|
This Past Weekend in IL & Not NE
Wed., Oct. 19. 2011 11:16am EDT
Being in a rock band, we like the sound of metal as much as anybody ... but not when it's scraping against more metal. And that's why we only played one concert last weekend -- our Friday show in Shabbona IL. We had to cancel our concert in Lincoln NE because of mechanical problems. Sound familiar? Yes, but this time it wasn't our bus; it was a rental van.
Late Friday night, after our concert in Shabbona IL, we heard the sound of metal grinding against metal as we drove to the hotel, and we immediately knew we had serious brake problems. We looked up a local brake place and drove there first thing this morning, before they even opened.
That place was too busy to help us, but they recommended the auto dealership across the street, which was able to get us in relatively quickly. As we suspected, the van was too dangerous to keep driving and needed significant repairs. We got those repairs authorized by the rental company, but they took a significant amount of time, and we were only in Dixon IL (the birthplace of Ronald Reagan), 420 miles away from Lincoln NE.
Consequently, we wouldn't have been able to get to the concert venue in time to set up our sound system and do a show unless we had started it very late -- hours later than scheduled. We couldn't do that to our fans and to the concert organizers, and so we thought it best to cancel and to let people know as quickly as possible so they could make other plans for the evening.
Yes, it was disappointing. We really thought that repairs were the one thing we wouldn't have to worry about on these weekends when we were driving a rental van instead of the bus. This has been quite a year! But God is good. We are thankful that we caught the problem before we were in a serious accident, and after we got the brakes fixed, the van got significantly better gas mileage.
Friday's concert in Shabbona was a lot of fun, too. Make sure you check out the photos of that show on our website so you can see the four surprise guests who appeared on stage when we played "Love and Kisses."
Here's an email excerpt from Friday's concert coordinator:The concert went very well and I am anxious to hear all the stories tomorrow at church. God has blessed you with many talents ... You guys are in my pastoral prayers. Say hello to everyone! I will send pictures of the concert as soon as I receive them. A lot of them will be posted on our website in a few days.
Pastor Jim Allen
Shabbona United Church of Christ
Shabbona IL Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinator: Pastor Jim Allen and his assistant, Pam
Our merchandise coordinators: Kim, Kaylyn, Allison, and Grace
Our driver: Dan "Mr. Swiss" Uber
|
