To read more about Will Makar and the Red Line on tour, check out their Nashville and Pennsylvania posts!

Wednesday night we performed in Midland, TX, at a coffeehouse called the Ground Floor.  Several of the guys had never been to Texas prior to this tour, much less West Texas, and they were in shock at the sight of the landscape when they awoke.  When we left Houston there were trees and vines growing, dark green lawns, hills, etc., and when everyone woke up near Rhett’s parents’ house in Greenwood (just outside of Midland) Monday night, they were surrounded by the exact opposite.  The land was flat, with no trees or wild vegetation of any kind more than 3 feet tall, and you could see buildings 10 or 20 miles away with no problem.  At one point, just as we began to approach the house, a tumbleweed was blown across the dirt road we were driving on, and everyone freaked out, as Rhett sat there laughing.  “I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST SAW THAT!  IT’S JUST LIKE THE MOVIES!!!”  It was then that Rhett thought it was an appropriate time to warn everyone about scorpions, rattle snakes, and coyotes.  “Ok, this is as Western as it can get”, we thought.  Wrong.  On the way to do soundcheck Wednesday night, we actually saw, amongst tall downtown buildings and a street full of office workers, a man riding a horse on the sidewalk.  Welcome to Texas!

After falling asleep around 1:30 am for 4 hours, we woke up began getting ready to head to Rhett’s high school, Greenwood High School, where we performed for around 500 students in the gym.  We were all excited to play for all the students, but at the same time we were extremely nervous about the sound quality.  The auditorium is currently being remodeled, so we had to play in the gym, where the sound bounced around a ton, and our awesome sound tech Kevin was worried that everything would seem too blended and not as clear and distinct as it should be.  But we didn’t have much time to think about that, cause it was show time!

After playing a song and a short speech from Rhett about Greenwood, his career, and Berklee, the students began to wake up.  By the second song there were students lined up along the rail dancing, singing, and having an absolute blast, regardless of the sound issues we had been so worried about!  It was a load of fun, and we all hope to come back to Greenwood again in the future!  The Ground Floor ended up being packed out, every seat was taken and there were people standing around listening to us jam….it was such a great show, and everyone there had an awesome time!  After a trip to eat with our new Midland friends at IHOP, we again slept for 4 hours before heading to Austin, Tx!

Thanks so much Midland, that show was one of the best, most fun shows of the tour!  Can’t wait to see you again soon!

Love,

WM&RL


Latest posts by Magen (see all)