12/23/05 – Grand Rapids MI

Today was an incredible show.. I left the house at noon to head over to The Intersection in Grand Rapids for the BIG The Verve Pipe / Papa Vegas / American Accent show!

I arrived at 2:30 where Donny (drums) and Al (sound guy) were already setting up. Dan (guitar) and John (bass) arrived shortly after. I was hanging by the loading dock where Doug Corella (keyboard/percussion) pulled up.. Doug was my old percussion instructor 11 years ago in High School.. He hadn’t seen me in 2 years (when I was heavy) so he was so shocked and happy to see me… we chatted a bit but they had a lot of setting up to do!

Dan and Griff arrived shortly after.. It was great seeing them all.. Griff now has no beard and SHORT hair!

I grabbed The Verve Pipe’s merch from donny and took it to the back and started sorting… Donny and I counted in the merch… Brian arrived at 5pm.. He had a gig in St. Louis the night before, so he had a long drive in.

Brian and I said our hellos (I did a show with him the weekend before).. He tossed me his keys and I loaded in Brian’s merch from his car as he set up to do The Verve Pipe’s soundcheck.

It was SO great hearing them play again… they blow my mind everytime..

While soundchecking… Joel, Pete, Mick, and Scott (Papa Vegas) arrived and set up shortly after TVP.  It took me back to 1999… so great to see all these guys in the same room together.

I headed backstage for a bit and did some work on the lap top.

Doors were at 8pm so i headed back to the merch area at 7 where I went over the displays with Brian (Vander Ark).  When doors open, people streamed in and started buying up cds!  I was handling merch for The Verve Pipe, Papa Vegas, and Brian Vander Ark.

My friend Erin, so graciously came up from Kalamazoo to help me sell which was huge..

The show was GREAT as were the merch sales… seeing The Verve Pipe & Papa Vegas play again together just blew me away. It was so great meeting some of my friends from The Verve Pipe message board… so fun… it was a night to remember… I want to thank The Verve Pipe and Papa Vegas for bringing me on to sell!  you’re the best!

PAPA VEGAS set list:
Something Wrong
Beautiful Animal
On Your Own
Reason Without Meaning
Before Our Eyes
Long Days
No Destination
Bombshell
No Reply
Never Enough
Sermon Underground
KFD

THE VERVE PIPE set list:
Drive You Mild
Photograph
Ominous Man
Spoonful Of Sugar
The F Word
I Want All Of You
Colorful
Hero
Cup Of Tea
Medicate Myself
Happiness Is
Veneer
The Freshmen
Blow You Away
Never Let You Down
Local Boys
Long Way Home
—-
Villains
Miles Away
Bullies On Vacation / Medley
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

I counted out and we broke down everything.. I helped get everything finished up and said my goodbyes and was on my way… I left Grand Rapids at nearly 3am.. I called my friend Jennifer in Atlanta, she helped talked me the 2ish hours back home!