Laying Low, Camping at Red Top, and Then a 6 Hour Gig in Rockmart

I was without a gig the first full week of October.  I thought October was supposed to be busy.  I guess it is for some.  The following week was our annual camping trip at Red Top Mountain.  It's something we look forward to as a family every year now.  As luck would have it, I had 2 gig opportunities that I would have to miss out on since I would be away.  Well, I had a bit of a breakdown in communication with my bands.  I almost let one down completely but a buddy came through to sub for me.  I didn't have the same fortune on the second.  I ended up playing the gig with Platinum in Rockmart.  The fortunate aspect here is that Rockmart is located in the Northwestern part of the greater Atlanta area.  Specifically, the exit off of I-75 is exit 285, which is the Red Top Mountain exit.  What an odd coincidence, I must say, at least to myself.  And, as it turns out, to you, faithful readers.

Earlier that day at Red Top Mountain Park

I had all of my gear, along with our camping supplies, packed in my car.  After a road excursion to the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, a hike near the lake, hunting and gathering of much wood (along with whacking several long branches against trees to break them up) for the evening's fire, then building the mighty blaze to sustain into the evening, I dutifully showered and shaved in the cabin beforehand, and then changed into my evening wear of all black.  It still took me a good 45 minutes to get to the private residence in Rockmart, which was a sprawling estate.  We were staged outside, up a long driveway with a brick patio area in front for dancing and mingling.  High up on this hill, I marveled at how the damp weekend had blossomed into perhaps the warmest and clearest night we could have imagined.  It had rained earlier in the day, but you couldn't tell that by 6pm.  The sky was so blue it almost made you cry.  This gig was also memorable as it was a 6 hour performance, for which we were paid overtime from the start.  The bottom line was that I was strongly encouraged to make it, which I did.  I'm glad I did too, because it paid well and because we have some interesting memories from it.  A lady got up to sing Crazy by Patsy Cline, and very well I might add.  Later on, the EMT's showed up, as someone had too much drink and effects were being dealt with.  I still don't know exactly what happened, but I think a fight broke out and somebody lost the battle.  We were asked to play an extra 30 minutes, after playing 6 hours already!  More overtime.  Good to know we know that many songs.  My gear had a bunch of grass and hay stuck to it, which I didn't see until the next day.  I made it back to the cabin around 1:45am.  Played very well, better than I would the following gig...  Glad I did it, and very grateful to Fuji for being so understanding about the issues I was facing.

View from the parking area along a dirt driveway leading to the main driveway
 to where the stage was erected.  I never saw the house!

Kickin' back before soundcheck.

Before or after soundcheck.

Sitting area with lighted bouquets.

A view of the front of the stage. 

Carriage for show.

Gus is consistantly photogenic.

Best shot I had of the front line.

Glen giving me the eye, with a whole lot of light coming at me.

A selfie included mainly to show that I held up pretty well after camping and hiking all day, and then playing this exhausting gig.  The pic above with the family and our dog Buddy was taken earlier the same day.

This nonsense shot aptly describes the chaos that ensued near the end. of the night.

More confusion and choas, with fans of the drummer beginning to collect.  We were understandably plum tuckered.