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On hauling gear and the Tao of Bellamys
By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published April 29, 2007
BROOKSVILLE - Some of the things I learned Friday at the fair by helping lug all the Bellamy Brothers' stuff out of a big trailer and onto the stage, then going onto their tour bus, then watching their show, then lugging all their stuff off the stage and back into the big trailer so it could go to Texas for their next show: It's a real pain to move all this stuff. Horse poop and bull poop in a rodeo arena, even a week after the rodeo, even after it's been broken up by a tractor in an effort to, you know, make it go away - well, it's still horse poop and bull poop, especially under the afternoon sun. Ain't nothin' wrong with a 3 p.m. Bud. Keyboards are particularly heavy. The so-called tub of love contains cables and guitar stands. The Pasco-bred Bellamys' fancy bus is a 45-foot-long white Montreal-made Prevost Mirage and has two state rooms - for the stars, Howard and David Bellamy, of course - and sleeps another seven in teeny-weeny bunks in about the back 10 feet of the bus. Drummer Michael Tucker calls it Casper. Howard Bellamy is a Fox News man. The Bellamy Tao: Old hippies don't know whether to hang onto the old or grab onto the new. Lovers live longer. Lovers live right. Lovers get crazy. These fellas? They've been feelin' the feelin' from a shine up above. Some of the things they seem to enjoy quite a lot: boots and saddles, girls and guitars, romance and passion, bandanas and blue jeans. Some broken hearts never mend. Some memories never end. Some tears will never dry. Redneck girls: Evidently, they like to drive daddy's pickup truck, they live for Friday afternoon and stay out all night long, they have their names on the backs of their belts, and they make sweet rock 'n' roll while listening to country tunes. Daddy says: Don't make small talk. Come out and say it. Shuffle them boots on the street. Brian Chytka and Cherie Plourde sure can dance in the back of a pickup truck. The real work begins after the show ends. Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434. If you go County Fair Youth and Livestock Show When: Fair concludes today. Where: Hernando County Fairgrounds, 6436 Broad St., on the south side of Brooksville. Parking: $2 per carload. Enter on Oliver Street from U.S. 41 and park on the north side of the grounds. Once those spots are filled, parking will be across U.S. 41, and sheriff's deputies will provide escorts across the highway. Admission: $5 for adults; $3 for kids 4-12; free for kids 3 and under. Information: 796-4552 or www.hernandocounty fair.org TODAY'S SCHEDULE 1-8 p.m. Midway open ($18 unlimited ride armband) Baby animal barn 1-3 p.m. Southern Stampede Full Impact Pro Wrestling, Rodeo Arena ($12 adults, $5 kids 4-12, 3 and younger free; includes fair admission) 2 p.m. Ice cream-eating contest, Outside Stage 4-6 p.m. Coney Island's Big Ole Redneck Truck Show, Rodeo Arena (free) Comedy bird safari
[Last modified April 28, 2007, 19:17:38]
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