went right and all I could do was let it play itself out.

This was a brutal day for travel. I shouldn’t have picked the day before Thanksgiving to fly out but I didn’t have a gig booked and thought it would be relaxing. I am not supposed to be in Ogden, UT until Friday so I thought I’d visit friends and hang out and rest a little. After I bought the ticket I was asked to do the gig in Rock Springs, WY. I said I would.

The weather in the west was bad and planes were delayed all over the country. My flight was scheduled to leave at 1:30 and arrive in Salt Lake City at 4 which would have been no problem to make the 190 mile drive to Rock Springs. I didn’t have a rental car reserved so that would have taken a few more minutes but I still would have had enough time to do it.

Traffic on the freeway was backed up and I was stressed out trying to make it down to a remote parking area away from O’Hare Field. I got a call from the airline saying there was a delay but they weren’t sure how long it would be. I found the parking lot and then had a long delay while the shuttle bus driver had some issue with the dispatcher and I could feel every muscle in my body tighten as I wondered if we’d ever get to the airport. It was hell.

I can’t stand that feeling of being late and having someone else in charge of my destiny. I don’t know if it’s childhood issues or trust issues or just the fact that I am not thrilled with morons running my life but here was a bus full of tense people all needing to catch a flight and a six dollar an hour goof with an attitude was not letting any of us get there. It stinks.

We finally got to the airport and I checked in and found out the plane was scheduled for a 3:30 departure and we would get in about 5:30 Salt Lake time. That would cut it tight. I called the booker and said I was delayed and he said he’d call the club and see if he might be able to find someone else to do the gig tonight. The owner said he wanted me because I was there a few times before and could handle his rowdy crowds like nobody else could.

I guess that’s a compliment in a way but I am not looking to tame any lions at this point. All I want to do is relax and have fun this week. I got on the plane and then found out that we wouldn’t get there until SIX thirty Salt Lake time. Someone made a mistake and I was now in a panic because they were planning on me being there and I might not make it in.

The flight was full of crying babies and cranky flight attendants and the woman sitting in the seat next to me had some skanky perfume she must have put on with a paint roller. It’s all part of the blur that was this whole day. I knew I was in for more stress as we landed in Salt Lake and the airport was packed with Mormons coming home for Thanksgiving. This made it even more difficult to get my luggage and then head over to the rental car place to get a car to begin my cross country excursion to make it to Rock Springs by show time.

There was one rental car booth that had no line so that’s what I picked. It was also the only one that had an off site location. I didn’t know that and after filling out all the papers and signing and initialing everything I was told I had to get on a shuttle bus and go to their lot ten minutes away. UGH. More stress, and there was nothing I could do about it but sit on the bus and feel my arteries harden as the driver tried to make small talk about weather.

When I got to the car place there was a new clerk and of course she didn’t have any idea as to what to do and it made me even later. I finally got my car but it wasn’t the one I was supposed to get so they called someone else and he didn’t speak English and I felt like the butt of the joke once again. Finally I just grabbed the keys and got in the car and took off.

Maybe there’s a warrant out for me now but I had to get to the gig. I grabbed my phone to call the booker and tell him I finally made it and of course that was out of juice so I had no way of contacting anyone. I started laughing because all this was going wrong and this was supposed to be a relaxing week off. I had to cut mud to get to the gig and that’s that.

The drive from Salt Lake City to Rock Springs is not an easy one. There are quite a few twists and turns through the mountains of Utah and then there are two huge valleys to deal with in Wyoming. They’re called ‘the two sisters’ but they’re actually mothers. There are all kinds of trucks and they have to negotiate the steep grades getting through those things and in bad weather it can be lethal. The weather was ok today but traffic was very heavy.

I wound through the hills of Utah and into Wyoming with the rental car gas pedal to the floor much of the time. I had it up to 105 at one point and just kept it to the floor to make some time. Wyoming is the place to speed because cops are few and far between but I saw three of them going the other way and thought I would get nabbed for sure but I didn’t.

The place I played was called Johnny Mac’s. It’s a road house and when I got there they were like the crowd in the Blues Brothers. There were beer bottles on tables and it looked like chessboards all over the joint. There was a local DJ on stage stalling until I showed up and when I walked in I had no time to prepare at all. He just brought me right up on stage.

I challenge anyone to try and pull that off. I had five seconds to get my bearings and I’d missed the rest of the show so I didn’t see anyone else or what they did. I started with the opening I normally do and had to adjust as the night went on. Some of them were paying attention and some weren’t. They were drunk and rowdy and some started to talk to me.

That’s always delicate in a situation like this so I played it carefully and just kept coming with bit after bit and I worked harder than I have in a long time. I came off stage soaked in sweat but I had done 50 minutes and got a huge ovation from drunken cowboys and that’s no easy task. If I was a boozer I’d have been able to get all the free shots I could guzzle.

The owner was thrilled and he’s a very nice guy. I’m glad to do favors for guys like that but I told him this was a stressful day I didn’t need. It was nobody’s fault though. It was a culmination of a lot of things and that’s how it worked out. I am very glad this one is over.