Finger Eleven [ tickets ] is not a household name, but the up-and-coming Canadian rock quintet earned the right to play before packed arenas when it was selected as an opening act for portions of Creed [ tickets ]'s North American tour. Frontman Scott Anderson has agreed to provide liveDaily with a report from the road each weekday through the conclusion of the Creed tour, which also features Sevendust.

Finger Eleven's sophomore album, "The Greyest of Blue Skies," was released by Wind-Up Records (also home to Creed) in July. The group has since been taking its music to the road, mixing club and festival dates with its arena gigs.

The group was in Biloxi, Miss., for a Friday (12/8) performance with Creed. A Saturday show in Baton Rouge, La., will follow.

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friday the eighth

we had ourselves almost a full day off here in biloxi yesterday. the weather here was and still is beautiful. and we're right on the water to boot. in fact, i'd be surprised if there was a part of biloxi that wasn't on the 'effin water, by the looks of things.

upon check in, chris (our tour manager) flopped some brochures down on the bus table. advertisements for various attractions, mostly casinos. okay, ALL casinos. one of which did catch my eye. the one that had a two-for-one buffet deal. even the worst casino buffets can still reach par for the course as far as i'm concerned.

so that was the plan. me and [drummer Rich Beddoe] were gonna head down to the "grand casino" for dinner. there was a waiting game to be played, however. you can't just go to the buffet whenever you feel like it, you must be so weak and bereft of any food energy that you're bound to get your money's worth once you actually get to the restaurant.

i ordered wine and between the two of us, i think we must have gone up about 6 times, excluding desert. after that, the feeling was mutual that our work here was done. almost done...

rich just wanted to try his luck on the "wheel of fortune" slots before we left. about one minute later, rich had lost 60 bucks. i felt horrible. i didn't want any buddy of mine losing alone. about one more minute later, i lost 50 bucks. and, of course, there were winners all around us, even in that short time. frustrating.

rich looked pale, and i was laughing on the outside, trying to play it cool.

we walked slowly out of the casino, scheming all the while, trying to suss some new plan out how to get our money back. my only solution came to me last night in my sleep.

dear santa: if there's only one thing i'd like this christmas, i'd love for you to haul ass to the "grand casino" and kick the s--- out of the "wheel of fortune" machine and get my fifty bucks back.

thanks, pal.

Diary entry #4.

Diary entry #3.

Diary entry #2.

Diary entry #1.