Shawn Drover of Megadeth Tour Blog – Week Three

 

Like a horror movie sequel, here we are back once again for the fun filled blastorama that is my tour blog. Part 3. Get the popcorn ready, cause here we go.
 
Shows #12 & 13 – Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Texas

So, we arrive in Texas and its friggin’ COLD!!! I of course, being a frost bitten Canadian boy, don’t mind it too much, even though both Corpus Christi and San Antonio are both outdoor gigs. We plow through them both and despite the cold, I really enjoyed both shows. San Antonio was also plagued with rain all day to the point of us pondering If we could even do the show. The rain subsided around 6PM. Big kudos’s to our crew for literally "weathering the storm" on this gig.
 
Show #14 – Dallas, Texas

Dallas always seems to be a great gig for me, and this time was no exception. Great crowd as always here, so with a smile on my face, I quickly get to my bunk and some much needed shut-eye en route to the Oklahoma City.

Show #15 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Oklahoma City venue has a ton of killer pictures of past Country artists who have played this venue in the past (I am talking the "old school" country artists – Merle Haggard, etc. from the 70’s)  My dad really liked Country music and played it quite a bit when I was young (to my dismay, of course) so I smiled a bit knowing he would get a chuckle out of Megadeth nestled in the middle of all these Country artists, and oddly enough there WAS a Megadeth picture up there from the R.I.P. tour. Anyways, the show went well, though my in-ear sound was very strange. Almost sounded like we were in a long tunnel with ambiance for days. With a few adjustments this is fixed, and the show went off without a hitch.  Four shows in a row here, so I am totally jacked about having a day off to do absolutely nothing.
 
Show #16 – Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City began with some bad News… My tech, "Big" Nick Grayson fell at the venue and broke his Right elbow before our arrival for sound check, as well as almost breaking his Left elbow. Amazingly, after returning from the hospital,  Nick still did his gig as well as he could, but it was a reminder of how easy it is to get hurt out here on tour if you are not careful. The show was very good and afterwords I returned to the hotel to get some sleep before we head over to Sauget, IL.
 
Show #17 – Sauget, Illinois

Get to the venue and thrilled to see that "Big" Nick is already able to move one of his arms with pretty much full motion. It’s also NFL football day and my Steelers lose for the 4th week in a row, which of course puts me in a rotten mood for several hours. (I fully expected to see several e-mails from my friends in Overkill, as we always send "your team sucks" emails to each other when our respective teams lose! All in good fun, of course) The show itself ran smoothly and without incident. Actually, not much to report about this show other than it was very good. I hear that snow is forecast for our next stop in Davenport, Iowa (I have yet to play in this state), so I am very exited about seeing some snow upon arrival at the hotel. 
 
Stay tuned for the final installment of this current tour blog – Until then…

 

Be well,
Shawn Drover
MEGADETH