 November 13, 2021 Wichita, Kansas The Orpheum Theater www.wichitaorpheum.com Check out the TOUR page for all venue and ticket information for upcoming dates. Sleep again escaped me last night, which naturally led me to be the first one off the bus and into the venue to locate my dressing room. An odd phenomenon has started occurring on this tour which I will share with you. It is becoming easier for me to remember if I have played a venue or not by what the dressing rooms look like. We have played a few theaters where I was not sure we had been to before, even after being inside the theater. It was not until I got into the dressing room area when the memories would come back to me. Odd, isn't it? However, tonight's venue in Wichita, Kansas, was not like that because the Venue's marquee is large and hard to forget, and we have been here several times. But this time, I forgot what the dressing room situation was like until I descended the stairs. Ha! I think it is time to go home. :-) Furthermore, returning to the same dressing room that I have used repeatedly in previous years brings a sense of comfort. Heck, sometimes it feels like home. Fortunately, I did get that feeling today when I found the little room below the stage and next to the laundry room that I have used several times over the past eight years. To quote Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers, "It ain't much, but it's home." They always treat us well here at The Orpheum, and coffee and snacks are always welcoming when we get there. Yes, most of them are unhealthy, but they are snacks provided with kindness all the same. I will not lie to you; I did have a few small chocolate tidbits with my coffee before retiring to my dressing room to set up my office for the day. Being an old theater and given the fact that my dressing room is located directly below the stage, you can hear all the creaks and moans of the tired wooded floor as all of the gear is being unloaded off the trucks. I am also directly near a large heater and generator, so while the place is warm, the walls shake, and it is a wee bit noisy. But nowhere near as bad as the noise in my head, which I live with regularly, so in its own way, it is oddly comforting too. I worked online up until lunch which was provided by the venue. They gave us a wide variety of local restaurants to choose from, and our runner, an adorable young woman, named Baily, was at our service during our stay. She was wonderful, and we were treated very well. I had a delicious soup and salad combination for lunch and the same for dinner. My tummy was happy. Sound-check was uneventful and successful, and after dinner, I walked around town to get some exercise before the show. It was a cold, clear late afternoon, and hardly anyone was out, which was rather soothing. About 45 minutes before showtime, I made my way back to my dressing room and prepared to become Benny. We had a good show which was well received, and everyone was back on the bus after each band member had taken their turn with the one shower stall available to all of us. Since we had an early show, I spent the rest of the evening walking around the block to get my daily 15,000 steps while the road crew loaded all the gear into our trailer. I finished my walk at midnight, succeeding but barely getting all my steps in. If you have been reading all of my blogs, you can guess what came next. Yep, into my sweat pants and Meat Loaf 2003 tour jersey and then into my bunk. Thank you, and good night.                 
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