Show #17: Martinsville, IN

Martinsville High School Auditorium
February 14, 2006

Piano du jour: 6’ Young Chang

On our way out of the hotel this morning, Patty’s dad reminded us of the time change. Oops – we hadn’t taken that into consideration when we planned our departure time. So we hightailed it onto the road. We seem to have entered NRA Land. Along the highway we saw several signs ala Burma Shave: “Gun Control” “Every Time” “Only Causes” “Violent Crime”, and ending with an anti-gun control web site. A friend of mine from Indiana also informed me that Martinsville is the headquarters of the KKK. “Keep Martinsville Clean and White” is their motto. I’m ready to leave now, thank you.

Tim and Josh got to the venue to find out that there was no load-in crew to help, so they had to do it all themselves. When we arrived later, we found a nauseating smell permeating much of the backstage area. Something was sure rotten in the state of Indiana.

The end of the evening took a surreal turn. The local concert organizer, to make up for not having provided a load-in crew, called the sheriff to enlist some help. He brought over five men currently doing time in the county jail! They were all clad in matching red scrubs. Travis, not knowing who they were, said, “Nice outfits, fellas.” One of them replied, “Yeah, we all shop at the same place.”

An old theatre trick is to spray the armpits of costumes with vodka - this helps keep the smell down. Here is Stacey, our wardrobe mistress/laundry wench demonstrating her technique.


But lately, we've been running low on vodka. We can't figure out why.

At our hotel, the pool was closed, the wireless internet access didn’t work, and the towels were like sandpaper. We’re certainly not at the Crown Plaza anymore.

Miles traveled: 225
Hotel: Comfort Inn