Drummed up illness?

Is high a euphemism for sick in professional music?

Last week the band Los Lonely Boys canceled their concert in the Coachella Valley. Actually they canceled it and rescheduled it once, and then turned right around and canceled it outright. Shows in San Francisco and L.A. were also canceled.

According to the news reports in The Desert Sun, the shows were canceled due to the "illness" of the band's drummer, Ringo Garza. The band was supposed to play Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. The theater learned of the cancellation 2 days before the show, and theater officials said they would try to reschedule.

But by Monday, Jan. 3, the show was canceled again, and ticket holders were told to return there tickets for a refund, as new tickets would be issued if the show was able to be rescheduled.
Later in the week, on Thursday, Jan. 6 to be exact, the same "sick" drummer of the Texas trio, Ringo Garza, was arrested in his hometown in Texas.

According to an Associated Press report, Garza and his wife Lenora were arrested in their San Angelo, Texas, home after a search by police turned up pot in the house. Police went to the house after two women filed a complaint, allegedly after they had been drinking at the home. (Read the story on the San Angelo newspaper's Web site)

See, Ringo, if you had kept up your concert obligations, maybe you wouldn't be in that jackpot. Well, expect this is the second time he's been popped for pot. So, maybe it was only a matter of time.

Like the song says:
"Save me from this prison
Lord, help me get away
'Cause only you can save me now
From this misery..."

From the song "Heaven," performed by Los Lonely Boys, from their self-titled album