We are back in Milwaukee and playing at the wonderfully-named Shank Hall. I don’t know what came first, Spinal Tap, or this club but I am thrilled to be playing there either way. Spinal Tap is partially a parody of heavy metal bands but there’s truth in there about every band, and we are no exception.
Although Big Dipper started out casually, just getting together to play songs and drink beer, things quickly escalated and ambition and ego, and I’ll cop to more than my share, took over and drove the band to the point where we thought: ‘Sure, all those bands did dumb things when they signed to major labels, but we’re smarter than that!” Unfortunately, we weren’t that smart and made mistake after mistake.
All of which brings us to Milwaukee on a Thursday, playing to another small crowd. My little blue book tells me that we loaded in at 6 pm and put Gina Soener + 1 on the guest list so not much to go on there.
It’s my little sister, Katie’s 28th birthday, so I find a phone booth to call and wish her a happy day. She’s getting married in about a month and we talk about her plans for the big day. Her nuptials will make me the only member of our family who is not married, making me even more acutely aware of the adolescent bubble that I’ve been living in. For the first time in a decade, I’m starting to think about a life outside of a career in rock and roll and that is causing me lots of agita. It’s been my goal and identity since I left High School, could I actually let it go?
Tomorrow: Guest Diarist Jeff tells the story of the Sundays sabotage.
Calculating Route... 