We drove about 850 miles. We spent about 15 hours in the car. And one hour onstage.

Now, we ain't complainin', just esplainin'. We love what we do. But we wanted to give yous guys a little perspective with a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to do a gig in, say, Columbus, Ohio...

George Hazelrigg (piano), John E Coale (drums), and Slim Poppa drove in the Slim Vehicle. We left the Slim Shack at around 8:30 AM. Saturday, September 24th, 2005. Kevin (Chock Diddy AKA Chocky) Levi (sax), flew in from California.

We pulled up to the Aladdin Shrine Center around 4:30 PM. There was a Sportsmen's Convention in full swing in one part of the center--some beer-drinkin', gun-totin' Sports Dudes. Yee-Haw! The other part was set up for a Big Show. A Really Big Show...

We walked into the auditorium, and...the Sound Dudes told us that Marion Meadows, a Saxist from Phoenix who was on the bill with us, was running late due to a plane delay out of Phoenix (Hurricane Rita was causing havoc), so we went to the hotel, right by the airport, and took a shnooze.

When we got back to the center, around 6:00 PM, Marion was playing his soprano sax on the huge stage. He sounded great. There were tables set up in front of the stage (the VIP section), and behind those, some more tables.

We walked back to the dressing room, where we saw Kevin Levi, and Robert Beasley. Robert is a percussionist who lives in Columbus. We played there back in 1995 at a place called Bogey's, a golf/sports club, and a woman came up to us and told us that her boyfriend was a percussionist. We asked him to sit in. He did.

He sounded so good, that we've done a bunch of gigs over the past ten years in and around Ohio. Robert's a pumpin' percussionist.

Marion finished his soundcheck around 6:30. We only had a half-hour until they opened the doors. People started walking in as we were finishing up. It was 7:00 PM.

We went back to the dressing room. They had some food for us--chicken, beef, steamed vegetables, taters--and
they also had some beer and wine. We started eating, drinking, and clowning around, as usual.

Before ya knew it, at 8:00 PM, promoter Mike Scott walked into the room and told us it was...Show Time.
The first gig we did in Ohio was promoted by Mike Scott. He had a Mercedes with 'Mr. Jazzy' vanity tags. It was...1996. Toledo, Ohio.

We did a show with Kevin Toney (keyboards). As a matter of fact, it was our very first show with...Kevin Levi, Slim Sax Man. A friend of ours, Shea Welsh (guitar), told us about Kevin. Said we should get him to play sax sound unheard. We did. When we stepped onstage in Toledo in 1996, we had never even rehearsed with Kevin.

He's been with us ever since. We couldn't imagine having anyone else in the band. He was a perfect fit. He sounded so good!

And when we stepped onstage in Columbus, Ohio, nine years later, Kevin was not only as good as he was back
in Toledo in 1996, he was better. Much better. Kevin has a way of soloing that is...it's like a little
journey. You don't know where the hell you're going,but you're loving the ride.

The whole band sounded good in Columbus that night. Robert has a unique style. He sets his congas on the floor, and plays the bongos in his lap. John E was playing the poop out of a set of maple Yamaha drums.
And George was wailing away on the keyboards. He had a keyboard called a Fender Rhodes Suitcase--an
electric piano that has a singular sound. We had a blast. We did some Slim Songs, some Bona Fide tunes, and...

It always ends too soon. For the last song, X Ray Hip (from the Bona Fide 'Royal FUnction' CD), we brought up some girls from the audience. They started dancing and playing percussion. It was lovely.

After the Show, we went out to the front of the auditorium. We had a chance to talk with some of the wonderful folks from Ohio. The good-looking, well-dressed, intelligent and sexy Buckeye Peeps who have great taste in music. We did a little meet-and-greet. A little grip-and-grin.

And we checked out the tail-end of Marion's show. He's got a great band. Very funkified. And Marion
has a way with the soprano sax. He's good. He's real good.

And then? Pack up the truck, go back to the airport, go to the hotel, sleep for a few hours, and drive 430
miles home. No crazy parties. No wild women.

There was a McDonalds open 24 hours right next to the hotel. We got some carry-out, took it back to the
hotel, and Robert Beasley and I ate french fries and watched ESPN for a few minutes.

Oh, the glamourous life of Show Binniz...

Big thanks to All who came out to the Big Show.
Thanks to Mike Scott, WJZA, and the Aladdin Shrine
Folks. Who loves ya?

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