Ahhh yes.... nothing quite like some time to decompress, rest, and reflect.
Things have been going extremely well with me for some time. 2018 from the downbeat was no exception. Somehow, I've managed to not only keep up on things, but catch-up, get ahead, keep cranking out content, and get to some items on that long list of stuff to do in the unlikely ever you actually do get caught up. In short, life is awesome. Which brings us to this post.
Fiesta in San Antonio is no joke. It's basically two weeks(ish) of serious partying. Fiesta is a celebration in honor of the battle of the Alamo. And unless you're a Texan - you ain't gonna get it. And while I'm no Texan, I've been here 5 years and the seriousness of that battle and the influence it had on Texas, Mexico, France, Spain, and the United States is beginning to sink in. This is a place steeped in history. And it's not taken lightly. That being said.... Fiesta is intense. Over 100 PMO (Participating Member Organizations) doing "official" fiesta events and countless "unofficial" events. 3 million people, twice as big as Mardis Gras in New Orleans. The city shuts down all biz for an official holiday for a parade. Think about that for a minute. An official paid government holiday for an event you've never heard of outside of Texas.
My "day gig" is working for the King William Fair. A 51 year street fair and parade that is the beloved "locals only" darling favorite of San Antonio. And not only do I work there, I am King William. I do the media relations and dress up as the King. I've been recognized on the street, out of costume, as King William. It's ridiculously fun. This year was nuts, a single day, over by 6pm with 40K people attending street fair. Last year, was my first year with King William so I dialed things back and focused on the fair as it's a bit much. This being my second year, I didn't hold back. Now that you have all the pieces; here's how my Fiesta went.
The KWF started requiring more and more time once January hit. BY the time March roller around, I couldn't do rehearsals, recording sessions, or even much hanging out. Gigs and work were it. Did a trip with the wife for our 10 year anniversary in mid-March which kinda put me in a labor crunch, but I had things caught way up before the trip so I didn't really get crunched too much. evening and weekend meetings started cropping up and a few media things started happening. And then April hit.
The work week was basically full time with some after hours and weekend meetings, the usual First Friday gig and a private loop station gig. Took Sunday off to mow the lawn and do every bit of house work/maintenance I could fit in as this was the last available time I'd have. After that, the work week went into overtime (this is part-time job), had events for other organizations to attend, GrooveTronx gigs and then Tacofest the weekend before Fiesta!!! Spent Friday setting up main stage, and the general festival layout, got done early enough to put in a couple of hours at KWF for some emailing and pre-production work. Saturday was stage managing all day and tear-down/clean-up. Taxes got done somewhere in there... Another overtime week with evening and weekend meetings. Two gigs on Friday, two gigs on Saturday including hanging out late at the Castle Hills Festival where I did a little bit of consulting on. Sunday was a solo gig at Fiest de Los Reyes, Monday was back to work with massive overtime and gigs on Monday night, Tuesday day and Thursday night along with attending Corynation, NIOSA, and then the Fair all weekend. Which meant up early, home late.
All in all not too bad. I got sleep when I could, played all the gigs I could, went to all the events I could, had a ton of fun, got on TV almost a dozen times, ran my departments at the Fair like pro, added in some management for another festival, and didn't get sick. Been recouping for a bit. Gonna finish off this week and then it's back to the music biz hard and instense. It's nice having some time to relax and get caught up on domestic duties. But this year is far from over and there's a ton to do.