After catching some sleep at the hotel, I grabbed some breakfast at a nearby restaurant and then headed over to the venue. The Pour House was basically a large bar, but had a decent stage and soundsystem, as well as a very cool outdoor patio area
with a second stage. The outdoor area was especially great because it afforded me the opportunity to double my dog-pet count, as there were plenty of dogs milling around while their owners enjoyed some drinks in the nice weather. I had played at this venue's prior location with FGC and was pleased to be recognized by the staff.
We had the usual soundcheck rehearsal, going over Johnny's tune and a couple other things, and then dined on some Cuban food from next door. The Cuban version of a grilled cheese wasn't entirely exciting, but the fried plantains on the side were quite good.The show began to a rather empty house, but within the first minute, everyone from the outdoor patio came streaming into the room. The sound was pretty good on stage, so we had some cool interactive jams, particularly "It's Up To You," which somehow launched into a heavy metalish groove for a few minutes.
We also finally caught on video the coolest drum thing ever, which Johnny has been doing for the past couple shows. Before we start the tune "Crazy Engine," Johnny proceeds to drench his snare drum with water, producing a mega-splash effect when we launch into the tune. These "hydro-technics" are easily the coolest thing I have ever seen a drummer do. Check out the video, courtesy of Charlie (who will smack me if I don't credit him.)
After the show, I hung out with some drunk fans while the crew packed the trailer. We set off on the 9+ hour drive to Florida, but about 10 minutes into the drive, our bus driver decided he was hungry and wanted to stop at Waffle House. Apparently, he didn't have time to eat during his 18 hours of downtime since leaving the bus that morning. Completely understandable. ;) I opted against Waffle House since they didn't have my elusive milkshake and watched the usual 3am Family Guys on the bus.We finally set off close to 4am, and rolled into Ft. Lauderdale around 1pm. I slept most of the way, but was the usual unrestful type, so I was happy to get to our hotel for a quick nap before heading back to the venue for soundcheck.
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