Baltimore has many historical buildings, particularly in the inner harbor area, buildings that have been restored to revere their original usage. Many were originally inns and have been transformed into quaint, but very expensive, restaurants. Many are situated along the waterfront of Fells Point, where I was called upon to perform at a Christmas Party for a shipping company. The job was booked through an agency and the pay was $200 for 4 hours.

When I arrived I was immediately told that I could not park anywhere near the building. I told them that I had a lot of equipment to unload for the party that was on the 3rd floor. They said, find, but you'll have to use the side door, go through the kitchen and use the service elevator.

First and foremost, I nearly destroyed the small wheels on the Rock And Roller cart trying to roll over 50 feet of Cobblestone, which is what the adjacent ally was paved with. I managed to drag the R&R up the single step and into the kitchen, which was very small, cluttered, and the floors were so greasy that you almost needed golf shoes to walk on it without slipping.

When I got to the elevator, there was no way the R&R loaded with gear would fit. It measured about 3 X 3 feet, it was filthy, and I had to place sheets of newspaper on the floor of it in order to keep the crud off my gear. It took three trips with the elevator to get everything to the 3rd floor, then loaded it back on the R&R cart and roll it down a long hallway to the banquet room. All this took about 30 minutes, and I was sweating like mad from the exertion.

When I got back to the van, there was a lady cop standing next to it, and pulling out her ticket book. I explained what happened, and she allowed me to go on my way. The Inn's parking lot was two blocks away, was supposed to be fenced in and attended, but there was no attendant in sight. It was a scary walk back to the Inn and I was a bit worried about my safety.

After setting up my gear, I plugged into an ungrounded wall outlet, which required using a 3 to 2 adapter. I think the building used the same wiring when the it was built, which was well over 100 years ago. Fortunately, I didn't get zapped and didn't blow any fuses.

The job went well, and I was expecting about 60 people, but the crowd ended up being well over 100. I thought the shipping company was a trucking company, but I was dead wrong. It was a major container ship company that had more than a dozen huge container ships on both coasts. After the job ended, the owner came up to me, handed me an envelope and said "I've already sent a check to the agent for you, but this is for doing a really great job." He also asked if I would be available for next year's Christmas Party, to which I said "Sorry, December of next year is already booked." Of course that was a lie, but I damned sure was not coming back to this place again.





You can take a full tour of the Admiral Fell Inn Here!

all the best,

Gary

I once booked a job in a night club that had been converted from a really old mansion in Magnolia, Arkansas. The downstairs was a restaurant and the club part upstairs. At the time I was playing a really huge organ. When I got there I found the stair case, and it was almost vertical, with very close sides.
I told them there was no way to get my organ up those stairs. They got four strong guys, lifted the organ and turn it on its end and proceeded up the stairs. They did get it up there without damaging it. The leslie cabinet was next, then the P.A.
I booked the next four weekends so was able to leave it there for a while, but sure enough the time came to load up and go somewhere else. Guess what, the four strong guys were not around--just me and a friend.
That's probably why I have back trouble today because I got underneath the end of the organ, my friend and a waitress were able to tilt the other end and we proceed down the steps. Once I started down, they could do nothing but cheer me on. They couldn't hold on and couldn't get past me to help. "Their" end was sort of sliding from step to step. At least it was carpeted. I'm not sure how it happened but I got it down, then managed to rest the top end on the floor as I squeezed out from under and balanced it on the edge of the top end of the organ. I was able to stand it up on its end and then the others could get downstairs to help lean it over on its feet again. Back then I was young and strong and not afraid to try anything.
They called some time later to book me again, and I respectfully declined!

... where was NORD when you really needed them ??? ...