Rock For Hope Fiasco
Over Labor Day weekend my band and I were supposed to play the Rock Show of the Year, Rock For Hope, but instead it turned out to be one of the biggest letdowns of my rocker career.
I began September 6th early, getting ready for the show and putting my family at a true inconvenience, just so I could get to the show on time. We were asked to be at the Warren County Fairground by noon, and with it being over an hour drive we had to leave by 10:30am. Needless to say, musicians don’t wake up that early on Sunday mornings and we didn’t leave until 11:30ish.
On the road and prepared to be there by 1 in the afternoon, we followed the directions given to us by the Rock For Hope guys. And knowing that we were rushed for time I used my iPhone as a GPS device so I wouldn’t miss any turns.
We made excellent time and got to the address given by 12:30 or so, but the address was wrong. We ended up in some neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. There definitely wasn’t a show going on in a backyard.
Annoyed, I pulled out the iPhone again, which was almost dead by this time (GPS really sucks the juice out of it) and looked up the Rock For Hope website to see if I missed anything. Updated just that morning was a notice saying that the show had been moved to the American Legion on Highway W. I don’t know where Highway W is. And there was no address to be found. So I called the only number I had, the promoter guy named Norm, and received no answer.
Now I feel really bad. Not only are we going to miss a benefit for children’s cancer show, but I also drug my band out into the middle of nowhere for no reason. They were already giving me trouble for it being so early on a Sunday morning.
We started driving around looking for Highway W or an American Legion or even the Warren County Fairgrounds with no luck. But eventually, at one of the many gas stations we stopped at, someone was able to give us directions to the Fairgrounds.
When we arrived at the Warren County Fairgrounds there was no one to be found. A lonely sign that said ‘Bands’ and an arrow pointing down a dirt road was all we found. Like a good rockstar we followed the path to a dead end. By now, my band is getting really annoyed.
We drove around a while longer through small towns and farmland with no trace of the Rock For Hope concert. At different gas stations we found fliers telling us to go to the Fairgrounds, and all of the attendants had no idea what the American Legion was or where to find it.
We finally gave up. On our way back to the highway I stopped at the local Wal-Mart to get an iPhone charger, it was completely dead by now, and the rest of the band followed. While in the parking lot, we received word that the show was right down the road, almost literally behind the Wal-Mart. I picked up my charger and off we went to the show to see if we could still play.
We arrived at the show around 3:30 or so to find out that only 3 bands (counting us) had showed up all day, and no fans. Most likely because no one knew how to find the place. We ended up playing a show to 15 people for over an hour. And after all was said and done we packed up and went home. You can hear more about the show at Achalachia.com.
The most disappointing part for me was I ended up driving over 300 miles for a show I was way too excited for to end up taking heat from my band and playing to 15 people. Maybe the next show at Felix’s will be better.
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