When it was all over, Tim the Drummer was the first to add comic relief, in his best Cowardly Lion voice…”It’s a twista’, it’s a twista!”. Rheme Cleo narrowly survived a harrowing experience just prior to performing their infamous ‘Bad Luck’ set at the Pittsburgh Raceway Park on Friday evening. The band had shelved the set for years following the Sydney, Australia outback incident that nearly took the band(also the last time the played on Friday the 13th). At that time, they referred to it as the ‘Bad Mojo’ set. It was a unanimous decision(Editor’s note: by ONE vote) to dust off the ‘Bad Mojo’ set and play it at the track. The band showed up early in the afternoon. The crew was there. The sun shone brightly as they completed their sound check and went backstage to relax in the secured area behind the stage. Far off in the distance appeared black clouds and lightning, and before long, it looked as if it may rain. As the storm grew nearer, and the wind picked up slightly, it became apparent that there was no escaping it. Soon there was a fine mist blowing through the 40 foot deep covered area, and Jimmy Mac suggested that the black protective plastic that he found, buried in a gear trunk, be placed over the equipment on the set. A genius idea, as the mist became heavier, and the equipment and instruments were getting wet. Suddenly, the light breeze became wind. The wind became strong gusts. Plastic was flying through the air. The gusts became gale force winds. The stage left speaker tower collapsed. Sheet rain was entering one end of the stage pavilion, and blew through the other. In between stood Rheme Cleo, as a unit, backs to the storm, bracing themselves for whatever the ‘Bad Luck’ set was to bring. Then came the hail. Millions and millions of pea sized bits of ice were shredding their backs. Then STRONGER gusts of wind. While joining the others to attempt to stay on the ground, Scotty Grill looked around to see if anybody needed to be rescued. He noted that everyone’s hair was blowing forward, water flying off the tips of everyone’s hair and faces. A river ran past the stage. Carl O thought for sure that the next step in this succession of events would be the roar of a freight train down the nearly half mile of flat, unobstructed ground in front of the pavilion…signalling a tornado. But it never came. As quickly as the straight line gail-force winds came, they passed, and the rain subsided to give way to clear skies. Just like the freak Sydney incident, the band overcame. Needless to say, there were no new fans created, as the event was canceled. But again, the Rheme Cleo experience grows as the music prevails and another moment has been created.

So, in true Rheme Cleo fashion, we go to our fans and ask for guidance: Should the band permanently shelve the ‘Bad Luck/ Bad Mojo’ set?? Please comment below.

We also want to take a moment and thank all of the great folks at the Pittsburgh Raceway Park for their help.