Milwaukee, WI

Well, it feels good to be back after a couple of weeks off of the road. I think after the last show, everyone needed a little recharging time. Everyone got that-- and maybe even a sun tan.

Today was the Wisconsin state fair in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis. Some of you race fans might be familiar with the “Milwaukee Mile”, but of course there was no racing going on, just rock and roll. We were thankful that it was not a festival situation, but an “evening with Third Day”. Meaning we could relax a little and not worry about 25 different bands using the same stage. Does that sound a little greedy? Well, after a long festival season, the less chaos the better. I’ll even go as far as to say that we deserve it. Anyway, we had a great efficient load-in and line check. The band came in and did a 20 minute soundcheck just to knock off the cobwebs that might have crept in after a 15 day hiatus.

Something notable about this show would be that Jason Hoard, our favorite banjo picker was missing from the stage due to prior commitment. He was missed, but I have to admit the show did not suffer. Everyone got what they came for, and the guys sweated out a full ninety minute set with a couple songs they haven’t played in a while, “Your Love Oh Lord”, and “You Are So Good To Me”. The crowd was large and loud. I think when you hear the concert, you'll agree that Wisconsin brought their singing voices. It is always encouraging to hear the sound of thousands of voices singing together, even for me! Thats my way of saying thanks for joining in.

So while the band was able to move around and enjoy the evening, the crew in the wings were enduring the full force of Wisconsin mosquito attack. I’m sure if you live there you can relate. Its kinda difficult to avoid being dinner for bugs while standing still tuning guitars. We were all a bit relieved to see the band take a bow and head to the hotel after a successful show. We’ve got a good three show run the remainder of the week, so, stay tuned for more adventures from the road--and for goodness sake, follow me on Twitter!

p.s. thanks for the taking these photos, Cam.