My travels have brought me to Kansas friends. Kansas is not a state that you expect much excitement from, but then again the journey is always interesting if I’m on it.
Salina was our first stop. I won’t lie, I did not do much outside of work, but work did keep me on my toes. Between the Holiday and the blizzard the local was unable to fill our call. What that means is that we had 8 less local hands than what we requested. My crew handled it with all the grace and professionalism that I could hope for. There was the initial “well f#%k” but they quickly adapted and started sharing. Riggers jumped in to help props, Carpenters jumped in to help electricians and we managed to load the show in in 6.5 hours. I know they think I am just saying it because I have to, but I am genuinely proud of this team.
The other different thing I did in this city is that I chose to separate my office from the rest of the road staff in this city. I did it for a lot of reasons. I wanted to be close to the stage because of the labor issue, but honestly I did it for some space as well. I love working with the rest of the staff, but I needed some me time to crank the tunes, knock things off my list without distractions, and to just be me for a few days.
Our next stop was Wichita. We arrived in the wee hours of Thursday morning and checked into the hotel. I was lazy most of the day, but Thursday night I decided to live a little. 
My partners in crime (the bus drivers) and I found this kick ass bar called Barleycorn’s and had a few beverages and then headed to the main event for the evening.
We went to a Lindsey Stirling concert. None of us realized it was her holiday tour. We all thought she was still touring with Everessence. That being said we were not disappointed. Lindsey is a showman and she knows exactly how to engage an audience. It was an hour and a half long geek out that I will not soon forget. I mean honestly I can remember when she was still doing the comic-con circuit. I have not had the opportunity to see her perform live since the days when she dressed up like a video game character and played the tunes of my beloved video games live.
After the concert I parted ways with the bus drivers and headed back to Barleycorn’s. I was not fully prepared for the adventure that ensued. I ended up meeting a social worker and a property manager who decided that I needed to see all the bars that Wichita had to offer. I can not tell you the names of any of the establishments I visited, but there were more than a few. The conversations included stories from the road, a critique of EDM, and one weird tangent on beanie babies.
Friday I awoke feeling every last ounce of alcohol I had consumed the night before. I spent the daylight hours struggling to be an adult and answering work emails.
So of course I went back to Barleycorn’s that evening. It was Salsa Night and no I didn’t dance, but the energy in the room was palpable. A good time was definitely had by all.
Saturday morning I contemplated quitting drinking for good. I am not a college kid anymore and drinking double digits two nights in a row is not something I should even consider these days… Thank god for V8 juice and aspirin.
After surviving my two day long recovery period we moved to Tulsa, OK. We had a bit of a rough start during load in, the stage was in the wrong location… but we were able to fix it and the rest of the load in went smoothly… That being said I definitely spent the rest of the day watching everything like a hawk.
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Somedays you roll into a city and someone says something random like, “Hey, want to go to a haunted carnival? They have a bar…” and a few hours later you’re taking a “before” photo.
