10/26/06 Silver Dollar (Butte, MT)

Butte, MT. We will never forget this town or this night. We roll into town and got directions from a store clerk who said the Silver Dollat changed its name and location. We followed here directions and pulled up to a cheesy casino/bar. I got a sinking feeling....this is gonna be a long night. I walked in to check it out only to be more horrified. All I see is hunter orange, camoflage, cans of coors and dudes that look like stone cold steve austin. Again, with our ethnic make up, this could get ugly. The minute I set foor in the door it was like somebody bumped the juke box, it was like I entered another dimension, or more like a time machine. Luckily we were given bad directions and the Silver Dollar was down the street. Wow, that was close, at that point we didn't care if it was a closet we were happy to play anywhere else in the world. The real Silver Dollar is a really old bar with an elevated stage. We stayed above the venue in what could only be described as Tyler Derdens house in Fight Club. Several rooms a bathroom, a tree trunk with a hatchet in it, a cast iron fireplace probably from the 1800s. It was all really bizarre. We played a couple sets, and met some people and had drinks inbetween, because we knew we could get faded and just go up the stairs to our rooms and crash out. After the set the bar closed down and we hung out with the staff and some other folks on the late night. Then tragedy struck, Sean got a call on his cell phone, anytime you get a call at 3am it can't be good, and it wasn't. He got the bad news that his grandmother had passed away. He took it with a heavy heart, and he also heard that the family back home was taking it really rough. He knew he had to get home, now. So there we are hundreds of miles from home in depressed little Butte MT, above the venue is Tyler Derdens house trying to balance family, sanity and music. Sean knew he had to get home so, we immediately drove him to the airport and he got on the first flight back to Fresno. We eventually got back to the room after dropping him off and had to figure out what to do. The buzz of the night is slowly wearing off and the frigid cold is setting in, its now 5am, we have a show tomorrow in Bozeman MT. We decided to keep going and I would play drums and do vocals from the drumset a la phil collins. Needless to say that was one of the most bizarre, long and sad nights this band has ever had.