Day 12: Bentonville, AR
Nau mai
Yesterday we played a show in the northwestern corner of the state of Arkansas in a town called Bentonville.
Introducing the cast of characters for today’s blog:
Clockwise, beginning from top left we have the red Etch A Sketch, the Fender Bassman amp, native wildflowers, Yoghurt Triumph, the Skyjack, and the Bush Cricket.
I was sitting up the front with John, the driver as we pulled into Bentonville. “This is the home of Walmart”, he was telling me. I filed that information away to investigate later, noting the sprawling brand new corporate buildings that lined each side of this brand new wide, multi-lane avenue that was carrying us to the venue.
I was doing my best to keep an open mind about this Walmart town but these fake looking houses weren’t helping things.
I made a bus breakfast centred around the stonefruit trio of plum, and white and yellow nectarines, adding a kiwifruit, Greek yoghurt, and deluxe mixed nuts.
Our venue was called “The Momentary”, part of a contemporary art space that presents “art, music, and food”. There was a very flash cafe in the lobby that served your drinks on a conveyor belt. All the benches were transparent and I could see the plumbing and inner workings of the espresso machines as well as the employees’ legs.
We were in the Rode Room, the indoor performance venue which houses around 500-600 people standing.
To hang our large banner at the back of the stage they had to bring in the Skyjack. Watch its heroic entrance.
I left the venue to explore some of the nearby Walmart campus. Incredible feats of landscaping welcomed me as I approached the Walton Family Health and Fitness Centre.
I walked along a lazily meandering bikepath and was regularly passed by residents of the town zooming past on their e-bikes. I stopped at the public binoculars to enjoy some more of the landscaping.
I took my time wandering around the sculpture trail “The Wallmart Way”, an installation that examines the core principles of Sam Walton’s success in business.
Here are some of the principles. See if you can match them up to the sculptures.
MOTIVATE your partners. Money and ownership alone aren’t enough. Constantly, day by day think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score.
SHARE your profits with all your associates and treat them as partners. In turn they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations.
CELEBRATE your successes. Find some humour in your failures. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm —always.
APPRECIATE everything your associates do for the business. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often and especially when we have done something we’re really proud of.
CONTROL your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running—long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation’s largest retailer—we ranked number one in our industry for the lowest ration of expenses to sales.
Here are a few more pieces from around the campus that reinforced Walmart values.
Walmart’s meadows: native wildflower planting around the grounds of the Health and Fitness Centre.
Next to the Walmart Welcome Centre is a sundeck to enjoy a view of the Walton Family Health and Fitness Centre and grounds.
Tristan ran up to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and checked out their sculpture trail.
He also came across some of the Walmart meadows and saw one of their autonomous deer.
There was a red Etch a Sketch in the green room. We each competed to see who could draw the best NZ map from memory. Can you tell which map belongs to which artist?
Liz found our friends from Deathcab for Cutie.
The amp wall! This is the new concept for the band. More amps and taller. And finally a good look at Jon’s new Fender Bassman (far left), which despite having bass in the name works well as a guitar amp.
Jon continues to work on the protective case for his Fender Bassman cabinet.
This katydid featured on several occasions throughout the afternoon and evening, first being spotted perched on a cable in a dangerously high-traffic location on the stage where it remained for all of load-in and soundcheck. It re-emerged during the Squirrel Flower set, climbing up the microphone stand and giving Ella a fright as she was mid song. Jon spotted it during our set sitting on the display of his sampler and had the good sense to take a photo of this brave insect.
This is where they park the Skyjack at the end of the night.
Tristan’s excellent photo captures Yoghurt Triumph parked behind the venue after load-out, basking in the glow of this neon artwork.