Monday 9th September 2002 - Union NJ

Monday started off with us having to rebuild our hotel rooms.
Then we checked out. Fish had an hour or two of severe sphincter-twitching, concerned that our decimation of the hotel rooms would result in our $200 deposit being retained by the hotel. However, in the great scheme of things, I figured that a bit of shaving cream on the bedding, fag-ash on the carpet and a creaky bed did not really fill them with the screaming ab-dabs, considering that the fifth floor looked like Ghostbusters after The Traveller had arrived. For us, we’d been rebels. To the hotel staff, who had given up cleaning the hotel before we even arrived, a quick run over with the Kirby would soon fettle our wicked ways.
So, we waited for Johnny Kray to take us back to New Jersey. The sun was still beating down and it was well into the 90s, despite being only 10AM. We said our farewells to others as they filtered out of the hotel. Greg was packing his van for the 12-hour drive back to Indianapolis. Sarah was introduced to me. She remembered nothing about her visit to my room. She apologised, profusely. I introduced her to Chig and Usher. She apologised some more.
Resistance 77 left for the airport, as did The Business. The Riffs, Drongos for Europe and APA all checked out too. We would see them all again later that day at the Long Island gig.
Johnnie Kray eventually arrived and we headed back to rural New Jersey.
Then we checked out. Fish had an hour or two of severe sphincter-twitching, concerned that our decimation of the hotel rooms would result in our $200 deposit being retained by the hotel. However, in the great scheme of things, I figured that a bit of shaving cream on the bedding, fag-ash on the carpet and a creaky bed did not really fill them with the screaming ab-dabs, considering that the fifth floor looked like Ghostbusters after The Traveller had arrived. For us, we’d been rebels. To the hotel staff, who had given up cleaning the hotel before we even arrived, a quick run over with the Kirby would soon fettle our wicked ways.
So, we waited for Johnny Kray to take us back to New Jersey. The sun was still beating down and it was well into the 90s, despite being only 10AM. We said our farewells to others as they filtered out of the hotel. Greg was packing his van for the 12-hour drive back to Indianapolis. Sarah was introduced to me. She remembered nothing about her visit to my room. She apologised, profusely. I introduced her to Chig and Usher. She apologised some more.
Resistance 77 left for the airport, as did The Business. The Riffs, Drongos for Europe and APA all checked out too. We would see them all again later that day at the Long Island gig.
Johnnie Kray eventually arrived and we headed back to rural New Jersey.

As soon as we got back to Union, we made for the Lunch Box and Cheese Steak heaven. This would be my last chance to sample this particular American Dream delicacy. I enjoyed every single morsel. The others headed off to Suspenders for beer, whilst I phoned home, then went back to the house to hide from the heat for a while, before joining the boys.
It was so hot outside, yet so cool inside, I thought, I’ll just have a little lie down and rest my eyes for five minutes…
Three hours later, I awoke to find all Hell had broken loose. A major screaming match was going on between Adi and her Mum and everybody was being evicted from the house. Apparently, when we had left for HITS, the front door had been left unlocked and therefore, we had to find a hotel that night. Also, the lads had not returned from Suspenders and nobody had known where they had gone. We were an hour and a half late for leaving for Long Island. Somehow, The Skeptix had got the blame for all of this.
To put the record straight:
So, we would have to check into a hotel for the night. That was actually fine with me. We were going to do the New York thing on the Tuesday before we went home, so if we could stay near the airport, great. That would give us more time to see NYC. Adi assured us that getting a room would be no problem after the gig. So, we piled into the van and hit the road to Long Island.
Click here for the next bit
It was so hot outside, yet so cool inside, I thought, I’ll just have a little lie down and rest my eyes for five minutes…
Three hours later, I awoke to find all Hell had broken loose. A major screaming match was going on between Adi and her Mum and everybody was being evicted from the house. Apparently, when we had left for HITS, the front door had been left unlocked and therefore, we had to find a hotel that night. Also, the lads had not returned from Suspenders and nobody had known where they had gone. We were an hour and a half late for leaving for Long Island. Somehow, The Skeptix had got the blame for all of this.
To put the record straight:
- I was in the house.
- Adi could have woken me and asked me where the guys were.
- It was not our responsibility to secure Adi’s Mum’s house
- John was our escort, if he didn’t have a key, that was nothing to do with us.
- No-one told us what time we had to leave.
So, we would have to check into a hotel for the night. That was actually fine with me. We were going to do the New York thing on the Tuesday before we went home, so if we could stay near the airport, great. That would give us more time to see NYC. Adi assured us that getting a room would be no problem after the gig. So, we piled into the van and hit the road to Long Island.
Click here for the next bit