At the end of last month’s column, Five For Fighting’s John Ondrasik and I had been saved from a stranding in Minneapolis by a quick thinking, fast-talking travel agent who somehow resurrected our accidentally-canceled reservations from the digital trash can at Delta Airlines. A routine, uneventful flight home to LAX on the following day was exactly what we needed after the stresses caused by the previous day’s travel panic.
The upcoming week held just one fly date, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Having never visited the Grand Tetons, I was definitely looking forward to the trip and the opportunity to experience the natural beauty of these Wyoming mountains. The driver who transported us from the airport to the hotel was very knowledgeable about the local wildlife and pointed out the areas where deer, elk and moose in great numbers were often encountered. Unfortunately, it was completely dark and we had to take his word for it.
I only wish he had been more informed about the eating habits of humans because, due our late evening arrival, all of the hotel restaurants were closed and room service had long since ended. We had passed through the town of Jackson on the way and stopping for some food would probably have been the best choice. When we checked in, the hotel staff at the front desk advised us that all of the nearby resort restaurants would also be closed on a Thursday night. The only consolation was that the bar was free to the group for which John was performing. A couple of gratis glasses of pinot noir took the edge off my hunger and I headed off to bed.
Although it was slightly disappointing that we arrived in the national park area well after dark, I knew the next day’s gig would be outdoors in a tent at the base of the ski mountain — totally perfect! It was a beautiful August summer day, and I was looking forward to having plenty of time to soak up the local ambiance. I began the day at the breakfast buffet and tried very hard to eat enough to make up for having missed dinner the night before. A latte (non-fat, of course) from the local coffee shop completed the morning’s preparation, and I headed over to the gig.
Welcome to the 1990s
Local sound engineer Corey Wheeler had nearly everything ready to go when I arrived. The tent held only 250 people and the PA was correspondingly small. The console was a 24-channel Midas Venice, there was a Summit DCL-200 dual-channel compressor patched to the two vocal mics John uses and a pair of Yamaha SPX990s for vocal and instrument reverbs. Welcome to the 1990s! The only piece of gear with which I was not familiar was the Ashly Protea DSP processor used as a graphic equalizer, but that only took minutes to figure out. Corey and I quickly slammed through the piano and guitar monitor setups, with me on stage talking, singing and playing while he made the necessary changes on the Venice console.
The small size of the venue allowed us to keep the piano lid open and enabled using a pair of Earthworks SR30 microphones arrayed to create a natural stereo image. I brought a pair of Shure KSM9s with me for use on John’s vocals. We set the piano vocal mic in the cardioid position to lessen leakage from the piano, and the guitar vocal mic was switched into the supercardioid position to best reject sound from the pair of floor wedges.
A luncheon meeting in the performance venue interrupted the day, but the break gave me a chance to go for a walk and take photos. This area is incredibly beautiful, and it was a perfect day for a scenic stroll. We went back to work; the sound check with John went quickly and everything was set for the after dinner show. I then set up John’s dressing room with a rehearsal keyboard and the spare acoustic guitar. After the dinner break, John performed a well-received set that went very smoothly on the production side. It was fun using an analog desk again, regardless of its small size and limited functionality.
The Not-So-Friendly Skies
The big surprise of the day occurred after the show, when I went back to my hotel room. Upon getting online and checking my mail, I noticed there was an email from United Airlines that indicated that changes had been made to our flight reservation home to LAX the following morning. I had already checked John and me in for the flight and printed boarding passes, so I was curious as to what could possibly have been changed. When I opened the email, I was shocked, amused and then angry when I read that United had canceled the flight with no explanation. The email went on to say that our reservation had also been changed from August 18 to August 22. The arrogance of airlines knows no boundaries.
I called United and spoke with a reservations agent who knew nothing about the reason for the cancellation and had no helpful suggestions about getting back home. He also gave me no information about who was going to pay for the additional four nights in the hotel, food and extra clothing if I accepted United’s alternative flight plan. I asked to speak with his supervisor and his response was to put me on permanent hold. I called back and spoke to another person who was obviously not speaking to me from the United States. She was slightly more helpful and suggested a routing that would take me 12 hours to get back to L.A. with stops in Salt Lake City and San Francisco. However she could not guarantee seat availability. Once again, I asked to speak with a supervisor and, once again, I was put on permanent hold.
It was now well after midnight and I was getting more annoyed as every second passed. I called Mileage Plus reservations and threw myself on the mercy of the person who answered the phone. To my surprise she was incredibly concerned and incredibly helpful. She told me that the plane never arrived at Jackson airport and that resulted in the cancellation. She found me the best route home, which turned out to be Jackson-Houston-L.A. It was going to be an 8-½ hour flight with the layover, but, at that point, I was just happy to have a confirmed reservation and two assigned seats.
Homeward Bound
In every bad situation, one must search for the silver lining. The first good result was created by the action of a compassionate gate agent who put me in exit row aisle seats for both flights. It was still going to be a long day, but at least my 6’ 4” body would be comfortable. The second happy outcome was that the extra 1,500 miles I had to fly to get home put me over 25,000 United miles for the year, so that I qualified for United’s elite Premier status.
It was now 2 a.m. and my van to the airport was scheduled for a 5:45 a.m. pickup. Oh well, sleep is overrated. It turned out I was the only passenger in the van, and the driver and I had a great conversation as the sun came up. He told me he was a retired policeman and had lived in Jackson for the past 20 years. He told me how much enjoyed his driving gig because he had the opportunity to meet so many nice people. When he asked what business had brought me to Jackson, I told him about the event at which John had performed. The driver then informed me that he had driven the principal speaker at the event, a well-known conservative Senator, to his private jet the evening before.
As I departed the van at curbside, I handed the driver a $10 bill and said, “Let me buy you breakfast, my friend.” I was his only passenger and I wanted to let him know that I appreciated the service and the conversation. He smiled and told me I was a far better man than the Senator he had taken to the fancy private plane the evening before. The Senator had unceremoniously stiffed him. I am glad we working people still know how to take care of our own.
Once again, the universe has reminded me that it’s not the work that is so hard on your body and soul. It’s the travel.
Safe travels to all of my road brothers and sisters.
