1/13/09 - KARE 11 Studios - Golden Valley, Minn.

January 13, 2009
KARE 11 Studios
Golden Valley, Minn.

Soundcheck / Teasers:
| M'Lady | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) [partial] | Last Night [partial] | M'Lady [partial] |

Set:
| M'Lady |

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We woke up bright and early this morning Well, early for most of us. Nick apparently can't sleep past six, which is odd behavior for a rock star. We were scheduled to arrive at KARE 11 studios at 8:00 a.m., but the roads had other ideas. The wind chill was -33F, all the moisture in the roads had turned to black ice and cars had gone off the road every hundred yards or so. Not to mention it was morning rush hour. So traffic was crazy. I (tony) arrived at about five after eight thinking I was late, but it turned out I was the first one there due to the roads/traffic. It wasn't a problem though, it all worked out.

We drove into a little loading dock to unload the gear and we moved it into the actual KARE 11 studio. It was a huge room that contained all the sets you ever see on local KARE 11 programming. The news desk was there, the "Showcase" coffee table set, the kitchen set, and right outside the window was the KARE 11 Backyard, where weather segments are shot.

We set up and had a good visit with the sound guy, who just happens to have gigged regularly in the Jamestown and Aberdeen areas in the Eighties. We swapped show stories and musician jokes.

We did a typical sound check, exactly like those we do at gigs. "Can I get the kick drum, please? ... Okay, snare... Thank you, first tom..." etc. We played through "M'Lady" in its entirety to set levels and such. Then after about ten minutes, the editor came in and had us shoot three segment teasers to show throughout the program. We only played about thirty seconds of each song, and that was good. He then told us we had about an hour and a half until we were needed again.

It was about this time that we learned to our dismay that Jenny McCarthy was not actually appearing in studio, but rather via satellite from New York. Sadness ensued, but we got over it. We were cheered up by the fact that in the green room, there was, on the bulletin board, an autographed photo of Jared from Subway. Yes, people. This is how far we've come.

Anyway, the time for our segment came. I just barely made it, due to a poorly timed restroom visit, but I was there in time. The commercial break came on and we hustled over to the band area and got ready to rock! Rob Hudson conducted an interview with Anthony which was really good, and then we went for it. It was really awesome knowing that all across the state of Minnesota and into Wisconsin, people were watching us. There were probably tens of thousands of people, if not more, that heard us today. It was by far the biggest audience we've had and it was definitely one of the coolest things we've done so far.

This is just the start, however. It is by no means the pinnacle.