4/22/13: Sarasota, FL

Well, we traded one beach for another - but now we're on my side of the state.  Its nice to be back Gulf-side, if only for a little bit.

We start a string of one nighters on our way up the FL coast and our first stop is here in Sarasota.  Which is about 40 minutes from my hometown of Tampa.  So naturally, when I heard that we were gonna be this close to home, I made sure that everyone I knew in Tampa knew we had a show lol.  I had planned to use the comp tickets that the company provided us to have my family come see the show (My Mom, Dad and sister - and my cousin who happened to be down visiting) and then use the rest of them (we are allotted 12 for this section of the tour) for my friends Tammy and Maria and their 'dates' for the evening and some other friends who could make it.  I submitted my requests about a month ago and our company manager in turn submitted them to the venue and everything seemed fine... About an hour away from reaching Sarasota, our company manager got word that the Van Weazel decided not to approve the complimentary ticket requests.  I freaked out - people were already driving to the area to have dinner and whatnot before the show and they no longer had tickets.  It was a disaster - and it really pissed me off that they decided to wait until then to spring that on us.  Well I frantically started texting people to let them know that they didn't have tickets after all - and our manager figured out a way to have 4 comps set aside for my family at least... Which was a major relief since they could not have afforded the tickets otherwise.  Tammy and Maria ended up having to purchase them at the door - but at least they got to come.  Fiasco - the whole ordeal pretty much soured the excitement that had built up about having everyone come out and see me too - that coupled with the fact that the venue had one of the worst acoustics I've ever heard.  It was near impossible to hear the music and I'm sure I was incredibly off key for most of the show (though my family says I wasn't but they have to say that).  Very disappointing. 

Despite that - the audience we had was actually the best audience we've ever had for the show (and we're almost to 100 performances now).  They got every joke and innuendo and really seemed to be having a fantastic time -which made me feel a little better as the show went on.  And of course it was wonderful to see everyone after the show.

I had originally planned to go home with my family to Tampa and spend the night in my own bed and do some laundry and hang out with everyone, thinking that since the drive from Sarasota to Tallahassee was only 3 1/2 to 4 hours, that we'd probably leave around 10 or so - but since the fates were determined to ruin the day - we were actually scheduled to leave at 6 something in the morning the next day - which would have made it impossible to go back home.  So, I shelled out some $$ so at least my sister and cousin could stay at the same hotel we were at for the evening so we could at least talk for a while - which was nice.  So the day didn't go as horribly as it could have - but it definitely could have been better...on the up side, I have 8 comps still to use between now and June...