The Ergs! will always have a special place in my heart. Sadly, for me, most of their recent shows are on the east coast. As such, I've been able to watch the videos of them and participate at a distance, but not attend. This all changed when Joe let me know that The Ergs! Were making a west coast run and gave me the dates. Obviously, I was there.

Joe and I coordinated in January in advance of the March run. Things were very hectic at work for me so I plotted everything out. I'd head out after work on a Wednesday and come back on a Sunday. We'd all be able to hang together in San Diego and L.A. and I'd then get a little time in L.A. for myself. I would have loved to do the last couple of shows, but it was not going to be possible. I made all of my arrangements and counted down the days to the trip.

It finally arrived and I left as close to on time as possible after work. Work has been a log, so I did what it took to have everything loaded and be road ready as soon as possible. I jumped on the road and hit the highways. I had seen on the weather forecast that it was raining in San Diego. I had not thought much of it.

The ride out was crazy. It would go from sunshine to pouring to crazy winds to pouring again. At one point, I was driving up a mountain in a heavy fog, wind pushing the car across the freeway, with almost no visibility. It was not a smooth drive, but I made it and got to San Diego. I checked into the hotel, unpacked, had a cocktail, and just unwound a bit. I got to bed around midnight and got some sleep.

The next day was a big day and I was excited. I got moving as Joe told me that they landed at noon. I called him shortly afterward and explained that we should get lunch. He said that I didn't need to drive that far. At that point, I realized that he had sent the itinerary and I had blown past that they were flying into L.A. I did some shopping, checked into the hotel, caught up and relaxed, and enjoyed the day.

Now that we were in the same town, I headed down to the venue to meet them. They were playing at The Casbah and I'd never been there before. I got in, hugged everyone, and caught up. We got to grab some food, and that was a bad decision for me. We walked back and hung before the show.

The show was amazing. It felt so good to see them play again. I'd made a joke earlier with them that carried through the night. Many songs were dedicated to me. The crowd loved it and so did I. They wrapped and called it a night.

I’d gotten extra rooms at my hotel. We piled in the car and headed back. We all got settled in the room and had a few drinks. Mike, Jeff, and I moved over to their room so Joe could grab some rest. We sat up till 3 am telling stories, defining my role in Ergs history, and talking shit. It was great.

There was a big day ahead of us. I headed back to my room at 3, tried to get some sleep, and was thankful for a great day.