Brushes with Mortality

Saturday, 11 June 2005

Knucklehead played at Baha Rock Club in Old Town St. Charles, MO. As we arrived there, the staff was busy cleaning up after a flood that came washing throughthe back door and out the front from water that ran down the hill on its way to the Missouri River after a couple of severe storms had rolled through town. To top that, two of the air conditioning units were not functioning. I was sweating like a pig before I had even finished setting up my gear. Once the stage lights came on, the problem was amplified almost beyond belief. However, being the true professionals that we are, we persevered and the show went on as planned. Even the crowd stuck with us most of the night.

The end of the night saw us whipping out oddities such as Pantera's Walk, which was ironically requested by a young, attractive female, not the slew of dudes crowded around the front of the stage asking for heavy stuff. Odd, indeed.

Sunday, 12 June 2005

Knucklehead was scheduled to perform at a benefit for the sister of one of the bartenders at Eddie's in Granite City who had been diagnosed with cancer and was having some difficulty with her medical bills. We were playing with other stalwarts of the Eastside rock scene like Jagertyme and Ivory Tiger. Unfortunately, one of the other bands scheduled for that day had backed out a few days earlier because their bass player didn't like the time slot in which they were scheduled. How sad for him. This, of course, changed everything for everyone else. We were suppose to play at 18:00 for one hour. It was rescheduled for one hour and twenty minutes starting at 18:10. We took the stage around 20:00. It was kind of a drag about the time thing, but it was for a good cause, so I kept the whining to a minimum.

Alice Clark's battle to overcome cancer is, of course, inspirational. Which reminded me of my own brush with mortality earlier in the week. I had taken half-a-day off from my day job to have some new kitchen appliances delivered. After they were delivered and installed, I decided to make a pizza...something I haven't done for quite awhile. I went to the store in Highland, picked up the requisit ingredients, and headed home. Just as I was leaving Highland on old US-40, a tanker truck coming into town blew a tire and lost control. I suddenly found myself in a barrage of smoke and rubber, swerving to avoid an out-of-control truck with nowhere to go on a two-lane road. As I saw the front of the truck pointing right at me, and the tank trailer starting to jack-knife in my direction, I found myself not only an observer but also a participant in a life-and-death situation over which I had absolutely no control. I hadn't felt this out-of-control since I wrecked my BMW motorcycle in 1991. Forces were in motion that I could not influence. Even if I could, there wouldn't have been time. How that truck missed me -- and the pickup truck behind me, too -- is still a mystery to me. I can only give the proper kudos to the driver of that rig for regaining control enough to not hit anyone and not wreck himself.

It did have a profound affect on my mindset, though. Brushes with ones own mortality will do that, you know. As a practicing martial artist for over 20 years, training to face death at every turn, even this was an eye-opener. I can tell you that even though it wasn't my best attempt ever, that pizza sure did taste good that afternoon. The air smelled fresher. The water tasted purer. The new Dream Theater CD Octavarium (released last Tuesday) was the best music I'd ever heard. Even the nasty storm that rolled through that evening was...well, inspiring. You never really realize just how good life really is until you are faced with having it no longer.

Knucklehead will be at Eddie's in Granite City this coming weekend. We'll have a couple of special guests on drums, as Scrappy is out of town on a fishing trip. Try to catch both nights, as they are sure to be as different as...well, night and day.