Second Wind was booked to play the Thunder Mountain Harley Fest Friday night over on the Clear Channel stage on the other side of the interstate from the Budweiser Event Center. We were scheduled to go on at 9:00 after two other bands and a preliminary round for a bikini contest. We later heard that during our set breaks there was going to be a scantily clad dance troop dancing on stage, so overall, it had all the ingredients for a fun time. Unfortunately, we show up and the weather is rather dismal - cold, windy, looks like it might even rain. And, because of this rather unpleasant weather, the crowd was pretty pitiful. The first band cancelled, none of the bikini contest or dancing girls showed up, and half way through the second band's set they told us that they were going to cancel our show. Now, we've played in the cold before, and we've definitely played to an empty audience before, so we were a little miffed that we weren't going to play after lugging all of our equipment out there on a Friday night. Luckily that had a VIP lounge that had a balcony that over looked the stage and a cool heated kitchen area with all the beer & wine you could drink and a ton of food. Needless to say, that was taken advantage of. But even after the free food and drink, we still felt a little let down, so a suggestion was made that we get free tickets to go see Ted Nugent who was also playing that night, but at the Budweiser Event Center.
So that happened. We got in for free - there was no way we were going to pay to see him - and I guess one of the only things I can say was that it was loud. Really loud. If he was trying to be the loudest thing that had ever been in the Budweiser Event Center, I think he succeeded. I couldn't even tell what songs he was playing - not like it would have mattered too much, because I can't say that I know any Ted Nugent songs. All I know is that I felt completely out of place in my baggy cargo pants, hippie sweater pullover and shaggy long hair. Oh and being a democrat, anti gun, anti Bush and pro peace didn't really help me to feel welcome either. The guy brought his machine guns on stage. Need I say more?
So we stayed for probably 45 minutes. Started out in the stands, then my Dad and I wandered down to the front of the stage to get our ears blown off, until we got kicked out, and then we walked up on the balcony, checked it out from a VIP booth, and walked around to the back of the stage. Somewhere in there I caught a fairly awful version of Isaac Hayes and David Porter's "Soul Man". Seriously, that was the only song I could tell you that he played. All the rest (I guess including "Soul Man", but I caught the distinctive bass line) was just a bunch of yelling and loud noise.
As far as concerts go I'd give it a 2 out of 10, but I'm not a fan, so take it as you will. As far as life experiences go, I can at least say I've seen the Nuge live, although I've probably sacrificed four years of hearing for it. Was it worth it? I leave you to think that one out.
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