Ahhh, Fresno.

Our hero pulls into the run-down town of Fresno with all his gear in tow. 'Great place for a gig' he thinks. He's been a little bit jaded as of late, too many crappy gigs for too little pay. But he rolls with the punches and moves on.

Upon finding the place he can't believe his eyes. Its a brown and grey desolate neighborhood. Homeless people walking like zombies through the streets. Some sort of 3-block-large food processing plant across the street. 'At least the club looks decent from the street,' he thinks.

Recognizing another musician's car out front, he knows he found the right place. Parking, and locking every door twice, he steps out. A gust of dirt-carrying wind hits him in the face and he recognizes the smell. It's like a cross between a dairy, a meth-amphetamines laboratory, and dirty socks. Ahhh, the smell of Fresno.

He knocks on the door and looks around him. It appears there is a drug deal going down at the end of the street. The woman, hair nappy and clothes disheveled, walking towards the man on the left side of the street. The man, with loafers and a flannel shirt, is walking from the opposite direction on the right hand side of the street. They both do the old 'look both ways before you cross the street to buy some crack' head turn and meet in the middle of the road. A quick transaction, so subtle it's as if they have been practicing slight of hand with famous magicians. They scatter.

Enthralled in this, he doesn't notice the door opening in front of him. Our hero turns around and instantly gasps a little bit, caught off guard and unsure of how to act or what to do.

The fellow at the door is an older gentleman with a pronounced hunchback and some sort of disease that makes large, round face growths happen all over his head. When he talks, his head shakes a bit and all the skin sacks on his head wiggle around in a hypnotic fashion.

"Welcome to my club!"

Ahhh, Fresno.




Epilogue

The owner was a great guy, I was just caught off guard, you know? He can brew a mean beer too! The gig goes surprisingly well. The place filled up and it turns out we have our first fan club/street team people ever, and they all live in Godforsaken Fresno. Which means Crosby Loggins will be back.

We actually had a great show!