Louisville KY

Hello all,

Well we succeeded in moving the show from Madison, WI to Louisville, KY.

The move was a bit rough….

To be fair the load out in Madison was great, our locals did exactly as we needed, there was space to demolish Whoville offstage while other things happened onstage, and we shaved an hour off our load out time.

Then we got on a sleeper bus. That’s right, instead of doing the normal, hour nap, bus to airport, sleep an hour on the plan, arrive in next city and go straight to work thing…. we got on a sleeper bus and not everyone took advantage, but I slept a solid 9 hours. Ok, so I brought a my bottle of jack into my bunk and watched Star Wars while drinking…. but I was horizontal for 9 hours.

We arrived in Louisville around noon on Monday and had the best surprise ever. Our hotel rooms were ready. That’s right, we not only were able to check into our hotel rooms, but have enough time to shower, take a nap, and find food before our call time.

Atleast that’s what we thought. I took a shower, watched some TV, and headed out with some of the crew for a late lunch before our 3pm load in. At 2:15 we received word that the load in started at 2pm and we were late. By 2:25 I was in the venue and discovered that somehow the advance had been messed up and the locals did not have our lineset schedule (that’s the document that literally dictates where everything goes). So I got them the correct documents and we made things happen.

We knocked off around 11 and that’s when the land of bourbon began to call. Our local department heads invited us to their “private bar” for shots of single barrel Evan Williams. I ended up doing a quick dinner in the hotel bar and then discovering a dueling piano bar where the only thing more out of tune than the pianos were the “singers” operating said pianos. However a lot can be overlooked when the drinks are cheap and the pours are long. I retired to my hotel around 2, like a good little boy. Some of my compatriots however… well let’s just say that I strongly suspect they found an after hours club when the bars closed down around 4am…

Load in day two began at 8am on Tuesday. There were a few people a little worse for wear, but we had a clean opening night here in Louisville and post opening I chose to stumble into the land of bourbon.

I did not have to return to work until 6pm the following day and I began my journey at about 9:30pm. The night is a bit fuzzy, but from what I remember (and what I was reminded of after the fact) I went on a bender that would have made Hunter S Thompson take pause. There were atleast 4 establishments visited, 22 verifiable drinks consumed, one very broken hot mess of a blonde (who even black out me knew to flee from) and the stated goal of drinking all the bourbon in Louisville… I would like to take this moment to thank my dear coworkers for chaperoning and documenting my valiant attempt to drink all the bourbon.

Upon awaking on Wednesday I felt every last drink from the depths of my soul. It took me 6 hours, 3 liters of water, 2 cans of V8, multivitamins, and the best damn chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had, but I recovered from my failed attempt and was perfectly functional by work… another smooth show!

I have not had a drop since and I am unsure if I will be able to venture back into the land of bourbon on this visit. That being said, since my last journey was so epic… I think I am ok for a hot second. 😉