There are times when you find yourself in a good place, and you are not sure what is going to happen from there, but at the moment, all is good. The people are good, the mood is good, the conversation is good. I'm working for a band that is so incredibly wonderful, as people, that I am blown away. Which is sad actually. I'm shocked at their warmth, because I've never felt it from a band before...and that's rather sad if you think about it. They laugh, they hang out on your bus to shoot the shit, they ask you how YOU are doing. It's rather odd actually, and I continuously find myself being surprised. But its more than that, as there are many considerate musicians, its the playfulness and family feeling between crew and band. It's the blurring of the lines between the band and the crew in its traditional etiquette. Maybe its because this group of men have been playing together for decades, and have had the same crew for nearly as long. Seasoned is a word that comes to mind. Is that what it takes? To have played the same songs so many times, to have toured so many years, to have seen so many randoms enter and exit different green rooms never to be named and never to be seen again. Perhaps it takes a certian humility, an acknowledgement that you've gone this long, you should be thankful for the gifts your given, the fans you have and the nights you get to play to packed houses. Its like....these guys are living in reality. Its the sense of reality that is often the missing ingredient in the rock star swagger; the air of "I don't care". The confidence in their stare as they come with money signs in tow. Is it their head that wells or is it manahgement who does it to them? or the media? or the fans? We all want to blame someone for the break up of the Beatles, the end of Cream, the fall of Britney, but only beacause they were once so exhaulted that we need answers. It must be a cocktail of various forces at play. However if the artist...can remain an artist....and weather the storm of outside influences..perhaps....they will survive. And to survive, as I have witness over the last few days, looks like a lot of laughter, warm embraces, smiling fans, generations of family backstage, long talks on cool buses in humid climates, and beautiful sunsets during your set to a crowd who cheers for your songs. Doesn't seem all that bad