Been a great weekend!
Via Atlanta I flew down to Miami on Saturday to catch a gig by Aghora and Atheist, two bands I dig a lot.
Learned that in Miami 10 minutes actually means 40 minutes. When the cab driver finally showed up at the hotel I asked him to break the traffic rules to get me to the club before 7 pm haha.
Right after having paid him I ran into the Aghora guys who tell me they're not gonna play at 7 pm since Atheist hasn't arrived yet. So I can relax and talk a bit with Giann and Alan from Aghora. Also meet Aghora main man Santiago and his wife Ingrid, after which Santiago runs off again to continue arranging stuff for the gig.
First band I caught played like 4 or 5 songs and inform the audience they've only started a few days ago haha. Next up were The Mandrake who put on a good show, always nice when a band puts on a good first impression.
Aghora and Atheist were fucken superb! Not that I expected otherwise but having been waiting so long to see these bands live I was not disappointed.
Click HERE to see pics of the bands. A review will soon follow on Vampire Magazine.
During all the running around and arranging Santiago kindly offers to drive me back to my hotel after the gig's finished. For those of you wondering how much this saved me: $70.
In total I spent $100 on cabs on Saturday. Apparently I had just missed the shuttle bus at the airport and the hotel told me I'd have to wait another 30 minutes before it would be back at the airport. Considering the tight time schedule I took a cab which costed $30.
Quickly checking in and calling another cab to drive me to the club costed the aforementioned $70.
The gig ended around midnight I think and afterwards I hung out with Santiago, Ingrid and their two sons Isaac and Luca. Their nightly odyssey for food was definitely interesting haha.
Santiago kept saying I'd tell everyone the Dobles family is crazy and that I'd never come back to Miami. Well, the Osbournes have nothing on you guys! :-P
Seriously, I can't thank them enough for the warm welcome and good time they showed me.
In a world where many people like to put on a better version of themselves when meeting new people it's refreshing when meeting people who just keep it real. No matter how "crazy" they might be, I'll always prefer folks who are just being themselves.
After they dropped me off at my fake airport hotel around 3:10 am I set the alarm at 5:15 am to catch the shuttle to the airport. But somehow I manage to sleep through the alarm haha.
That's something which never happened before so I guess I must be getting old or something.
Anyway, I wake up by the phone ringing and in my sleeping mood I pick up and immediately slam down the receiver. Then I look at the clock and it tells me it's 5:52 am!!
Then the phone rings again and this time I manage to actually speak haha. The shuttle bus driver realizes I overslept and says he'll put me on the list for the 8 am shuttle bus. But I protest since my flight leaves at 8 am. For some reason he doesn't get it, maybe my lips are not completely doing what I think I'm saying. But after a second repetition stating I NEED to catch this shuttle to catch my flight I finally convince him and get dressed and throw everything into my backpack. Obviously I give the driver a generous tip cause if he hadn't called me twice I'd have missed the shuttle and my flights.
Once I get to the terminal at the airport it turns out the flight to Atlanta is delayed but that's fine since I would have a 2.5 hours stop over anyway. The flight to Pittsburgh was also delayed but only very slighty so we land right on time (2 pm).
When I turned my phone back on I read a txt message from Andy informing me they're playing soccer at 5 pm. i had expected them to play earlier than our usual time (3 pm).
Since I had already planned to go to a social event for Queens Day (Dutch holiday) I went there for a short time and left to play some soccer. I managed to score one goal but wasn't able to give 100%. Plus I need to start running again cause I'm frequently out of breath on the pitch. That needs to change.
Anyway, after soccer I shower again and eat something while watching a DVD. But around 10 pm I crumble completely and go to bed.
To recap, I'm really glad I flew out to Miami since not only did I see a killer show but I also got to meet some very cool people.
