Another cover band story.
So we had a gig in Las Vegas. Jamison picked me up at my house around 7am and we headed to the airport.
Problem #1: Like every day I subconsciously put all the typical important items in my pockets, including my nice leatherman multitool, which I didn't realize until I was already going through security, and basically had to forfeit it. A tool that had given me years of constant service, and the bullshit TSA security show took it away it without a word of apology. It was like $60. So much for making any profit - I was already losing money taking time off of work to play this gig. So I started this whole adventure in a sour mood.
Problem #2: The other locals arrived at the gate. Everything was on time despite a storm coming through. Several levels of Angry Birds later we landed smoothly in Las Vegas. Everything about the flight was fine except as we were deboarding some douchebag shouted across the plane at me, "Ponytail! Can you grab my suit!" Of course I've been called worse but that seriously irked me.
Problem #3: To save money we didn't get any rental cars, and thus had to take a shuttle to South Point Casino where we were staying. We arrived at the curb just in time to miss said shuttle. The next one would arrive in over an hour. So we hung out at an airport cafe. Yay, fun.
Problem #4: Shortly after checking in we met up in Paul's room because we found out last minute we were asked to add that Sinatra duet "Something Stupid" to the set list. Me, Paul, Jamison, House, and John picked apart the key/chords/form of the song while watching a youtube video together. Annoying, but we're pros. It'll be fine.
Problem #5: As we were hurrying to meet in the lobby and get a taxi to the gig the fucking toilet in my room clogged up. I tried to sort it out myself but people were waiting, so I had to ask the hotel staff to deal with it. Embarrassing.
Problem #6: The five of us grabbed a cab - the driver insisted we could all fit, and thus we kinda crammed in there. I ended up getting stuck riding in the front seat, wedged in the middle with no seatbelt. Kinda scary, but the driver (whom I was pressed up against) was nice enough - a retiree from Florida who does this part time.
Met up with the southern California contingent of the band/entourage (Scrote, Holland, and Eddie) at the Mirage and after much confusion about where we were performing (the Revolution Lounge) we carried all kinds of gear through the casino to the small stage area. I never really learn who the clients are when I play these gigs until I'm at the venue. Once again it was another dot com corporate party (Worldpay, if you must know).
Problem #7: Given the band lives all over the place, we planned on rehearsing during soundcheck. Once set up, we began running through tunes. Moments later some casino official appeared and told us to shut up immediately. That was weird. But we need to go over this stuff so we continued at a whisper's volume. The guy stormed in again. "No noise!" he shouted. What the fuck? I guess we're done with soundcheck then.
Now with time to kill we grabbed something to eat. I got some matzoball soup from the Carnegie Deli and brought it back to the lounge. While slurping it down I overheard one of the party planners talking on the phone about the whole party being cancelled due to noise issues. Eddie eventually told us what was going on: turns out the High Rollers Gambling Lounge was next door. Some VIP arrived there just before our soundcheck, bought a million dollars' worth of chips, and was making $100K blackjack bets, etc. So the casino had to do everything it could to keep him around and bleed big money - and this included not having a loud band play next door. If the high roller was still around by party time, the casino already offered to cover all costs of a dot com party.
So it was unclear whether or not we were gonna play until downbeat, but sure enough the high roller split and everything was a go. Fine. Usual drill. Plowed through a short set, then took a break for Sinatra and Elvis impersonators to do their shtick, and then we did a full hour to close it out. People from the Worldpay company finally got up and danced towards the end. (Later in the evening equals more alcohol intake equals less resistance to dance with workmates).
Fun fact: we never did perform "Something Stupid" after all. Another fun fact: the toilet in my room would clog again the next morning just before we split.
John, Jamison, and I got a shuttle together to the airport. Jamison got to chatting with the young couple from Wisconsin in front of us, asking about their time visiting this crazy city. It was their first time on vacation without their kid, and this is where they chose to go.
"Did you win?" Jamison asked.
"Nope," the husband said adding, "Lost two."
"Two small?"
"Nope."
"Two large?"
"Yep."
But he said they knew that was part of the deal and still had a fun vacation. Viva Las Vegas.
That's a good one, Matt!