Duke of Show

Oh, my days. That show at The Duke. Our drummer was out of town, and the bassist and I looked for substitutes separately. I got some offers, but when bass man Shaheen said that he had a friend, I thought that that'd be the most elegant solution. He came over to practice with the two of us on the Thursday night before the show, and all seemed primed for a  smooth performance. On Friday around noon, I get a call from a private number in response to the Craigslist post I'd made for the drummer search. I tell the guy that the position's been filled and think nothing more on it until the following hour when Shaheen tells me that his friend has chagrined him by backing out. I can't call the last guy back because the number's private. I get in touch with the first guy who'd offered in the previous week, and he responds around 5:00. But he's excited, and he says that he can make it to our practice place by 6:45 from his base in Oakville. And he drives, which means that I won't have to pay for multiple 20-minute Uber van trips to transport all our drum stuff. However, I'm still dealing with the fact that my voice inexplicably started to get hoarse at Thursday's practice. It's  not generally a thing that happens to me. When we get to the venue, I can barely speak, and I'm  not supremely confident in my ability to get through the whole set. But whatever! We sit through two bands, which gives my throat some rest. When it's time to set up, we can't find my snare drum stand and assume that we've left it at my place. We borrow one from another band, who also lends a bass amplifier because the venue isn't equipped to allow direct input from the bass, which has historically been the norm. I make it through the set, and it's a good one. Though I announced my voice troubles, I'm told that it wasn't noticeable. We pack up and drop things off at my place, where we realise that the snare drum is still missing. We talk to the organiser and the other bands. We even drive back to the venue. No sign of it.

On Saturday, I can't really speak at all, which I expected before the show even started, and I go out to buy a  new snare stand. But I'm still probably ahead of the game because I didn't have to pay for those long Uber van rides. And  that drummer's a solid dude. Perhaps we'll jam again.

So yeah. Good times. And I mean that.

Bonus Question!

Best duke?