8/20-21/2009 Fat Fest, Wabasha, MN

Fat Fest began with an early departure for the long 6 hour drive up to Wabasha MN. We got nailed with the rain at last year's Fat Fest performance, and the outlook was not boding well for this year either. We crossed our fingers, and while keeping an eye on the sky, got set up and soundchecked, arming ourselves with nearby tarps and towels in the event of a downpour.

We managed to make it through the set with just an intermittent drizzle that thankfully did not blow much into the stage, and the crowd was raging and didn't seem to mind at all. A couple highlights were a sweet "Tutear" > "Trying To Live Up" segway that we magically nailed, and a set closer that started off as "West Egg Party," but melded into "Falling Off the Fence" after Jordan changed his mind midway through the intro. Again, no train wrecks with that segway...Go us! Band photo by Adam (aka "New Adam") Zareczny

Kyle Hollingsworth Band was supposed to follow our set and use some of our gear, but shortly after we finished, the impending downpour ensued and the stage became trashed. Kyle ended up being moved to the other stage, toting along Jordan's vintage Rhodes, while thanking us profusely for subjecting the gear to inclement weather. It was well worth it, though -- Kyle's band rocks, especially the bass player. These guys are on tour this fall...check 'em out!

We partied it up for the rest of the night and then headed back to our hotel, where we received the good fortune of both a 2pm check-out the next day, and coupons for a free hot breakfast at the Perkins attached to the hotel. Ahh, life is good!

The next day we headed back to Fat Fest where Jordan and I would be joining the Everyone Orchestra set. A couple notable members of this incarnation included Michael Kang (from String Cheese Incident) and Vinnie Amico (from moe). It was a fun set, with Jordan rocking the keys for the entire show, and me jumping in on bass halfway through. Vinnie welcomed me to the ensemble with a lightning quick drum-and-bass groove that I could barely hold on for. Gee, thanks, Vinnie!!

After the show, my bandmates got super drunk, and it's always such a joy to babysit them...Thanks fellas.

Back to the hotel, then back to Chicago the next day. On the way home, Adam bugged me with his usual catch phrase, "Ice, I'm hungry. What're you gonna feed me?" Usually I ignore him, but this time offered him a SoyJoy nutrition bar (that I was never going to eat because they are so disgusting), under the condition that he had to eat the whole thing. This picture sums up Adam's SoyJoy experience pretty well, ironically quite absent of joy: