GIG REPORT - LIFE IS DRAMA @ America's Bar (Hoffman Estates)

This past Sat night my band LIFE IS DRAMA played @ America's Bar (Hoffman Estates, IL). We've never played here before & it's a 1 1/2hr drive for me and we were only playing for an hour 9pm-10pm, (we were the opening band). America's Bar is a medium sized room with the entrance & bar together one side with a wall that blocks the music/stage from the bar area so if you want to hear the band you have to walk into the opening between the 2 rooms. There's tables w/high stools on either side of the room and another row down the middle & I put our business cards on each table/seat in the band area. After we loaded in and set up I put my case covers over the vent on the stage floor on my side of the stage. The manager told me I had to move my cases off the vent and when I did ALL the smoke from the fog machine that had built up came spewing out...HOLY COW...it was like a KISS show!!! :shock: We had about ½ hour till we started and there were only 3 tables filled, the 2 band tables and 1 in the middle that were friends of the other band. I was thinking to myself, we're completely out of our area and NO ONE knows us up here. I'm hoping to win over some new fans but it was looking like the “headlining” band didn't have a following in the area either which turns it into a “paid practice” I guess but not very fruitful. Soon after I thought that the place started to fill up & by 9pm we had a steady stream of people coming in the door and the owner told us to hold off till 9:30 till we start. By the time we took the stage the place was full of people!!! :D

This night we REALLY played WELL!!! :D Our flow was good except for the song which I misread the set list and I was waiting for the drummer to start “All Summer Long” when the rest of the band was waiting for me to start “Jenny 867-5309”, whoops. :oops: Then the top of the drummer's high hat popped off. I went to start a song and he said “hold on...hold on” and I look over and the only thing I see is the bottom cymbal of his high hat and him trying to reach down to pick up the missing pieces of the high hat between his kit. Ok, “Q” the puppet show while we wait!!! We were back up and going in a minute or so, so no biggie. Between the fog and the stage lights I couldn't see the crowd too well to see how we were doing, just the silhouettes of people dancing in their chairs but my wife said the table of people for the other band started getting into it towards the end of our set, singing and dancing in their chairs & the rest of the crowd was having a GREAT time. :D She said she thinks 1/3 of the crowd was there for us and 2/3 was for the headlining band which was more than I expected. It looked like it was between 80-100ppl in the crowd. We had a group up front that were having a GREAT time and I saw the owner come up front w/a camera and took some pics of us towards the end of the set which I saw as a good sign!!! :D

We hurried up and broke down our gear and loaded it back in our vehicles and then we just hung out in the back w/the crowd. Maybe hoping to get recognized I guess. The headlining band did REALLY WELL too!!! I thought overall this was a great bill, and the crowd had an AWESOME time this night!!! The headlining band's bass player books the bands @ America's Bar and she had a really cool bass!! It was a Schecter Triple X bass & now my wife & my best friend who neither one of them play bass want one!! :D

Our next gigs are a back to back Fri/Sat weekend!!! On Friday 3/2/12 we're @ Mullets Sports Bar (14903 S Bell Rd, Homer Glen IL) and on Sat 3/3/12 we're heading back down to Exit 197 (952 W Reynolds St, Pontiac IL) for our first show of the year (we've booked 4 shows here thru 12/2012)!!! I'll try to get the pics from America's Bar up on our Facebook Page “Life Is Drama” soon and “LIKE” our page!!! We added 5 new “Likes” from this last show!! :D

Thanks for reading and all the great comments & KEEP ROCKIN' !!!!

Tommy Gunz