Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

I have a friend, “Lenuck” who has worked for Sam Hill Entertainment for a long time now. He’s done me a lot of favors in the past, one of which was to get me an interview for a job with Sam Hill. The second was to book Thred a huge exposure gig at Scott Stadium before a UVA/VT football game. The timing of all of this is important. The interview was during the week before the gig, which was, as are most UVA/VT games, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is also the day after the Bobs and Dean Show.

I drove up from Richmond to Charlottesville for the interview. There office is in a prime location right on the downtown mall. I was immediately impressed with the casualness yet professionalism displayed in the office and decided that I really wanted to work in there. I met with Hank, the president of the company to discuss the position. We got along great, and I think the interview went really well. After the interview, I had lunch with Lenuck and a few other guys from the office. I left town thinking I was a shoe-in for the job, and got excited about moving to Charlottesville. I was also excited to know that I’d be returning in a few days for the gig and the big game.

As a VT alumni during the days of Michael Vick, I am a huge Hokie football fan. I will always do whatever it takes to get tickets to the games. Especially the ones closer to home in Charlottesville. There’s nothing like winning the Commonwealth Cup in Scott Stadium, something Wahoos haven’t done in a while. Yes, I’m a jerk. So, I was doubly excited when Sam Hill booked us to play a paying gig in the Stadium before the biggest game of the year, AND we would all get free tickets. What a deal. This music stuff was finally paying off. But, not only was it a big deal for me, but it was a big deal for Sam Hill, too, as they had just started booking these gigs and building a relationship with Scott Stadium.

As I mentioned before, the gig/game was the day after the Bobs and Dean show, an event that notoriously lasted all night. And, it was decided that the “after party” would be held at my apartment because it happened to be 1 block away from that year’s venue. It was the biggest Bobs and Dean show ever. There were probably close to 500 people in the Main Street Beer Company warehouse for the show. Thred played early, and we broke our stuff down, and packed it into the cars, knowing that we’d be setting up in Charlottesville the next day.

Then the party started. Hole 5 All-Stars took the stage, of which I and Lenuck were both key members. The show went on until the bar forced us to stop. Getting all those people out of that warehouse, breaking down the equipment, collecting and counting the donations, paying the sound guys, etc. took until about 3am. As I left there, Lenuck reminded me, once again, about the importance of the gig the next day. Then, I walked across the street to my apartment where the after party was raging. We had gotten a keg, having expected a good amount of people. It was a good thing, too, cause it floated pretty quickly. Luckily I had bought 6 more cases of beer and hidden it in a cooler under the porch.

I don’t remember when I finally went to bed, but do remember waking up with my clothes and shoes on. It was around 9am.

Did I mention that we needed to be at Scott Stadium by 10am to get in the gates, and playing by 11?

Panic hit me like bus. I had no idea what to do. Even if we all left at that moment, we’d never make the 70 miles to Charlottesville by 10am. Plus, I still had to wake everyone up, and pick them up before we left. I immediately started making phone calls. I got everyone on the phone except for cigs, the other guitar player. Typical. Where the F is he? Why won’t he answer his phone? Why did I say up so late? What am I going to do? I paced around my apartment making phone calls and doing the math in my head. We were late, no doubt about that. Maybe we could possibly still get there by 11, set up real quick and still play for an hour before the game started.

So, I called Lenuck, to ask if we could be late.

“YOU’RE STILL IN RICHMOND?! [some cussing] Dude, that’s not cool at all. In fact, that’s terrible. I trusted you with this. [more cussing and name calling] You told me I could trust you with this.”

It was over. I had blown it. I didn’t know what to say.

“Where are the tickets? You need to bring them here so I can give them to someone else.”

I finally gave up on trying to make the gig. I called the drummer, who was gonna go to Charlottesville, anyway, and I arranged for him to take the tickets up there for me. I have to admit there was a sense of relief knowing that I didn’t have to rush to get to the gig. But there was also a huge sense of regret. Lenuck had told me over and over not to get too drunk after the Bobs and Dean show and be late for this gig, and I totally did exactly that. He was pissed. Whatever nasty things he said to me, I deserved.  Not only had I ruined my band’s reputation with his company, but I ruined his company’s reputation with a potentially huge client. And he had vouched for me to get me the job interview. I blew that too.

Yeah, yeah. Everything happens for a reason. I know. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to take that job and move to Charlottesville….yet. I probably would’ve gotten a DUI, doing 90 on I64 after 10 hours of drinking and 3 hours of sleep. I probably would’ve gotten in a fight in the stadium.  There are a a million speculations about what could’ve or should’ve happened that day. Virginia Tech didn’t even win the game. Maybe that was my fault, too.

Oh well, life went on and I’m here now, glad to be a Cvillain. Funny how things work out sometimes.

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