This one time, at band camp...

I was thinking back to when I was a teenager and in my first band. I remember I got the spot as the drummer in my first band because my drum kit was bigger and cooler (and they say looks aren’t everything!). Back in the day (which was a Wednesday, by the way) we played cover songs by bands like AC/DC, Judas Priest, KISS, Eric Clapton, etc. We got our first gig at the Chowchilla fairgrounds for a 4th of July celebration. We learned ten songs and practiced our butts off. My parents bought us all matching T-shirts (because that’s what you did back then in the late 70’s) and we were all set. The day before our “gig” my bass drum pedal broke. I freaked! It was late on a Friday night, and there was no music store in town, so I had to wait until the next morning to get it fixed or get a new one. My dad had to work that day (even though it was the 4th of July) and I had to wait until the early afternoon for him to get done. We rushed to Merced around 4:00 p.m. and got there just before the music store closed. I don’t even remember the name of that store anymore, I was just glad to get there before it closed. We were able to buy the necessary part and then we jetted back to Chowchilla, packed my drums and were off to the fairgrounds. We wanted to be very theatrical like our rock heroes KISS so, we taped smoke bombs on the back of the guitars and lit them while the lead guitarist was playing a solo. We didn’t realize that it might get very hot (and smoky) while they were lit and the lead guitar player subsequently burned his new shirt! God that was funny. It sure looked cool from the front of the stage, though.
I’ve been playing for 30 years now and I still have mishaps from time to time. I broke my bass drum pedal during a performance two weeks ago and, you guessed it, I freaked! Right in the middle of “I Love Rock and Roll”, too! I told the guys I needed a few minutes and immediately commenced to melting down. I hate it when equipment fails. I pay a lot of money for my drums and accessories so, I usually freak out completely, and that night was no different. Luckily, drum technology has progressed and due to many a mishap, I carry a pretty extensive tool kit and spare parts. However, I didn’t have the part I needed that night, so I improvised. The pedal that I use has two chains, two sprockets, a master pedal and a slave pedal. This allows me to play “double-bass” licks with just a single bass drum. The chain for the main pedal had snapped in half. I had to take the pedal completely apart and then assemble it as a single pedal. It took me about 20 minutes to get it sorted out, and the whole time I’m cussin’ like a sailor. Once I got it “repaired” we got back to business. We ended the night and I still got paid.
So now, I close my eyes again and remember smoke bombs, burnt T-shirts and KISS cover songs. Ah….that was the life!