Let's take a step back. When I last left off, we at ZD camp were in intense preperation for our wiffleball game in Akron. The show preceding the game was a lot of fun; our good friends, Ashes, were on the bill with Zach at The Barley House. Right next door to the venue was a small temporary 2,000 person amphitheater which was packed full of residents soaking up the sun and enjoying that evenings performance. After load in, the bands and their respective members enjoyed a nice big meal together all the while talking a little bit of game and reminising over the last wiffleball contest.With wiffleball on my mind, I quickly became lost in the moment with all these game surrounding us. For those of you who are unfamiliar with cornhole, I suggest you research the game. A couple years ago I built my own game and soon became obsessed. I heard cornhole was wildly popular in Ohio and finding the game in bars and restaurants wasn't uncommon. There was also a sort of shuffle board game at the Barley House which was a great warmup to the show. Zach and I got in quite the battle - I battled back from a large deficit to earn the W, which Zach blammed on distractions from fans. I
generously granted Zach a rematch, just to give him another dose of the same thing. For any of those who know me, I'm a stud muffin at worthless sports. Basketball, baseball, soccer = awful. Ping pong, raquetball, cornhole, beer nuts, fooseball = stud. Enough about that though.The show was a lot of fun with Zach pulling out a debut entitled You Don't Even Love The Girl. Other highlights on the night were a great rendition of the Mike Tyson parody I Bit His Ear, and the constantly evolving dance party that is Lincoln Continental. For those of you following the blog, you've already heard about the super bouncy ball - connecting ZD fans since May 28th, 2009. Let it be known that this venue was a restaurant with a basketball hoop. Mid set, the ball made is first appearance - knocking over drinks and generating huge laughs. A couple folks made some impressive shots before the ball got put back in the bin, eventually to return at another show.
After the show, we loaded out and headed to the Ashes house for the big game. The house had a large back yard, which was home to a bonfire and slews of tents. We situated the cars to get the game going, which was a hassle to say the least. There were quite a few jacks deep into the woods, which put the game in jeopardy once we only had one ball left. Zach led us to victory with two dingers, putting to rest another challenge offered by Ashes. We look forward to coming back to Ohio for another match with them. After the game, we enjoyed the fire and acoustic ZD songs before packing up around 6:30 AM and driving an hour to the festival.
I could hardly contain myself as we pulled up to Nelson Ledges around 8:00 AM. Visiting this fesitval grounds has been a dream of mine for about three years now, so to say I was excited was a huge understatement. I have tried several times to come out here, but the drive from Maine is about 12 hours. Either way, we were there and there was nothing left to do, but enjoy it. The three of us, grossly over-tired, stumbled through the festival grounds and picthed our tents right on the edge of lake. This venue is absolutely incredible. The two stages are on the beach, cliffs surround the lake for cliff jumping and large woodland camping encourages late night strolls where anything and everything can, and will, happen.
The three of use passed out til about 4:00 PM and lounged for a good part of the day. I geeked out pretty hard when we received our goodies from our rider. A cooler full of red bull, water, diet pepsi, bud light, rum and orange juice was delivered by a staff member - I couldn't believe it. I grabbed a couple DP's and ran around the woods spreading the ZD love and evenutally making my way to the stage for some tunes. I enjoyed being able to r
un backstage to the hospitality tent to get a couple plates of fried chicken, pasta salad, maple potato wedges and some brownies for good measure. I could see myself getting used to this!
un backstage to the hospitality tent to get a couple plates of fried chicken, pasta salad, maple potato wedges and some brownies for good measure. I could see myself getting used to this!Max Allen Band was a real treat, hailing for Indianapolis, IN and getting the small crowd moving. Zach had played on the same bill with them before, so he sat in on a couple songs to end their set. They are a very talented bunch of guys and would sugget giving them a listen. Another band I would like to suggest is one of my very favorite bands, Japhy Ryder from Burlington, VT. I found this band a couple years ago at grad school in Northampton, MA and fell in love. I had no idea they were on the festival bill, so you can understand my excitement when I saw them walk out on stage. I quickly proceeded to kick off the birks and dig in, enjoying the hell out of their one hour main stage set.
Zach performed two sets in front of a very large crowd later that the evening. His first set at 8:00 PM started off with a groovy Get On Board and a birthday dedication of the song Home to our friend J Dog. It was a lot of fun to meet so many good people on my first pass through Ohio. There was a small ZD family that made it's way from one show to another which was a real treat. After Scotty Don't finished their set, Zach was on for a quick half hour before Badfish and absolutely tour Nelson Ledges apart. The short, but killer setlist included Into The Morning Into The Night > Lincoln Continental > She Says > Scrambled Eggs. The crowd ate it up hard with several bands, including Badfish, giving the highest of praises to the ZD camp.
After load out, Zach grabbed his guitar and the three of us walked into the woods for what we hoped would be a party filled night. To our disappointment, the majority of things slowed down around 4:00 AM, which put us to bed around 5:00 AM. I love festies and their late nights, so this was quite a disappointment, but we all still managed to have some fun stories when we all reconvened in the morning. The next morning we cleaned out the bus and got on the road to enjoy a couple days off and take a chunk out of the monster drive down to Georgia. We stopped in Athens, OH for a potential party/gig with wildly talented electronica act Papadosio, but things didn't go as planned, leaving us without a party or a chance to collaborate with some talented fellas.
Nonetheless, with Zach's killer set at Nelson Ledges, we ended the Midwest swing on a high note. The trek down to Zach's house in Georgia was a little on the long side, but we got the opportunity to take in some scenic views and listen to the live shows as well as the new cd Sunshine, which is slated for release on Tuesday, July 28. The three of us are now enjoying our time in the South, preparing for our next five gigs, which include some very unique shows. Zach will be performing on a boat for his birthday at Rock The Dock in Chapin, SC on Saturday, June 6th. The only way to get to the show is by boat, with dancers on the beach and in the water - we're all very excited for this one, as well as the Thursday show at the Georgia Theater and the benefit concert at Wanee Festival in Live Oak, FL on Sunday.
Well, I appreciate all of you keeping up with the ZD blog. We're gonna enjoy the next couple of days off and look forward to seeing you all at the historic Georgia Theater on the 4th!
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