Guest Book

I should leave the posting on this Montana show to Randall. That was the nice part for me, I got to meet Randall, alas, briefly..... he is indeed the nice guy as his posts always show. The Montana show.... I shouldn't even post on it. It was a weird experience. I'll never try anything besides lounging at home on day 2 after shot again.... I hit the wall and didn't even hear a song..... I hope Randall did and will report.... There was a series of venue problems and scheduling idiocy that set the stage for the weather to flat kill the show. They had issues (electrical I believe) that prevented opening the gates.... So for a 6:30 start by Chris Robinson's New Earth Mud, it wound up being a later start By Ned somebodies band due to an unexplained NEM no-show. They were OK, a couple of songs were interesting, he played a uniquie National type steel guitar.... They should have bagged the opening act and saved an hour, that would have been the only hope at that point. I'm sure Fogerty didn't want to play to an field just filling up with people either. So John Fogerty played next, still nice weather overcast with sun breaks, 60 degrees max..... What amazed me about Fogerties set was hit after hit after hit, that guy really did write a lot of radio history..... He played pretty straight up versions with his tight band.... So he is done towards tenish and the fireworks werte supposed to be 10:30 after music..so by then I'm wondering how the ABB can pull off a decent set and that was before the weather. So towards the end of his set Fogerty does, in a row Who'll Stop The Rain and that other CCR song about rain and he brought it on...... the rain came, it wound up being heavy and semi horizonatl due to the wind and then it was torrential and I had a rain resistant jacket, multiple shirts a hat and was woefully un prepared, even with emergency plastic and an umbrella we shared.... then the 3/4 inch hail started and Jesus THAT hurt. I bet it was temp in the 40's easy, with wind on top and by then the drum sets were tarped and all kinds of activity on stage and people up there looking at tthe sky and waving their arms...... soundboard tarped, all hell breaking loose..... anyhow after a long time of waiting to like 10:45 I believe, we bagged it. I just hit the wall and went into shakes and my body said find shelter. I cussed God, the weather, these stupid meds, and the idiots that organized that mess....... For 3 bands, they needed a 5:30 or maybe 6:00 start, and also real tight down time between acts, and even then the max they could have got was hour and a half for the main acts. Fogerty did get that for him at least..... but when he was done and then the weather broke loose till almost 11, and it still rained after just more reasonably normal, not the raging hurricane stuff.... Anyhow there is my non report.... the lodge we stayed at was full of people for the show, talked and overheard many this morn at the continental breakfast area, only 2 stayed for the ABB, everybody else bagged it.... One of the two left after not all the ABB songs, said "Fogerty was good" the other did stay for the end of ABB and said "XXXXXXX" I can't reprint second hand negativity, but it wan't very nice re the music. (note: I can't picture a musician playing in like maybe sub 40 degree with wind chill trying to play guitar or keyboards so I think poor ABB comments were rightfully biased and situation based) My final rub was being hearing them in the distance from my window, but it was like after 11:00 to maybe 11:50 they played, 45-50 minutes I guess...... Randall can confirm, I was a couple miles away..... Not whining really, kind of wondering WTF with my luck, but I tried, I can say I gave it the boy scout rah-rah.... dig this, the final irony in this future repressed memory for me tale, is WE HAD TO SMUGGLE IN AN UMBRELLA! Yes, these idiots that organized this had that on the LONG list of unallowed items. Tons of the fold up little chairs were turned away.. only the ground hugger POS types..... So we had to leave ours of course..... I tell ya, I love my part of Montana, but these promotors down there were an embarrassement and kind of an insult to the ABB who travelled so far. to put them in that 11:00 predicument in the first place. BTW, the weather was like that the week leading up, like duh..... don't schedule with any time factoring...... don't know, a lot of people were there for their first ABB experince and it could have happened to a greater degree (or at all), weather and all........ if you read this far, you lead a really boring damn life, haha go get a life, will ya?