Biketoberfest 2011 Florida USA

Biketoberfest in Central Florida is truly a special time of year!  People hop on their bikes of all shapes, sizes, colors and designs, and set out to invade the number one spot in the USA for Biketoberfest, Main Street, Daytona, USA!  Biketoberfest was started by a Florida native by the name of Janet Kersey in 1992.  She was then head of a tourism commission who's task was to create an event that would attract tourism to the area in the off season...something similar to Bike Week, which is a springtime event.  I would have to say she was successful, noting that the event has grown every year and now hosts thousands upon thousands of local and not so local bikers and partiers from across the nation, as well as overseas!  Some people even come from Europe and other places, renting bikes here, and even shipping their own bikes across the water to enjoy the festivities.

What is my connection?  Well, let's see.  I'm not a biker, so that's not it.  I'll give you a hint.  While everyone else is enjoying the party from the outside looking in, I'm enjoying the party from the inside looking out.  No, I'm not a food vendor, but close!  I happen to be a local musician who has the fun job of entertaining the party crowd from the stage.  My wife, Kelly, and I visited Main Street on Thursday to see some friends of mine in Bad Mannerz, (where Kelly won $100 in a "booty shakin' contest") and then stopped by the Iron Gate Saloon to see the incredible trio "Unchained Chaos".  Then Friday night I played a show close by in Melbourne, FL with the award-winning band "Simone and The Supercats". The next day (Saturday) I was drumming for "Don't Scare The Dog", a classic rock and blues band that I've been with for about 6 years, now.  This band has been in existence for over 17 years, and still has it's founding member on bass and lead vocals, Lonnie G.  Lonnie's nephew, Luke, recently hit 21 years old, and was honored to have the DSTD torch passed to him as he took over guitar duties last year, which rounds out the now 3pc line-up.

This year we played at The Cabbage Patch in Samsula/New Smyrna FL, which is a world-famous biker bar known for it's Cole-Slaw Wrestling, Bike Week, and Biketoberfest events.  This location is second ONLY to Main Street, Daytona, USA for Biketoberfest, so we felt honored from the start.  We got the opportunity from another show we played a coupe months back at an EagleRider Orlando "Bike Night" gig.  That event was first of it's kind, so the crowd was fairly small, and the people that did show up were hanging out by the store across the parking lot about 100 feet away from the band.  (I'm not sure why, but I think it was because of the 95 degree sunset)  We did, however, have one fan all night that seemed to have watched us play every single song, and we played like we were playing to 500,000 people.  That one guy turned out to be a popular local radio personality by the name of Iron Dave Adams.  He came up to us after the show, and explained how he was amazed that even though nobody (but him) seemed to be paying attention to us, we still played like there was a half-million people in the audience, and then stated how he'd like the band to open for his festival-style band for larger shows.

Well, needless to say, Iron Dave kept true to his word, and yesterday we got to open the show for his AWESOME band, Diablo Canyon.  DC has graced the stage with many of the greats, such as The Outlaws and Molly Hatchet, just to name a couple.  They are more southern rock-oriented, and I guess he felt we'd be a good match with our classic rock and blues show, with both our bands sharing common ground in the blues genre.

As we pulled into the parking area, we immediately noticed there were thousands upon thousands of bikers and people listening to another very popular local biker band by the name of "Big Engine".  (These guys ROCK!)  We also noticed they were playing almost every song on our set list, which would prove to be no problem later on.  I think we all took on that look of "wow, this is gonna be BAD-ASS, and proceeded to set up the stage.  We then learned we'd go live without a sound check just as Big Engine ended their last song.  No big deal, you just gotta trust the sound man on these gigs.

Next thing you know, we are blasting out our brand of driving rock n roll to one of the largest crowds we've ever had the chance to play in front of!  (talk about FUN!)  Everything went as planned, barring a few missed beats and notes here and there, no real "train-wrecks", as we call them.  People were screaming and dancing, and really enjoying Don't Scare The Dog as a 3pc band (we had lost our keyboardist who was also our main vocalist just about a month prior to this show, so Lonnie and I [Dave] had to fill in the gaps, with Luke stepping it up on guitar, as well with his new guitar rig).  We pounded out 45 minutes, took a short break, then pounded out another 45 minutes, and even went over 10 minutes due to a surprising "impromptu" drum solo by yours truly.  I guess I got a little carried away!

As if I weren't having enough fun, I was visited by some friends from High School that I hadn't seen since then, as well as a special guest appearance by Nashville recording artist Scott Carter, one of the best voices in country music!  I was able to capture a large portion of the show in HD with my little Sony HandyCam, and have begun to post the tunes at YouTube/DontScareTheDog and Facebook.com/LauberLand.  We rocked until we dropped, and then the incredible "Diablo Canyon" hit the stage and just wailed!!!   If you have never been to a Biketoberfest event in Florida, you just ain't-a livin'!  This is the most fun you can have without (hopefully) going to the slammer! GREAT TIMES!