Well over a month ago my band, The Mission Veo, won a battle of the bands contest for chance to perform at 103.1 FM’s annual mega rock festival, The BUZZ Bake Sale on Dec. 1.
Sure, being able to share the stage with todays finest in alternative rock was quite the ego boost; however, nothing could prepare us for the ‘exceptional’ rock star treatment we received during the show.
We arrived at the Sound Advice Amphitheater in West Palm Beach a little after 10 a.m. and managed to sneak our makeshift tour bus (a used RV spray painted black that once belonged to Burt Reynolds – I kid you not) in with the rest of the real tour busses behind the second stage.
We sauntered out of our ‘bus’ in smug fashion and headed up to the main gate where we were to meet our Bake Sale liaison. On the way up, I overheard a couple of pre-teen girls chattering about.
“Who’s that!?” questioned one girl.
“I don’t know, but they’re somebody. Let’s go take a picture!” said her anxious friend. When we told them what band we were in they immediately didn’t recognize the name and completely lost interest, however, they took pity on us and we smiled for camera.
The next reality check came in the form of our “V.I.P.” passes. These all-inclusive dream passes allowed complete access to a sandwich tent. No backstage access, no special privileges; just all the ham sandwich’s and Sierra Mist your heart desires. Such is the life of a rock star.
After we received our passes, we were informed that we had to move our vehicle (we call it the Holiday Rambler) to normal civilian parking. When we reluctantly relocated, we finally caught a glimpse of the stage we were going to perform on. Not only was it conveniently adjacent to the Port-O-Potty’s, but it was basically a black piece of plywood raised a foot off the ground.
Despite the less-than-savvy accommodations, the show went off without a hitch and we had a great time. So what if we didn’t drink champagne and eat caviar with the rest of the big names – our small, but loving crowd ruthlessly demanded an encore after our set and we gave it to them…. what’s more rock star than that?
