They were great people and...

There was a Method to their Madness!

The first official band that my son, Eric, played in was a cover band called “Method To Madness”. It included a bass player who is one of his best friends from high school. This bass player is now a sound man, his name is Bobby and he was the one who actually got the band together and chose the name.

After the band had been together for a while, Eric was able to purchase a bus for them to travel in when they had gigs out of town. This was a neat school bus that had been converted to a travel bus complete with a small bathroom area, bunk beds and a kitchen.

They had a gig one night in Lafayette, Louisiana and they left with great anticipation of this show in a new venue. Tagging along with them for the trip was a local photographer who wanted to film one of their “on the road” experiences. He asked to join them for this show so that he could film them; but it was pretty obvious that he was sweet on the girl member of the band, her name is Stephanie.

Off they went in the bus, quite a motley crew they were.

They had no manager at all; the booking and business was done by a band member. Sometimes it was Bobby and sometimes Eric. I really do not know for sure who booked this gig, but I do know they were not wise in the handling of the business side of the negotiations on it.

Just a few miles before reaching the location of the show, the engine blew out in the bus. They were on the interstate, broke down and unsure of what to do. Eventually they made the decision to get the bus towed to the venue, do the show and figure things out the next morning. They pooled their money to pay the expensive towing fees to get them there. Towing a large bus requires a big tow rig and a big fee.

The bus breaking down was not the only bad thing about this trip. They found out there was a nationally acclaimed band playing at a venue very close by and at the same exact time. So the bubble of hope for a big crowd was immediately deflated. There was almost no one there to see them. They also told me the bar smelled worse than a public park bathroom. Not the bar bathroom, but the venue itself smelled that bad. 

To top off the broken down bus, the poor turnout for the show, the smell of the venue, the bar owner only paid them $28 for the gig. Whoever booked it went on blind trust for this bar owner to pay the agreed amount. They learned after that, it is important to never rely of verbal agreements in this business and never use blind trust.

By the time Eric called me, they had spent two nights in the bus; all of them were weary and their spirits were pretty low. It was very cold, they told of turning their stage lights on for warmth and the extremely bright lights were almost impossible to sleep under. It was so bright that my son had gotten out and laid up across the hood outside in the cold to try and get some rest. Another reason for braving the outside cold was that the female member of the band had gotten intoxicated the night before and gotten sick and thrown up on the floors of the bus. As the bright stage lights heated this vomit, the odor increased to an unbearable level.

They had used all of the cash they had on hand to pay the tow truck driver to get them to the venue. The bus was in the bar parking lot and the bar owners wanted it to be moved, but since he stiffed them for their agreed upon payment they did not have enough cash to pay the tow truck driver to tow them back to Mobile. As a matter of fact they did not have enough cash to buy food either, so that left them cold, tired, hungry and stranded. 

I had no clue there was any problem; until my phone rang. Eric told me the whole story and that now the towing service that brought them to the venue had advised them he cannot tow them without cash upfront (which they did not have). Also, he had informed them that if they scraped up the money; only two of them could ride in the tow truck, the others would have to find their own way home. The most interesting part of the Louisiana tow truck story for me, is that the tow truck driver went by the name of Corn Chip.

My husband and I called a local towing service in Mobile. They headed straight to Lafayette within an hour and we were on the road behind them to rescue “Method To Madness”. We had a large vehicle and between our car and the two who would travel with the tow truck, we were able to get everyone home safely.

I suppose every band has their own horror story, it seems to go with the territory. I was happy to do my small part to rescue these great people who deserved to be rescued.

Looking at the positives, there were many good, entertaining and down right hilarious stories that came from this unfortunate trip. 

Of course, I hated that the band had to go through such a harrowing experience, but the one I felt empathy for the most was the photographer. He looked as though he had lived a very “Sheltered” life. Band members are normally accustomed to things going wrong, hardships, difficult situations, and just plain adversity. This tends to make them stronger somehow. This photographer was too gentle, reserved and protected; dare I say “delicate” in some ways. I felt like I could read his mind, “I will NEVER go off with a band again, NEVER EVER!” 
I am pretty certain that he did not ask to travel with them after that.

The members of the band learned how important it is to have things in writing. They learned to be better prepared for emergencies. The lessons they learned were almost endless. When you can learn that much from an experience, I say that makes it a positive thing, overall.

I never saw or heard from the photographer, nor Corn Chip, the tow truck driver in Louisiana after that trip.

The band continued on their way in life for a few more years. They were a great cover band and gained a big following, I was proud of them.

They actually had a Method to their Madness after all!