2003-05-14 - 2:28 p.m.
March 22
We have to leave at 9am to make our 4pm load in. We get to Richmond right at 4pm. Andy’s car is fucking up. It keeps switching to a lower gear whenever it has a mind to. We are all exhausted. We’re practically asleep.
The Canal Club in Richmond is a big place. It holds about 800. The promoter, Mark, has a family affair going on. Both daughter and son cook and help out. The meal they provide was excellent. Homemade spring rolls with shrimp and other delicacies. Mark was hoping for 200 and there was 195 so we were very close to his expectations. The show is a good one. Todd took great solos all night and it drove me to go the extra mile. Half way through the second set I felt we were losing steam. Not so much me but I’m just a part of the machine. Collectively it seemed to lose energy. We wound up cutting a few songs. We did two encores and those that were left wanted more but the house music came up and that was that.
The opening band was a real hoot! They were called “Special Ed and the Short Bus Bluegrass Band”. They were less bluegrass and more a string band really. Very vaudeville in a similar vein as “The Asylum Street Spankers” but looser. Very Funny and real nice guys.
