Here's a classic "gig from hell " true story. Not sure of the location (maybe some small city in Ohio) but we were on our first production tour with The Judds, 1986. We left the hotel with the tour bus and a semi full of gear to load in at a "regional" fair. Generally those are of even less quality than a county fair but we were expecting to have a nice day on the infield of a horse track. Good weather and a nice pot of coffee on the way over. As we pulled into the infield we didn't see a stage, a top or portable dressing rooms. Hmmm. Wayne "Skinny" Smith was the PM and I was LD. We came around the track in the bus and in front of the grand stand there were a few guys hanging around a platform made of pallets. Maybe 20' x 20' and just laid in the dirt. Nailed to the four corners were 4" x 4"s with some 2" x 4"s joining them together about 8' high. Surely this couldn't be the stage? The guys were trying to pull some crusty burlap over the top as Skinny and I bailed out of the bus with our walkie talkies. We introduced ourselves to the promoter standing there and he confirmed that this was his vision of the stage for the show. I asked about power for sound and lights and he pointed to an electrician rolling out a single run of romex (like inside your home's walls). About that time Skinny stepped aside and called our truck diver on the radio who was coming around the track. He told me to just jump in the tractor as it went rolling by and he began to backtrack to the bus while telling the promoter that the stage and top were unsafe, we'd call them later from the hotel to see if they could come up with another plan. I'll never forget the look on their faces as the semi rolled by without even stopping and Skinny jumped on the bus as it followed. In the eleven years I worked for The Judds/Wynonna that was the only gig we couldn't load in to!
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