Like the mailman..neither rain,sleet,snow or dead of nite would keep me from my appointed rounds..

holy batshit..it was nasty..the weather betwix and between bakersfrigginfield and stateline nevada was miserable..we went thru three,count em three big ol thunderstorm cells..truckers didnt even dare drive thru em..they were pulled over by the dozens..it was dark and forboding for three hours of the three and a half hour drive..the storms were all around us..wind, lightning, hail, rain so hard you couldn't see the road. We would leave one cell only to enter another one..we considered our options..keep on going or turn around and go home..we were SO not turning around and going home even though the ball and chain begged me to consider it. he was driving poor man..

we arrived at our destination intact and about 45 minutes before the 8pm start for the concert. Check-in was quick and we dumped our stuff in the room and caught our breath...jesus that was some wicked weather. My ticket was at Will Call...little did i know my journey wasn't even done..

Evidently...they sell 99% of their tickets over the phone. The venue holds roughly 6200 people..6000 of them were standing in the Will Call line when i arrived to get my ticket..i shit you not sports fans, the line was snaked around the entire fucking casino. The b&c says "see ya, have fun" and bailed..fuckstick that he is...we all bitched and complained in unison..i would occasionally make a scouting trip to the head of the line to gauge our progress. Got to know the life stories of about 6 people in front and behind of me in the line..I kept bugging the woman behind me for time updates since i knew Joe B would start first and only play for a half hour..i got in there to my seat just in time to see..HIS LAST FUCKING SONG...note to self..NEVER EVER do Will Call at the fucking Star of the Desert arena again..

It was a better concert in some respects than the first one Wednesday..it was LOUDER :) the place was so cold you could hang fucking meat in there..and i was wearing shorts and a tank top...almost froze my tata's off..I had a good seat in the back of the first section on the floor. The bar was close by..but to my chagrin the only vodka being served up was Smirnoff...that shit gives me a headache, so between bands i would race out to the casino bar and order a Skyy and Soda double and head back in..some chick in front of me evidently had NEVER been to a rock concert before because she kept bitching about how loud the music was and why the hell does that bitch behind(me ) keep screaming and hollering..I told her to loosen up a tad when she turned around and glared at me for like the 80th time..the woman next to me asked what her problem was and i said i dont know but she needs to go home and knit something or watch reruns of "the waltons" and quit giving me the evil eye...

It was great, it was glorious and it was live music! Two weeks from now Bo Diddely comes to town..and then its time to see Jonny Lang in Fresno two weeks after that..good concert season, best in years for moi..Well i gotta go to work..yeah yeah..it sucks moose balls, but thats the price you pay for running around the western states hearing some great blues artists..

the pics are from the ball and chains cell phone camera..i had never used it before so they kinda suck..but its a memento of our trip thru hell to the promised land of BB King, Kenny Wayne and Joe Bonamassa..ya gotta love live music..i sure fucking do :)