On our last tour, one of the "venues" booked by the band we toured with was more like a pizzeria. Okay, it was a pizzeria. We couldn't tell if people were cheering for us or the football game on TV. The opener was a local laptop band that dressed up in retro clothes and danced around the "stage" with their laptops. Posh.
jimritchie commented, on November 24, 2006 at 11:12 a.m.:
One time, we were driving back to Michigan, after playing a bunch of Holiday Inns in Florida.
We had loaded up and left when we finshed playing the night before, and I had been
driving all night.
My roadies, Russ and Terry, had stayed up with me to "keep me awake". Of course, I had to
bribe them to do this by supplying them with beer. It was right about daybreak, and we were
somewhere in south Georgia. They said they had to stop to pee. I told them to wait for the
next exit, but with all that beer in them, they had to stop RIGHT NOW.
So, I pulled the truck over to the side of Interstate 75. Since it was so early, there was
not another car in sight. I figured they would run back in the bushes by the road, pee, and
get their silly asses back ASAP.
Instead, Russ hops out, trots to the middle of the highway, and starts wildly pissing all
over the road.
Right then, I see a Georgia state trooper, in a Mustang GT, across the median, headed southbound.
I was hoping he wouldn't notice, but it was kind of hard to miss Russ, alone in the middle of the
empty interstate, pissing all over the place.
Sure enough, he cuts a U turn across the median, and he's on us in seconds. Russ had seen him,
and ducked back into the truck. This HUGE Georgia state cop, sticks his head through my window,
and shouts, "Which one of you f##%&** was pissin' on ma hiway?". He was genuinely furious.
Everone started waking up at the shouting. We all just sat there and played stupid. The band
members who had been sleeping had no idea what was happening. He shouted again, "I said, Which one
of you f$#**&% was pissin' on ma hiway?", but nobody cracked.
Finally, he yells, "If Ah ever see y'all pissin' on ma hiway again, yer all goin' to jail!",
and he stormed off, got in his GT, and left.
After he left, I said, "Jesus, that was a close one". Russ said, "Man, you got that right! I
thought he was gonna notice THIS!".
And he points to a half - burned joint that he had left laying in plain sight on the dashboard.
Driving drunk can be dangerous, but driving WITH drunks has its hazards, too.
elise commented, on November 28, 2006 at 6:25 p.m.:
that's a great story, jim. what's your band?
jimritchie commented, on November 29, 2006 at 9:50 a.m.:
It was called "Ritchie and the Rockets". We did a 50's and 60's show, a Beatles tribute, and a classic rock set.
