Summer packages are assigned catchy titles like “Play That Song” or “The Hits Come Alive,” but really they should all be called “The Exposed Electronics Tour.”

Because playing sheds during the summer sure sounds like a good idea, especially from an air conditioned office, and especially when you begin routing through, say, Phoenix and Santa Barbara.

But when you find yourself in Omaha NE, and the forecast promises mid-80’s and sunny, and you’re met by torrential downpour and hail, which is presently clanging at deafening volume against the roof of the bus, you think about all the lighting fixtures and speakers and amplifiers and instruments and computers and god knows what else - total value in the millions of dollars - and cross your fingers that everything won’t snap, crackle, then pop into (hopefully) insured oblivion.

We managed hastily to tarp all our gear just in time…for the tarp to blow away, and everything to get soaked.

Sigh.