What is up with the now apparent problematic relationship that our beloved electronic music producers have with their vehicular toys? I guess since night-after-night they slay the electronic decks in one form or another, that those same electronics have to fight back somewhere – vehicles being the chosen medium? Just a thought…
This comes directly from a status update of one of my absolute favorite follows on Facebook, Gareth Emery. He usually writes posts himself about random interesting experiences and updates throughout his whirlwind worldwide exploits, and often supplements his anecdotes with cheeky pictures. Tonight, “Gaz” had this to share with us before his show at the Amphitheater Event Facility in Tampa:
“Interesting afternoon. Got to hotel in Tampa and there was a jet-ski hire place next door. Cool I thought, I like jet-skis, they like me, let’s take one out for half an hour. Hired the jet-ski, listened to all the usual safety stuff blah blah blah, then blasted off into the distance without a care in the world. About 15 minutes later, in the middle of Tampa Bay miles from anywhere, the bike starts slowing down, then puffing smoke, then stops altogether. Ah. The nearest land is about half a mile away. I jump off into the water, try and see what’s causing the issue, turn it off and restart a few minutes later, no joy. It ain’t going anywhere. Fucked. As I’d left my phone back at the hire place and there were no boats or other jet-skis in sight, I didn’t really have any option apart from to abandon ship, jump off, and swim about 1/2 mile to shore, where helpfully there was a little food truck with some picnic tables by the side of the interstate, with a handful of people who looked at me curiously as I climbed over the rocks then emerged dripping in blood with an abandoned jet-ski in the background. From there I managed to call the hire company, who headed over, managed to get the bike working (apparently some seaweed had got inside and clogged the engine) so we could ride back. Only issue now is my feet are literally cut to ribbons from climbing up rocks when I swum to shore but otherwise I am OK and looking forward to tonight’s show in Tampa.”
Glad you are alright Gaz! Thanks for sharing one of those “human” moments with all of us, and my compliments on your physical ability to get yourself back to shore. Admittedly, this was a totally different situation than the Afrojack/Ferrari ordeal (I’m refraining from personal comment), I was just amused at the vehicular connection and Gareth’s willingness to share.
Gareth’s next North America tour stop is at Barrymore’s Music Hall in Ottawa on Fri June 7th. For more tour dates and tickets visit www.garethemery.com