Metallica, Muffin Tops & Mother’s Day Buffets

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH

[00:00:07] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 108 volume 8 of a very lonely big fan. Hank, I get to the studio today and there's no producer in the producer's booth. None. Nothing. Very lonely. Very lonely. Crickets. But he's here now and we're ready to bring you the show.

[00:00:36] Thank you. Big fan. My name is Chad Easton. I'm a big fan of Mother's Day Buffet Lunches, insurance companies that change their tunes and kids, specifically my daughter, coming home from college. Hey, my name is Hank Imer and I'm a big fan of watching a meteorologist swing and miss when it comes to a company outdoor event, planning trips with your buddies to their kids' future schools, and educating your teenage son that his summer

[00:01:06] alarm will be closer to breakfast than lunch. Would your son sleep all morning long if you would let him? You know, during some breaks he gets pretty deep in it. Yeah. You know, it was, you know, when you're growing and everything got nothing to do. Let's, Hey, let's get those long ones. But we ain't going to do three months of it. Sure. And not throwing off Olivia. She just got back from college. So she's been home a week. I came home yesterday from work. From work. At 1 30 in the afternoon to let Coa out for his

[00:01:36] afternoon pee and Olivia was still asleep. It was 1 30 PM. Good for her. Yeah. So anyway, she said the same thing. She was like, dad, I'm not going to make a habit of this, but I just got back on Friday. Give me a couple of days to reacclimate myself. Right. So that seems fair. Yeah. Seems fair. Yes. She just came back from the moon. She's got to do that. Yes. The thing that I always think of, do you remember Forrest Gump when Jenna came back after her adventures and came back to live with Forrest? And he said, all she did

[00:02:06] with sleep for about three months long. Do you remember that? I mean, so I can imagine. I got to tell you every time they went back to Jenny, she's putting her body through some hell. She had a time. This old Jenny. So three months might not have been enough time. It might need to be six months. No, that's a, that's resetting the clock. I can see why she slept all day. And actually I'll tell you about my Metallica adventure last Wednesday. I needed about three months after this adventure, my friend. However, we'll get to that in a minute. Okay. So what else we got going on there? Hey, so

[00:02:36] weather forecasters, right? Meteorologists. It's pouring rain right now. Yes. So were they calling for rain? Tell me what you meant by your little intro there. So we had, uh, every year we go out to the crawdad stadium. Of course. You know, you know, Caldwell Baker is the old shebang. You know it. The sky suite. So, uh, we had our, our event last night where we went out there to watch crawdad game. Awesome. And so Sunday, it looked like it was going to dump Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, every day. Yep. Right.

[00:03:06] So I was starting to get a little bit nervous. And then Monday evening, it looked like it was just 15% chance. Cleared up. Cleared up. We got to play tennis yesterday. Never thought we were going to do that. Me either. Then we get to about an hour before the crawdad game. Oh, meteorologist is like, Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. There's going to be some rain right now. Right. So it starts raining for like 15 minutes. Right. And then it cleared. They're like, it's going to be an hour. And then it's going to start back at eight. It was 15 minutes. It cleared up there. We were able to watch the game. It was fun. No kidding.

[00:03:35] It's so funny to watch. And I like, I've given them a hard time. Meteorologist dude, you cannot like take it too serious. Can't take it serious. Cause it changes on them. I'm not saying that it's not their fault, but still come on. They're not even batting like a hundred though. You know what? Or 50. Not even, not even. Absolutely. Yeah. A hundred percent. So tell me about the game. I haven't been, this is a shame. Crawl ads used to be, I mean, I would look forward to going out there. Grab my dollars Tuesday night. I think it was a hot dollar. Hot dog.

[00:04:05] And like, is it really? Still is. Wow. Inflation has not, has not affected the crawdads. And then maybe even a buck beer or $2 beer, something. What a deal. It's not that. It's not that. So beer prices have increased, but is it still that same, that good feeling you get in there? It's just like fun. Kids. It's a safe atmosphere. So there's kids running everywhere. You know, parents are trying to watch the game. You got little six year olds running down doing the games in between innings and chasing Conrad.

[00:04:32] And, you know, it's, it is a really cool experience. And, you know, for the weather could have been scary. They had a lot of people there. And so it's really something that we don't want to lose in our community because, you know, they could sell it to somebody else or whatever, but we don't want it to leave our community. But I mean, the facility's awesome. I feel like, you know, the, the people that are running it, Douglas, we love you, buddy.

[00:04:53] I think they do a really good job of making it fun for everybody, for the, for the serious baseball fan, for the, you know, the person that just wants to go out there and have some fun with their family. So yeah, man, it's great. I love it. And the new, the city walk and air aviation walk, all these walks combined, you can actually walk there from any part of Hickory now. Yeah. You know, so we actually did that the other day. We parked, started the river walk, ended up across the bridgeway, ended up at the Carledhead Stadium. Pretty fun. That is pretty cool.

[00:05:22] So I'm putting you on the spot here. Number one, Carledhead experience. But the reason I say this is so when I moved back to Hickory from, from college, the Carledheads were raging these Thursday night, thirsty Thursdays. They would even bring concerts, artists to come in. Even saw a wrestling match in the middle of Carledhead Stadium. So what is your like most favorite memory? Because they've been around since 92, I think it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Favorite Carledhead memory.

[00:05:50] So I have two. Okay. I have two. One was the first year that they were here. This was a baseball favorite. The first year they were there, they were affiliates of the White Sox. So the White Sox were coming up from spring training, the major league team to Chicago. They stopped in Hickory and played. Whoa. And that's Frank Thomas. Yes. And all those guys. Yeah. Well, Albert Bell. Remember Albert Bell? Of course.

[00:06:15] He hit a ball that I could be, this could be dog sledding in a little bit, but it seemed like the third baseman dove and it hit the fence. Like he was like that, that hard of a line drive. Right. Like it was an absolute missile. Yeah. And to watch the big leaguers in Hickory. How fun. Sign autographs and everything. That was a great one. The second one was, is we were for years and years and years, we do it for the 4th of July. We would go and get in a suite and we'd watch fireworks and everything.

[00:06:43] And we signed up, you know, it's a packed house, standing room only. Yes. And my wife and I competed against LT and Lila Thompson in the hamburger race. Okay. Do you remember this? So, so I was a bun. Reagan was a bun. Yes. Okay. So I have to run down and lay down on the ground and Reagan brings a foam patty, then a foam tomato. I remember this race. Then a foam thing of lettuce, then foam pickles. And then she has to run and get on top of me to complete the burger.

[00:07:13] Well, this is in front of like, you know, thousands of people. Packed house, crawl that stadium. You know, you know, you're a ton of people there. Sure. And so we see, they go in your market, say go. And our friend LT hip checks me off the starting line. It gets, gets me to stumble. Right. Right. Did you go down? I kind of like went to my knee. Right. And so like, I mean, hit visibly hit checks me. Yeah. But it was very funny at the time. Of course. And so we lay down and the girls are kind of like 50, 50, like it is a race.

[00:07:43] Tight. Right. It is tight. Well, both of them throw the last pickle on. Right. And they have to go back and touch the line and come back. And so they go and touch the line. And I swear both Reagan and Lila are very competitive. Sure. Right. Yeah. They both took off from about 10 feet and dove. Drove? Right. And I was like, oh my God, bracing myself. But it was so much fun. It is a memory that Reagan and I have forever. But it was great.

[00:08:12] Well, who won? They said it was a tie. Oh, wow. I say if I wouldn't get hip checked. You were going to bring him the gold. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. I think LT would say he won. Of course he would. Yes. So my favorite memory is, and I've already mentioned it. They had, it wasn't WWF. It wasn't NWA. It wasn't ECW. It was just like basically wrote his, what would it be? RHW wrote his wrestling. Nice. Came to the crawdads.

[00:08:39] And I mean, they publicized it for weeks, advertised it, posters everywhere. Well, me and Will, Roland, my roommate at the time, this is when we were early 20s. Living by the lake. Living on the lake. Yes. By the lake. And it was a thirsty Thursday night where everything was a dollar. And you can imagine. I mean, beer was a dollar. Hot dogs, everything was a dollar. Right. And so people would come out of the woodworks from all over the communities, not just Hickory, but everywhere for Thirsty Thursday and RHW wrote his wrestling.

[00:09:09] So after the game, and people have been knocking them down all day, right, or all game. They set up the wrestling ring towards the third baseline where like literally, you know, there's the dugout right there. Like, and if you have a seat right there, the ring is, I mean, I could jump off the dugout into the ring. And so one of the RHW wrestlers, we're front row. I mean, couldn't be any closer. Did like this, literally the suplex off the top rope. Bang.

[00:09:38] And it, we're on the front row and like shook our beers. It was so loud. And I almost got wheels. He was so hammered, convinced to get into the ring. Get into the ring. Jump off the dugout and like land on the dude. And he was so close to doing, I couldn't pull it off. But anyway, what a phenomenal night. Yeah, I bet it was. The thing after the Thursday Thursdays back in the day, we're talking about 2000, no, 1998 to 2001. Let's say that's when we would go a lot.

[00:10:05] After Thursday Thursday, that would end around 10, everybody would go to Tavern. That's when it used to not be called the Tavern though. Oh, what was it called? Where was it? Northern Exposed. Northern Exposed. Yeah. And then Sundries. Sure. And so people would go to one bar and then end up at the other Thursday night till 2 a.m. That we would lock it down. Crazy. Just like your normal Thursday now. No, I've matured now. You just don't go to those same places. Exactly.

[00:10:34] But anyway, it started at the Crawdad Stadium. Oh, that's good stuff. Good stuff. Thank you, Crawdads, for making Hickory Life a fun place to be. That's for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Hank, you know, I was driving over here. I was running a little bit behind because of the storm. And I turned on the radio and this song came on and it just brought back complete nightmares because I will rank it as the worst song of all time. Okay? All right. And so it kind of goes like this.

[00:11:05] Where would you know? Cotton Eye Joe. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Cotton Eye Joe. So it kind of like took me down this memory lane of I have a buddy that I've known my whole life basically. Okay. Who was the guy that always would love the worst songs on the radio. Like if Cotton Eye Joe came out, bang. Gotta have it. Run up to the disc jockey at the mall. Pick up the CD. And there'd be one song on the whole CD that was ever on the radio, but he had to have it.

[00:11:34] So I started thinking besides the Cotton Eye Joe, that was his number one. What was his number? Second number favorite song? It was a song called Don't Don't Baby. You're my butterfly sugar baby. Remember that one by a little band called Crazy Town? Terrible. Yeah. So he would run out to the disc jockey to buy that CD for that one song. Butterfly Sugar Baby. Cotton Eye Joe. This is just what this guy really loved. The worst songs of all time. So those are two of my worst songs of all time.

[00:12:03] Hank, can you give me your worst song of all time? Well, I think there's a couple. Okay. Okay. I think My Humps by Black Eye Bees. It's actually specifically, what's that girl's name? Fergie. Fergie. Yes. My Humps. I think that's terrible. It's like milkshakes. You know, like my milkshakes. My milkshake brings up the vines. Yep. And then this is going to rattle some cages, but Rockstar by Nickelback.

[00:12:31] I just cannot do it, dude. Like anytime I hear somebody jamming that song, I'm like, who is this guy? You know what's really sad? It's because I'm by myself and in my car and that song comes on. I'm turning it up to 10 and I'm singing every word of that, Hank. That's terrible. You know the other one that really is like terrible is Who Let the Dogs Out? And you hear it all the time. That's so terrible. Yes. Kids love that song though. You know, like you get a little kid's birthday party, five, six years old. You put that song on, those kids will erupt.

[00:13:01] How about the thong song? Cisco. Love that song. Love that song. It always reminds me of the summer that all my buddies and myself got married. Cisco came out with that song. I want to say it was like the year 1999 or 2000. And every wedding party, that song would come on. And every bridesmaid would get out there and shake a tail feather. You know what I'm saying? They would shake a tail feather. The other one that's awful is Barbie Girl.

[00:13:30] You know, I'm a Barbie Girl. Yeah, it's pretty terrible. I think my buddy might have bought that CD too. That's terrible. I think it was a possibility. But anyway, and when that Cotton Eye Joe song comes on, I mean, it just, I don't know. It gives me the heebie-jeebies. I got you. No, I get it. I get it. So anyway, Hank, some interesting things happened last week to me.

[00:13:53] I told you I was awarded the opportunity to go see Metallica play in Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech, last Wednesday. So we went. Let's talk about that. Yeah, let's do it. Let's talk about that. Because Virginia Tech, there's a lot of stadiums that are known for different things. And it's like the Grove at Ole Miss, different things. Right. They are known for their entrance. And they are known for Metallica being part of that. Enter Sandman.

[00:14:22] Enter Sandman being specifically. Yes. And so when recruits go there, they hear that. I remember a kid from Hickory going there and saying, how could I not go here? Right. Because of that entrance. Exactly. So I mean, I think that Metallica and Virginia Tech are bonded in a way that not very many bands are. Yep. They'll say they say top three entrance songs of any sporting event anywhere. Metallica and Virginia Tech. That's the entrance song. You know what I mean? Everybody knows it.

[00:14:52] Just like you said, top three. So when I was invited to go, I'm not a Metallica fan, but the experience to listen to that band in that place can't pass it up. So here's the deal. We make the plans. My buddy gets the hotel room. My other buddy's got the tickets. Got somebody driving. We talked about that. I ain't driving. We know you ain't driving. So I said, what can I bring? And they were like, bring the usual, which means some beverages and cornhole boards, blah, blah, blah.

[00:15:21] So anyway, we load up this wonderful, it's kind of a sprinter van, but he's turned into an RV. Have you seen Brett's RV van? Oh, yeah. I mean, this thing is dope. I mean, so bad. Got a kitchen in the back, king size bed in the way, way back. So cool. So he comes to pick me up at one. Then we go pick up Phil and then we head on our way. Just a lovely journey. You know, we're talking about experiences in our life because they're two college athletes, you know, world, I mean, really good college athletes.

[00:15:50] And you know, I was like, man, I scored 27 at the center. Yeah. So I do a lot of listening, not much talking, just listen to their adventures and their stories. I mean, they're amazing athletes. So we get to the spot. Brett, who is just a wonderful driver, positions this because the parking spaces are small, positions the RV into the perfect spot where we had, it's got an awning on the side so you can put the awning down. He brings up, we bring out the cornhole boards, bring in our chairs.

[00:16:17] He brings out a wok and a thing, a firing utensil to fire up the wok. And I was like, what is this for? He said, you'll see. So we go to playing cornhole, having like a normal tailgate for a football game. And there are people all around us, 80,000 strong doing the same thing. It felt like we were getting ready to go to a real game. People dressed in their Virginia Tech gear, metallic gear, all that good stuff. Guess what I was wearing?

[00:16:41] Sorry, you were wearing a white t-shirt, a black hat turned sideways, and you had your Bruno Mars jacket, but it was too warm to wear it. Fair enough. So instead of white, because it was metallic, it was a black t-shirt, hat crooked, blue jeans, cowboy boots. Yes. So you now accept the color of the shirt. It was black. So anyway, a lot of people looking exactly like me because they did put out this APB like to a bunch of people that had tickets.

[00:17:09] They said, make sure you know where you're located. And your parking spot is because if you get lost and say, and we ask you where are your friends, where are they located? And if you say, they've got black shirt on, a pair of jeans, that is 98% of the attendance for the show, right? Oh, that's good stuff. Yeah. So anyway, we do our thing. And so about an hour before we go in there, the bands that opened, Hank, were Suicidal Tendencies, if you remember them from way back in the day.

[00:17:36] They came on at six and then a band called Pantera came on at seven and then Metallica comes on at 830. So we missed the first opening bands and we do our stuff. And then about seven o'clock, I guess it was, no, probably a little bit earlier. Yeah. Seven o'clock. Brett brings out the wok, fires it up, starts making chicken fried rice and other great little Japanese dishes.

[00:18:01] And all of a sudden, our tailgate, which is the primetime spot, is surrounded by other people. Like, what are they doing? They are professionals, right? Oh, yeah. And so Brett starts handing out chicken fried rice plates to everybody we're eating as like a big community. Okay. Yeah. So it's wonderful. Wonderful. So get that all cleaned up, clean up the cornhole boards, head into the stadium. Perfect seats. I'm talking about perfect 50-yard line, just bang, right in the middle.

[00:18:29] A little, not like eye level, but higher up, you know? Yeah. Just awesome. And everybody in there is just ready for the concert to start. Everybody's excited. I'm sitting beside, I'm on the end, inside. I think the rest of our group is outside to the aisle. And so I'm beside a guy who's at least had 18 Budweiser, at least, you know? Like him already. Yeah, but he's a great dude. And he keeps nudging me like, it's going to be great. And he just keeps nudging me like, yeah, man, it's going to be cool. It's going to be cool. Boom, boom. A couple of nudges. And then all of a sudden, the lights kind of go down.

[00:18:58] It was still a little daylight. But then it's like fireworks, pyrotechnics everywhere, you know? And the show starts. Do they start with Inner Sandman? This is the sad thing. I can't remember exactly this. I think they did because I know they played it twice. I know they played it at the end, too. And I believe they opened with it. I will have to ask Brett and Phil. I should know that. That kind of day, huh? That kind of day. I should remember this. But anyway, I just know it was very exciting.

[00:19:25] So anyway, after the, I mean, everybody's rocking out three or four songs in. Well, the guy, I guess I've been rocking out so much and he's rocking out so much. He puts his wife in between me because I think we keep like banging into each other, you know? And so he needs to take a chill from me for a little bit. So he goes down one seat and we're really jammed in there, you know? Very tight. You see what I'm doing? Like we're jammed in there. Like sardines. Listen to the audience. You're moving your elbows. Yes, because you can't move. It's just tight in there.

[00:19:53] And so I said, Brett, man, let's get out of here for a second. Let's go get some fresh air. So there was like not an intermission, but a little chance you could get out. So we start walking. We go down the stairs to grab a beer. And then as we're walking, there are security guards everywhere and they're guarding all the stairs to go down, right? And so as we're going, Brett notices, I'm following him, that one of the security guards back is turned to us. So he said, let's go. And so we take a left, start heading down the stairs and I'll just follow them.

[00:20:23] I mean, I'm not stopping. We go to a next little spot where you can go further. Phil's with you too. Phil and they stayed up. And so it's just me and Brett to get the fresh air. We were going to get beers, come back, blah, blah. So here's the rest of the story. So we keep going. So then as we go, we're going down more stairs. Security guards are like, hey, hey, where are you going? And Brett was like, we got tickets. We got tickets. And we just keep going. We don't stop. Hey, hey, stop. We keep going. Next thing you know, we are on the field, brother. We are on the field. Yeah.

[00:20:51] And so I was just like in shock, like how did we get down here? And we each have a beer. We had a beer for Phil and our friend, but we're not going back up now. We're here. We got two beers. Yeah, we got two beers. So we're sitting there. No seats. You're standing. It's standing room only. The stage is about 10 feet high off the ground, maybe even higher. And we're probably eight rows back of people where I'm as close that I could take the beer and throw it up to the guitar player and he would catch it. I mean, because everybody's jammed up on the stage.

[00:21:21] So we're just sitting back like, cannot believe we're this close. So we ended the show on the floor. We get done and we're just amazed. Brett took these great videos, how close we were. And I started worrying like, all right, if I lose Brett, I have no idea where our seats are and I don't know we're feeling them or how are we going to find these guys? Because I did not take a mental picture of where the van was in the whole stadium. If I got separated, I'm probably going to die.

[00:21:51] I'm going to end up laying on a curb, you know, just sleeping in the grass. But anyway, Brett's a tall fella. So I was like, go ahead and I'm just going to watch you. And, you know, you get us there. He was like, I know where we're going. I know how to get back. I'm like, okay, go. So we're going, going, going. I'm watching him and weaving in and out. And finally, we kind of get to this break. And I was like, how are we going to find feeling them? And then all of a sudden you hear, Chad, Brett, there they are right there. I mean, could it be any more perfect? If I were Brett and I were walking away from you and I knew you were behind me, I would duck down.

[00:22:22] Give you some panic and then like do it for like 45 seconds and then stand up again and look back at you. Oh, that's so funny. See you out of there sweating. Oh, God. That would have been my worst nightmare. But we ended up getting back the tailgate at this time. Everybody again that we met before, like that were around the tailgate, they're kind of back over there. Looking for more fried rice. Exactly. We got the best spot in town. And so they basically said the traffic is so bad getting out. I think the concert ended at 11. They were like, it's going to be backed up traffic for at least an hour and a half to two hours.

[00:22:51] Y'all just relax. Well, one thing we are good at is relaxing. So we bring the chairs back out. I think Brett makes some more food. He's got bottles of wine. We've got booze. We've got tons of beer. And all these young people are like kind of surrounding our tailgate. And we just play the music. Before I know it, Hank, and this is no lie. We look around. Metallica's there. That would be some stuff. But there's no car left in the parking lot.

[00:23:19] We are the last people in the entire Lane Stadium parking lot. And it's 2.30 in the morning. And we're like, what do we do now? Did you sleep in there? Did you sleep in the Sprinter? So this is the deal. So Brett quit drinking because he knew he was in the RV. He had quit drinking basically while we were in the show. And he was like, I can get us back to the hotel. And I was like, are you sure, man? He's like, yeah, I got this. And so the hotel was 4.8 miles. I remember that.

[00:23:47] And so we pull out, get into the highway. Bang, bang, bang. A couple exits down the road. Pull into the parking lot. It's 3 o'clock in the morning. Go in. They had this really cool setup in the lobby. There's a pool table. There's like foosball tables, all kinds of stuff. I said, hey, y'all want to shoot a game of pool? We go to the pool table. Oh, my gosh. The lady behind the front desk was like, yo, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. And we were just like, one game. She said, no music. And I said, I promise. Speaker in my pocket.

[00:24:16] I bring it out, put it on the lowest volume, and we start playing. Next thing I know, she's out there. She's talking with us. Now we've met a new friend. So finished the game of pool, which was the worst game of pool any of us have ever played. I don't think we made one ball. You shouldn't have played it. Absolutely not. And so Brett goes back to the RV to sleep. Phil and I go to the room. His buddy from Greensboro drove back to Greensboro. Yeah, he was okay. It's fine to drive as well. And so turned the lights off.

[00:24:43] It's probably 3.30, 3.45, and we called it a night. What time did we get up that next morning? Next morning, we got about 8.45. Got in the van. 9, 9.15. Boom. Headed home. It's quite the adventure. You're a machine, bud. Oh, man. It was awesome. It sounds like it was an all-time great concert. It was top fiver. Again, Metallica's not my favorite band, but the atmosphere, the environment, the people I was with. Sometimes that's the most important. The peripheral stuff's the most important. Absolutely.

[00:25:11] And once you're in there and you hear Metallica perform, I mean, there's a reason they're a top five band. Yeah. And they've been doing it forever. Over 30 years. Yeah, forever. Anyway, it was quite the experience. And I'm so glad I was a part of it. Thank you, Phil Payne, for making it happen. Hey, that's pretty good. You know, it was funny when you were telling that story. I talked to my niece. She was here not too long ago. All right. Not she wasn't here. We went to Elon and we visited with her. And we were talking about she's big in music, big in the concert. She likes kind of everything.

[00:25:38] And she was talking about that she wanted to go to Chicago for a concert, Lollapalooza. Oh, yeah. It's in Chicago. It's like, you know, a one time thing. And I was like looking at it and I was like, all right, who are the performers? It's a three-day thing. And it's like Tyler, the creator, Luke Combs, Korn, ASAP Rocky, just, you know, and then a bunch of other people. But those are kind of like the big guys. And it took me back to when Lollapalooza was started.

[00:26:08] I remember. Right. By Jane's Addiction, the guy, Farrell. Perry Farrell. Perry Farrell. Yeah. And I remember back and I was looking back at the first year, which was 91. Oh, wow. Okay. And they did a really good job of like mixing rap, kind of like alternative music, kind of like hard rock and everything else. So the first year, the first year, I'll just, I'm going to say three or four or five. Okay.

[00:26:36] First year, Jane's Addiction, Living Color. Nine Inch Nails and Ice Tea. Oh, wow. I mean, could you imagine that? You know, that came to Raleigh. An eclectic lineup. That came to, you know, Raleigh or whatever. Did it really? Second year would probably be the best. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Ice Cube. That's the year I remember. That had to be 92, right? It was 92. That's the year I graduated. And I remember on MTV, they were just publicizing the heck out of that show and what a lineup that is. Oh, gosh. Crazy.

[00:27:05] Third year was Primus, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, and Dinosaur Jr. And then the 1994 was a good one. Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, George Clinton, Tribe Called Quest. Whoa. Come on. Flaming Lips. Yes. But it reminded me, like when she said that, that was like that and Horde Fest. Horde Fest. I know you remember Horde Fest. Of course. Because it was Raleigh. Yes. And I think I was there a couple of times, but it was always like- Blues Traveler would play. Blues Travelers were over there. Yep. Dave Matthews came. Dave Matthews played.

[00:27:35] And so, you know what I mean? Those were always good festivals. But now, I mean, they're so commercial. They're not as like, you know- It was more organic. It was. Now it's corporate. Now it's corporate. You know? Right. Yeah. Yeah, because they were talking about there's one in Alabama or Louisiana this weekend, and it's called like Sand in Your Boots. It's three days, and the tickets are like three grand. Cool. You know, like who- Like what young individual is able to go to that? Yeah, that was the thing.

[00:28:03] Because of those concerts, you could get a ticket for the entire weekend, let's say, for a hundred bucks. You know what I'm saying? You could- For the whole weekend, you'd go to the show. And see a ton of bands. Yes, yes. And see a ton of bands. And so, I mean, it just made me think about that when you're sitting there. Talking about like, you know, these concerts, they're almost making them like you can't access them without spending $500 a ticket, which is a shame. Absolutely. I know we've talked about this before. What was your first concert?

[00:28:32] I saw, well, my first real concert was in Charlotte. I saw like LL and Keith Sweat and those guys. But the first like real time that I'd seen live music was Boys to Men my junior year. They played at the Gastonia Mall. The Mall, I guess. And it was free. You just happened to be there at the mall? On the radio station, because back in the day, you just had radio stations. No XM series. It was just your local radio stations. There was 95.7, which was a little rock and roll. Do you remember I lived here? I know.

[00:29:02] You're talking to me like I didn't understand what happened before 2000. I'm sorry. But I don't know if you remember the radio stations because I have them implanted in my brain. 97.9 was the R&B kind of like the hip hop and R&B station. And that's what I listened to. And they promoted Boys to Men who had just come out with Motown Philly. Remember Motown? Motown. Of course. Of course. Playing live at the Gastonia Mall. So my friend John Wade and I got up at 10 o'clock in the morning.

[00:29:31] You remember Eve Kacassi? Sure. Sure. Picked her up. And then another one of our friends, I can't remember who it was, and we traveled to Gastonia to see Boys to Men at the mall. Just like in the food court? Basically in the food court. Yes. And there were people just everywhere and lined up like at the top of the mall. You're seeing a floor. Everybody looking down. I mean, crazy. That is crazy. Absolutely crazy. But anyway. I saw New Kids in the Block yesterday. Yesterday. That was like the first like, because they got big. Oh, huge.

[00:29:59] So, you know, but my brother dragged, my oldest brother dragged me to the Yes concert one time, which I don't even know what Yes sings. So I can't even remember. And then I think the first real concert I went to was Bobby Brown. Yeah. I was at that one. Ralph Tresman. Ralph Tresman, all them. Yeah. That was a great show. Yeah. Yeah. And so Rob Ace was opened up. That's right. That was a really good show. Yeah.

[00:30:24] So you just don't have the availability to do that, like to the general public anymore because those tickets are so much money, especially the big dogs like Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake. They're going to be 700 bucks a ticket. 800 bucks. Yes. The Taylor Swift. Oh, yeah. Get out of here. I wonder if there was a local option or something. That's true. That's true. If you could listen to live music in your own hometown, that'd be amazing, which we do have. We have that. It's called The Home. Yes. Yeah. Brilliant idea. I think there's a concert this week.

[00:30:55] Coming to The Hum, Hickory's only outdoor music venue. This Saturday, Catawba Valley Engineering and Testing presents The Chain Fleetwood Mac Tribute featuring Danny Carr from America's Got Talent. Carson Webb, a 2025 American Idol contestant, will be in support. This Saturday is Hickory FC Night at The Hum. Meet your favorite players and coaches at our concert. Adult tickets are available now online or will be available at the door. Kids 12 and under are free. Food and drink from our friends at Kraft Taco, Pelican Snowballs, Liquid Roots, Shadowline, and Pepsi will all be available.

[00:31:25] We can't wait to see you on Saturday. Actually, I know there's a concert this week, Hank, and it's, I think the band is called The Chain, if I'm not mistaken. A Fleetwood Mac cover band who I've seen before and they are wonderful. Okay. And Saturday, the weather forecast already peaked. You know, I know we don't trust these meteorologists, but I peaked and it looks to be lovely. A lovely night in Hickory for some live music at The Hum. Nice. Yes, sir. Nice. Yes, sir. Well, that's awesome.

[00:31:55] Well, you know, it just made me think of that when you were talking about live music because, you know, music is a big part of your life. It's part of my life. And, you know, it's just interesting to see when we're talking about Lollapalooza. It immediately sparked a memory for me with like Horde Fest and everything. How old is your niece? She is 20. All right. So she would go with a group of friends to the show. And is it just a one night thing or is it a weekend thing? I think it's a weekend thing because they had a ton of performers. Yeah. So. Oh, good. I hope she has a blast.

[00:32:25] Yeah. I'm sure she will. Yeah. Well, a couple more things before we get out of here, Hank. So Mother's Day was this past weekend. You know, I mentioned in my big fan intro that I'm a big fan of Mother's Day buffets. I've never been to a Mother's Day buffet, but we tried this so the moms don't have to cook. The daddies don't have to grill. We just go somewhere. We all eat as a family and leave and we're done with it. That's what my mom wanted to do too. So I did a little scouting and I found this is you might. I know you a big buffet guy.

[00:32:55] I mean, I'm not saying I'm just saying I know you like food. And so there's a buffet that opened in Gastonia. It's called Ginza Japanese seafood buffet. Be careful. Don't trust it. Be careful. Don't trust it. Be careful. I understand. Well, what they made. So I looked it up online and I even tested it. But Lucy Rose and I went last week to test to make sure it was not the biggest dump ever. Well, when you pull in and it's in the back of a strip mall. All right. Yes. You're telling me all I need to know here.

[00:33:25] So Planet Fitness is in the front. And then there's a couple nail places. And then around the back, you'll see there's these Japanese cherry blossoms. All right. They look so real. They're not real. They're fake. But they're planted all. I say planted. They're installed around the concrete in the back part of where the Japanese buffet is. And so when I saw it, I was like, this is amazing. I'm telling you, it didn't look like we were in Gastonia.

[00:33:54] It looked like we were maybe in Okinawa. All right. Just a lot of cement, cherry blossom trees implanted into the cement everywhere. And so we, anyway, long story short, Lucy Rose tested out. We pulled in there. And for lunch on a Wednesday, it was like. That's got to be the B schedule right there, man. Exactly. I picked her up after school. It was like 2.30. So we're at like late lunch to go test it out. Get there. Hank, I'm not kidding you. You walk in and they have, you know, in Japan, how they have all these little games

[00:34:24] and like cats with a lot of neon lights and a lot of electronic stuff. It's like you're walking into a little city in Japan. It's crazy. Then you walk through the place where all the games are. And then you take a quick right. And then inside this place, the buffet. Let's take, what is a buffet that you know? Let's take Village Inn Buffet. That's not even fair. Give me a Chinese buffet that you know. Have you ever been to the one near the mall? No. New York. Take your average buffet. Okay. Like a Golden Corral. Golden Corral.

[00:34:54] Thank you. Multiply it times 10. Wow. That is what we're talking about. How much food you're talking about? That's what I'm talking about. So there's a whole side that's just sushi. And now you can say, sushi on a buffet. This is like legit. Real. Then they have where you can make your own poke bowl. You know? Oh, yeah. Yep. Yep. And then that's on the left side. Then you have one whole side, an area as big as like three Village Inn Buffets of just desserts. Just plain desserts. They have slushy machines in this thing.

[00:35:24] They have ice cream machines. You know, all kinds of stuff. Cakes, pies, puddings. You name it. Just desserts. Then you go to the right side. This is what we call the bad mama jamma side. That's where it's all the Japanese food. They have crab legs. They have crawfish. They have mussels. I don't know. That's the. I know. I know. I understand. I understand. They have squid. They have octopus. All these weird things.

[00:35:51] Then they have your normal lo mein, your rice, you know, egg rolls, general chicken, all that stuff. Then for whiteys, they have the American side. So you got pizza. You have fried chickens, you know, you have like chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese. Huge success there at the bar. So like it's huge. I mean, it is massive. You had me at pokeball. Okay. My heat friends, you know, Derek Tyler will defend me on that. Okay. Yeah. I love it too.

[00:36:20] So anyway, maybe we'll have to check this out. Okay. So Lucy Rose and I tested out. What do you think you'd pay for a lunch at the Ginza seafood Japanese buffet? It better be 20 bucks. 1395. Can you believe this? The steal of a lifetime. I'm surprised you got out of there alive. I know. I can't either. So we tested it on Wednesday. We go there on Sunday. It's Mother's Day.

[00:36:43] Can you imagine the crowd that is gathered at 1215 for this buffet? No. A line out the door around at least a 45 to 15 minute. We'd be in between the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms. People everywhere between cherry blossoms smelling the fake cherry blossoms as they fall off the tree. But we got in there and my sister and her family got there a little early. So they got us a seat. We get in there.

[00:37:13] A solid hour of just, you know, fun, but also kind of gross. I mean, it's pretty gross in there. Yeah. But anyway, food is great. No cleanup. Got a good hour with my mom and Jennifer was with us and Meredith, who is a mom. So anyway, great, great time. So if you get a chance and you're in Gastonia, check it out. Ginza Japanese seafood buffet. Be careful of the green muscles, though. Just say no. Just say no. Just say no. Yes. Just say no. What'd y'all do for Mother's Day?

[00:37:43] Well, I did exactly the opposite of what you said. Okay. You grilled. You cooked. I got up and Harris, you know, let's be fair here. Reagan's not my mother. I love her. She is the mother to my son and I'll treat her on Mother's Day. But I want a little interaction from my son whose mother is living in the house. Makes sense. Right? Yes. Okay. So by saying that, I got up a little early and I was like, you know what? I'm going to, she wanted breakfast, right?

[00:38:11] So I was like, let's do a little bit breakfast. And so I was preparing stuff. I was up a little early, made some coffee, blah, blah, blah. So I made a little, started making breakfast. And then it started getting a little bit later. And I was like, Mr. Reimer should be in here doing this. Not just me. So I give Mr. Reimer up and he helps. He does great, you know, with breakfast. And he got flowers for her and a card. And so, you know, the funny thing is, is like when you're entertaining like that. So, not entertaining, but cooking like that.

[00:38:41] We cooked breakfast, cleaned up. Then we're having my mom, her mom, my brother, us at our house for dinner. Yes. So then, you know, we clean up. Hour and a half later, we make lunch. Clean that up. Hour later, I start prepping for dinner. Right. You know, we're doing chicken. I'm doing this other dish that takes a lot of prep. And so I do that for three hours before they come over. Wow. Then we clean that up. I felt like I was in the kitchen the whole day. Right.

[00:39:11] Sure. And, you know, the whole time I'm like, you know, right. You know, go work on your puzzle. You know, like, go take a walk. I've got this. I've got this. But it was a long day in the kitchen, man. I see why you went to Genzu Village over there. It all makes sense. It does make sense because it was a long day. Yeah. I probably might be with you standing next year. Standing in line next year. At the cherry blossoms. Well, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that are out there. Hope you enjoyed your day and your weekend.

[00:39:37] As Moose said earlier on the podcast, a lot of things to look forward to this Saturday in Hickory. So one thing that we're doing, Hank, it's not in Hickory. It's in Winston. But it's called Asian Food Festival that you have to buy a ticket to. My mom wants to go. Olivia wants to go. And so we anyway, you buy a ticket. It's 10 bucks. And they have I think it's all downtown Winston booked. And you walk around the streets and they've got food like dumplings and all this stuff that you might find at an Asian Food Festival and performances and all kinds of stuff.

[00:40:06] So I think we're going to try to do that Saturday. And then Saturday evening, as we mentioned, the Hum, grand opening, premiere night at the Hum. The Fleetwood Mac, the band Chain will be here. I know there's an – oh, and then the big event in Charlotte, Quail Hollow. The PGA Championship is in Charlotte this weekend. So a lot of people actually are staying in Hickory and commuting. We're talking about people across the world to watch this golf event, staying in Hickory and commuting to Charlotte for the event.

[00:40:36] So restaurants will be packed. It should just be a really big weekend in Hickory for sure. Yeah, it should be. I mean, you know, it's kind of exciting to see. Like Friday night, I was downtown. Great weather. Band for the sales was going on. It felt like there was a ton of energy downtown. I was there too. Yeah, I mean, it's always kind of like – it's always nice to feel that energy downtown. I agree. And so it's good that, you know, this event and Hickory FC and LR teams are in their – you know, the end of their playoffs.

[00:41:06] Hickory High has a couple of teams in their playoffs. So there's a lot to do in town right now. Yeah, absolutely. Well, buddy, we're going to get out of here, but I know you wanted to give a couple shout-outs to some friends of ours. Well, I just – I want to see, you know, a big listener of ours is Daniel Willis. Yes. All right, Daniel Willis. He's a good friend of ours. And he is getting ready to have a little girl on Friday. Unbelievable. So it'll be his third little girl. Tiffany is one heck of a woman speaking of Mother's Day. Yes.

[00:41:33] So they're getting ready to welcome their new daughter on Friday. I'm very excited to meet her. So, you know, good luck. Congratulations. Congratulations. Yes. I'm sure it will. The last question I have for you as I walk in here in the studio, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, you're wearing an Elon shirt, right? It's a collared polo. Very nice. Thank you. Yes. It is very nice. Thank you. I don't have one of these shirts. But I was like looking at you, I was like, obviously this guy's got a family member

[00:42:03] or, you know, played in a tournament somewhere. Maybe. Yeah. Well, I think you did ask. Are you asking me where I acquired such shirt? The audience has to know. Yeah. So at some point to my life, you know, I take my daughter likes to find old kind of jeans. And so I was at a Goodwill, a local Goodwill in Hickory. Did you find boots there one day? Yes, I probably did. So looking for jeans for my daughter.

[00:42:31] And all of a sudden, you know, on the rack, there's about 48 Elon shirts. Come on now. I guess people just give these things away. I mean, you know. Come on now. So I said, ma'am, how much for the Elon shirt? She was like, go ahead and just take it. Go ahead. Go ahead, baby. You just take it. All right. So anyway, thank you for the shout out about the Elon. I do wear it though. I mean, it's one of my favorite shirts to be quite honest. Hey. Hey. It looks good on you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. All right, buddy. Well, let's get out of here, man. I got some exciting news.

[00:43:01] In two weeks, we're going to do our movie summer preview with Camden, the same fellow who knocked your socks off last year with all his commentary about what to watch, what not to watch, what actor to watch, what actress to watch, blah, blah, blah. So anyway, summer popcorn preview two weeks from now with Camden. He's going to be disappointed even more by the lack of movie watching we do. I do especially. That's fair.

[00:43:29] I haven't been to, I've been to the movies one time this year, Hank. One time. But anyway, he might drop us. He probably will. But with his enthusiasm, he'll bring us right into the fold and get us motivated to again to go to the theater. And actually, as we speak about it, Olivia's back, you know, and so we're going to go see a movie tonight. Actually, it's at 515. I've seen Jennifer and Olivia and I, Lucy's Got Dance, but it's called Sinners. Have you heard about this?

[00:43:54] It's supposed to be in the kind of genre, you know, the guy who did the Get Out, what's his name? Jordan Peele? Yep. Yeah. So he did the kind of weird and like, you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Nope. He did that movie. Nope. He didn't do this movie, but he helped, I think, write it. And so it's in that kind of realm of weird and a little scary. Could be some aliens. Who knows? You know, that type of stuff.

[00:44:23] So we're going to go check it out today at 515. So it'll be my first entrance into AMC all year because I've seen some movies, but they've been at the Carolina, but I haven't been to AMC yet. So anyway, get that popcorn ready. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Real quick. Hey, tell us, you're saying Lucy can't meet you because she's got dance. Obviously she's driving. Oh, Hank, thank you for reminding me of this. Yes. As the listeners have followed my saga with the insurance companies, uh, failure to pay

[00:44:52] me what the car I thought was worth. Well, I knew what it was worth because I just bought it three months ago and low balling me, low balling me, low balling for me just to sign it so we could get the deal done so they could total it, blah, blah, blah. So I fight, fight, fight. It comes down to about a week ago. And I mean, I'd quit fight. It's time for my daughter to get a new car. Insurance companies aren't going to work with us. So I mean, I was, I guess I was just going to sign on the dotted line. So I was on the phone with Jennifer and I said, all right, I'm going to call them and

[00:45:20] I'm just going to say, we'll take it so we can get her a car. Cause you know, once you can remember, once you get those wheels, you get that key, you have that freedom and then to take it from you immediately. I mean, that sucks. So I want her to have the freedom and be able to do what she wants to do. So literally get off the phone with Jennifer, punching in the number to this insurance company to say, I'm signing, get the check ready. He calls me on the other line while I'm beep, beep, beep, beep, ring, ring, ring.

[00:45:50] Hello. Hi, Chad. It's Tom from X agency. How are you? Tom, I'm all right. You know, I'm giving him the, that one. And he said, got good news for you, sir. I went to bat for you. Basically. Yes. I personally ran some comps for you and wanted to let you know, we are agreeing to give you this plus this, which was more than we were thinking. More than.

[00:46:21] I should say that out loud. All right. So it was equal to what, yes, what we said. And I mean, I was like, Ray or whatever your name is. This is fabulous news. What's the chance that that little bit more is going to be added to her car? That is going right in your pocket. That is a, that is a travesty. You need to give Lucy Rose so she can have a six disc changer in her trunk or rims or something like that. Tin her windows. Don't, don't Lucy, don't let him take that extra money. That loan fraud.

[00:46:51] I mean that insurance fraud. Don't think. I did not think about that. And the way I was going to sell it is, Hey, I got gas, extra gas money for you for the next time. But anyway, the car that we purchased now is actually more than the other car because it's a little bit newer and a little bit newer, less miles. So it's good. It's going to work out. Okay. But anyway, thank you. I now do believe in the insurance companies. They made me feel valuable again, you know? Yeah. Okay. So thank you.

[00:47:20] Insurance companies. Thank you. Yes. And thank you to our listeners. Thank you to our producer Moose. Good luck this weekend at the home. I'm sure it's going to be an awesome show. Hank, good luck to you, whatever you're doing this weekend. And to our final listeners again, we'll come back at you in two weeks with Camden for the summer movie popcorn preview. Peace.

[00:47:39] Boys to men, ABC, BBD, never skip the beat. You've been listening to The Mesh, an online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts, sports to entertainment, music to community.

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