Encore
U. S. Blues

Dave and I were good drinking buddies, because each of us could put away super-human quantities. When we hit Buffalo we wound up getting a 15-pack of Strohs cans, and the jug-sized bottle of MD 20/20. I don't think they even package Maddog in bottles that size anymore, for obvious reasons. When the party got going Dave and I started putting away the Strohs. By the time it was all gone, we each had a pretty good buzz going. Maddog is usually somewhat self-regulating, in that it tastes so fucking nasty that you can't drink it too fast. But with better than a 6-pack in each of us, we hit the Maddog fast and hard. And let me tell you, one jug is way more than enough for two people, even if they weren't already drunk on beer. I was blacked-out, camped-up, balls-out drunk. I was about as silly and sloppy as a drunk can get. I was told that at one point I literally DOVE into the back seat of my convertible and passed out cold.

I woke up early the next morning in the back seat with the car cover in place over me. I later found out that TNT put it on for me when the party died down. I somehow crawled out of the car and made my way to the living room where I went back to sleep on the couch.

When I finally got up again the next day I was in absolutely no condition to attend a huge concert. I was painfully hung over. I felt really, really, really bad.

We made our way to the festival outside the arena and wandered around. I should have been enjoying myself. The scene outside the arena was the part that I liked the best. The weather was great, and the festival was huge. There were interesting busses there, lots of vendors, and all sorts of fun. But I was really feeling like shit. At one point I felt like I was going to hurl. I frantically started looking for a place to heave, but by the grace of God my stomach settled back down before it went super-critical. When we went inside the arena, everyone went down to the floor. After standing there for about 5 minutes I just couldn't take it any more. I left my friends and found a seat way up in the upper, upper decks. I finally began to feel comfortable. I was a million miles away from the stage, but I had all the space I needed and there was even a nice breeze up there. I was still hung over as all hell, but at least I was off my feet.

The warmup band was 10,000 Maniacs. It was a fine show but I wasn't terribly interested in it. Finally the Dead took the stage. I was enjoying the music, but I was probably the only one in the whole arena who wasn't dancing. One thing that was cool was that live video was being broadcast on a massive rear-projection screen on the backdrop of the stage. I could pretty well see what was going on even though I was so far away. At first I thought there was a synchronization problem between the video and the audio, until I realized I was so far away that it took the sound waves a noticeable time to reach me.

During intermission I thought I saw Dave and TNT wandering around the field. By the time the second set got under way I almost started to feel human again. I even had a bit of an appetite. During Drumz/Space I got up and scored myself a slice of pizza at the concessions. I made my way back down to where I'd left all my friends. By some miracle they were still in exactly the same spot I'd left them. They were happy, if a little surprised, to see me. Once I was safely reunited with them I suddenly realized that the video people had been doing some really cool visual effects to compliment the spacey quality of the Drumz/Space music. I was totally oblivious to it. That's my least favorite part of the concerts, which was why I chose then to get some food and make my way down to my friends. I wished I'd hung out and watched it. Oh well. Now a little more rested and with some food in my belly, I actually enjoyed what was left of the show. I think I even danced a little bit.

When it was over we all made our way back to TNT's. With his parents still out of town I was able to sleep inside the house in a real bed. I think it was a guest room. I fell fast asleep. Early the next morning I heard his mother's voice outside the house. That made me practically jump out of bed. She could be a bit of a bitch. I was afraid that if she caught me sleeping in a bed she might freak out. I got up and found that the downstairs was still abandoned. I curled up on a couch and tried to sleep a little more. When TNT got up I found out that it was his grandmother I had heard, not his mother. She lived like next door and her voice sounded exactly like her daughter's.

After choking down some food Dave and I got back in the car and headed home.