Greeting’s humanoids and welcome back to part 2 of my 4 week American Tour blog, as we pick up right where we left off…
Show #6 – Richmond, Virginia
Nice Theatre, good acoustics, which is always beneficial for me. Pretty solid show all around, really. We have now added a new tune called "44 Minutes" into our set list, which makes me happy. For me, it’s real important to play 3-4 tunes from a new record, though with each release it really is becoming so hard to pick the proper set list for both the fans and ourselves too. With about 150 songs or so in Megadeth’s catalogue, it’s pretty much impossible at this point to make everybody happy with the songs in the set, and that’s even with us mixing up a few tunes almost every night.
With that said, we also have to make ourselves happy with the tunes we pick, and we are pretty happy with how the set lists are shaping up.
Show #7 – Knoxville, Tennessee
I have yet to play in Tennessee, so this gig was fun for me. Add to this both of my kids showed up to visit me from Atlanta, which of course made my day that much better. We added another new tune from Endgame entitled "Dialectic chaos" which really went over well with the crowd, and with the band.
My back pain returned a bit, which is unfortunate, but that’s rock n’ roll, I suppose. Nothing a good massage won’t cure, so I inform Andre to set that up for our next day off in Florida. I can deal with this for 2 more shows… I hope.
Show #8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
Another state (North Carolina) I have yet to play in and it turns out to be a nice venue. I lay low during the course of the day, watching alot of 30 ROCK in my bunk of the bus (my favorite TV show at the moment). Man, I think it is so funny! Which Takes my mind off of my back pain for the most part, which is a good thing…
You know, I could sugar coat this and give you some crap generic story of how this is a 24/7 non-stop party, but the truth of the matter here is that we work our butts off each day on tour! It is such a great thing to be able to do what I have always wanted to do in my life, where if I do get injured, sick, etc. It’s just part of doing what I do. Oh yea, the show kicked ass tonight too 🙂
Heading down to Florida, which always makes me happy, as I used to live on St.Pete beach a few different times, back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Going to enjoy a day off and hopefully catch some rays…
Show #9 – Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Day off and show day brings NO Florida sun, which doesn’t make me happy. Nevertheless, I am content knowing that the sun will indeed shine in Orlando on Thanksgiving (I looked at the forecast). Tonight, we played yet another new song from Endgame, called "This day we fight", a fast and furious tune, so you know I enjoyed adding this track to the set. Considering we only played it 1 time during sound check, it turned out quite well, I must say. The fans really seemed to dig it and should (in theory) be satisfied that we are now playing 5 tunes from Endgame.
We may do another tune from the new record at some point, though at this time we are not 100% certain. With the show going well once again I scurry to the bus and my comfortable bunk, falling asleep to 30-ROCK, knowing I will be chillin’ at the pool in Orlando tomorrow and watching NFL Football. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Show #10 – Orlando Florida
After a great day off for Thanksgiving here in Orlando, at The Hard Rock Hotel (and YES, the sun was out all day!) I hung out by the pool for a while before Band and Crew had Thanksgiving dinner together. I arrive at sound check and discover that my left kick pedal is 1 1/2 inches closer to me than the right, as I remember (from the previous gig) that I felt a bit off balance at the end of "Peace Sells", with the double-bass onslaught at the end of the song.
It’s funny, even something as small as 1 1/2 inches something being out of alignment can throw your center of gravity off balance. Anyways, Big Nick fixed this problem quickly and it made a huge difference. With this, we had a very smooth show. Afterwords I headed for the bus knowing we had a 20 hour bus ride to Texas, which I both love and hate. I love getting as much rest as possible, but after 20 hours I feel trapped in a submarine, and thus can’t wait for the ride to be done. Today is Sunday, so as I write this I am in the back of the bus watching the NFL, Which makes me very happy. If my Steelers lose today, I am going to be super pissed, though. 🙂
Talk to you next week from Texas and beyond.
Be well,
Shawn Drover
MEGADETH
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