On A Highway To Hell with AC/DC

Less than a week after the meeting at my house, I got another call from Annie. This call was a really good one. She called to tell me that she had just booked AC/DC into the club, and she wanted to know if Avalanche wanted to open the show. AC/DC was doing a World Tour to promote their new album "Highway To Hell." It was doing pretty well in sales and on the radio, and if we played with them, it would be our most important concert yet. There was absolutely nothing to think about. The show was in two weeks, and by then it would have been over a month since our last gig. Not only did the band really need this, but there was nothing else on the horizon, because my brother had still not come through with any dates for us...So of course, I immediately agreed, and got more details from Annie. She made it very clear that we would have to cooperate with their crew, their show, and their gear...they were a major act, and they were the headliner. I told her I understood, and agreed without thinking twice..and she told me she would see me in a week. The next few days we rehearsed the band, and everyone was looking forward to not only playing again, but playing with AC/DC...we all liked their music. Everyone in the band was very relieved that the drought we had been experiencing was ending in such an impressive way...but, as I look back on this, I realize this was right around the time when I started making some poor decisions. I'm not sure exactly what was happening with me at that time to cause that...but I know the pressure I was feeling, and the disappointments we had been dealing with, combined with  Charles' regular nightly horror shows were starting to take a toll on me, physically, emotionally, and financially. Aside from reeling from all the stress, I had never had a band that had shared stages with the kinds of bands we were opening to, and I think I lost some perspective about a few things...the most important thing I forgot was that AC/DC were fellow musicians, and could be powerful allies, but I was feeling enough fear about the band at that time to perceive them as opponents after meeting their roadies...which is a shame. But it was easy to do that..they were from Australia, and Australian roadies are very rude and very crude...For the first time in a long time, it felt like I needed to prove that we were a good band, and I wasn't in the mood for rude and crude...