DAY NINE- FRIDAY, MAY 07 - FT. LAUDERDALE

The MCBC'S cell phone went off at 5:30 am, which may seem unremarkable but seeing that he went to sleep at 2am, it' a mystery, to some, why he even answered it at all.

But he knew, it was the SURFER DUDES! The kids from last night they met in the dirt floor dressing room! Local Floridians, Ryan Sullivan and Jake Clark were on their way to pick up the MCBC, Ricky, Crash and any other one of the Aquabats that had the gumption to arise after three hours of sleep to go surf in the ocean as the sun came up.

The Bat COMMANDER called Crash, Ricky and Russian Inmate Evan to arise and join him for a surf party... but alas .. only Crash had the raw power to arise from his sleepy tomb. Ricky and Evan had thrown in the towel ...before they even got wet... too bad dudes..

Ryan and Jake picked up the MCBC and CRASH MCLARSON in Jake's grandmom's Cadillac ...SWEET RIDE HOMEY! And they rolled in style down to the beach.

Our two new surfer dude buddies lived right by the Pier on Jacksonville beach .. and they even had extra boards for the two groggy super chums.

The conditions were clean, it was sunny and warm, slightly off shore winds and our crew pretty much had the beach all to them selves.. Here is the MCBC going right on a little ripple while Jake checks it all out. Look at the commander go! WOOOOOOT!

Crash, The MCBC and the DUDES had a great time catching little waves, talking junk to the fisherman on the pier and enjoying a beautiful morning in nature on tour. Such an event is a really rare occurrence on the road.... enjoying a morning on tour.. is virtually impossible. But, somehow the dudes got lucky and were able to feel the blessing of being alive before noon.

The MCBC and Crash got back to the hotel around 9am and said their goodbyes to the surf dudes. I guess the 'dudes' Ryan and Jake were coming out to the shows tonight in FT. LAUDERDALE and were bringing mad peeps... so that would be fun too.. ! Hoo Hoot!

The band all climbed into the van around 9:30 am and the road was met with a little less resistance... at least from the MCBC and Crash, who were super pumped about surfing... In fact, it was a little annoying to the rest of us who were still grumpy from waking up too early.

We got into the parking lot of the little strip mall in Ft. Lauderdale, where the club was located around 3pm. The CULTURE CLUB is the name of the venue tonight and also the name of a very funky 80's pop band...FYI. This is actually one of our favorite clubs to play in Florida, because it is legit. the sound is great, the light show is great, the dressing room is decent. It's like the owner of the club actually cares about it .. and the bands that help to bring it revenue.... WEIRD! The club owner is actually a really cool guy and the backstage dressing room is filled with pictures on him and other bands that have performed there in the past. Everyone from KING DIAMOND to THE KILLERS, PANTERA to THE CRAMPS. GEORGE CLINTON to THE BUZZCOCKS. It has been quite a history for the CULTURE CLUB. We also like this club because there are AWESOME places to eat around it and the hotel....right next door has hundreds of wild iguanas running around sunning themselves on the rocks and curbs out in front. The MCBC actually caught one on a previous trip. CHECK IT!


At any rate, load in was a breeze, soundcheck was heavenly.. because it actually sounded good.. and dinner was amazing! We ate at a little Italian market at the end of the strip mall parking lot. It was super yum yum. We went back to the hotel to relax a little and chase a few iguanas up the wall.

Tonight's crowd was BANANAS! There was 1000 (ok maybe 600) screaming, dancing crazy fans! We all thought tonight was the best show so far... the sound was great, we played fast & furious and everyone had fun.. No fights! Hooray! the Surf dudes even showed up for SHAKAS! We all had a great time!! It was really great!

Dont know how else to describe it... Guess you had to be there... !!!

We packed it up and headed off to the hotel! What a day!