August

I lived most of my life in Northern Nevada, but there is one event I never attended. Right on the Utah line, the month of August means Speed Week.

I always intended to go at least once, but never made it. I used to own a 1956 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, and it isn’t that kind of car event. I took my car to Hot August Nights in Reno more times than I could count. You kind of have to pick one, and thousands of classic cars and hotrods always won out for me.

Speed week is where highly customized cars race across the Bonneville Salt Flats trying to set land speed records, including breaking the sound barrier. I would imagine it’s about 150 degrees right down on the surface of the salt. Reno offered air conditioned casinos with discount cold beer. They also had some awesome concerts.

At Hot August Nights, I got to see the kind of bands you never hear about anymore. I saw Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Shirelles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and many more. They were all pretty old, and most of them are dead now, but I saw them live. Revere even owned a nightclub down there called Kicks. He played live in the evenings during the event, and it was a happening place. Some of them were one hit wonders, and the concerts were always an amalgamation. A dozen performers did about three songs each, then the headliner would do the last half of the show.

Speed week is more of a wild party atmosphere, similar to but not as excessive as Burning Man. I think it’s better for a younger crowd. I was young once too, but always found something better to do. I kind of wish I’d gone just once.

August is a tough month to depict, because it doesn’t have a special holiday or anything. There are events all over the country in August; Speed Week, Hot August Nights, Burning Man, Sturgis. I’m sure you can think of others, and if you’re in a different country I’m sure you can. Which one do you want to attend? Is one of these on your bucket list.

I’m leaving my baseball scoreboard in the banner though. It’s still baseball season, and The Enhanced League still needs some readers.