Well, it's officially over. Again, but for sure this time.
I spoke with John on the phone for about an hour last night. We talked about many things, and of course the band occupied a lot of that time. A lot of things have happened, and a lot of things have changed, since the band last played nearly a year ago. Obviously Covid-19 is still raging, stronger than ever before, while almost ironically the vaccines are being rolled out. So here's the short version:
David is still recovering from the long-term effects of Covid-19. I was hopeful after seeing a few videos of him playing acoustic guitar on Facebook, but that's about all he can do. Play one song, then rest for a few hours because it exhausts him. His vision still has not returned, and may not ever. His strength is slowly coming back, but he will not be attending any rehearsals any time soon, let alone standing on a stage.
Jerry has taken a new job and will be relocating to Colorado. We are in Illinois, and even though most of us work in IT, there was no option to do everything remotely. Taking the job means relocating, which he wasn't thrilled about since he and his wife just bought a new house in 2019, but the new job also means significantly more money, so he's going for it.
The clincher, however, is that John is also moving, probably by the end of the year. He shared that the reason he was pushing so hard last year to play, trying to find substitute players and singers to play the gigs, was because the company he works for (and is part owner of) was being bought out. Because he had equity in the company, he couldn't say anything, and he had already told us that his long-term plan included retiring by 2023 and moving to Tennessee. With the company being bought out, and him standing to rake in a buttload of cash (and he was already a millionaire), the plans have moved up, and he's retiring this year, after the paperwork is done. So with all that going on last year, and him not being able to say anything about it, he played it like he was just really wanting to continue the momentum we had, with what was easily the best version of the band. And that was true, and while I thought he was being a bit nuts about pushing so hard, I bought it. What he was really trying to do was play at least one more gig before retiring and moving away.
So best case scenario for the band would include vaccines rolling out by summer, the band rehearsing for months to bring the new guitarist and bassist up to speed, maybe playing a handful of gigs, then John rides off into the sunset. It might have been doable and worthwhile without having to bring new people on board, but between two new people for sure, and possibly one or both singers (he hasn't even thrown them into the equation yet), it's just not worth the work.
Instead, we'll have our memories (and videos and recordings) of the best band any of us had ever been in, and some kickass gigs, and we'll leave it at that.
Fuck. I mean, I figured, but now it's official. Fuck! 2020 was to be our year. John had previously shared some of the gigs that got cancelled, but he told me a bunch more last night. Two county fairs, opening the season at Arlington Raceway, the biggest and best indoor and outdoor venues in the tri-county area, and when we're not busy with all that, a permanent slot as opening act for the big band we'd opened for last February. They were blown away, and wanted us to open for them every show. Still only an hour to play, but paid more than most regular gigs we'd seen so far. Dammit!! All that hard work, replacing players until the perfect combination of personalities and talent was in place, then finally dozens of top-shelf bookings, and a fucking pandemic takes it all away. It will forever be something that might have been, would have been, if only...