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Progressive Travels

The haphazard chronicles of a professional musician and his relentless pursuit of an otherwise boring life.

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Location: St. Jacob, Illinois, United States

If it ain't Baroque, fix it!

28 July 2005

BenWahBob Revisited

Saturday, 23 July 2005
BenWahBob was booked for yet another gig at Rusty’s in Edwardsville, IL. This has been more like a paid rehearsal for us in the past, as no one seems to go there anymore. I have heard many opinions offered as to the reason for this, but I just chalk it up to the wavering ways of the bar business. Another thing about this gig is that the owner wants us to dress nice – dark pants and a nice shirt – as we are considered “employees” while we are playing there. Jeans and T-shirts are discouraged. I arrived in a nice red and black button-up shirt and dark gray slacks. As the rest of the band began to arrive, I quickly noticed the abundance of shorts and T-shirts. It had been near 100 degrees all week, so I guess they decided that the dress code would be suspended this time.

Bobby had tickets and back-stage passes to the Journey concert that night, so our old drummer Scott Ballenger was sitting in with us. It had been quite a while since we had played with Scott, but the old groove caught on pretty quickly. Everyone plays a little differently, and Scott’s style is definitely different than Bobby’s. It’s funny how you get use to playing with one guy, yet the others never really get out of your system. Scott did a great job remembering all of the stuff he hasn’t played for the last year or so since he left BWB.

Another bright spot of the night was the crowd – the fact that there actually was one! The place was packed all night. I think I’ve only seen it this way once before, and that has been awhile ago. Not only was there a plethora of bodies in the building, they were actually into the music. It was a fun night for a change. Jeff of J&J Sound was moving the knobs for us this night, as I guess Mike was unavailable. He did a great job, too, and is always the consummate sound professional.

We had several surprise guests as well. During one of the third set songs with a drum/bass breakdown in the middle, Dale walked over to me and said into the microphone “Greg!” I gave him a puzzled look and said, “Were the (expletive) did that come from?” He quickly said, “Oh…I mean Paul!” After we retired to break before the last set, I was introduced to former drummer and bass player Adam and ….. Greg. OK, now it made a little more sense. We had ourselves a mini BenWahBob reunion happening…and at Rusty’s of all places.

There really wasn’t anything that stands out in my memory as highly entertaining. It was pretty much a steak-and-potatoes gig. We played songs, women danced, men stood around with beers in hand rocking their heads…pretty much standard fare. We did happen into an extremely fast version of Rush’s What You’re Doing, which became a bit of a challenge during the unison guitar/bass runs in the bridge section, but we made it through with some nervous grins and flying fingers. Speed-metal Rush. Dear God, where have we gone wrong?

Next weekend, Knucklehead is double-dipping. We start out in the afternoon on an outdoor stage at Frogs in Dupo, IL opening up for Thunderhead – A Tribute to Rush, then head over to St. Charles, MO for our regularly scheduled gig at Baha Rock Club. There should be plenty to blog about from that one, so be sure to check back here next week.

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