Farewell To Summer

This weekend we played 2 sets a night on Friday and Saturday at the Minnesota State Fair. Our home state prides itself on many things; the Juicy Lucy, classic beers like Hamms and Grainbelt, incredible natural resources, and groundbreaking musicians including Bob Dylan and Prince. But there are few things more celebrated in the land of 10,000 lakes than The Great Minnesota Get Together. It’s one of the largest state fairs in the country and on Saturday there were over a quarter of a million in attendance!

When we arrived on Friday it was POURING rain. We hung out backstage for a while and waited for it to clear. Once we saw a break in the rain we quickly unloaded the bus. Sam’s organ has been down for a little while so that meant he was using the Nord and a guitar amp. It doesn’t sound or look as good, but I will admit it sure did make load in a lot easier.

The first set was surprisingly well attended considering the weather. One thing about the fair is that people seem to pick a day to go. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, screw it! Whether it’s 110 degrees out or pouring rain there will always be people there. After our first 60 minute set we got a 15 minute break before we went out and did it all over again. The last half of the second set saw a very good dancing crowd despite the fact that it once again starting raining very hard.

The next day we decided that rather than spend all of our money on fair food we would come prepared. I bought a pork shoulder and cooked it in a crock pot that morning. We brought the crock pot with us and just kept it warm all night. It was very nice to have hot home cooked food between and after the sets.

The first set of Saturday was by far the most well attended of the weekend. The packed dance floor included Moms with their kids, a bunch of 20-somethings we met at Summer Set, and everything in between. During the set break a middle aged gentlemen ran up to me and said, “You don’t even know how big this crowd is. It goes all the way back behind those buildings and they’re all dancing.”

The set really started to boil over during Hey Girl. At that point some guy jumped on the stage and started showing off his dance moves to the crowd. At first I was into it. But then he started grabbing mic cables and yanking on stuff. That’s when security had to step in and get him off the stage. The whole night he was grabbing on the stage and sort of hopping around with both hands clasped tightly to the edge of the stage. I’ve never really seen anything like it. If you’re reading this, dude, thanks for coming down and giving up the love. Your enjoyment of the show definitely fed right back into the energy I was putting out. But next time please try and get the okay from the band (any band you are watching, not just us) before coming up on stage. With that said, I hope to see you at another show. I’d love to say hi.

About half way through the first set on Saturday the snares fell off my snare drum. Josh, our tour manager, grabbed a snare from a friend playing at the fair that night and we swapped it out during the vamp before our last tune of the set. When we returned the drum I slipped some cash in the case, but the dude found it and refused to take it…. Super solid guy.

You’d think a 15 minute break between sets is plenty of time. It is unless you have a piece of gear you need to repair and you are playing in your hometown. Friends and family were approaching the stage to say hello and show their support, but I really had to get backstage and fix my drum. Sorry if I came off as rude to anyone (though I did my best to explain why I was being so short). It means the world to any musician to see their friends and family at shows. I finally got backstage and fixed it up with a zip tie and guitar string. Honestly, it seems to work better than ever now! I literally put the finishing touches on it as the band was walking back out on stage.

We played our last set of the fair to another large crowd and had a blast doing so. One of the highlights of the whole weekend for me was being reunited with my friends Wands Davis (Riley) and her husband Sam Riley. They live in Dallas and don’t get up this way very often. Wanda did one song in each set with us and as usual she knocked it out of the park. My parents were at the Saturday shows and I’m pretty sure my mom and Wanda are just about best friends now.

In Minnesota the end of the fair marks the end of the summer. Not only was it fun to be a part of this 155 year old tradition, but also to help close it out and end the summer with a bang.

We have one more in-town gig this weekend and then we hit the road. We’ll be at the MN Beer Dabbler this Saturday at 5pm. Come on by.

-Eric (drums)