Fighting Tiny Dancer Disease.

On our way out of Fayetteville we stopped to look for a hood ornament for the van.

Ben tried to make a deal with the owner, but he wasn't having it. We weren't discouraged. The perfect hood ornament was here and we had to find it. After five or ten minutes of rooting around we found our prize.

I'm really happy with how things came out.

With our new mascot affixed to the front of the van, we piled back in and got on the road to St Louis. I claimed my usual spot in the rear. Here's what it looks like back there.

We got another deal on a high-end hotel in St Louis.

At the bottom of the hotel they have a Ruth’s Chris Steak House. We've been eating a bunch of crap on this tour, so I decided to blow the rest of the money left in my account and live it up before the show. Tiny Dancer was too sick, so he stayed behind to catch some sleep in the room. Here is a shot of Benny after he woofed down a medium rare rib eye.

We ripped through a killer set at Off Broadway in St. Louis. It was decent turn out for a Tuesday night and we met some more cool folk. My buddy from college (Steve) came out to support. Hadn't seen him in over 20 years. Always cool to catch up with friends from the past.

We had to ditch out soon after our set to get Tiny Dancer back to the room. He had a fever and was pretty much shot after pouring every inch of his bad self into the show. We took him back to the hotel, and the rest of us hung out in the lobby looking for Mannatech representatives who might want to party. No such luck.

We all woke up the next morning fearing that one of us might be next to come down with Tiny Dancer disease. Bryan was already on his way. I had one bottle of Topo Chico left from a gas station in Texas. I made the mistake of letting Bryan handle the bottle, and I did my best to kill the germs.

At our next stop, we picked up some surgical masks.

Riding in a van with sickies is like a guaranteed ticket to infection. We weren't taking any chances. Sugar bought a case of emergen-c to fight off the demons.


We made it to Chicago and rolled in early at the Redline Tap. Ben and Bryan found the pool table.

And then we grabbed some deep-dish pizza around the corner.

After dinner, Ben and I had a drink at the Heartland Cafe. The same folks own the Heartland as the Redline tap and we got drink discounts. While hanging out, a guy in the bar asked to buy us shots. We never turn down a free drink, so what the hell. Turns out he was the owner of the Heartland Cafe, The Redline Tap, and most of the other establishments on the block. This guy was cool. Ben and I sat and rapped with him for an hour. He told us all kinds of crazy stories about living in the 60's and being an activist. He bought us more drinks and we made a new friend. I love running into cool folks on the road. This is really what it's all about.

Speaking of cool people, we got to hang out with our radio DJ friend Die. She came out with her sister to see the show. We did a radio interview with her from the road (WLUW, Chicago) and it was nice to catch up and see her in person. I also got to connect with more old friends from college (Rick & Scott). I was in bands with both of these dudes! It was awesome to get to reconnect.

Our set at Redline Tap was a blast. Another great weeknight crowd. Another barn burner.

At this point we don't even have to try to put on a killer show. Everything is on autopilot and everyone is ready to bring it. We played our set, mingled a little, and got back on the road. It's like a well oiled machine. Ben got behind the wheel and got us safely to Milwaukee for a few hours of sleep. Next stop Minneapolis!