My friend is very likely a functioning alcoholic. He can down a six pack and the effects don't show in his speech. I'd be slurring and staggering. Every show we ever played, he would always buy the 6pack for the ride home during our last break. The clubs are not permitted to sell it after a certain hour.... well, that was how it was back then.
Yes Dave.... we've been told to "keep-um dancing" so that they would drink more. My friend was the drummer and handled the show and most of the singing..... and he was always pushing sales at the bar.... he knew what we were there to do.....
One night..... after the gig, I headed home. No sooner had I pulled out of the club's parking lot a NC highway patrol car did a quick U-turn in behind me and hit the blue lights. No sweat, I didn't drink in the clubs when I was playing..... soda and water was all I drank. The trooper sticks his head in the window to see if he could smell alcohol and asked me if I had been drinking that night. I told him no, I hadn't been drinking. He says, I just saw you pull out of that club and you haven't been drinking? I said again, no sir, I play in the band and since the state considers us as employees of the club, we are not permitted by law to drink alcohol so no sir, I have only been drinking water. He handed my license back and wished me a safe trip back home.
Several minutes later, my friend, Danny, the drummer pulled out as well. He had his customary 6pack on the floorboard with the first one freshly popped. Same trooper pulled him over. As he comes up to the car window, Danny had simply set the open can on the floor and rolled the window down expecting fully to be arrested for DUI. Danny had an old station wagon with the glass windows, and had his drums in the back. The trooper saw the drums and said, well I guess you play in the band too huh? Danny said yeah.... the trooper said he had just talked to me and didn't even ask Danny for his license or get close enough to smell the beer.
We also announced from the stage that if people had a bit too much to drink to call a cab and not risk the ride home...... but Danny never took his own advise. When NC lowered the DUI threshold, I stopped drinking in the clubs. It went from .12 to .10, and then later to .08 where it is now. It just was not worth the cost. I never had a DUI arrest, fortunately.
Now days I do not drink unless I am on my own property and have no plans to go anywhere and even then, it's one beer, maybe two on a hot day and got the BBQ fired up, and I'm content. The days of getting plastered or even seriously buzzed are well behind me now.