MICKY & THE MOTORCARS

So here I am sitting at my desk in Austin on January 12th.

I got home Sunday from the Steamboat Music Fest with Kris and
Shane. Micky decided to stay for a few more days and Mark of course
flew back to Idaho for a little R&R.

The music fest is by far one of the best gigs we do. It can be action packed or totally relaxing, depending on what you like to do.

Here is how I spent my 5 days;
Day one; we got to the Hayden airport, only to discover a mile long line of party goers waiting to figure out their shuttle rides. I spotted Ryno, our tour manager, in the back of the line so I knew he would take care of us. So I retreated to the airport bar where I found Micky and Charlie Robison having a beer. So I walked over and asked everyone to make some room for another weary traveller and ordered a double Patron for Charlie and myself. MB was already taken care of.

After a few drinks we were on a bus headed for the grand hotel.
When we arrived at the Grand we saw the familiar group of rummy musicians and crew members who had already started the party without us.

Not wanting to be left behind we grabbed some drinks at the bar in the lobby and then took our stuff up to our rooms.
That's about all I remember about day one. (Damn Tequila)

Day two; with a cloudy head I woke up to Micky saying hey Gar get
Up! We need to go down to Willy's room and write a set list for the
Rock Farmers show which code was for Cody making a bucket of Bloody Mary's.

After a little hair of the dog we Rockfarmers gathered up our gear and went to the Grand Ball Room to get ready for the show, it went according to plan and we were able to bumble through a 45 min set without too many major mistakes or train wrecks.

After that the MMC gang sound checked and got ready for our set, which was to follow the Dustin Welch band.

Our show went as it normally does when we are around our pals (lots of guest appearances)which makes for a good time.

Day three; I woke up and saw 10 inches of fresh powder outside my window which meant it was time to rent that snowboard and get up on the mountain. We got our boards, skis, and passes and climbed in the Gondola. I had not seen my mom or Brother Cody on the mountain in years because Cody had a bum knee for about 7 years prior to his surgery last year and mom had already learned her lesson the hard way about skiing with her sons. However, now that we are older and nicer (hung over) we had a nice day on the mountain with out getting yelled at by the ski patrol or our mom.
After skiing we had a hot meal, a hot tub and then headed to Bear
River to back up our Dad at his jam, and by back him up I mean play
four songs and then pass your guitar to the first person you see that can play the old standards, in this case Rich Brotherton was the man for the job.

The Muzz show took about 3 hours so. By the time we were done we were forced out of the bar and off to somebody's room for the late night festivities.

Day four is a little blurry, but I'll do my best here. I believe this was the day of the tribute to Kevin Welch. The Tribute show is always the most emotional show; in fact I recommended bringing a hankie for this one. The motorcars played one song acoustic and tipped our hats to Kevin. Then we sat back and watched the tears roll until everyone had said something nice or funny or both. After the acoustic set, Reckless Kelly backed up Kevin for a much needed Rock N Roll set.

The end of days; day 5;

I woke up with enough time to grab a mimosa and head down to the outdoor stage for our last and strangest show at steamboat. This show only takes place once a year at steamboat because of the weather.
This year it was MMC and Jack Ingram doing a show together. MMC has done this show in the past and knows what to expect-lots of snow, water, and cold guitar fingers. Since this is the only show open to the general public and it's free there is always a large enthusiastic crowd which makes it worth every second.

Now that our last show was in the bag it was party till you puke time.
I don't know what the rest of the band did between the out side stage and the last Ragweed jam but when we were all on stage at the end of the night it was clear we had completed another successful week in The Boat.

GB

Note: (it's Mark) Hopefully everyone at Steamboat had a good time. I most certainly did, and I know our whole band did. Well, I had a hell of a time, that is, until I hit the airport in Hayden on Saturday and started feeling like Ralph Steadman after spending a few days hanging out with Hunter Thompson at the Kentucky Derby! Stewardess!?!?!?!?!?!?!