Departure was delayed and the weather was shitty. It was freezing cold and it had started to snow a little bit. We were also delayed in Wilmington in that this girl was barely ready to leave. 

Now I am normally pretty laid back when it comes to going to shows, but that all changes when you're several hundred miles from the venue and only several hours from show time. Once we reached Columbus, it was already dark outside and snowing harder. I started to worry. I figured that if we could average 70mph we could make it there on time, provided they started at about 8pm which was the standard 1/2 hour later than the ticket time. 

Well, no sooner did we get on I-71 north, it was apparent that we would not average anywhere near 70mph. The traffic was creeping and stopping, creeping and stopping. I hoped that this was just bad Friday traffic and that it was a wreck causing this backup. We did, after all, have about 200 miles to go. 

As it turned out, there was no wreck. There was no construction. There was no apparent reason why the traffic was going so slow. When we finally got out of Columbus, though, we discovered that the delay was caused by something far more evil than any one of the aforementioned things. Namely, this obstacle was a freeway that was no longer free. A sheet of ice covered all of I-71. The problem was, you couldn't see it. 

It was dark and sleeting. Semis were overturned by the side of the road. As bad as the roads were, the bridges were like hockey rinks. At one point, my Camry's rear end began to slide and I had to rock the wheel back and forth and use the gas, not the brakes, to get it lined back up. 

From that point on, it was determined that we could either: try to make the whole show and maybe die in the process, making it impossible to make it to the Dayton show Sunday night. Or: drive very slowly and hopefully get the 2nd set tonight and for sure be alive for the show on Sunday. We adopted the latter. 

We cruised at a cool 40mph over 200 miles of frozen farmland, but we finally made it. And we didn't even miss all the first set. All the music we saw that night was awesome. Lizards, Bold as Love, just to name a few. I was hoping for It's Ice, in light of our situation, but they saved that for the Dayton show, which was just as well. 

We met up with all our friends and ended up smoking dank and drinking homebrewed beer in a warm hotel room with all our kids. But it was the only time that I've stared death in the face in order to make it to a show.

 - Ben Shooner