BlakeStory

Global tribe?Last H Global Tribe: Last Hour's Biggest Mistakeast yet).
It was the middle of fall, and we were desperate for a show. At that moment when we were most vulnerable we received a message from a place called Global Tribe. We had never heard of this place, but like I said we were on our last leg, and were in complete and utter desperation for a show, so when they asked us if we wanted to play there we jumped on the opportunity. Little did we know what we were getting into.
I think to completely explain the mass chaos we experienced on and off stage we have to go back to the beginning. The whole ordeal started the Friday before the show (the show was on a Sunday). Our youth group was having a retreat in North Carolina, and that is a good three hours away from Atlanta. We spent the whole weekend becoming sleep deprived, and down right exhausted, so by the time Sunday rolled around we were already in for it. We got up Sunday morning, and drove all the way back to Atlanta. We got back a little late, in fact we were a lot late, it was three and we had to get to the venue by five (for reasons still unknown). We booked it back to Graham's place where we keep our equipment, and we grabbed the gear in lightning speed, and rushed all the way to my house, where we picked up the directions, and my bass, after that it was another twenty minutes to global tribe. We got there right at 4:59 because we got game.
When we arrived we were told to go around back where we were shown what stage we were on. Global Tribe is a church that is transformed into a venue on Sunday nights. It is comprised of three stages. The first stage is in the main auditorium. It was a huge stage with a million speakers on it, and some good guys running the sound. It was a nice looking stage. The second room was this really phat room in the church. The stage was made out of all these huge block's of wood that were all different sizes, and the audience could stand on two sides of the stage which gave it a really cool effect, and to top it all off it sounded freakin awesome. Now the third stage was a little different from the other two. It was a little storage room in the back that was about ten feet wide, and twenty feet long. The walls were made of concrete, and the only speakers were these two tiny monitors that were hooked up to a very ugly soundboard. Since we were one of the only bands out of junior high, and we could play more than just power chords, and we had been together for more than a week, and didn't wear scary face paint, and swear like sailors, they put us in room number three along with another real band.
By 5:30 we were set up, and ready to roll so we met the other band we were playing with, and we talked for a while, and they were really cool, funny guys. We were making lemons into lemon-aid. We received word of a "hospitality room" and that was tight. You see hospitality rooms are a rare privilege, and finding one on the one night we didn't eat before the show is an amazing thing. We spent about ten minutes finding this thing, and it was worth it. They had huge bottles of water, and those gigantic sub sandwiches that are so good, and to top it all off there was a note on the door that said bands only. At the moment I saw that sign I felt like I was a rockstar, no I was a rockstar, and that sign said I was because only rockstars get to eat for free, and only rockstars have the little passes that we show to the sixth graders who let us in make sure nobody got in with out our approval, right?
When we finished taking complete advantage of our "privilege" we noticed that something was missing. That something was a goofy kid that we like to think of as Graham Scobey. At first it was no big deal because the only reason we let him in the band in the first place is because we like the food his mom make's. Then I realized that he was my ride home, so I guess I didn't have a choice. I began searching frantically, and I found him doing something that I didn't even know he did. He was fighting with his girlfriend, and it was a bad one. The reason I tell you this is because it is just another contributing factor to that painful night. I am happy to report that they made up, and they never fight, ever, but at that point they hated each other.
While Graham and his special someone were fighting, I noticed something else that was not right. Jonathan (at that point he was our drummer) was not with us. I grabbed Andrew, and we searched the venue, but after about ten minutes we knew that he was not there. At this point it is about 6:55, and the show was about to start. We had about thirty minutes before we had to hit the stage, and we decide that we might be able to call his cell phone, and find him.
It was a lucky guess. I guess this night was just full of luck because Jonathan was not very far away. What had happened is his girlfriend had gotten lost, and he got a very bright idea to go looking for her. He had gone to the end of the parking lot when as fate would have it he hit another car. Not just any car either. The car had a guy who had a warrant for his arrest driving it. Jonathan hit a criminal, and he was stuck at the wreck.
The first band went on stage at about 7:10. I really liked the first band, and nobody was showing up to see them. I went around to the other stages, and got people to go, and see them, and while I went around I told people that we were playing after the first band. I gave that up really fast though because on top of all the stuff that was going on there were not very good girls who frequented this church. They were actually pretty bad. If you are a girl and you are reading this, please do not throw yourself at a guy just because he is in a band. There is nothing worst than a girl who is pretty and probably smart making a fool out of herself just because there is a guy who is in her presence that happens to be in the spotlight.
I went back to the room where the first band was playing, and listened to another song, and they said they had two songs left, so I decided that since these guys rocked, and they were on the crappy stage, the other bands must be amazing. Boy was I ever wrong. I went into the room with "the main stage," and I heard some junior high kids doing covers of nickel back, and I went into the second room and I saw some guys dressed up in jump suits with paint all over there face screaming at the top of there lunges. I wept.
I got back to our stage, and the first band was playing their last song, but Jonathan was not back yet. We told them to play a few more songs, and they played two more, and were about to start a third when Jonathan, our trusty drummer boy, showed up, and was not in a good mood, but at least his girlfriend was here (she found the place without his help). We set up our equipment as fast as we could, and had just enough time to do 2 songs because the venue said that the show had to end by 8:30, and at eight the last band goes on stage, and they wanted everyone to see them, even though they were just another junior high band playing cover's.
I don't think there is a word to describe how bad we played. We were an embarrassment to everybody who has ever clapped for one of our songs. Our parents were on the verge of disowning us, and our girlfriends, or at least the ones who were fortunate enough at the time to have one (everyone but me) were on the verge of dumping us after that show. Words cannot describe how bad we sounded. After the second song we were thrown off the stage where I told everyone that we don't usually sound that bad, and I told them about our next show, The North Springs HS battle of the bands, but that is a different story all together.