Jan. 1978 Booking Calendar
Now that some time has gone by and several documents have been uncovered that weren’t available when I started this website, I have had a chance to put towns to some of the places on our booking Calendar.
We started the year, January 1, 1978 at the Valhalla Ballroom in Slayton, Minnesota. It was one of our best one night jobs since it was in the middle of many of the towns where we played night clubs. So fans from all over would come see us.
Starting the next day, January 2 through the 7th, we played the Buccaneer Club in Willmar, Minnesota. I think that is where I found my used Hofner in a pawn shop downtown. January 8 we did another one night job at the Playland Ballroom in Kimbel, Minnesota.
In another place on this site I talked about how we didn’t have any roadies, so the responsibility of setting up and tearing down equipment belonged to us. This made the one night jobs tough on us, especially if we had to be somewhere the next night to perform.
Well, after a day off we began a 6 day run at McNasty’s which was in Waite Park, Minnesota just outside of St. Cloud. Then we had 2 days off before playing 4 nights at The County Seat in Carroll, Iowa. That is where the photos with the hanging plant were taken, though I don’t think they were done during this particular visit.
The next day was a day off for the band before going into the studio for a day which I believe meant we were at Westminst’r Sound in Otho, Iowa; another session for “Sailing On Fantasies”.
After that we had 2 more days off before heading to another one of our favorite places to play, the Red Bull in Norfolk, Nebraska. My calendar shows we only played 3 nights before having another day off and then ending the month at the Kongo Club (misspelled on the calendar) which was located in Mitchell, South Dakota.
As you can see we covered a lot of territory by being on the road! I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
Mick Orton
Categories: History
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