This Past Weekend in PA & MT
Mon., Aug. 27. 2007 1:32am EDT
We began this past weekend in northwestern corner of our home state and finished it in the northwestern corner of the United States. The trip to Friday's concert in Saegertown PA took less than two hours. The trip to Saturday's concert in Great Falls MT took three flights (Pittsburgh to Chicago to Denver to Great Falls). But it was well worth the effort.
It was our second year at Montana's Downpour festival (there's a photo of us at Downpour '06 in our "Wordplay" CD booklet), and the fans didn't disappoint. There were thousands in attendance, and we closed the two-day event, playing the final note at the stroke of midnight, just as the local sound ordinance kicked in.
The following afternoon, we were invited to a baseball game by the Great Falls White Sox, the local minor-league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Downpour's stage manager, Greg Pierce, works with the team and coordinated things for us. It turns out the team's GM, Jim Keough, and one of its players, Josh Morgan, are both fans of the band.
Jim showed us his 2005 Chicago White Sox World Series ring and arranged for us to have the best seats in the house, in the skybox. Our bass player, Keith Haynie, threw out the first pitch. Surprisingly the public address announcer called Keith by the right name, although he called the band "Apologetica." Later on, Josh told us one of the other players mistakenly referred to us as "Appendix."
Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinators: Pastor Steve Sorensen (Saegertown) and Kevin Bray (Great Falls).
Our merchandise coordinators: Sarah, Hanna (a.k.a. Ferret), Julie, Jenna, and Jake (Saegertown) and Bobbie, Bob, and Ebony (Great Falls).
Our sound and light crew: Greg and Larry (Saegertown).
Our chauffeurs: Brandon, Greg, Kevin, and Tim (Great Falls).
Our roadies: Larry and Evan (Saegertown).
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