Pig History Part 4: Busted In DC

Duke was particularly keen to be playing in the same hotel where Jimi Hendrix had played when he'd come to DC.  The MLA meeting in 2004 would be our first time playing as The Bearded Pigs and we didn't quite know what to expect.  We still wanted to stay below the radar, but to generate just enough buzz so that we'd have a little bit of an audience.  We arranged with the conference organizers to make use of the meeting room that the International Visitor's Reception would be held in -- it's down a long corridor and away from any sleeping rooms, so we wouldn't have to worry about the noise.

We decided to make just one poster to put up on the message board.  We'd see if that, along with word of mouth, could generate a bit of interest.  We'd try for Sunday night, the one evening when there isn't a major conference event planned.  Maybe a few people would stop by after dinner.

We'd looked into the cost of hosting a cash bar, but we'd've had to guarantee several hundred dollars for bartender and setup.  We weren't sure if anybody was going to show up anyway, so it didn't seem worth the trouble.

But people came, indeed.  And when they saw that there wasn't anything to drink in the room, they just headed down to the hotel bar and brought drinks back.  And then someone asked at the front desk where the nearest liquor store was, and headed out and brought back six packs and started handing them out for a buck or two.  A group of teenage boys were drawn down by the noise and sat right in front of Bruce as he wailed away on his Clapton solos.

It was the night that TomCat came in to complete the band.  He'd mentioned some time earlier that he played a bit of guitar, so I invited him to sit in, thinking that he'd join us for a song or two.  He played all night, and by the end of it, he was in.  (He'd even grown a beard for the occasion!)

Two days later, I was in the exhibit hall when Carla came up and said, "Would you go talk to Paul about your little event the other night?  There's apparently some dispute with the hotel and he'd like to get your side of the story before he figures out how to handle it."  Paul works for the company that we contract with to manage the conference.  I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

It's true that we hadn't really done a very good job of cleaning up after ourselves.  And there were a number of beer bottles and cans scattered around the room.  Possibly a large number.  And maybe an empty whiskey bottle or two.  But I was still rather shocked when Paul told me that the hotel had claimed that we "trashed" the room, and that they were going to charge MLA an additional $8,000 for cleanup.

I gave Paul my version of what had happened.  As always, he was calm and cool and seemed mildly amused at the situation.  It takes a particular type of temperment to do his job.  And that was the last I heard of it (I did find out from Carla much later that the charges had eventually been waived).  Personally, I was mortified.  I felt terrible about causing trouble for the organization, although Carla, Paul & Ray all assured me it was no big deal.  I was determined that if we ever did this again, I'd work more closely with the hotel to be sure there were no more "misunderstandings."

On the other hand, I couldn't help but be secretly pleased that on our maiden voyage, the Bearded Pigs had trashed the Washington Hilton....

UPDATE:  Duke sent me a copy of the poster from that famed Hendrix in DC concert, so I'm including it here.  He says, "At one time back in DC, I had an original which got ripped off from one of my temporary residencies.   I wasabout 10 feet back from the stage the entire concert.    Forever etched in my memory."

Comments

[Bruce the Almighty]

Boy was that evening fun.. A woman passed me in the corridor and asked me if I was Clapton's brother!! I loved every minute..

[Tom Richardson]

Hey, that's pretty cool! I didn't know you are Clapton's brother. :)

[cogman]

I was trying to be of as much assistance as possible to the band--helping regulate the sound in the room, getting drinks for the band, checking on the band's needs, helping with equipment...you get the idea. I recall someone came in with a six-pack of beer and no bottle opener. I asked Duke for a pair of pliers from his drum tool kit in between songs. Viola! We managed to get those brews opened in short order with those pliers. Anything to open a beer will do in a pinch. I got the chance to play congas later in the evening after taking over for Steve McCall (UA-SLIS). Duke saved the day by providing the necessary tool to crack open those beers! Thanks Duke.