Avalanche is Born

Once we knew we had the lineup, getting to work was the only thing we thought about. I rented a nightclub that had closed down in the next town as our rehearsal hall. We would usually get there around 2:00 each afternoon, and we would often stay until nine or ten at night. And that was usually every day. That place became our base, and our world. I was still doing a lot of business, occasionally right out of that hall, but I wanted to keep the business away from the group, whenever possible. Since a lot of the crew  were also customers, that was a little tricky. But I was careful to make sure the band wouldn't be at risk because of what I was doing to finance it. The rule was...keep the business away from the rehearsals...so sometimes, I would leave for a few hours, or I'd get there a little later than the rest of the guys. And that was never a real problem because there was always plenty for all of us to do...and we were all highly motivated. And the work that needed to be done...was getting done. Amps were being customized. Sound systems were being wired. There were trips to New Jersey to pick up new flight cases, or trips to Hartford to pick up gear we had ordered. By this time, we already had over $60,000.00 worth of stage gear at the rehearsal hall, and we had more gear ordered...or about to be ordered. One day, Bruce's older brother...the guy with the big mouth...said something like..."this band is happening like an avalanche...and the instant I heard that...I knew we had our name. Webster's defines "Avalanche" as "an unstoppable natural force"...and between that, and the fact that we were also constantly around cocaine, the name was perfect. I still think it is one of the best names I have ever heard for a hard rock band...and so now...we really had an identity. And for the next month or so, the roadies made stencils, and spray painted "AVALANCHE" on over a dozen steel flight cases we already had. And there would be many more coming. All of them were numbered, inventoried, and color coded, because with all that gear, I wanted to be sure we didn't accidentally forget a case or two after a gig...that could potentially be a loss of thousands of dollars. I also put together a "Roadie Handbook" with all the wiring diagrams and amp settings we would be using onstage. By doing that, the crew could set up everything exactly the way each guy in the band wanted, and the dials would always be set to what each player had determined were their ideal settings...to get the sound and response that they wanted...night after night...so the sound onstage would always be exactly right...and the quality of our show would be very consistent. We were doing everything we could to take variables in sound out of the equation, and as time went on...the results of our efforts became more and more evident.