Like a Rolling Stone

48 hours from now, I will either:

1. Be so in love with the idea of being in a rock band that I'll quit my day job, or,
2. Be feeling every one of my 51 years of age and ready to quit the band.

See, your Eyewitness Blues Band is about to embark on its most ambitious effort thus far. We're playing two gigs in two nights at two different venues. And while we're accustomed to playing a single set of 30 to 45 minutes, these are pro-length gigs. That means two sets the first night and three sets the second night.

Add in all the loading-in and loading-out, the setting-up, tuning-up and other assorted stress-inducing activities, and I have a feeling we'll know why the reality of being in a professional band is decidedly less glamorous than the image.

This is not new news to Doug and Patrick, both of whom tried to earn a living with music and retreated to the relative sanity of the broadcast news business. That should tell you something: if the broadcast news business looks sane to you, then whatever else you're doing must really be crazy.

I have a feeling that by the end of the second night, I'll be too tired to even trash the hotel room.