Dale Evans

Another week has passed with nary a post.

I suck. Actually, I have a draft post from last Friday which I'll get around to editing at some point. Again, the reason for the lack of words has been a good one: lots of music-related activity.

On Sunday we played Summerfest, the gigantic music festival in Milwaukee. 11 days, 11 stages, something like 8 bands per stage per day. You can do the math.

Or maybe you can't.

Anyway, we were charged to play the festival for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that only 3 unsigned bands from Chicago made it into the festival's lineup: Burn Rome Burn, our management-mates Buddy Nuisance, and our friends in The Katie Todd Band, with whom we've played a few high profile gigs this year.

Our slot was at 12:30 pm, pretty early in the day, but we weren't going to complain. We were slated to play the U.S. Cellular/Leinenkugal's stage, which is one of the largest stages there, and is conveniently located right near the gates of the festival grounds, so the walk-by crowd is substantial. We arrived bright and early at the grounds, around 10:00 am.

I was already in Milwaukee having conveniently attended a wedding at the Pfister Hotel the night before. The rest of the band pulled up just after Gina and I did. Soon thereafter, we were met in the remote parking lot by two vans: our gear was loaded in one van, we were loaded (not like that... it was before noon!) into the other, and driven right up to the loading dock at the U.S. Cellular Stage.

We were greeted by an incredibly helpful and nice group of techs, a stage manager, and the production staff. Our gear was loaded into the backstage area and we were shown into our air-conditioned dressing room. Possibly the highlight of the load-in, if not the entire day, was the stage manager, a man at least 6' 6" and a solid 235 lbs, picking up Barret's two hardware cases (affectionately nicknamed the "Pigs") at the same time, one in each hand, and walking up the ramp with them. Each weighs at least 90 pounds. 

We all almost fell down. Barret expressed his surprise and gratitude and the stage manager responded by just saying his name: "Dale Evans." Or at least that's what we thought he said.

Anyway, once our gear was in and we were settled into our dressing room, we got to hang out for a bit while the headliner for the day finished setting up. The headliner was none other than Pete Yorn, a guy I've been a fan of for awhile. So we stood around and watched him and his band soundcheck, which was very cool.

These guys have just loads and loads of the most incredible gear... guitars, amps, keyboards... just amazing. They sounded really good. After they were done, we pulled our stuff onstage. The stage was big... 32' X 40' I think. All the sound guys and tech staff were amazing. Very cool, very good at what they do.

They were also a little loopy, Sunday being the 11th and final day of the festival. The 11th Day. Day 11. Day Eleven. Dale Evans.

At that moment, it became clear. Our helpful stage manager hadn't said "Dale Evans." He had attributed his display of strength to the fact that it was "Day Eleven" of moving gear 12 hours a day. Boy did we laugh about that. His name was actually Jim.

Anyway, we got all set up and had a brief instrument check and then got to chill for about half an hour. We started at 12:30 to a smattering of family and friends, but as we played the crowd grew and for most of our hour and half set, they were a good number of people checking us out.

Pete Yorn even came out from his bus and listened for a few songs, seeming to dig the BRB experience. I thought we played really well. We kept our energy up for the entire set and hit our tempos.

The crowd was very receptive and we got rid of all the CDs we brought in a matter of just a few songs. After we finished, just as fast as we had loaded in and unpacked, we packed and loaded out, with the assistance of Jim. And just like that, we were back in the parking lot, putting our gear back in our cars.

We thought about heading back into the festival and checking out some music, but we were all beat and decided to roll back to Chicago, pausing only to eat some lunch at the Brat Stop in Kenosha. All in all, a great experience. The festival management was extremely positive about our set, and it appeared as if they would welcome us back next year with a slot later in the day.

I can only hope that we again get to witness the incredible strength of one Mr. Dale Evans.

jbg