Wed Night Scavenger Hunt

Danielle and I had a gift card for a restaurant and were jazzed about using it tonight. We got to the place and SURPRISE! It was closed... for good.

So instead of making a noose out of extension cord and putting it to use, we decided to make ourselves a little scavenger hunt. We each wrote items on post-it notes, folded them up, stuffed them in an envelope and sealed it.

The rules were we couldn't open the envelope until we were four miles from home and we couldn't use the same location for more than one item. Each post it could only be drawn out when the previous was found. Game on.

So four miles from home was Monroe Ave Pittsford. The Post-it read: "Stub from a PG-13 movie". No problem. Pittsford Plaza Cinema. Closed. Search the ground, BINGO.

Next item: "Used car part on side of road". This turned out to be the hardest. We eventually found part of a headlight in Irondequoit. NEXT.


"TV for sale - not a flatscreen." WAL-MART! Since I was snapping photos, I figured I'd be tackled by Wal-Mart Security. Nope. In fact, on my way out, I am holding my camera... the security guy looks right at it all puzzled and blurts "Good night?" Definitely could've stolen a camera if I was the type. Who am I kidding, I am the type.

NEXT

"Greeting card with talking animals on it" Off to another spot I shouldn't take pictures: WEGMANS! Keep in mind, it's 11:something PM... nothing is open. We found this lovely card with dogs singing.

We're on a roll now. "Souvenir replica of tourist attraction. IE: mini Statue of Liberty" We sort of cheated with this one. We found a life size Elvis cardboard cut-out at a gas station. Elvis isn't exactly a tourist attraction but by now we were in Greece acting like crackheads with no lighter.

"Toothpaste for sale with dust on the box" Finding this stuff wasn't that hard. It was getting away with walking into a place of business and snapping photos and walking out. We looked completely nuts. I love looking completely nuts.

"Genesee Cream Ale" Ah the fresh-maker, Genny Cream Ale. Mom would be proud.

Just goes to show you don't need anything to do to actually go do anything. You just gotta be a little crazy.

Lucinda accomplished

Well, she played. The fans came out to the Armory instead of High Falls and she played. Slowly, but surely, the giant cavernous room filled with people. I guess the word got out we moved the show.

My day was full of those little details I started telling you about yesterday. Setting the stage up, getting the bands in and sound checked. Having someone on strandby for them to run here or there for the odd bottle of wine or guitar pedal that needed to be replaced. Security. Cops (the special events City cops are awesome, especially their Lieutenant, John. I want to hang out with that guy.)

I'm off track. All the sudden I'm chillin with cops.

Anyway, I guess this is what I do. Take all the teenie weenie details for a big show and put them in my little binder, get some good people behind me and make it happen. It's not rocket science and lots of people think they want to do it... until they actually do it.

The band personel were way cool. Cool dudes, my age, making their way in the touring / business side of music. I've had opportunities to hop on the bus and work on tours... not for me, today anyway.

Charlie Louvin, the opening act was so much fun. The guy is like 80 years old so I expected the behavior of an 80 year old. Nope. He was hanging out, meeting his fans... smoking mad cigarettes with me. Funny dude. Too bad I don't like country music.

Gotta say as well- the staff we have at High Falls had to transplant to the Armory and did it without pause. It makes a world of difference to have the right help. Class acts, all of 'em.

On to the next one tomorrow. I got blues at the Public Market, also free. I might as well be on a bus going to the next tour stop.

**Photos: (Above) Danielle, my girlfriend, selling Lucinda merchandise. (Below left) Me and Danny D. (Above Danielle to right) WCMF's Dino with some sponsors on stage. (Below right) This nutty dude who brought light up pins and wanted to sell them. I had to let him down.

Lucinda Williams Rain Dance

So I might as well dive right in to my first post for this new Insider blog with what I did today and what's up for tomorrow.

I work for Up All Night Concerts, the company that produces the Party in the Park events at High Falls. Free concerts. People love them. It's a lot of work putting something like that together- creating a venue outdoors from scratch. A Million little details people usually don't think about as patrons (and they shouldn't have to). The PA system, the stage, food & beverage, barriers, security, bathrooms, labor, artist accommodations... you get the idea. So we get this thing running like a well oiled machine every year and inevitably, a monkey wrench gets thrown in at some point during the series. Tomorrow, there's going to be thunderstorms all day and night. CRAP!

So we moved it to the Armory on Main Street. Plenty big for everyone, still free. But now all those tiny details have to be changed around and we basically have to start over. So all day, thats what I was doing. I didn't walk my dogs today or get to hang out with Danielle, my girlfriend... maybe I should be doing those things now instead of sitting in my home office yapping at you. Oh well, I'm excited to get this thing started.

Tomorrow, July 19th, the Armory Doors will open at 5PM. It's free, Lucinda Williams headlines... Charlie Louvin opens. We'll stay on the same schedule as we do outside, wrapping it all up at 9:30ish.

All signs point to this being the biggest show of the season. Lucinda's tour was in the Rolling Stone "must see" tours of the summer a few issues back. Everywhere else she is playing, you have to pay at least $35 for tickets... the City of Rochester wants ya'll to see her for free. Pretty cool.

I'll keep you posted.

Pete