When I woke up at Lila’s she had already left for work (some people actually do work 9-5 jobs. I don’t get it but maybe it works for them). It was about 10:00 or so and I was the first one up (a pattern is starting to form here). I raided her fridge for some type of breakfast food and grabbed a shower.
It was again nice to be the only one awake. I gathered my thoughts, packed up all my stuff and sat at her table to write.
After about an hour Ryan woke up and was ready to head to Orlando (I’m glad I did get up early, otherwise no shot of a shower). We wasted no time loading the van and getting on the highway.
I can’t stand the drive to Orlando from Atlanta. Not that it’s terribly far, you can do the trip in 5-6 hours, it’s just that Florida sucks to drive through. It’s flat, straight and boring. My girlfriend at the time lived there while I lived in Atlanta, so I made a weekly trip on weekends to head to Orlando and I loathed it.
If driving through Florida has a redeeming value it’s the shitty anti-abortion billboards you see every 200 feet on I-75. They are very self-righteous, but give me a chuckle nonetheless.
I was really looking forward to the show in Orlando. Since I used to live there I still have friends I keep in contact with who I haven’t seen in years. Also my brother Jeff and his family live there so it was an opportunity to see them. This was also a show in a bar called Hoops Tavern, not a house or performance space so on a Friday night there’s a better shot some stragglers might just walk in off the street while touring Downtown Orlando.
I spent the van ride text messaging anyone I knew in the Orlando area. Shit, I even sent Facebook messages to ex-girlfriends telling them to come out and bring their husbands. I didn’t care who showed up, I just wanted Orlando to represent with a good crowd. My brother confirmed he would be there and he was spreading the word to his friends, plus I had confirmation from Eric and John so I was stoking the gig.
When we hit Orlando I couldn’t believe how much it changed since my last visit there (which was 2001). It was definitely a lot bigger and a lot more things were going on. A far cry when I used to refer to it as purgatory. I used that reference because it seemed like nothing ever evolved in Orlando. It was stagnant. I remember when I moved back to Orlando from Atlanta. I went to some places I used to go to and I saw the same people, wearing the same clothes, working the same jobs (although with the economy the job might be a good thing). I felt there was no progress there. It was good to see it finally coming around and actually trying to be a real city.
When we arrived Eric and Jeff were already there, both not recognizing each other and watching the NFL network on the TV.
I caught Eric’s eye first and it was great to see him. He was my best friend when I lived in Florida and we were pretty much inseparable. We used to be known as “Andre Agassi and his bodyguard” (for the obvious reasons that he looks like Andre Agassi and I’m a bigger guy. Or is it the other way around?). It actually got us free drinks many a night. We had some notorious nights of drunken shenanigans, but also some solid memories like when I was there the night he met his wife (SIDEBAR: He probably doesn’t want me to say this, but I take full credit for them being together. The night they met Eric was low on funds and I bought a beer for her, from him of course. If that little incident never happened, who knows where they would be. I love you E).
Then of course Jeff. Jeff is my youngest brother by 12 years. He lives in Florida with his fiancée Valerie, and their two kids, Brooke and Hanna. Aside from now being taller than me (you bastard), it was great seeing Jeff. He also stepped up for the cause bringing eight of his friends along. He immediately handed me a beer and the three of us started catching up. At first I found it a bit strange because it was the first time I ever drank a beer with my little brother (I guess at 25 he’s not that little anymore), but that faded quickly. A few minutes later my buddy John showed up.
It was also really good to see John because it was about 10 years overdue. I met John in 1997 at my then job at Flagstar Bank. We immediately hit it off and because the characters of the office and would take daily lunch breaks together. Although we were both adults we did juvenile crap all the time. One time in the middle of August, we decided to go to lunch. Only this time we had a challenge for each other. We kept the windows rolled up and turned the heat on as high as it could possible go (pretty smart huh?). After about 15 minutes neither of us would back down, but we were both soaked from sweat (wow, that sounds gay), and in our work clothes. Finally we called a truce. When we returned to the office with moist business causal attire, the entire office looked at us like we were assholes. I’m good at playing that part.
Anyway so we all sat around and drank beer like it was going out of style. One thing I learned is when people don’t see you for a while and you’re poor (much like myself), they tend to buy you drinks. So I had tall boy cans of Pabst coming at me from all directions (not that I’m complaining they didn’t go to waste, and thank you Jeff, Eric, and John, the favor will be repaid one day).
Back to the show. There were six bands on that evening and The Fake Boys were on third and we had a good crowd. The first band, whose name I do not remember, was god awful. I mean real bad. It was mostly experimental noise with a bad cover of Pennywise’s “Bro Hymn” (as if there’s a good cover of that song). It actually made me nervous because some of Jeff’s friends heard that and wanted to leave. I made sure they knew The Fake Boys didn’t sound like that and to stick around so they ordered another round and waited for the Boys from Lowell.
The second band was Caffiend. We played with them the night before in Atlanta. They sounded good, but not as good as the Atlanta show. The sound at Hoops wasn’t the best and the vocals were rough to hear. But compared to the opening band, they sounded like the best band on the entire planet.
Up next were The Fake Boys. Once again they didn’t disappoint. The sound was better than Caffiend, but the vocals were still a little low. They had one thing though; pure energy. Joe was a beast on the bass sometimes only hovering inches from the ground, Ryan beat the drums harder then a redneck beats his wife for not doing the dishes, and Jim looked flat out possessed as the boys came to Orlando and flat out brought it.
I couldn’t tell you much about the bands after that. I worked the merch table and it was a big day, the most I sold in one night on the tour. When I wasn’t selling merch I was talking to Jeff, Eric, and John. Eventually Eric left, he had to get up early for work. It was great to see him though, and we need to make it happen more often then it has been.
Once the show ended, I decided I would split from the band and spend the night with Jeff. He, John, and I bounced around for a bit, before John driving us to Jeff’s in the wee hours of the morning. I’m probably too old to stay out all night, but I rarely see my brother.
Once we got to Jeff and Valerie’s, I laid on the couch and my night was over. Orlando was a success. I’d say the most successful show on this tour so far (at least since I jumped on). The next stop is Tampa. Stay tuned…
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