Hello friends, Big Engine had an amazing Sturgis Rally this year despite overall rally attendance being down. We started a day early this time and pulled off 11 shows in 10 days! During that time we saw old friends, long time fans and other familiar faces from the Midwest, West Coast and Canada. One of those familiar faces came up and said that he witnessed the now infamous giant Jack Daniels Bottle Tip Jar incident at the 2004 rally. His said his friends did not believe him but we were there to confirm it!
We made a lot of new friends and fans as well. I met one girl who would drive 80 miles to Sturgis everyday after work to see us play and then drive 80 miles back every night! She made it to 6 shows in a row and managed to bring a few friends along! I also met a guy who bought our CD that used to live in Orange Park, FL just minutes away from my house...Small world!
During this trip, we made time to party with friends, see some cool shows and be tourists too. What cool shows you ask?...Tony, Benny, Ryan and I, along with our good friend Rambo; got free V.I.P. passes to see KISS at Rock N' The Rally! Kiss certainly had a good V.I.P. package for the fans but it did not include getting to meet the band. Am I disappointed one bit? Nope. It was awesome from beginning to end! To this day; KISS has never disappointed me. I still believe they put on the best rock show period. This was such a big event that South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds flew in to Sturgis to come out and declare that August 4th, 2008 was "KISS Rock N' Roll Day" in South Dakota.
I was invited by our friend Rambo to hang with him and a couple girls at the 3 Doors Down with guest Finger Eleven concert at The Buffalo Chip. That was a very good show too. The coolest part was that Rambo had been hooked up with All Access Passes for the show! We got to meet and talk with members of Finger Eleven and then Rambo introduced us to NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne and Top Fuel driver Brandon Bernstein. After the show he introduced us to a few of the guys from 3 Doors Down and they were pretty nice guys. Thanks again Rambo; I had a blast!
Our buddy Ditch and his crew from 101.5 KGB The Classic Rock Experience was back at the Full Throttle Saloon covering the Rally. One night Ditch had a little liquid courage and got on stage to sing a KISS tune with us. Good Times! The next day, Ryan and I each got to do a radio spot introducing a song during Ditch's broadcast. ~ Thanks again Ditch, Matt and crew! ~ Afterwards, Ryan, Tony and I hit an Oxygen Bar at the Full Throttle and it was really invigorating. The massage that came with it helped to ease some muscle tension as well! ~ Thanks Kathy and Mike! ~
One day, Ryan and I made a trip to see Mt. Rushmore which is an awesome site that I highly recommend that you check out if you have never seen it. The band and I have made a trip to see this inspiring monument every time that we have been to Sturgis. I will never forget seeing the lighting ceremony that takes place every night during our first trip back in 2004. Seeing the monument light up as "God Bless the USA" played during the finale made me feel proud to be an American. Of course Ryan had never been to Sturgis and Mt. Rushmore so all of this was a new experience for him. I think he dug it.
The first day of our drive home, we made a little detour to show Ryan the Badlands. This place really has to be seen to be truly appreciated. It's just so different from the rest of the South Dakota landscape. Imagine traveling through hundreds of miles of beautiful rolling hills, passing lush green fields next to bright amber ones with recently bailed hay. They are occasionally separated by small watering holes surrounded by Horses and Antelope. Then, a cloud casts a shadow on a field. Its beautiful and picturesque much like a post card.
When we arrived at the park that day there were Prairie Dogs at play outside the park entrance. - I'll bet you girls are saying aww, how cute!.. They were… We proceed into the park where you can kind of see the Badlands in the distance; outcropped from the earth without warning. Once you are there, you find yourself surrounded by a mostly arid, unfriendly looking place where softer rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively erroded by wind and water. There are canyons, narrow ravines, v-shaped gullies and sharply erroded buttes. There are pinnacles and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. Not to mention fossil beds. I think Tony best described much of it as looking like the surface of Mars! ~ Thanks Wikipedia and Joan Steiner, Badlands National Park for help with the geological portions of that description. ~
Despite the arid, unfriendliness; South Dakota's Badlands are strangely beautiful and awe-inspiring! Other than the occasional passing car or motorcycle it's quiet and serene there. There are layers of different colors on the pinnacles which are everywhere. Oddly though, there is an area where the rock is all white. It's all really spactacular…but weird.
We have taken a few days off to recover and get our daily lives back on track. We will get back to rocking you next week. We look forward to kicking that off by playing for our hometown friends Monday evening and Thursday night. Those shows are directly followed by a show in Valdosta and one in Tybee Island! Check the schedule and come Party like a Rock Star with us again!
Thanks for your friendship and support,
Hans
I used to work security in So Cal. Met Gene Simmons a couple times and he was very cool. I moved to DeLand a year ago and caught you guys at the DeLand bike rally. I have seen many bands from my security days but your show was one of the best I have seen. I will try to make some of your Daytona area shows but I hope you're coming to DeLand again. I definetly won't miss it. And, hey, what about the Jack Daniels incident? Sounds like a good story.
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