Roky Sofi

 This weekend, I went to Cat Cay in the Bahamas to play a party with my favorite wedding/corporate band Higher Ground and needless to say, we had an AMAZING time. The trip started with the scariest flight ever in what I can only describe as a tiny, flimsy, old death plane- the controls were all analog and the gas tank kept going down to empty and the pilot would flick it with his fingers to get it back up to full….sketch. There were 12 people in the band, so we took two planes for the band members and one plane for the gear- they literally weighed all of us at the airport before we left to make sure these little planes could handle us. We landed safe and sound in the shortest landing strip I’ve ever seen and had the bus driver, Justin, take us to our dorm rooms. Cat Cay is a small island with a private country club and we had strict instructions that we weren’t allowed to go in the beach, the pool or eat at the restaurants. In other words, we had to be invisible. We had no other option but to hang out in front of our rooms, watching the gigantic turkeys, chickens and one lonely duck walking around the field ahead of us. We waited patiently for the band meal, which to our surprise consisted of Caribbean rice and beans and ribs- NO BANDWISHES! YES!

       Then it was time to work. We headed over to the party, where our stage was set up with a beautiful waterfront view. The reception was short and fun and we took a long break during which a Junkanoo band rocked out and we saw an awesome 15 minute firework show dedicated to the newlyweds. Then it was time to drink- we were invited to stay at the party (so much for being invisible) and after shutting it down, we all piled on the back of a golf cart with a flat tire and headed to a local bar where the staff goes to party when they’re done with work. There we danced, drank Kalik and Jose Cuervo and proceeded to get completely shwasted. The rest of the night is a blur, but I know that at some point, the bass player and I let some random, but very generous, club employee take us through the jungle in his golf cart (or at least it seemed like the jungle in my drunken state) to his house, where he grilled up some hamburgers- Island hospitality for sure. At some point I stumbled back to my room and set alarm that rang at 6 pm the next day when I was already back in Miami. Thankfully, my friend who I was rooming with woke me up and I made it to the plane on time, after making the walk of shame to recover my gear that I carelessly left at the party. On the flight back, I got to ride in the front seat with the pilot and he even let me wear headphones and talk into the mic. The only downside was that the whole plane ride home, I felt like I was gonna throw up everywhere.

After a sausage, egg and chee biscuit from Mc Donald’s and a few hours of sleep, my hungover wore off and all I was left with were good memories of an awesome trip with some of my closest friends. Fun gig, good partying and oh yea, I can’t wait to get that paycheck :)