Summer Nights, Had me a Blast!

It was great to go to sleep somewhat earlier than we usually do after a show after seeing the Hairball show. But it was time to go back home. And not like usual either. Judd Hoos was going back to rock Rapid City for Summer Nights! Bob Z and the crew left a little earlier than us to get the truck and trailer there on time. The rest of us lazy sleepy heads got up and packed into the ice man around 10. It felt good to be back in our mini van. Like everything was right in the world. It is not a Prevost bus (not yet) but it is our bus to us and we feel pretty comfy traveling in it. Well other than the super human Shane who needs a basketball player sized vehicle at all times. For some reason we all came out of the hotel with some kind of blue shirt on! We were officially the blue team on this rainy Thursday.

The ride was good. We went through some pretty crazy rain storms and were happy to see some sunshine once we came across the state a little ways. Except we were not excited to see overcast and rain clouds coming into Rapid in the afternoon. We went to the Flying J first and everyone got their own cars and then we all convoyed to downtown Rapid to help the crew get set up as fast as we could. I know after the day we had before we were all hoping to get set up and sound checked in time to get a shower in before the show. Wishful thinking. We did however get set up pretty fast! Lots of help. It was good to see one of our favorite crew guys, Q, there to help. Once we were done sound checking, Shane, Andy, Chris, Devin, and I had about 30 minutes to cruise over to the hotel. We ran up to one room and were all stripping down into a change of clothes, spraying and rolling on whatever we had to make us seem not so stinky and trying to look like rockstars. I have to say we were pretty successful. We were back at the stage 5 minutes before start time.

We started strong. The street was already filling up. We played a short first set. It was so hot! We were watching the radar while playing hoping that none of the surrounding storms were going to rain on our parade. We only got sprinkled on all night. After visiting with some fans, friends, and families, we hit the stage again for the long second set. The street was packed by now. I could see people all the way down the street. It felt so good to play in front of my new home town. And I could feel the energy from the other guys in the band as well. There is always this good feeling to play in front of people we know like our wives and families. It was definitely humid and hot but that didn’t stop us from rocking.

By the end of the night we had the front of the stage surrounded with Judd Hoos fans going crazy. It was such a fun night and such a great crowd. Once again we were done earlier than usual. We did some autographs, talked to fans, took some pictures with people, and by then we all knew we had to start tearing down our equipment. Our pace quickened when we saw lighting coming in from all around us. There was a huge storm coming into Rapid! Both crew and band worked really hard to get everything in the trailer. It started to sprinkle as we were putting the last of the gear into the trailer and then it was pouring by the time we were pulling up the trailer door. Perfect timing.

Some of us headed to the Vertex roof top bar to enjoy a few drinks with our good friend Dean Kinney. It was a great way to end a great night in Rapid City. Thanks to all of you who came out and supported us. I think we made a statement that Rapid needs to keep Summer Nights going. So now that most of us got to sleep in our own beds, we are headed over to Spearfish tonight to rock Downtown Friday Nights. If you missed us last night in Rapid or want your face rocked off again then come on down! Stay tuned for more on the road with Judd Hoos!

TBills