08.14.2010
DES MOINES, IA: IOWA STATE FAIR
Greetings!
Between
documenting the making of Keith's new record (during the week) and traveling
around North America (every weekend) on the Summer Lovinʼ Tour, I somehow
didn’t notice how few live shows we have left for the year. Four total as of today. So when we hit the road recently to go
to the Iowa State Fair, I made a conscience
note to really enjoy and savor some of the final KU shows of the year.
Thursday
evening found us all meeting in a random parking lot in Franklin, TN. Itʼs a place
where we leave our cars and jump on a fleet of tour buses to make our way to Des
Moines, IA. I live on “the band
bus” during the tour, which consists of myself, Chris McHugh, Jerry Flowers,
Brian Nutter, Randy (security) and Keith's tour manager.
We arrived in Iowa by early morning and stepped out of the buses and into a
very hot and
humid August day in Des Moines. It
was one of those state fairs that uses the grandstands
for events during the day and then for the concert in the evening. So the crew
set up on a stage that was to be pulled into place right before showtime. During the
day the grandstands were used to view the horse races on the track that
encircled our
buses. Not just any horse racing,
but the kind where the jockey sits in a little buggy behind
the animal. It looked like a lot of fun and I tried to bribe one of the jockeys
to give me
a go behind the reins.
Unfortunately I was not able get any of them to budge.
Since
the crew had finished setting up by 2pm and we still had three hours till sound
check, a few of us decided to brave the heat and make our way over to the fair itself
to enjoy some rides and meet the locals.
And of course, I brought my camera along
to film our adventure. Not 10 feet
into the gate and Tony, the lighting director, agreed
to join me on the wildest looking ride in the park. It was one of those where they harness
you into a chair thatʼs hanging along side a dozen others...the chairs spin in
a circle
while a huge arm flips the entire contraption 100 feet in the air. Iʼd forgotten the strap
for my camera, so by the time the chairs started to spin, I realized that I
better get a
good grip on it or Iʼd be seriously regretting my decision to hastily jump
on this ride. Barely hanging on
and praying for it so stop, I managed to get some good
shots before stumbling dizzily down the ramp and back towards the bus. You can see
some of the footage in KU Tube in a short clip posted!
Once
the show kicked off around 9, the grandstands were packed and the audience was
ready to start their weekend off right.
Keith and the band opened the set with a blazing
version of “Kiss A Girl” and didnʼt let up for the next two hours. I never assumed that
Iowa could get that hot in the summertime...but 20 minutes into the show and
the band
and crew and crowd were covered in sweat.
Later that night, guitarist Brian Nutter said
that it was one of the hottest shows heʼs ever played. But the heat didnʼt keep the band
and crowd from holding anything back.
There were some epic sing-a-longs and when Keith got to “Til Summer Comes Around”, the lights dimmed and you could see the
Ferris wheel and rides lit up in the background. As the song reached the first chorus,
a nice breeze hit the venue and I stopped filming for long enough to take it all
in and realize that when people ask me what I was doing the summer of 2010, Iʼd look
at them and say “where do I start?”
Hope to see you at the final shows of the year and thanks again for watching the
videos, reading the blogs and enjoying the pictures.
Lots more to come!
Brad
"Song for Dad"
Please play "Song for Dad" in Wallingford, CT. I know the song is probably in the archives, but it means more to me than words could ever express.
Posted by chewboski 2010-09-01 10:38:37.