Prairie Dogs and Drunk Staff

So after a restful 5 days off in Nashville we got back to playing shows last night in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at the Prairie Dog Blues Festival. Davy and the guys were the headliners and didn't go on until 11pm, so our 3pm arrival time left us lots of time to kill. After giving a quick scan of the audience that was already there, I realized it was going to be an interesting festival (to say the least). The crowd seemed like they all just rolled up from Sturgis and there were a dozen or so sets of Cornhole set up in the field for everyone. I saw hundreds - if not a couple thousand - of leather clad bikers getting hammered in the beautiful Wisconsin sun.

But it wasn't just the concert goers that were taking part in guzzling beer hand over fist...the festival crew were as well. The first guy I met was "Spike", and he was clenching a can of Budweiser as he shook my hand and introduced himself as my hospitality contact. I didn't have to actually see the can of Bud to know what he was drinking because he was spraying it all over me as he spoke. After explaining things to me a bit he ask me if I had any questions. "Yeah," I inquired, "is there any beer?" :)

After getting settled and receiving our 'meal tickets' I ventured out to food vendors, which consisted of exactly two booths. I was told the only one that would accept my meal ticket was the "Jambalaya and Catfish Booth". I like Jambalaya, but was a little weary of the quality coming from small town Wisconsin. They also had an option for Frog Legs 'n Fries, but yeah... So I went with the catfish. I don't think I've ever had catfish before, but was pleasantly surprised! It was delicious...

A little while later Spike, the drunken hospitality dude, caught up with me and introduced me to Todd, the festival organizer. Tood didn't seem quite as drunk as Spike (yet), but he was definitely enjoying the day, so to speak. He informed me that "Famous Dave" would be cooking up some BBQ for artists and festival staff later in the evening. As dinner time drew near, we congregated around the BBQ pit and we met Famous Dave. I'll give you one guess as to what he was drinking. If you said beer, you are right! But the numerous beers definitely did not distract from his cooking! We were treated to BBQ chicken, steak tenderloin, pork tenderloin, scallops and a variety of salads and pastas. It was first class all around!

Finally just before 10pm the guys were able to start loading their gear on stage and do a little 'sound check'. The festival crowd was about 3,000 strong, most of whom were scattered about on blankets and in lawn chairs. But as Davy plugged into his amp and started 'warming up', a couple hundred people started to merge towards the stage. It was obvious he had some fans in this small Wisconsin town. During the performance I ran into Todd again, who was now as drunk as Spike was earlier (by the way, where was Spike?). Todd started talking to me about God knows what and adopted the same 'spit while you talk' technique as Spike. Good times...

So the band ripped through their blues-infused 90 minute set (which was very well received) and headed towards the merch booth for an autograph session. The last people in line were friends and family of Todd, who all also happened to be quite sauced up. They wanted a photograph with the band - which isn't out of the ordinary - but they explained it was going to be the template for their Christmas Card. I love small towns...

So at the end of each night I am the lucky guy that gets to settle up finances with the venue manager, show promoter or festival organizer. When I was ready settle last night I called Todd a few times to find out where he was at. After 3 failed attempts, I used my best judgment and decided I might find him in the beer garden. Not surprisingly, I not only found him in the beer garden, but he was behind the bar pouring himself another beer. I let him know I was ready to settle and he got a confused look on his face. "I need to find Nancy to get your money..." he says. The funny thing is Nancy had just told me not more than 15 minutes earlier that she gave him our settlement cash. I reminded him of this fact and he pulled out an envelope that said "Davy Knowles & BDS".

Like any great Road Manager, I ALWAYS like to verify the amount every every night. Not that people intend to screw us over, but some people make mistakes...especially drunk people. Todd decided we (he) would count the money so we both could verify the amount. I'm not going to tell you how much there was, but it definitely should not have taken 12 minutes and 4 retries to count. I actually found it quite humorous...not just the counting, but the entire day.

Anyway, we had another fun show...but I never did see a prairie dog!