Holmdel NJ is about forty five minutes outside NYC. We get to the venue mid afternoon and are greeted at the gate by a security guy with a Brogue that sound like he walked off the boat from Ireland about two days ago. Of course, he gets a huge kick out of my name. We pull up to the load in dock and it’s raining like I’ve never seen it rain before. It’s early and there’s nothing for us to do yet save eat lunch and we site down and try not to look like the newbies we are. Thankfully, TK (Toby’s Mgr) walks in and sits down with us. I’ve had dinner with him just a few nights ago and it’s great to see a familiar face among strangers. Bobby Pinson shows up and I know him a little so I have someone else to waste time with….the weather is god awful things are running behind. I guess the always do at the start of a tour. The atmosphere is chaotic on the surface but to watch the production start from scratch and build the stage as fast as they do is pretty amazing. I’m introduced to Ashley, our stage Mgr. Ashley is British, seasoned and as I will find, forever dressed in black. It takes about two seconds of talking with him to know that he does his job very well—that he’s been doing this a long time and has seen a thing or two. Ashley takes a mentor-ly tone that we all appreciate---I’m sure it takes him about a minute to realize that none of us has ever been along on a trip like this one (well I kind of have—but not as a frontman) to Joe he offer some inciteful, fatherly advice:
“Get the FUCK out of this business NOW, Joe. RUN. Run as fast as you can.”
And he almost sounds serious as he says it.
No, he definitely sounds serious.
Jeff (CMT) shows up with a camera and some encouragement/moral support. Suzie Walker shows up with an entourage and a bottle of Irish Whisky. We save the liquor for later, wait for what seems like forever and before you know if it’s six o’clock, no time to sound check (I wonder if this is a test of our mettle) time enough to get our gear onstage and make sure everything works. It does, thankfully. They open the doors and it’s more hurry up and wait til 7:25 pm when it’s “Ladies and Gentlemen, won’t you please welcome, from Nashville, TN Little Engine Recording artist Sean Patrick McGraw..”
And to be honest, playing in front of the big crowd isn’t a big deal…I mean, three of us played at Stage Coach and that was a HUGE crowd. There’s maybe 10k in the stands as we start and if anything it feels like déjà vu. I’m not nervous at ALL. No butterflies, queezy stomach. Nada. For having no sound check the mix and the monitors are about perfect (thanks Earl you are the MAN). And it’s not like the best show I’ve ever had but it’s like we pretty much nail it, and if anything there’s a sense of relief that we called it up and owned it.
I guess we hung out for a little while after. We had to hit the road for Ohio right away…it’s all a little hazy. That Irish Whisky really was great…
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