Diary of a Musician

March, 20th, 1970

We got off the plane in Dallas and into a car. We headed for the hotel, where I hoped to get some more sleep. In the car I sat next to Jimmy, who was still half asleep from the flight. "Hey, Aaron. What time is our show tonight?" Jimmy mumbled. "I think it starts at either 7 or 8 o'clock. Why?" I replied. "I was hoping to get some more sleep at the hotel and I was trying to figure out how long I could sleep for." Jimmy said as he moved around in his seat. None of us could really get comfortable because we were so stiff from the plane. It wasn't a long flight but, it felt much longer than it actually was. When we arrived at the hotel Michael handed us the keys to our rooms. When I got up to my room I threw myself onto my bed. John and I were sharing a room, Jimmy and Robert were in the room next door. John turned on the TV and took a tiny bottle of alcohol from the mini-fridge. He watched TV for about an hour before falling asleep. I fell asleep almost as soon as I fell onto the bed. All was quiet and tranquil until about 6:20 when we heard a loud crash. I assumed it was Robert so I got up and knocked on his door. Jimmy came to the door with his hair a mess. "He's smashing things... Again." Jimmy said quietly in an unsurprised tone. I walked into their room to see a chair smashed to pieces. "Really, Robert?" I said, my voice still gravelly. "What?! A chair is a lot more affordable than a TV! I was going to smash the mirror but, I remembered what you said. Aren't you proud?!" Robert said cheerfully. "Oh, I'm so proud. I couldn't be prouder if I tried." I said to him, my statement oozing with sarcasm. I went back to my room and went back to sleep. At 6:45 Michael came to wake us up. We were out cold. He went down the hall and came back with a bucket of ice, which he proceeded to dump on me. "What the hell?!" I screamed. My screaming woke John up. Michael told us to get ready for the show and to be down stairs by 7:30. I showered really fast and put on my jeans and t-shirt. I shook my hair and headed downstairs. Not to my surprise, Jimmy was standing in the lobby ready to go. "Hey, man." I said to him. "Hey. Robert should be down soon. I told him to clean up the smashed chair and get ready. He begrudgingly did it but, you know Robert." Jimmy chuckled. Robert came flying out of the elevator looking as if he had seen a ghost. "Holy crap, man!" Robert yelled. "What?" Jimmy and I asked. "John was chasing me around with one of those broken guitar strings. You know, from his guitar. They hurt! I ran into the elevator but I think he took the stairs. He's gonna kill me!" Robert whined, Jimmy and I burst into laughter. "It's not funny! Those strings hurt!" Robert argued. "We care to disagree!" I said laughing even harder as I saw John at the bottom of the stairs. Jimmy and I watched John as he whipped the guitar string as if he were taming a lion. John snuck up behind Robert and belted his rear. Robert yelped and jumped in the air. We all erupted with laughter. We got into the car and headed to the show. We drank a bottle of Jack Daniels before we went on stage. I think Robert drank most of it but, I suppose it doesn't really matter. 8 o'clock came and we went out onto the pitched black stage. The crowd cheered as we began our first song. This crowd wasn't quite as interactive but, they were still fun. We played three encores and John was in a crazy mood that night. He was running all over the stage just being absolutely insane. Who's ever heard of a sane frontman though? At the end of the show we went backstage and we relaxed until the car came to pick us up. There was a crowd of girls outside the hotel. Jimmy walked right past them but, nodded at a few. Robert picked a short blonde, who was a bit chubby. John took a redhead who was a normal height. I picked a tall brunette who wasn't chubby but, wasn't skinny either. We then went up to our rooms to get ourselves and the girls hammered.