Nothing went right that day, I was supposed to be on the road to the show early to beat Carmagheddon, instead I had to deal with a fuel truck driver not delivering the needed deisel to a restaurant I am remodeling and the generator quit due to the lack of fuel. This means that thousands of dollars worth of food is sitting in refrigeration units going bad if I can't get that truck there. So I eventually, put that fire out. Stress on top of stress. The Mission from God was getting off to a rough start.
So I get on the freeway late and bit perturbed, not having bought my tickets yet because I didn't even know if I had the money to pony up the steep ticket cost. You see it was that Friday afternoon, less than one day before the show, when a customer out of the blue, paid me much earlier than anticipated. I figured that no one was gonna show up anyhow because it was Carmagheddon weekend and I could by tickets at the booth.
My first sign that I needed to go with the flow of things was that although terribly behind schedule, and driving during the dreaded Carmegheddon, it turns out that the people obeyed their government and stayed off the roads. The roads were clearer than 5 a.m. weekend traffic. No Way.
When I got to my brothers house to drop of my youngest child of 7 to be watched, (the others for once were with their mother), I went online to go buy our tickets and to my dismay they were sold out. No way!!
This isn't going as planned. So I text a fellow traveler to see if anyone might have some extra tickets, and she tells me that she knows someone who might be able to get me some extra tickets but to get down there quick before they disappear. So I turn to Tink and say "If there is even an outside shot we should go, you know, it's a Mission from God. Whats the worst thing that could happen, we wind up down at the beach." Tink tells me she is with that, because even if we don't make it in, we might be able to hear them because the show was in a parking lot. She was very optimistic and that gave me cheer. So off we head, with no traffic to Redondo/Hermosa beach to go see if we will recieve a Miracle.
So we get to the beach and it is an absolutely stunning day, perfect weather. We spend the day window shopping and walking down the main street stealthily drinking our beers from sods fountain cups, waiting for the text to see if we could score those tickets. We get the text from our friend and it says "sorry but, no can do". This is around 2:30 and the show starts at 5 oclock. So me and Tink enjoy each others company, and the Strand at Hermosa Beach (which is so chill by the way, one of my favorite beach cities), and we decide that we are going to get dressed in White (the dress code for the charity event) and see if we can find a box office see if somehow we can get a ticket there.
So I am in an all white ghetto tux, and Tink has the cutest white sun dress and the black Kangol I bought her (seriously at the liquor store a woman spontaneously asked her for a hug because she looked too cute), and we walk down the side walk to the venue which is a parking lot ringed by tents so you cannot see in.
As we are walking down the street Tink gets all excited because we see the Kinchla brothers hanging out by the bus across the street, and we wave on our way in. That is until we get to the front of the venue. It was way swanky, with red carpets and camera people etc... To make matters worse, the lady at the front gate says there is no way that the city allows them to sell tickets the day of the event. That killed our last hopes of getting in. Then we had the walk of shame past the Kinchla brothers. To make the best of it we waved and told them we would see them in San Diego, but I felt like a total tool who wasn't one of the cool kids who got invited to the party. Like a well dressed reject. How embarrassing to have members of your favorite band see you that way.
But it was a beautiful day, and we just couldn't shake the good feeling of it and didn't let it really bother us. We knew that we could sneak off some where around the back or something and listen to the show. You know, "The way of things there is a way."
So I find a little sidewalk that runs around the marina which is directly behind the show. Sweet, we can get behind the parking lot, this is not gonna be so bad. Up ahead, what do we see? Security. Damnit.
Undeterred, we stroll up looking like we should be in the place dressed head to toe in white, and ask the security guards if we can kick back and listen to the band play. They were the nicest guys and said sure go right ahead. Awesome.
This was not our first choice obviously, but how could you feel bad about being able to hang out in the back with your best friend, and listen to a live BT show for free. We stand on a platform atop a couple of steps that are on the sidewalk for no apparent reason, and we can see the stage clear as day. We are going to be able to watch Brendan drum and Tad jam and see John, Chan, and Ben from the back. Score. At this point it is 5 oclock.
We had parked in the Marina parking lot, so we go back and change into something more warm, and grab our cooler and fill it with ice and alcoholic beverages, and we grab our snacks, and a couple of towels. We return and set up camp on the little platform that was for all intensive purposes built for us to have a perch and wait for the show to start.
What we began to realise as we started to wait was that the Marina below us, was alive with people. Boats were inhabited, people started floating in on those stand up paddle boards, and they were beginning to party. This was looking like a happening place to be. I mean inside it was wine and gourmet food tents and everyone dressed in white partying for a cause, but outside was fans of Blues Traveler who were locals and knew each other in the Marina and had started a boating version of a parking lot scene. This was awesome!!
Tink looked hungry so I decided to take her to Joes Crabshack which was within walking distance . As we walked, we greeted everyone, and alot of people knew Blues Traveler and were either already planning on hanging out, or were pleased to find out they could catch the show for free outside. So we got our grub on and came back to the spot. On the way back we spotted Tad and Chan again and told them we were gonna catch the show behind the stage. Chan was on a cell phone, but I stepped up and shook Tads hand. Tad was very nice and approachable and we chatted for a minute or so and he apologized for not be able to accomadate an entry for us. I told him it was one of those things where you get what you get, and I was truly happy with that answer. Blues Traveler has been with me since I was 16 and they have given me, as a fan, all I ever wanted. They keep touring, and making records, it is more than any fan could ask for.
When we got back, to our dismay, they had put up a big white sheet so you couldn't see the entire stage anymore, but we still had a good view of Brendan and Tad which was just fine with us. Normally me and Tink either stand underneath John or Chan, so focusing on the rythm section was something we have never truly done before and we were in for a treat. We also hardly noticed, but they put up a movie canvas that was on the side of the stage.
Back to the car we go for some stuff we needed, and we pass by John on the way back but we just wished him luck because it was getting close to show time and I didn't want to bother him before that. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be that guy who presses myself on my Heros, that would be embarassing. How many years have these guys had to put up with people they don't want to see demanding that they interact with them when probably sometimes they just want to be alone? With Tad I felt compelled to talk to him to let him know things worked out, but with John I had no such reason to communicate and I didn't want to impose. Always the gentelman though he told us he would see us at the show.
So we get to see over half the band up close, sweet. We got humbling seats but they were free, and I think the atmosphere was more my style with the warf rats and all, sweet. Then with the sun gone down and in the cool ocean night air, the band takes the stage, super sweet.
Sweet Talking Hippy kicks off, at a slow tempo, which I found strange, but just chalked it up to the swankiness of the crowd and the boys being proffesionals and working it. Which they did, from start to finish.
We losened up, and started to dance the night away. It didn't matter that nothing went as planned, because it all worked out, we were there, we had turned the journey and the experience into something greater than just arriving to see our band play, it was a spiritual journey of a different nature. You see I don't like loose ends, I plan things well, I manage people for a living, and when things don't play out I usually fight to make them. Not today, not with this band, part of their message has always been that life might not be what we want it to be and its flawed but there is beauty if you are willing to see it. We did just that, and life had shown us how beautiful it is.
The crowd behind us were true fans, and Tink was on fire that night, dancing and twirling away, illuminated by the movie back drop that turned out to be a projection of the band playing on the stage. We were dancing right underneath it and the crowd was cheering us on, and people were approaching us and dancing with us and sharing things, and it was the best time we ever had, and we have had great times. In all honesty, a good part of it was the way it started out, and the feeling that we wound up just where God wanted us to be, that it all worked out for us in the best way possible for us. We just needed to be ready to accept it, and we had and there we were.
Towards the middle of the show we had really begun to gell as a crowd in the back, excluded from the show but just as much a part of it as the front row. We started chanting "Lets go Traveler!!" and the band waited for us to die down before they broke into 100 Years and it was awesome. I have never heard that song live before, and that was the day to hear it. This band is Magic. They always seem to play songs that eerily fit into something that is happening in my life. I don't know if it is a trick that my mind plays on me because it is what I want to believe, but I don't care at all to find out.
We met some real fans that night, and as usual at a BT show we met some really nice people. We met a fisherman, a school teacher, a line backer, and a beautiful good Witch who danced her way from the back crowd, past security, to the front of the stage and caught a harmonica. It was Tink though, she was the Belle of the ball, she had danced for the crowd in the Marina underneath the Projection of the Band on the stage, and they fell in love with her. One drunken fan got so excited he approached too aggressively, and she got afraid and I had to chase him off. After the show, as we made our way happily down the sidewalk people came up to us and complimented us and it put big smiles on our faces. We had really made the best of everything and it was a night I and Tink will never forget.
Me and Tink had flown in with grand plans, and they had all gone awry, and we were left with an experience that was better than we could have imagined. What a night.
Thanks for letting me share. See some of you at the San Diego show.