Our day in Peoria was fairly uneventful. With the assistance of a great crew – Bob, Dan, Dan, Aaron, Gary, and Justin – we managed to get the show up fairly smoothly. We did encounter some issues with our intelligent lighting due to the odd placement and design of this theatre’s catwalks and electrics. After a few trial-and-error things, I decided it was best to sacrifice the “rock-n-roll” feel of the show a bit and hang the fixtures differently than normal. In the end, it worked out well. We were able to keep the aesthetics of the show on the edgy side and still keep the theatre elements strong. Doors would open at 7pm and we were ready to go by 5:45pm. That’s a good day!
There was a very nice article in the Peoria Star Journal on Thursday (March 6) from an interview I did a couple of weeks ago. This generated tons of phone calls to the box office but, unfortunately, the show was already sold out. Still, it was nice to have the feature and support of the local media.
The audience was a great mix of ages and our on-stage volunteers added a nice element of surprise and spontaneity to the show! We also had some guests who had driven down from the Chicago area. John Hosier is a guy that Cindy and I knew in college so it’s been many years since we’re last seen him. He brought along his daughter and she brought along a friend. It’s always fun to catch up with people you haven’t seen in a while. Steve Chezaday also made the 2 1/2 hour drive down from Naperville to see the show. We had the chance to visit for a brief time after the show and again after we were loaded out. I gave him the tour of the rig, we talked, and he was on his way. I was hoping he would be able to join us for a bit at the “Steak n Shake” but he had a long drive ahead of him. Next time!
This morning, Cindy and Keith left for the Peoria airport to make the flight back to Virginia. Nolan and I will be driving the truck to Kansas City today. We will fly home tomorrow to tackle a few projects in the office this week before the long arm of the tour begins on March 19. Two months on the road, coast to coast. I hope to meet some of you along the way!