![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/shapeimage_22.png\" "\\"shapeimage_2\\"")
<\/a>But a quick check of the Maps app on my iPhone showed otherwise. We were just leaving Illinois on I-94 and heading through Indiana into Michigan. (I found out later that heavy traffic in the Chicago area earlier that morning was responsible for our delays.) In a similar but inverse way as the night before, each of the band and crew members emerged one by one, from the bunk compartment with sleepy faces and \u201cbed hair\u201d. The first thing out of nearly everyone\u2019s mouth was \u201chow far out are we?\u201d After realizing they had some time to kill before arriving at the next venue, most of the guys settled in to watch \u201cMen of Honor\u201d on the satellite TV, while sipping their morning coffee, or enjoying the favorite road breakfast – cereal and milk in a plastic cup.<\/p>\n We finally rolled into the Michigan State Fairgrounds at Woodward and 8 Mile, around 2pm (about 2 hours behind schedule.) The venue was a stark contrast to the newer, cleaner Minnesota fairgrounds from the night before. This place reflected the general blight that was evident throughout much of Detroit. But as they say, the show must go on. Chris, Josh, and Taylor began unloading the equipment trailer, and with the help of the stagehands, began rolling all the cases out to the stage area. Setup began immediately after, and within about 90 minutes, everything was ready to go. The band members began filtering onto the stage and making final adjustments in preparation for sound check.<\/p>\n Once again, I spent much of the soundcheck roaming around the venue, looking for good vantage points for shooting the show. This location had a similar \u201cpit\u201d area between the audience seating and the stage, only much smaller than the Minnesota stage. I also brought my camera and various lenses to the soundcheck to verify what type of view I would get with each lens. This proved to be helpful later in preparing for certain shots. The sound check wrapped up and the crew for opening act, Chuck Wicks, took to the stage like ants at a picnic, moving their band\u2019s gear into position in front of Joe\u2019s setup, in preparation for their soundcheck.<\/p>\n By now, it was about 4:30. Since the guys were mostly free until 7pm, Chris decided to take me up on one of my earlier suggestions – visiting the\u00a0Motown Historical Museum<\/a> about 7 miles away. He and I had been there before and thought some of the other guys would enjoy it, also.\u00a0 Chris said he was going to talk to someone about transportation, and I figured they would call a shuttle or a taxi, like they had earlier that day for the guys that went to work out at the gym.\u00a0 A few minutes later, Chris returned and said, \u201cFollow me.\u201d After walking about 30 yards, he got into the passenger seat of a Lincoln MKX parked near the tour bus. Curious, the rest of us followed suit and started to get in the back seat, when he looked at me and said, \u201cNo,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0driving.\u201d Huh? After a split second of confusion, I had the sense to ask him whose car we were commandeering. It belonged to the show\u2019s promoter, and somehow, Chris had sweet-talked her into letting us take it. So here I am in the heart of Detroit at rush hour, driving a total stranger\u2019s new car, with the lives of 4 key members of Joe\u2019s band and crew in my hands, and I\u2019m clueless how to even get out of the parking lot, let alone get safely to our destination.<\/p>\n But with the help of a couple iPhones\u2019 navigation and Googling abilities, we managed to make it to the museum safe and sound. (BTW, you really should check this place out sometime, if you ever wanted to know anything about the Motown music making machine.)\u00a0 After our tour of Hitsville, and a safe return to the fairgrounds, we headed to the dining hall to get what was left of dinner.<\/p>\n After dinner, the band headed for the showers and began getting ready for the show. However, I had another important objective to carry out before the show started – securing a ride home that night.<\/p>\n (Link to Part 7 below)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been following along with the previous five installments, then you\u2019ve heard plenty of nuts and bolts facts about places, events, and experiences. But what I\u2019ve failed to communicate thus far, is the intangible side of things – my thoughts and feelings. After reading my posts, several friends have commented about how much fun this experience must have been.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>