KLAQ BBQ: Dubba G’s favorite BBQ Memory [VIDEO]

It was supposed to be like any other KLAQ BBQ.  But .....

Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the gulf area and, with a nod to Zeppelin and The Tragically Hip, the levees had broken and New Orleans was (literally) sinking.  That storm also pushed smaller storms with LOTS of rain as far inland as El Paso.

That's where the trouble started. 

It rained in El Chuco for days and days.  If you've lived here for any appreciable amount of time, you know what happens if you so much as spit anywhere up by the mountains or in the Upper Valley.  You get flooding everywhere in town.  Imagine what a solid week of rain caused. Roads (and vehicles) washed away, buildings collapsed, communities were destroyed and people left without homes.  (I remember swimming into work one morning and hearing that parts of Anthony and Chaparral were being evacuated.  Good thing I have a 4x4!)

It was a mess. Here is a (very) small example.

Anyway, back to The Q BBQ.  I got up that morning to a steady drizzle, loaded up all my gear and got moving thinking (praying) it would stop by the afternoon.We might get a little wet but we thought the show would go on.

Turned out the rain wasn't exactly the problem we faced, it was just causing the real problem!

Gates were to open at 2, music beginning at 4.  Do we cancel?  Do we just do the show and stop all the rides?  All the stage equipment is electric and everythings wet .... how do we dry it all out in time?  How do we not get electrocuted in the process?  The questions kept coming. The rain kept falling.

And the clock kept ticking.

Western Playland had just moved to the Sunland Park location and ... being near the river ... sat in an area with a high water table.  A ton of water was falling down, underground water was pushing up and the concert area was flooding.

The stage was sinking!

About noon or so the decision was finally made. We had to pull this show off and that meant we had to move it!  The whole thing ... lock, stock and barrel ... had to be relocated.  Joe Dorgan scrambled his people and got them all down to Club 101 to open up and start getting ready for us.  (Luckily they were located on the west side then!)

Our sound company, Southcoast Audio, busted their asses to get all their gear pulled down, reloaded, driven over and then re-unloaded.  We must have set records that day. Fastest tear down, fastest set up, fastest "move everything you freakin' got" right damn now moment.  We went in screaming; soaking wet the whole time!

It was intense but we did it!  The crowd that had already arrived at Western Playland followed us over, everyone else got the word about the move on the air and we pulled that mofo off!

It ran late as hell for a BBQ and it took us a couple of days to dry out but it was a great show.

The bands which included Smashmouth and Rev Theory said they'd never had such an experience or as much fun at a show.  (Rev Theory bring it up everytime I see them!)  It was like Woodstock jr as we all had to buddy up and cooperate to get things back on track.

By far my favorite BBQ memory ever.  Ever!

It's kind or ironic that as we approach BBQ 2012, another hurrican is beating up Louisiana. (Don't worry though!  Trust me, the weather for this weekend is looking great!)

The restaurants are getting the food together, the Western Playland staff are prepping the park and Hinder are ready to party.

(Trust me ... I know!)

Tickets on sale now ... See you Sunday!