Christopher Long: THE BIGSTUF DIARIES (Pt. III)

Representin' his unique flava, my buddy Bryan Migala
rocked several BigStuf VIP after-show parties!

As an entertainment

writer/critic-type,

I learned many years ago that
when reviewing cultural events,

the real story

NEVER

plays out onstage.

___________________________________________________

As a devout Starbucks man, I was troubled to learn that
my ECCC BFF Leah attends "services" at Dunkin Donuts.
But as true coffee "believers," we choose to set aside our
"denominational" differences and focus on common "grounds."

(Continued from Pt. I and Pt. II)

While traveling years ago as an assistant on secular arena rock concert tours, I earned a reputation for (among other dubious distinctions) being rather sneaky -- stealth-like. In order to accomplish my daily covert objectives successfully, I'd tip-toe around while rock stars slept -- in the dark of night, when no one was looking. I also applied these survival tactics to my BigStuf experience.

To say the least, I'm something of a coffee aficionado (i.e., junkie). In fact, I'm a devout Starbucks man. Given the close proximity of the Starbucks location to our BigStuf hotel, each morning before sunrise I would (in a stealth-like manner) tip-toe out of my room and quietly sprint down the street precisely as the store opened. I'd get my fix and return before anyone was the wiser. At this point, a fair question would be, "Hey Chris, what about your 'guys' who you left unsupervised back at the hotel? Weren't you concerned for their well-being?" Uh, in my defense, let me say that my secret "missions" were at 6AM. Have you ever tried to revive a teenager at 6AM during summer vacation? On the first morning of BigStuf, upon returning from Starbucks I discovered that I had forgotten my room key. I stood in the hotel hallway, knocking on my room door for twenty-three minutes before even one of my guys (Mad Dog) finally awoke to let me in. Did I care about my guys? Absolutely! But was I concerned for them under these circumstances? Uh, not really?

At 6AM, I was the first daily Starbucks customer
during BigStuf -- in and out -- 1,2,3!
However, by 9AM the wait was over an hour.

But I did start to feel bad for the responsible, yet equally "addicted" room leaders who followed the rules and only sought their daily fixes later in the morning, with their kids in sight and after the (hour-plus-long) line had spilled out onto the sidewalk. Hence, I covertly discovered many of their coffee preferences and began making complimentary deliveries directly to their rooms before the daily chaos ensued.

Although the other leaders all seemed to appreciate my personalized delivery efforts, my actions were inexcusable. And given my gross disregard for the rules, I doubt that I'll be allowed to attend BigStuf next year. Maybe someone will send me a postcard.

Night #2 of BigStuf was simply tremendous!

Anyway, Tuesday's BigStuf experience was epic! The house band was spot-on, Mr. BigStuf was only slightly abrasive and we were treated to an amazing performance from an all-star Praise and Worship supergroup featuring Mac Powell from the band Third Day and Mike Donehey from the band Tenth Avenue North, plus award-winning singer-songwriters Laura Story and Natalie Grant. The evening was capped off by an acoustic set from Switchfoot frontman, Jon Foreman.

But BigStuf's "BigStory" wasn't the top-name musicians, the big production or the overwhelming effort to lean into today's culture. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, the real story wasn't playing out on the BigStuf stage at all.

To be continued...