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This Past Weekend in TN, NC & MD
Tue., Nov. 21. 2006 12:50am EST
Remember all those "Van Ailin'" articles we published earlier this year about our van woes? How about "Van Trailin'?" This past weekend, trailer troubles tripped us up on our way to shows in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland.
Before we left for Tennessee early Friday morning, our bass player and van caretaker, Keith "Holy Driver" Haynie, discovered that the trailer axle was damaged. We've known for some time that we need to replace our trailer with a sturdier, twin-axle model, but we were biding our time. Now time was biting us instead.
Our attempts to repair the axle proved unfruitful, and we even looked into purchasing a twin-axle trailer right then, but the model we needed wasn't in stock. Thankfully, U-Haul provided a temporary solution to the problem. Unfortunately, that set us back about three hours on our journey. However, thanks to the efforts of the crew at Friday's venue in Johnson City TN, we were able to start almost right on time.
In addition to coordinating Friday's concert (and working the merchandise table), ApologetiX fan Joel Ekstrom proposed to his girlfriend, Michelle, afterward as the two of them posed for a picture with the band (He'd already prearranged it with us). It was the third proposal we've had the pleasure of being a part of -- one in Pennsylvania in 2004, one in New York in 2005, and one in Tennessee in 2006. Congratulations, Joel and Michelle!
Saturday's concert in Cherry Point NC was at the Marine Corps Air Station -- yet another in a growing list of concerts we've played for military installations -- and this was the best attended one yet. Dino Medler, a Navy chaplain who coordinated the event, speculated that all five branches of the military would be represented in the crowd. It was nice to see Lieutenant Kenny Hydock, who coordinated our May 2006 concert in Suffolk VA, there representing the U.S. Coast Guard. The event was open to the public as well, and there were plenty of civilians in attendance.
Sunday's concert in Waldorf MD was our fourth in Maryland this year -- and a return trip to the first town we ever played in the Old Line State. The Waldorf hysteria (you knew we couldn't resist a Waldorf-Astoria pun, didn't you?) for ApologetiX began way back on New Year's Eve 1998, and Randy Dick coordinated things this time around.
Special thanks to:
Our aforementioned concert coordinators: Joel, Dino, and Randy.
Our mechandise coordinators: Joel, Michelle, and Jeremy (Johnson City); Harold, Abby, Muhammad, and Katie (Cherry Point); and Jenn, Kelly, Jake, and Rustin (Waldorf).
Our roadies: Micah (Johnson City, Cherry Point, and Waldorf), Rich and Marie (Cherry Point), and Larry, Beth, and Nate (Waldorf).
Honorable mention to:
- Rich and Marie Polick, who drove 12 hours to see us in North Carolina.
- Leasure family (Derrick, Brandi, Jenna, and Caleb) and the Davis family (Larry and Beth), who drove from Ohio to see us in Maryland.
- Jenn "Superchick" Kipp, who drove from Pennsylvania to celebrate her 60th concert with us in Maryland.
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